| Shortly after Gov. Dean ended his Presidential campaign we hosted him for a speech in Albany, NY. During this speech he urged, as he always did, that we each look around us and see how we could get involved. Run for office yourself, he said. Or, join your local democratic committee. Or, work on behalf of a local candidate.
For me the opening was obvious. There was no Democratic Committee in my town and hadn't been in about 8 years. So I spoke with a few folks I knew in town that felt as I did and we formed a committee. Our first task was to win the town for John Kerry in 2004.
86.4% of Democrats turned out to vote in 2004. 78.8% of the entire town showed up to vote. George Bush won this very Republican town but only by a total of 38 votes, 692-654, when it was all totaled up.
In 2003 the republicans ran unopposed in town elections with votes totals ranging from 343-0 to 411-0.
In 2005 we held our local town and county elections. We ran 2 young men for Town Council and both won by almost a 2 to 1 margin.
Chris Demick - Stephentown Town Councilman (496 votes - 262)
P.J. Roder - Stephentown Town Councilman (459 - 298)
Incumbent Democrtic Town Justice Cyril Grant ran on both lines with 375 votes on the Democratic line to 373 on the Republican line.
We also elected a man named Bob Jacon, a Dean supporter, to a newly created County Judgeship. This position had been created at the behest of State Senate Majority Leader and County Boss, Joe Bruno, so he could shuffle his hand-picked, incompetent, District Attorney into it. We beat him in the town and the rest of the county.
In 2006 we elected Kirsten Gillibrand to Congress...
(of course we had a little help)
... and Eliot Spitzer to Governor of New York by overwhelming margins.
This year we are running a slate of 4 candidates for Town Offices:
Terry Sykes for Highway Superintendent
Bill Jennings for Town Council
Scott McEwan for Town Council
and me, Andrew C. White, for Town Supervisor.
The Supervisors seat is an open one as 16 year incumbent Mike Angley is retiring. First term Councilman, Tom Sherman, is running on the Republican line against me for Supervisor. Incumbent Councilman Larry Eckhardt will be joined by Independence Party member Mark Prescott for Town Council. Incumbent Highway Superintendent Neil Gardner is also running for re-election... for now at least.
"All Politics is Local" a wise and experienced politician once said. He was right. Another, currently Chair of the Democratic National Committee has strongly advocated a policy of challenging Republicans everywhere.
Stephentown is considered a Republican bastion. A small rural hilltown with about 1750 voters. There are just under 700 Republicans, just over 400 Democrats, a smattering of third party members, and about 460 unaffiliated voters. Ever since we started working this town in 2004 those unaffiliated voters have shown where their real interests are by voting Democratic at all levels of government.
In fact a small but significant number of Republicans in town have been consistently voting Democratic as the Republican party has moved further and further away from the values that it once held.
Stephentown (pdf map) is in the southeast corner of Rensselaer County, the home of the highest ranking Republican left in New York, Uncle Joe Bruno. Rensselaer County has a roughly 50-50 split of Democratic and Republican voters but is dominated by Republicans at the town, city, county, and state levels of government due to Joe Bruno's control of the purse strings and his minions manipulation and control of third parties (and, on occasion, some demorats as well).
We are on the verge of taking the most Republican of towns out from under Uncle Joe thereby setting the stage for the end of Uncle Joe's career and obstruction of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and reform minded Democratic State Senators from actually working on solving the dysfunction of New York State government.
At the same time we strengthen the hold of newly elected Democratic Representative Kirsten Gillibrand on her district.
It's all local.
Locally, what this campaign is really all about, is modern day republicanism writ small. Cronyism, closed government for the benefit of a few rather than all citizens in town. As seen in the article linked above there appears to be some serious issues of possible illegal activity, corruption, fraud, unpermitted mining, cronyism, no-bid contracts, etc in the Highway Department. The State Attorney General's office has just accepted a plea deal with one player and appears to be poised to charge the incumbent Highway Superintendent. The Town Council has previously looked the other way until various parts started to become public. Attempts by the new Democratic members to reign in the abuses have been shunted to the side and they have been locked out of the decision making process.
Stephentown is a beautiful rural hilltown...
... with some of the best people. We have a rich history, a great location boarding a state park, ski resorts, Shaker History, Revolutionary War battle sites, a great hiking trail along the Taconic Ridge, attractions across the border in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and an easy drive to both Pittsfield, Mass, and Albany, NY.
Yet we take advantage of none of it. We have very few businesses in town. People driving through see no reason to stop and browse around or spend their money here. There are few job opportunities for our kids.
And as my opponent was forced to admit at the Town Budget hearing Monday night... "We have no plan."
We do... and we intend to change all that. Along with the other folks on our slate...
... we intend to take a close look at what has worked in other successful small towns. We'll look at what natural resources we have. We'll solicit input from everyone in the community on what they would like to see Stephentown become as we approach our 225th (2009) and 250th (2034) Anniversaries. We'll work hard to development that vision into a plan for the town. Small business, community development, opportunities for our kids, ourselves, and our vistors.
This is what it is all about. We can do it here. And if we can do it here. You can do it whereever you are.
UPDATE:
I have been endorsed by my U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand:
"Andrew White is an innovative, selfless, and strong leader for his community. He is a dedicated, thoughtful, and passionate individual who will work tirelessly for you everyday and in your best interest. "
Kirsten E. Gillibrand
(NY 20)
|
