The subject heated up when the town’s Commission for Civic Design presented a plan for enhancing the look of Woodstock’s streetscape by better enforcing the town’s sign laws, and looking into creating new policies and ordinances that would lend local signs a less chaotic feel. The building department meanwhile started working to limit the number of illegal sandwich board signs being used in the business core.
The county’s proposed campaign finance reform law, which would allow candidates for countywide office or county legislature to tap into a $75,000 fund per year in county money for their campaigns prompted more than a dozen speakers, over half of whom were in opposition and emphatic about their positions, and about 50 onlookers at the county legislature’s public hearing on the proposed law on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Shandaken candidates and residents have a long wait ahead of them until absentee ballots are counted to determine the outcome of both the Ulster County legislator race for District 22 and the contests for town supervisor and council members.
Hurley supervisor John Perry, a Republican, topped Democrat and former Woodstock town supervisor Tracy Kellogg in a rematch of their race two years ago, though control of the town board slipped away from the GOP with the elections of political newcomers Melinda McKnight and Peter Humphries on November 5.
“Thirty six years is long enough,” said Sylvia Rozzelle, Town of Olive’s current supervisor and former town clerk on the morning of November 6, when asked her opinion of the previous evening’s vote tallies, which saw a sweep by her party, the Democrats, in all municipal races. “It’s time for new people, for new energy in Olive.”
A write-in campaign by former supervisor Jeff Moran did little to keep incumbent Bill McKenna from re-election to another two years as Woodstock town supervisor. Preliminary results show McKenna received 1796 votes while write-ins, presumably for Moran for the top town seat totaled 462.
Another close election result in Ulster County.
A rollercoaster of an election night, followed by a suspenseful Wednesday morning, ended up with the closely watched race for Ulster County District Attorney in a virtual dead heat, even as Democrats secured decisive victories in two more countywide races and appeared poised to maintain their one-vote majority in the County Legislature.
County Executive Pat Ryan of Gardiner coasted to his first full four-year term Tuesday night, with the Democrat easily winning a rematch election with Ulster County Conservative Party Chairman Jack Hayes, also of Gardiner, who was running on the Republican line as well.
The underlying theme for this year’s election in Olive — with two full slates of candidates vying for the town’s first open supervisor’s position in years, as well as an open town justice spot (and two races for town council with four candidates) — depends on which party you’re listening to.