Two candidates are vying to be the supervisor in the Town of Lloyd. Seeking the two-year post in the November 3 election are the incumbent, Republican Paul Hansut and Democratic challenger Claire Winslow.
Hansut served two terms in the Ulster County Legislature, including a stint as chairman, before winning the supervisor position, which he has held for four years. A lifelong resident, he worked as a police officer in Poughkeepsie until his retirement, and has since purchased a dry-cleaning business in Highland.
If elected, Hansut has identified the completion of the winery development project as a top priority. He would also like to see the rail trail expansion, which has two additional legs in development, continue and connect with the wider trail network. Growth of the town, including its commercial base, is another priority.
Winslow is a first-time candidate and owner of The Would restaurant, as well as a food-styling business and rental properties. She also grew up in the town, and has volunteered at the Fisher House, which serves wounded warriors. She hopes to apply her business acumen and familiarity with the community to questions of how the town should grow in the future.
If elected, Winslow plans on reviewing both the budget and the comprehensive plan closely, and familiarize herself with the day-to-day workings of town government. She has expressed concern that development is focused outside of the core hamlet, and the possibility that this may be to the unfair benefit of some land developers.
Town Board
Four candidates are seeking to fill the two seats on the Town Council which are up this year in Lloyd. Seeking four-year terms on the board are incumbent Michael Guerriero and Joseph Mazzetti on the Democratic line, with incumbent Mike Horodyski and Dave Plavchak running on the Republican line.
Guerriero is serving his first term on the board and has been a downtown business owner for 40 years. As the sole Democrat on the present board, he has positioned himself as a gadfly.
He has identified over-development as one of the top challenges facing the town and says that projects should clearly benefit residents. Extending the water district is another challenge he foresees, as well as revitalizing the hamlet, which he believes is now languishing.
Horodyski has served several non-consecutive years on the Town Board; having resigned in 2011 due to a job promotion and then being reappointed in 2013 to replace Herbert Litts III, who had won a seat in the county legislature. He is CEO of Wallkill Valley Federal Savings and Loan, chairman of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency and serves on the board of the Walkway Over the Hudson.
Horodyski names the maintenance and expansion of town infrastructure as a top concern, as it is vital for economic growth but challenging under the property-tax cap. Another challenge which butts up against that cap is the rising cost of employee benefits. He feels that balancing municipal services and tax rates is key to prevent the continued flight of state residents overall.
Mazzetti, a first-time candidate, is an assistant principal in the Poughkeepsie City School District, a position which brings experience in budgeting, infrastructure and staff management, and working with a variety of stakeholder groups towards a common goal.
Top among Mazzetti’s concerns for the town are maintaining low taxes for residents, increasing awareness about drug use, particularly regarding children and balancing the needs for economic and housing development.
Plavchak, a first-time candidate, is a current member of the Planning Board and has also served on the Zoning Board of Appeals. He has resided in the area for 35 years and worked at IBM for more than 38. He believes his experience there with fiscal oversight and shared services can be applied to the town.
Chief among the town’s challenges, in Plavchak’s mind, are property taxes. He also identifies maintaining aging infrastructure and service levels to the public, as well as growth and development, as areas of concern to which he wishes to devote attention if elected.
Highway superintendent
Two candidates wish to be elected highway superintendent for the next two years in Lloyd, incumbent Richard Klotz, a Democrat, and Leonard Auchmoody, who is challenging him as a Republican.
Auchmoody, who has run for the superintendent job twice before, says he has worked around and with heavy equipment his entire life. If elected, he intends on improving snow removal in the hamlet, and implementing improved scheduled maintenance schedules for town roads and highway equipment alike.
Klotz, who is serving his second term, also speaks about his lifetime experience with road equipment and infrastructure such as sewer systems. He points to the equipment replacement schedule under his management as a way to keep spending down, even during years of record-breaking snowfall.
Ulster County Legislature
In District 9 of the Ulster County Legislature, which includes portions of Lloyd and Plattekill, two candidates are contending for the position. Seeking a two-year term representing the area in Kingston are incumbent Herbert Litts III, a Republican, and Democrat Jonathan Ridgeway.
Litts is serving his first term in the legislature and left the Town Board halfway through his term to take the position. A licensed professional engineer, he has worked for the state for over 30 years in both the Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority, currently as the lead engineer for the acceptance of the multi-billion dollar new Tappan Zee Bridge.
Litts sees the legislature’s role as primarily fiscal, a challenge given the large amount of spending which is mandated by state and federal requirements. What flexibility exists in controlling spending must be balanced through smart and balanced economic growth to keep the burden on residents as low as possible.
Ridgeway, a first-time candidate, has completed a 34-year public-service career, the last 20 of which were as a senior project manager for the Department of Environmental Conservation. He has served on a number of “deliberative nonprofit boards,” and touts his knowledge of parliamentary procedure and existing relationships with town and county officials.
Ridgeway also recognizes the legislature’s fiscal role as its most important, but also notes that the district includes the entire Black Creek watershed. If elected, he wishes to turn his experience to working with other elected officials to procure economic development funds from outside of the tax base.
In District 10 of the county legislature, which includes portions of Lloyd and Marlborough, two candidates are contending for the position. Seeking a two-year term representing the area in Kingston are incumbent Mary Beth Maio, a Republican, and Democrat Gary Pregno.
Maio has been a member of the legislature since 2010, prior to the redistricting called for under the county charter, and is a vice president and branch manager at Wallkill Federal Savings & Loan in Milton. She is also a member of the board of the Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce.
Bringing her banking experience to bear, Maio is focused on the legislature’s role in approving the county executive’s budget each year, as well as the approval of contracts. From a county perspective, she believes that problems with the Resource Recovery Agency were largely solved by passing the flow-control law which mandates all carriers use the facility, thus allowing the agency to pay its own debts.
Pregno has previously run for town supervisor in Lloyd and has served four terms on the town’s economic development committee. He describes himself as a business professional with 30 years’ experience, 20 working as a professional account manager for a Fortune 500 company.
Pregno believes the role of a legislator should be to serve as an advocate for the town and advise on local issues. That includes ensuring that the perspective of local residents is represented in Kingston, and to advise those residents of benefits which are available through the county government.
Running unopposed
Running unopposed in Lloyd is town justice Eugene Rizzo.
To read in-depth profiles about all the candidates running for office in Lloyd, visit newpaltzx.com.
— Terence P Ward
