Republican incumbent faces labor advocate in District 10
Mary Beth Maio.
Ulster County’s new District 10 is an area that covers the eastern part of Lloyd and a small chunk of northern Marlborough. Voters there will see a contest between Mary Beth Maio, the Republican incumbent, and Gerard Lyons, a Democrat and relative newcomer.
Maio, 43, lives in Highland, and outside of her time at the county seat works as the vice president and manager of a local bank. She has been representing Highland alongside town supervisor candidate Paul Hansut in the old District 11.
Before her initial run more than two years ago, Maio was relatively new to politics. Since then, she’s helped rewrite the county’s personnel manual with Hein’s office and sat on a number of committees.
Like Harris, Maio is intrigued by how the county government might change under the new system. “With losing 10 people, it’ll be interesting to see how this works out.”
Her job as a banker also means that her workday ends relatively early at 5 p.m., leaving time for her to get to Kingston to attend the meetings.
Maio also feels strongly about Golden Hill nursing home, and she sat on the task force that came up with recommendations about how the county should deal with the expensive health care facility. It would cost $45 million to keep that public nursing home up and running.
“It’s a tough issue,” she said. While Maio felt that privatization might ultimately be right, she thought the issue should be studied more thoroughly. She did not agree with Hein’s method of using a Local Development Corporation to achieve that end.
“We don’t want to close Golden Hill,” she explained. “It’s just a matter of public or private … I’m trying to find the best of both worlds.”
The Republican candidate for District 10 said that people who voted for her want her to stick to her near perfect attendance at the County Legislature. “From day one, since I’ve started, I think I’ve shown my commitment.”
She’d also lean on her experience as a banker to help during those long budget negotiations up in Kingston.
Maio will appear on the ballot under the Republican, Conservative and Independence lines.
Gerard Lyons.
Democrat Gerard Lyons, 51, also currently lives in Highland and has lived in Ulster County for 30 years. The former merchant marine and labor advocate has worked at both Vassar College and Marist College. He’s also been active in the local branches of the Service Employees International Union.
Right now, he’s the vice president of the SEIU Local 200United statewide – a group that protects the rights of approximately 15,000 workers throughout New York.
“I’ve been involved in the labor movement for over 20 years,” he explained. While involved in politics through his experience as a union leader, Lyons is taking his first step into the limelight as a candidate this year.
Asked why he wanted to run, Lyons said he’d like to stand up for middle class and working class families struggling right now against high taxes and government that doesn’t work in their interest. The Democratic candidate said he felt that a lot of the time taxpayers hear that something can’t be done by their elected leaders.
“Just the type of politics that’s going on right now. It’s just, ‘no.’ I’m sick of this answer ‘no,’” he explained. “We need to be more fair-minded.”
Lack of jobs is a huge issue for Lyons, as are the high taxes in Ulster County. Lyons differs from his opponent on how he feels about Golden Hill nursing home. While he admitted that privatization might already be a done deal under Hein’s plan, Lyons said he thought the nursing home should remain publicly funded.
“I’d like to see it stay public. Not everybody has good insurance. Not everybody can go to a private nursing home,” he said. But the people who work at Golden Hill are also a group that Lyons cares about. “Ulster County has lost too many jobs. I would not like to see it close down.”
Lyons said that if people voted for him he would bring his experience with union labor negotiations to the table as an asset. Being a labor advocate has also meant that Lyons has had to take a principled stand – one which could have cost him his job. He said he’d continue to speak out for what he believed was right at the county level.
Lyons also wanted to provide voters a new set of eyes on the situation in Kingston.
“I’m not a professional politician,” he said. “I know the struggle of the middle class. I know what it is like to raise three children. I know what it is like to help aging parents.”
Lyons’ name will also appear on multiple lines, under both Democrat and Working Families. ++
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