Town supervisor candidate
Damian Ulatowski
Biographical information:
Republican, supervisor five years town of Clay, deputy supervisor two years, councilman since 1999,34-year resident of the town of Clay. Married to wife Mary Ellen 35 years; two children: A son Eric who lives in the village of North Syracuse and a daughter Elizabeth who makes her home on Long Island.
Why are you running for office?
I enjoy serving the residents of the town of Clay and, although challenging at times, find the job as supervisor to be rewarding as it provides me and the town board the opportunity to help shape the town of Clay into a community that our residents can call home, a community with a stable tax base, great schools, endless shopping and dining opportunities and an overall safe place to live, work and raise a family.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I feel that I am the best candidate because I have been serving the residents of the town of Clay for the past five years and have helped to maintain the town’s long standing history of providing good consistent government and fiscal responsibility. I have overseen the process that has led to holding down spending and worked within the state guidelines to stay within the parameters of the state tax cap. I am always available to meet with residents and the town staff knows that my door is always open should a resident happen to visit Town Hall with a question for the supervisor. I have visited many neighborhoods within the town to listen to resident concerns in an effort to assist them or at least help them understand how the town fits into the scope of their question.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
I have a few issues that I, together with the town board, would like to address over my next term in office. Our highways are deteriorating faster than we can keep up with them and with the ever-increasing cost of paving materials our paving budget is further restricted causing delays in accomplishing our goal. I will continue to work on this challenge in order to find a sustainable and variable long term solution to maintain our roads. Further, in an effort to maintain reasonable growth within the boundaries of Clay, balancing town, county and state demands on infrastructure and regulatory issues will challenge the supervisor’s office to come up with a solution that will help prevent an abrupt halt to future growth and development. I also believe in energy conservation and will again in a next term continue my pledge to bring green technologies to the town campus. As always, I embrace smart growth and together with developers, builders and visionaries in the town I feel the town of Clay will thrive and I will stay ever-vigilant at the helm.
Town clerk candidate
Jill Hageman-Clark
Biographical information:
My name is Jill Hageman-Clark. I am 51 years old. I have one daughter,
Jacquie, 20, a junior at SUNY Binghamton. For the majority of my life, I have been a resident in the town of Clay, growing up in Bayberry in the house where I have lived again for the past 12 years.
Why are you running for office?
I have held this position since I was appointed in March of 2009 and feel that I have more work to do.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I feel that over the past four and a half years I have not only learned a great deal but made a contribution to the town. I have worked hard to gain education and training related to my position and have recently received my registered municipal clerk designation in New York state. I feel that continuing training and education is crucial to this job and the town. In my time as town clerk I have worked hard to offer as many services as I can to the residents.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
As always we try to offer services and keep our budgets low, this is an ongoing challenge.
Tax receiver candidate
JoDee Kelly
Biographical information:
I am 47 years old, married with two grown children. I have worked for the town of Clay tax office for 26 years, the first ten as deputy receiver of taxes, and the last 16 as receiver of taxes. I have been endorsed by the Republican, Independence and Conservative parties. I have lived in the town of Clay for 35 years.
Why are you running for office?
I am running for this position because I enjoy serving the public on a local level, and providing the personal service that can be hard to find in government. I have come to know many of our taxpayers and I think I have earned their trust though my many years of service. They know they can come to with problems and questions concerning their taxes. I enjoy working in the community I have called home for so many years and I am proud to serve the residents of our town.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I think I am the best candidate because of my many years of experience in the office. I have participated in extensive education and training that is crucial for managing an office that collects over 100 million dollars a year in taxes. Our tax collections are governed by New York State Real Property Tax Law, and through my memberships in both the Onondaga County and the New York State Tax Receiver’s Associations, I am well versed in those laws.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
The major issue my department deals with is the rising cost of property taxes, and people having difficulty paying them. While we cannot control the amounts of their tax bills, we make sure they are aware of any exemptions they may qualify for, and guide them in the application process. We have also implemented a partial payment plan that many taxpayers take advantage of, and those with certain senior citizen exemptions have been granted an additional week to pay without penalty.
Town board candidates
Naomi Bray
Biographical information:
Occupation: Retired. Former staff member to Sen. Tarky J. Lombardi, Jr..; former regional representative for Gov. George Pataki.
Family: Widow.
Town resident since 1973.
Affiliations: Former board member for several regional not-for-profit organizations, including Syracuse Symphony Association and Alzheimer’s Association
Position: Clay Town Board
Endorsements: Republican, Conservative, Independence, Veterans
Why are you running for office?
As a town board member, I have taken very seriously the responsibility to carve out the meaningful decisions that determine the quality of living in our town. I hope to continue to be a part of the team to further reinforce Clay’s acknowledged high standards.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
During my tenure on the Clay Town Board, I have been a part of many special board projects, such as the total review and update of Clay’s Zoning Ordinance, our basic tool guiding development, and the North Country Land Use Plan for the area north of Route 31. I am coordinator of Clay’s activities to reclaim and develop the more than 85 acres the town has acquired in the historic Three Rivers area, which has, to date, seen the demolition of the dilapidated motel at Three Rivers Point and the contaminated asphalt tanks along Maider Road. My service has always exceeded minimal town board requirements, which I willingly offer.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
Clay has traditionally been a frugal town, which has given its residents one of the lowest tax rates in the county for many years. Our major concern ahead will be to keep town tax rates affordable while continuing to maintain quality services, specifically in view of the current state and federal budget uncertainties and the elimination of the town’s sales tax revenue. Additionally, town employee benefit packages and material costs are escalating. It all adds up to keeping a very cautious eye on the bottom line.
Nicholas Macaulay
Biographical information:
I work as a multi-function financial analyst at Lockheed Martin Corporation
and have been with the company for nine years. I graduated from Syracuse University Whitman School of Management with a bachelor of science degree in finance in 2003, and went on to earn my MBA degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Isenberg School of Management in 2005.
I am engaged to Jenna Gansworth and we will be married on June 14, 2014. Jenna is a class of 2012 graduate of Syracuse University College of Law. She and I both graduated from Syracuse University and decided to have our ceremony at Hendricks Chapel, about which we are both very excited. My parents are John and Maria Macaulay and live in Massena, where I am from before moving back to the Syracuse area to work at Lockheed Martin. John is retired after working as an engineer at GM Powertrain for 38 years. He also serves on the town board of the town of Massena, and has been a councilman for the last 15 years. Throughout the time that he worked, Maria was a stay-at-home mom. After his retirement and when their children were settled in their own careers, she went back to work as an elementary school secretary. My living grandparents, Dominic and Pauline Terminelli, also live in Massena. My grandmother is the youngest of four, the second and last to be born in America as her eldest two siblings were born in Italy. My grandfather came to America from Italy at age 17 in 1947. I have one sibling, my sister Natalie Macaulay, who also works at Lockheed Martin and is a resident of Clay.
I am a Democrat, 32 years old, and have lived in Clay since 2005. In 2007 I moved into my current home in the Kimbrook neighborhood in Clay.
Why are you running for office?
I am running for the town board to put my experience and ideas to work for the town of Clay in the service to our community. I believe that the board can do more to meet the needs of our town, as there will continue to be growing budgetary concerns and issues that will require solutions in the best interest of the taxpayer. As town councilman, I will work diligently to provide solutions to these issues that affect our residents. I strongly believe in the importance of civics and public service contributing to the growth and well-being of our community.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
My skills and experiences in business provide me with the required know-how to manage the issues and concerns that face the town. I have extensive experience in financial planning and analysis, project management, process improvement, budgeting, resource allocation, audit procedures and successfully working across multiple functional groups with varying interests — all of which are direct qualifications for the responsibilities of a town board member. I know that my proven leadership skills, results-oriented work ethic, strong commitment to high ethical and professional standards and flexibility in devising proactive responses to changing conditions would allow me to make significant contributions to the board and our community.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
The foremost major issue facing the town is the growing pressure on the budget. In nearly every community, local municipalities are struggling with continuing to provide expected services to its residents despite continually rising costs. Simultaneously, municipalities and its residents are strongly averse to raising taxes, and wisely so. Our community certainly cannot afford to raise taxes further. In order to deal with this problem some communities have begun to reduce or eliminate certain services in order to deal with budgetary constraints. I find this to be unacceptable, irresponsible and contrary to the fiduciary responsibility of an elected official whose obligation is the best interest of the taxpayer and residents that he or she serves. It is not the services itself that is the problem, but the cost of services that must be addressed. For example, as long as we’ve had roads and automobiles, we’ve required the service of plowing the roads when the snow piles high in the winter. If all of the sudden the cost of plowing is excessive to what the taxpayer can be expected to accommodate, is the solution to stop plowing the roads? Certainly not. The proper way to manage such an issue is to analyze and manage the various factors that affect the cost of that particular service. Given the industry that I work and my job responsibilities, I deal with such problems on a day-to-day basis where I am tasked with providing the best product for my customer (the taxpayer), while also satisfying the organization that is delivering the product (the town services). My intent is to take the successful results from my work experiences and bring this to the town board.
James Rowley
Biographical information (family, employer, political affiliation, age, number of years in home, etc.):
Wife — Tracy
Adult Children — Kaelyn, Justin, Mallory
Political Affiliation — Republican (also endorsed by the Conservative, Independence and Veterans parties)
Age — 52
Number of years in home — 22 (life resident of Clay though)
Employer — assistant superintendent of finance, Oneida City Schools. Formerly chief fiscal officer for Onondaga County and supervisor for the town of Clay.
Why are you running for office?
The challenge of being part of an elected group whose responsibility is to run an efficient, fiscally sustainable local government continues to intrigue and energize me. I truly love the challenge. I believe, from a broad perspective, the challenges facing all levels of government in the future are daunting and I aspire to use by background and experiences to assist in shaping solutions.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I have nearly 30 years of finance and accounting experience in both the private and public sector. My formal education includes a BS degree from Clarkson University, an MBA from Syracuse University and a permanent certificate in school business administration earned at SUNY Brockport.
I served on the Clay Town Board from 1995-2008 as councilor, deputy supervisor and supervisor, and I spearheaded the police consolidation effort while supervisor. I worked as chief fiscal officer for Onondaga County from 2008-13 and served during some difficult fiscal years, which included the renegotiation of the county’s sales tax sharing agreement between the county and other governmental entities. My present role as assistant superintendent gives me even broader exposure to government finance as well as practical experience in operations as I oversee maintenance, food service and transportation.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
As with other municipalities, the overriding issue facing Clay is one of long-term fiscal sustainability. Fiscal sustainability is ultimately derived from economic growth and, in my opinion, prospects for an improved upstate economy on a scale necessary to ensure the town’s ability to provide essential services at reasonable cost is not good. The tax and regulatory environment in which businesses in Central New York must operate is largely controlled, both directly and indirectly, at the state level. The history of polices coming from Albany designed to help the upstate economy, or conversely, policies enacted that detrimentally impact the upstate economy, has been dismal. I hope to use my experience and insight to assist Clay in navigating the fiscal challenges I believe are forthcoming.
James Southard
Biographical information:
Father of two sons. Life resident of Clay. Forty-five year member of Electrical Workers Local 43. I have worked all phases of electrical construction from journeyman to supervisor. Own Southard Racing, an auto performance business. I am a Democrat and proud of it. I believe in a working family.
Why are you running for office?
I think new ideas and need to be heard and all of Clay needs to be represented. I am tired of being a watcher and want to have a part in Clay’s future.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I am willing to be objective to other’s ideas and complaints about bettering our community.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
The cost of the town government. I would seek and unitize county and state bidding contracts and investigate consolidation of administration.
The charm of Clay seems to be disappearing through lack of planning our major highways and become unsafe to walk. I would seek grants from the federal for improvements for safety and appearance.
James Southard did not provide a photo.
William Weaver
Biographical information:
Married for 64 years and have six children, 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. I worked for the Clay Highway Department in the 1950s for five years. I then worked in construction for 20 years. I was employed with the Clay Highway Department as the highway superintendent for 34 and a half years. I’ve been on the town board for eight years and three months at the end of this term on Dec. 31.
Political affiliation: Republican.
I am 84 years old.
I have lived in my home at 4193 VerPlank Road, Clay, for 64 years.
Why are you running for office?
This town has been a big part of my life. I am familiar with just about every phase of it, allowing me to be in a position to make intelligent decisions.
Why are you the best candidate for this office?
I think for more than 40 years I have proven myself to be conservative and loyal to my job and would like to work at it for another four years.
I worked in construction for 20 years. I was then appointed highway superintendent in 1970 and served until July 8, 2004 with a budget of $4 million to $5 million a year. The budget was always controlled in a conservative manner. I was responsible for the maintenance and development of the parks. I was responsible for all building maintenance, drainage repairs, highway maintenance repair and new construction. I was also responsible for the purchase of new equipment for the highway and parks departments. I worked on the Historical Park and the Clay Senior Center building. I was chairman of the committee directing the new Town Hall building.
Since joining the town board, I have been on the Sign Committee, the North Area Land Use Study and a go-between to purchase land for the North Area Park.
I think my experience with the town of Clay has been very beneficial to my work on the town board. I also think the town of Clay is one of the best financially run towns in Central New York or even the state of New York.
I am also the liaison between the town board and the highway department. We also built two large pole barns to store equipment in. We rebuilt the old train station at the Historical Park. We moved the barn from across Route 31 and rebuilt it. We helped build the log cabin. We sawed the lumber and cut the trees for the cabin and hauled them back to the Historical Park. We put in a septic system and electric lines.
Perhaps the most important fact is that we always worked to provide services to the residents with a budget that has no frills.
What are the major issues facing the town, and what will you do to address them?
The sewage plants need updating the demands. Although this is a county problem, it affects growth in the town.
Keeping the budget in line and still providing service necessary to the public.
This is stuff we have worked hard to keep affordable taxes to the public.
Keep negotiating with the county to find solutions for sanitary sewage.
Keep negotiating with the union contracts for the town and employees.
