What do you see as the top three greatest challenges facing the Town of Gardiner right now?
We need to be able to continue to move forward with the needs of the town while being fiscally conservative. In order to do that, we will need to develop a long-range plan to accommodate the current infrastructure issues that the town will face over the next years, and to place them within a long-term financial strategy.
We need to continue to move forward with open space initiatives through active management of our resources and pursuit of additional sources of funding to help preserve our rural beauty and heritage.
We need to become more active in the fight to reform the property tax system. Whatever we do about town taxes, they still remain a fraction of the total taxes that we pay. While we can boast one of the best school districts in the Hudson Valley, we cannot continue to pay the unfair burden that the property tax puts on our citizens. We must work together with existing reform groups as well as with other towns to confront this inequity.
If elected, what would be your top two priorities?
1. Fiscal planning/tax reform.
2. Open space.
John Hinson
John Hinson was nominated by the Republican, Conservative, Independent and People for Gardiner Parties to run for one of two seats on the Gardiner Town Board.
Why did you decide to run for the position of town councilperson?
I decided to run after I was appointed to the Open Space Commission. I felt very comfortable with the current leadership in both the Democrat and Republican Committees. I was asked to consider running and was subsequently nominated on the Democrat, Republican, Conservative and Independent tickets. After speaking to all the parties, I realized the similar issues that were shared concerns by many in our community. Political affiliations often drew the line between people and their communication on these issues. Rich Koenig and I started the People for Gardiner (P4G) Party, which is a bipartisan party. I am running because I believe local issues should be handled by the best candidate and not by toeing political lines. I believe I am the best candidate for Gardiner.
What positions/experiences/skills do you believe will make you a competent town councilperson?
As an NOP (No Official Party) candidate, I feel I can work in a bipartisan effort to utilize my previous experience in executive management and budgeting to help Gardiner’s taxpayers maximize their return on their tax dollars. I successfully own and operate several businesses in the Hudson Valley. I can budget; manage expenditures and work within a team, without being coerced into a direction that compromises my principles.
What are your thoughts on the possibility of Gardiner getting municipal water/sewer?
Gardiner already has municipal sewer in the hamlet and would not lend itself to further development in our rural town. As for municipal water, every household currently has independent wells; the question that needs to be asked is, “Is there a current need for municipal water?” This question should be posed to the residents for an answer to this.
What do you see as the top three greatest challenges facing the Town of Gardiner right now?
1. The fiscal health of Gardiner’s town government.
2. The financial need of the fire department, so they can improve the communication system that services our town.
3. Taxes. The citizens that I have heard from have consistently spoken to me about the difficulty managing taxes, especially property taxes. Year after year, residents receive tax increases. The burden placed on our senior population is causing them to reevaluate living in Gardiner and is forcing them to consider relocating to lower-taxed states. To add insult to injury, no one person has a solution to this. Governor Cuomo’s two-percent property tax cap was a start. The school districts should be held fiscally accountable, but they also need our support in demanding mandate reform. We, the citizens of Gardiner, need to have our voices heard at the school district level, at the school board level, at the county level and most certainly at the state level. This issue should be on the minds of all our elected officials, as it is weighing heavily on our community’s minds.
If elected, what would be your top two priorities?
1. Reviewing trends in expenses and assisting the town supervisor in managing and reporting expenses monthly.
2. The cell tower debate. In December 2012, the Centers for Disease Control reported 35.8 percent of households have abandoned their landlines and became wireless households only. Part of the reason for this trend is the expense of maintaining two overlapping services. I believe Gardiner citizens would like a cell tower in case of emergency and so they could save money eliminating the landline. In these difficult economic times, there are many residents that would benefit from the cell tower.
