2013: Year in Review

Master Plan

In September, the town and village approved an update to the 1999 Master Plan, a document outlining goals for future development. Public hearings were held throughout the year, with casino gambling and housing the main issues of public concern.

In response, the document was revised to make clear Saugerties would not be interested in hosting a casino at any time in the future and enthusiastic language about the need for a diversity of housing (including rental and affordable housing) was stricken due to opposition from residents who felt Saugerties needs to maintain its character as a community of single-family homes.

 

The Return of Helsmoortel

At the beginning of 2013, when he declared his intention to run for his old job, former six-term Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel said he wouldn’t stand idly by as opponents spread misinformation. That was before the Republicans and Conservatives caucuses split, nominating different candidates and sparking a campaign of mutually assured destruction that culminated two months later in an unprecedented public disavowal of GOP attack ads by four Republican candidates. While incumbent Kelly Myers on the Republican line and challenger Gaetana Ciarlante on the Conservative line battled it out, Helsmoortel sat on the sidelines. In the end, he won 42 percent of the vote to Myers’ 35 and Ciarlante’s 23 percent.

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Helsmoortel’s message was basically unchanged from previous campaigns: Saugerties needs economic development and he’s the one best positioned to make it happen. He stressed the need for civility in town government relations, likely in response to the clear and present tension between the supervisor and board during the budget process that unfolded during the campaign’s home stretch. Essentially, he didn’t feel there was a great lesson to be learned from his 2011 loss, which he attributed to the mobilization (using what he felt was deceptive and inflammatory rhetoric) of Glasco and Barclay Heights residents against an affordable housing project he supported and the phenomenon of voters abandoning a long-time incumbent to see if the “grass was greener.” Voters in this scenario often return to the incumbent in the following election, and he believes that’s what happened here.

 

Allen upsets Aiello

In September, when he thought his opponent had bested him in the Independence Party primary, County Legislator Bob Aiello promised “November would be different.” Unfortunately for him, he was right. Upstart candidate Chris Allen, a Democrat, beat the 17-year veteran Republican with 56 percent of the vote. Along with Lynn Archer’s win over Terry Bernardo in District 21 (towns of Rochester and Wawarsing), Allen’s victory helped swing the Legislature to the Democrats.

A novice candidate who’d spent most of the last two decades outside the area, Allen was an underdog. But what he lacked in connections he made up for in shoe leather. “I have never seen a candidate work harder,” said Democratic Chair Mike Harkavy. Allen’s main issues were encouraging economic development, improving communication with constituents and Town and Village boards, and getting the state to build a two-year trade school in Saugerties.

 

Winston Farm concerts

Time ran out on plans to bring a concert to Winston Farm last summer, but by mid-fall plans were already in the works for at least two events next year: a three-day music festival in July and a yoga festival in August. The 850-acre property has been the object of many development dreams, including a county landfill and casino. Several years ago, there was talk about bringing in high-tech manufacturing. That’s still possible. But for now, it looks like 2013 will be the year the foundation was laid for music to return to the same fields that, 20 years previously, played host to Woodstock ’94.