Town clerk
Debra Tierney (R, C, I).
Mandy Constable (D).
Another office in contention is Rosendale town clerk. Republican incumbent Debra Tierney became deputy town clerk to Joan Jordan in 2008, and was appointed to fill out the veteran Jordan’s term when she retired in March 2013. Tierney, who is also running on the Conservative and Independence Party lines, emphasizes her experience in the position and the importance of keeping accurate records, including the minutes of town meetings. Ensuring that the imminent move of the town clerk’s office to the new shared space at the old Rosendale Elementary School in Cottekill is “smooth and productive” is a high priority for Tierney.
Mandy Constable, who in the past five years has worked as a justice court clerk in both Rosendale and Marbletown, is the Democratic Party challenger for the town clerk position. Constable contends that the office’s current hours, which end at 4 p.m. daily, are not user-friendly for working people. Extending those hours into the evening at least one day a week is high on her agenda.
Highway superintendent
When longtime Rosendale highway superintendent Carl Hornbeck announced his intent to retire this year, Republican incumbent (and former town supervisor) Robert Gallagher decided to give up his Town Board seat to pursue the highway position. He is running unopposed. Eight-year incumbent town justice William Pape, a Democrat, is also uncontested in his bid for reelection.
Ulster County Legislature
Kevin Hines (R, C, I).
Manna Jo Greene (D, WF).
All of Rosendale and part of Marbletown form District 19 of the Ulster County Legislature, and incumbent Democrat Robert S. Parete has decided not to seek reelection to that seat. Running on the Democratic and Working Families tickets, eight-year Rosendale Town Board incumbent Manna Jo Greene will be making her third try for the County Legislature, having previously run without success in 1989 and 2003. A retired critical care nurse, Greene is currently director of Environmental Action for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, was the Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency’s recycling coordinator for more than a decade and is one of the mid-Hudson’s most outspoken advocates for sustainability. So it’s no surprise that “sustainable economic development” and “sound solid waste management” are at the top of her agenda for Ulster County’s future. Supporting ecotourism, local agriculture, disaster preparedness, energy conservation and local self-reliance are also important components of her platform.
Opposing Greene on the Republican, Conservative and Independence Party lines is Kevin Hines, a retired corrections officer who is currently a service technician for Kingston Fire Equipment and assistant chief of the Bloomington Fire Company. This is Hines’s first run for public office. Bringing new businesses and creating jobs in Ulster County are tops on his agenda. He supports legalization of casinos, but has some reservations about the potential down sides of bringing such an operation to the area and favors oversight at the county level to mitigate such negative effects. Another high priority for Hines is sustaining support in the county budget for the County Sheriff’s Office road patrol, noting that the Town of Rosendale Police are “not on duty 24 hours a day, and Marbletown doesn’t have a town police department at all.”
When and where to vote
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at just one location in the Town of Rosendale: the Community Center (popularly known as the Rec Center), located at 1055 Route 32.
