The town of Saugerties is working with the county to share snow-removal services. Do you think more services should be shared between the town and the county? If so, which?
I think it’s a great idea, and it should be expanded. From what I read, they are staying at the same level. I think there are a lot of ways, other than highways that we can hook in the county and towns. It’s one of the points in terms of lowering taxes. There has to be a way of lowering property taxes, and one way is shared services. I’m hoping County Executive Mike Hein and Greg Helsmoortel will expand that.
If elected, what would be your top priority?
When you put out your list of priorities it changes once you start talking to people. The top priority is to really control taxes, but we must continue to provide services. We need to be a more unified Legislature, because the main problem we’re facing is not within the Legislature, it’s in the unfunded mandates we’re getting from the state. If they are going to give us a mandate they should be at least partially paying for it. My main focus will be lobbying the state so we can keep our taxes low, but make sure we can provide our essential services. We’re seeing cuts in mental health services, in drug programs, the debate over Golden Hill; all these would not be issues if the state was paying its fair share. That would be my main focus, getting the state to pay its fair share. The only way you can do that is through a non-partisan, unified Legislature. My past skills lend themselves to being able to bring that to the Legislature.
How does your experience make you a good candidate?
I was in family counseling, I did a lot of work that required getting people and groups together, I’ve done that through the Democratic Committee and I believe I can do it in the Legislature. I’ve been in the political scene. Water rolls off my back – I don’t take things personally. Even though things may be thrown at me personally, I don’t let that stand in my way. In the work I’ve done politically, I’ve always been a voice for transparent government, I’ve always tried to work across party lines and select the best candidates regardless of their party. I think I can bring that kind of energy to the Legislature, to be able to walk across the aisle. In my professional work, I’ve been trained to work with groups, and my focus has been to coalesce groups for a common purpose. In the political realm, I’m not naïve enough to believe I can entirely accomplish that, but that’s the special quality I think I bring to the job.
Describe the role of a county legislator. What effect does county government have on residents?
The first role is the appropriation of funds. The county executive can create a budget that he passes down to the Legislature, but the Legislature ultimately must decide how those funds are going to be spent. The Legislature creates the policies, and it’s the policies that ultimately determine where those funds go. For instance, on the issue of Golden Hill, the executive can put down a budget where he feels the facility should be closed, but the Legislature can determine that that is not the way they want to go and they can create a policy that says we want this to be a county facility. Ultimately, it is the Legislature that will determine how that money is allocated. Unfortunately in the last budget the county executive sent the Legislature did not come back with an alternative budget. They just accepted the county executive’s budget. We can’t have that. The Legislature is an equal branch of government. It has to step up, look at what the executive is offering and respond. The Legislature needs to be a more unified, equal branch of government.
I’d like to know if Mike was in the National Guard because He certainly looks like someone I once knew.