Major local election year is at hand

Story by Dan Hust
SULLIVAN — October 4, 2013 — Who voters will see on their ballots Election Day, November 5, is now official.
Courtesy of the Sullivan County Board of Elections, here’s the complete list:
FEDERAL
There are no federal candidates up for election this year.
STATE
The only New York State race affecting local voters is a three-way battle for a single available judgeship in the NYS Supreme Court’s Third Judicial District:
• Richard McNally (D/I), the current Rensselaer County District Attorney
• Carol Donnelly Stevens (R/C), the Greene County Attorney
• Dennis Duggan (WF), an Albany County Family Court judge
Voters from seven counties, including Sullivan, will choose the winner.
COUNTY
All three county-level races feature the incumbents running unopposed, since Democrats didn’t find candidates for Sheriff and District Attorney, and Republicans didn’t for Treasurer.
• Sheriff Michael Schiff (R/C/I)
• District Attorney James Farrell (R/C/I)
• Treasurer Ira Cohen (D/C/I)
BETHEL
Bethel is one of the hotter contests in the county, with vigorous races for the town board, supervisor and highway superintendent.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Daniel Sturm (D/C/I)
• Judith Maidenbaum (the self-titled Fat Lady line)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Rita Sheehan (R/C/I)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Kevin Rhyne (D/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Lillian Hendrickson (D/C/I)
• Dawn Ryder (D/Straight Forward)
• Cirino Bruno (R/I)
• James DiLeo (R)
For Highway Superintendent:
• William Crumley (D/C)
• James Crowley Jr. (R/I)
For Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Debra Gabriel (D/C)
CALLICOON
Callicoon has well-organized parties vying hard for vital town positions, giving voters a range of choices.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Thomas Bose (R/C/I)
• Nancy Lew Lee (D/Rural Heritage)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Edward McKenna (R/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Scott Gaebel (R/C/I)
• Incumbent Charles Schadt (R/C/I)
• Ken Hilton (D/RH)
• Van Morrow (D/RH)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Kristofer Scullion (D/R/C/I)
COCHECTON
Save for a four-person race for two town board seats, Cochecton’s open positions are all to be refilled by the incumbents.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Gary Maas (R/C/I)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Hollye Schulman (D)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Steven Sauer (D)
• Incumbent Craig Fine (D/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Edwin Grund (R/C/I)
• Paul Salzberg (D)
• Joan Glase (D)
• Sean Nearing (R/C/I)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Kevin Esselman (R/C/I)
For Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Eileen Hennessy (D/C)
DELAWARE
Delaware’s contested and uncontested races feature names well-familiar to voters.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Edward Sykes (R)
• Stephan Lundgren (D)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Tess McBeath (D)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent John Gain (R)
• Incumbent Alfred Steppich (R)
• John Murphy (D)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent William Eschenberg (R/C/I)
FALLSBURG
Fallsburg voters will have no choices but the incumbents in every town race this year. (If you live in the Village of Woodridge, you will have choices for village trustee – see that section at the end of this article.)
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Steven Vegliante (D/C/I)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Donna Akerley (D/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Nathan Steingart (D/C/I)
• Incumbent Michael Weiner (D/C/I)
FORESTBURGH
Contested races in Forestburgh are limited to the town board and highway department.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent William Sipos (D/C)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Joanne Nagoda (R/C)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Maryjean Carroll (D/C)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Susan Parks-Landis (R/C)
• Robert Sipos (D)
• Katherine Barnhart (D/Forestburgh First)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Dan Hogue Jr. (D/C/I)
• Joe Ruggeri (R)
FREMONT
Fremont’s town board has suffered two recent, unexpected losses of incumbent councilmen, both of whom planned to run for re-election before their untimely deaths. So that’s shifted the race a bit, though voters continue to have a range of choices.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent George Conklin III (R/C)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Mesa Greier (D/Rural Heritage)
• Diane Hess (R)
For Town Justice:
• Frank Armstrong (D/R/C)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Sam Avrett (D/RH)
• Kate Sykes Bowers (D/RH)
• Louis Milucky (R)
• Brian Brustman (R)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Joe Niero (D)
• John Hubert (R)
For Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Loreen Gebelein (D)
HIGHLAND
Highland has nary a contested race this year.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Andrew Boyar (D/C)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Doreen Hanson (D/C)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Kathryn Sweeney (D/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Scott Hallock (D/R/C/I)
• Donald Haas (D/R/C/I)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Thomas Ebers (D/C)
LIBERTY
For their town board and court, Liberty voters will have important decisions to make.
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Harold Bauman (D/I)
• John Lennon Jr. (R/C/I)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Chris Austin (R/I)
• Constantine Chanov (D/WF)
• Brian McPhillips (D/C)
• Russell Reeves (R/C/I)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Timothy Pellam (D/R/C/I)
LUMBERLAND
Who’ll be sitting in the supervisor’s seat, plus two town board seats, will be up to Lumberland’s voters.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Nadia Rajsz (D/C/I)
• Ron Thiele (R)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Virginia Horn (D/R)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Charles Fallon (D/R)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent James Akt (D/R/C)
• Martha Tully (D/C)
• Jenny Mellan (R)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Donald Hunt Jr. (R/I)
MAMAKATING
It’s unusual enough that Mamakating has three people vying for the supervisor’s seat, but in fact every race in the town is contested this year.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Harold Baird (C/I)
• William Herrmann (D/Rural Heritage)
• John Moul (R/Mamakating Coach)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Marcelle Matthews (R/C/I/WF)
• Cynthia Dolan (D/RH)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Regina Saunders (R/C/I)
• Brenda Giraldi (D/RH)
• Matt Taylor (D/RH)
• Michael Robbins (R/C)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Riley “Buddy” Platt (D/RH)
• Vincent Lamendola (R/C/I)
NEVERSINK
It’s a busy election season in Neversink, with several important races featuring multiple candidates.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Mark McCarthy (D/C)
• Don Starner (R/I)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Lisa Garigliano (D/R/C/I)
For Town Justice:
• Mary Grace Conneely (D/I)
• Brian Edwards (R/C)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Richard Coombe Jr. (R/C/I)
• Incumbent Michael Mullen (R/C/I)
• Donna Schick (D)
For a vacated Town Councilperson seat (separate from the other Council races):
• Jesse Noren (R/I)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Preston Kelly (D/R)
ROCKLAND
There’s just one contested race in Rockland this year, and it’s for one of two seats on the town board.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Edward Weitmann (D/C)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Peter Feinberg (D/C)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Incumbent Judy Newman (D)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Robert Eggleton (D)
• Edwin Edwards (D)
• Charles Irace Jr. (R)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Theodore Hartling (D/R/C)
THOMPSON
Perhaps the most-watched town races in the county are in Thompson, where voters will make critical choices for their leadership.
For Supervisor:
• William Rieber Jr. (D/C)
• Ramon Cedeira (R/Thumbs Up)
• Gerald Fielding (I)
For Town Clerk:
• Incumbent Marilee Calhoun (D/R/C/I)
For Town Justice:
• Incumbent Martin Miller (D/I)
• Sharon Jankiewicz (R/C)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Richard Sush (D/C/I)
• John Pavese (D/New Beginning)
• Michael Croissant (R/I)
• Jay Rubin (R/C)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Richard Benjamin Jr. (R/C/I)
TUSTEN
Tusten’s one of only two towns in Sullivan County where every single race is contested, making for a wide variety of choices for voters.
For Supervisor:
• Incumbent Carol Ropke Wingert (R/I/Rural Heritage)
• Bernard Lohmann (D/C)
For Town Clerk/Tax Collector:
• Nicole Peters (D)
• Debra Wasylyk (R/C)
For Town Justice (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Carmine Rufrano (D)
• Incumbent Thomas Nuttycombe (D/R/C/I/RH)
• David Casey (R/I/RH)
• Charles Hoffman (C)
For Town Councilperson (two seats are open):
• Incumbent Edward “Ned” Lang (R/C)
• Jane Luchsinger (D)
• Andrea Reynosa (D/I/RH)
• Richard Pierce (R)
For Highway Superintendent:
• Incumbent Glenn Swendsen (R/RH)
• Lewis Meckle III (C)
VILLAGE OF WOODRIDGE
The only village in Sullivan County to hold its elections in November, Woodridge has only one race – but a hot one, featuring three experienced politicians – for two open trustee seats on its board:
• Incumbent Leni Binder (People’s Choice)
• Incumbent Isaac “Yits” Kantrowitz (People’s Choice)
• Louis Saperstein (Ultra)