On Nov. 3, voters in the town of DeWitt will get the opportunity to cast their ballots for the town supervisor, town clerk and three town councilor positions. Each race is contested. For town supervisor, incumbent Democrat Ed Michalenko running against Republic candidate Greg Scicchitano; for town clerk, incumbent Democrat Angela Epolito is running against Republican candidate Patricia MacCasland; for town council, incumbents Kerry Mannion and Karen Docter, both Democrats, are running for reelections in their seats. Current town board member Jack Dooling (D) is not seeking reelection. Three other candidates running for town board are Mike Durkin, a Republican, Dan Wagner, a Republican, and Sam Young, a Democrat. Currently, the seven-seat DeWitt Town Board is made up entirely of Democrat members.
The staff at the Eagle Bulletin feels that it is important for voters to be informed of their candidates when it comes to local elections. Candidates in each race were given identical questionnaires and asked to respond and return for publication in the paper prior to the election. Here are the responses from the candidates for the town supervisor and town clerk races. Town councilor candidates were printed in last week’s issue. Candidates and their responses are listed in alphabetical order.
Town Clerk Candidates
Angela Epolito
Party affiliation(s): Democratic, Conservative and Veterans
Political experience: My personal political experience began during last year’s election. I am beyond grateful for the endorsements and support that I have received from both the public and the political parties. I believe a respectable campaign from any party is one where the candidate runs on their experience, qualifications and vision.
Education: I received my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Onondaga Community College. I will receive my Bachelor’s Degree in Cultural Studies/Creative Writing this semester from Empire State College.
Family members: Fiancé Derek, and two children: Eliza, who attends Onondaga Community College and Robert, who attends East Syracuse-Minoa High School
Work experience/organizations involved with: I currently serve as the town clerk/tax receiver. I have been employed by the Town of DeWitt for 15 years. I have worked in the offices of Tax, Planning & Zoning and Comptroller, as the assistant to the supervisor, town manager and engineer. I was the secretary to the Zoning Board of Appeals for seven years. Other job responsibilities have included: website coordinator, events planner, purchasing agent, secretary to the Local Development Corporation and grants writer. I am a member of both the Town Clerk and Tax Receivers Association of New York and I am a Notary Public. Throughout the years, I have participated in a number of town functions and events as a volunteer, such as, Green-Up to Clean-Up, DeWitt Sustainability Fair, the Carrier Park project and Canal Days. I am also a Boy Scout Leader for my son’s Boy Scout Troop; he will make his Eagle this year.
How long have you lived in DeWitt? I have lived in DeWitt my entire life, minus a couple of years when I lived in Central New York, outside of DeWitt. I was born and raised here, and my roots are firmly planted and invested in the town of DeWitt.
Why do you believe citizens should vote for you? I believe I am the right person for the job. I am a hard worker and dedicated to the residents and public that I serve. My extensive experience at the town enables me to spend time improving the office, rather than learning the many functions of the Town Clerk. I will continue to seek ways that improve efficiency and productivity while providing the best service possible to the residents, business owners and customers that I serve. This past year, I implemented a new tax collection software which allows faster processing of tax payments. I created a town Facebook page to increase public communication and cross-trained my staff to provide better customer service and create more of a team atmosphere. I reduced the staff during off-season months and began re-organizing the office files to decrease retrieval time.
What do you see the role of ‘town clerk’ being? The town clerk’s roles are numerous. He or she is the official record keeper of the town. To me, this is one of the most important roles. Our town’s history, laws, decisions, contracts, policies, accounts, oaths and filings are the responsibility of the town clerk. Therefore, having a knowledge and understanding of all the town’s functions is imperative as town clerk. The town clerk takes minutes at town board meetings, processes Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, marriage licenses, passports, dog licenses, hunting and fishing licenses, handicap permits, solicitor’s permits, and games of chance permits. He or she is responsible for their budget and managing the staff in the offices of both the town clerk and tax receiver. As tax receiver, it requires processing tax payments, managing bank codes, corrections and bank accounts.
If elected, what would be your priority as Town Clerk be? I will continue to find additional ways to inform and involve the public. This includes increasing mailing notifications, updating the town website, and Facebook page. I plan to implement electronic filing where useful, and continue to re-organize the filing system. I will continue to inventory all of our active records. We already have an inventory of all of our inactive records, but these records do need to be organized in a more efficient way. The tax office did begin accepting credit cards this tax season, however the fees associated with using a credit card, especially online is too high. We have since switched to another company which will not eliminate the fees, but decrease them and also allow for e-checks. This will begin with the 2016 town and county tax bills.
What do you hope to bring to the town of DeWitt? I am not running for office because I have political ambitions, but because I believe I am the right person for the job. My responsibility is to serve the public. I started working for the town at the age of 21, on a part-time basis in the tax office, and worked my way to where I am today. I have grown working at the town, figuratively and literally. I have gained knowledge that only comes with time. When a challenge presents itself, I pursue it. I look for solutions instead of obstacles. I try my hardest to assist residents and co-workers. If I don’t know the answer, I will find it. If I can’t assist them, I try to find someone who can. “That is not my job” is not in my vocabulary. People often say that I am always smiling. I can’t help it, I love my job! I am proud of where I live and work. So, my hope is to continue bringing my service, commitment, motivation, enthusiasm, and pride to the Town of DeWitt. And, my smile!
Patricia A. MacCasland
Party affiliation(s): Republican, Independent
Political experience: None
Education: BA in Sociology and BS in Accounting
Family members: Daniel [Bill] Snow, Husband; Brian Mandara, Son; Jonathan Allen, son and Nicholas Allen, grandson
Work experience/organizations involved with: PB&J Accounting, a Dewitt based business. I was an accountant for an Economic Development Non-Profit Organization and served as Vice President of Business Development for that organization; I also served as the Accounting Manager for a California resort and was an accountant for Syracuse CPA firm.
I have been actively involved with Boy Scouts of America [Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts] for about 18 years in various positions of leadership. My son Brian is an Eagle Scout.
I am proficient with QuickBooks and am an Intuit Gold level Pro-Advisor.
How long have you lived in DeWitt? I have been a Dewitt homeowner for 19 years.
Why do you believe citizens should vote for you? I believe that the concerned citizens of the town of Dewitt should vote for me as the next town clerk as I would bring independence and integrity to the office. There is currently a lack of independence and certainly a conflict of interest in the current situation as the present town clerk acts also as the secretary to the supervisor. If I am elected I will be serving the people as the town clerk. I will carry out the fiduciary responsibilities of the position and keep it independent. By electing me, the citizens will make the choice for an independent and accountable town clerk. My accounting background also provides me with unique qualifications to serve as the tax receiver.
What do you see the role of ‘town clerk’ being? We all know from our contact with the town clerk that there are a variety of duties associated with the position [marriage licenses, dog licenses,], but I feel that the most important role is to keep accurate and secure records for the town. By the nature of the office, the town clerk must protect these records. In addition, the town clerk is the tax receiver, thereby helping to collect the millions of dollars needed to run the town. These two responsibilities comprise what I see as the main roles of the town clerk.
If elected, what would be your priority as Town Clerk be? My priority as town clerk would be to create and maintain the necessary independence of the office to make sure that there is a no conflict of interest. In addition, I would continue to strive to keep this office an elected position so that even with the change of party control from time to time, the town clerk could maintain stability of the office.
What do you hope to bring to the town of DeWitt? As an accountant I have always maintained a high standard of accuracy, integrity and security in accounting, payroll and tax preparation. I would bring the same to the position of town clerk and tax receiver.
