Steve Noble. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)
Come Jan. 1, 2016 — unless Shayne Gallo’s supporters manage to pull off the greatest write-in campaign in local history — Kingston will have a new mayor.
We think the best choice to lead the city is Steve Noble, the Democratic and Green parties’ nominee. Throughout the campaign, Noble has shown he’s smart, advocates an inclusive and professional approach to governance and, after a decade working for the city, that he has insight and experience into how City Hall functions. He’s made some solid proposals on how to use that insight to keep better tabs on the various departments and help them to do their jobs more efficiently and thus more economically. He’s come off as well-grounded, open to suggestions and even-keeled — traits which have been at times lacking from the mayor’s office these past three years.
Kingston’s in an interesting place in its history right now; a sense of momentum is undeniable, the city’s coolness factor continues to rise and there are a whole bunch of people and organizations coming to town and looking to invest in the good stuff going on here. We think Steve Noble is best suited to use the office of the mayor to help Kingston improve.
Ron Polacco, the Republican, Independence and Conservative parties’ nominee, has made progress as a candidate from his 2011 run. While much of what he says sounds like it makes sense, it’s offered without a lot of specifics to back it up, the candidate seemingly dependent on getting voters to support him more on hope than an actual plan. For instance, when he says as mayor he would convene a panel of business people to come up with ideas on how to improve the city, one might ask why he didn’t do that a few months ago and have more of these ideas already fleshed out and ready for presentation. His call for lower taxes resonates, but his plan of getting Albany to cut back on its unfunded mandates isn’t realistic, considering the way Albany actually operates. It’s great to call for “outside the box” solutions, but it takes a working knowledge of what’s actually possible to know what has a chance of working and what would just be a waste of time and energy. (We would like to see demolition derbies here, but maybe at the Kingston Plaza or down at Kingston Point — cars would tear up Dietz Stadium’s turf.)
However, Polacco’s a plausible choice for those who can’t get past the prospect of the city’s executive branch and legislative branch being run by a man and his uncle. That’s a legitimate concern, but we feel what a Steve Noble administration brings as positives outweigh this negative.
We also support a yes vote on the referendum on the back of the ballot allowing a change to the city charter to give elected officials input on any water sales to entities outside the city. The fact that no one that voters could hold accountable had any kind of say-so on the potential Niagara Bottling deal is not an acceptable state of affairs.
So, that’s our input, for what it’s worth. Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday.
Wait…why are we talking about demolition derbies?
ugh to both
It’s a reference to something Ron Polacco said at the debate last week.
Who are “We” in this letter?? Not me! I want to see a change in this city! No more back door old school politics! So the only choice in this race is Polacco ! 😉
That is the editorial “we” – this editorial is the official endorsement of the Kingston Times.- Dan the editor
Neither Noble or Polacco are qualified…I have ask the Pope to intervene and have God save Kingston, NY
God bless the Pope and God bless Kingston
No surprise here. This paper’s biases were clear from the beginning.
Ya gotta love how this tries to make sense out of inherently senseless Kingston.
No one can hold elected officials accountable anyway and in the case of the Mayor that’s an election every four years and if the Mayor proposes something against the City Charter and the Council goes along with him, as in the case of the hiring of Mr. Schupp for head of DPW(no recall elections for Mayor in this state, were it so, perhaps my brother might have been prevented from becoming the felon he became before he passed off this mortal coil, but we shall never know whether this WOULD have been so), so what is this kvetching about water issues, which were never a real issue before someone wanted to come in, bottle water so that no one need be dehydrated on any trip anywhere, and the NIMBYS descended from everywhere against this like a cloud of locusts–similar to what happened when a parking garage plus apartment complex was proposed for Uptown. People obviously DO get fired up here, but whether they do so in the correct manner is open to great debate….
And who EVER asks the real question that cuts to the heart of little elected officials and their attachment to turf, which is why isn’t the city of Kingston already merged with the Town of Ulster? We know the answer to this which is obviously the little districts the parties have carved out for elected folks that resist change, but everyone keeps talking about things that are comparatively speaking, relative trivia.
“NO ONE would BELIEVE this place!”(—the late Michael Karpin,correctly referring to Kingston both then and now, circa 1990).
Okay. Bottom line – Polacco is delusional and unqualified. He can’t even put forward a platform that is action based and thought out. And maybe Noble isn’t the 100% ready-to-go mayor you’d want, but he has a vision and a history of being a part of the cogs and levers that run this machine we call a City. I believe he is dedicated and will do his level best while Polacco – who for reasons unknown to us – thinks he deserves to be handed the position ‘because’. Sorry Ron – that ain’t enough.