There’s a distinct choice between the candidates for Cobleskill mayor. The two men running couldn’t be more different from one another.
One similarity is deputy mayor. Mark Galasso is deputy mayor now; Sandy MacKay was deputy mayor from 2005 to ’09.
Both candidates are seeking to complete the term of resigned mayor Mark Nadeau. Interim Mayor Ted Brinkman is filling the post until the November election.
Mr. MacKay is running because he’s “worried about the direction the village is taking.” Mr. Galasso and former Trustee Bob LaPietra, Mr. MacKay said, led an effort to get consolidation of the town and village on the ballot in 2009.
When that didn’t work, “they tried to dismantle the village piecemeal,” Mr. MacKay said.
By “piecemeal,” he meant Mr. Nadeau and Mr. Galasso criticized the planning board, proposed zoning changes for parks and suggested having the county sheriff take over the police department.
“They tried to take away everything a village does,” Mr. MacKay said, “and pretty soon, people would say, ‘Why have a village?’
“I’m receptive to the notion of consolidation, but it has to be done right.”
Mr. Galasso, in his fifth year as a trustee on the board, doesn’t sees those efforts as destructive. Instead, he sees them as attempts to make government smaller––and cheaper.
Schoharie County, he said, has too many small municipal governments.
“We should be working together to reduce property taxes rather than fighting each other over the scraps,” he said.
Mr. Galasso is running because he sees Cobleskill in decline. Economic development will reverse the trend, he said.
Mr. Galasso’s short answer for why he’s running is “Lowe’s,” a reference to the retail giant that abandoned its Cobleskill plans because village officials then insisted that the site for the store be annexed to the village before it received water and sewer service.
Former mayor Mike Sellers and Mr. MacKay demanded annexation, Mr. Galasso pointed out.
“It’s a historical problem in our community,” Mr. Galasso said. “Leaders felt they were doing what was best for the village without considering the concerns of the whole community.
“Would Lowe’s have helped the village even if it was in the town? Of course it would.”
Jobs are key to Cobleskill’s turnaround, and Mr. Galasso said that having a government that retains businesses and draws others in is essential.
To that end, he would work with neighboring towns to create water districts to sell them village water and sewer services. The revenue would aid the village and would encourage business development, Mr. Galasso said.
Mr. MacKay countered that by selling water without annexing nearby land, the village is surrendering its resources without gaining any tax base.
And, he added, if the village did sell water, the revenue would go in the water fund and wouldn’t reduce taxes.
Mr. MacKay favors economic development, too, but said it must be balanced with quality of life issues that attract people to small towns.
A longtime planner who’s worked with many small communities, Mr. MacKay insisted that quality of life is a recurring theme.
“Call it history, ambiance, quality of life. . .people want to preserve their small-town atmosphere,” Mr. MacKay said.
“Quality of life and economic development are in tension with one another, and they should be. We want economic development, but we want other things, too. There has to be a balance.”
Mr. Galasso had a different take on quality of life.
“You can’t have quality of life without economic development,” he said. “You can’t have quality of life without a job.”