By Hayleigh Gowans
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters in DeWitt will have the opportunity to select their choice of candidate for the town supervisor, town justice, town clerk, highway superintendent and three town councilor seats.
For town supervisor, Republican Gregory Scicchitano will again challenge incumbent Democrat Ed Michalenko. In 2015, these two candidates ran against each other with Michalenko winning the seat with 52.62 percent of the vote. The term for this seat is two years. (Click here to read the town supervisor candidate profiles.)
For town councilor, there are three seats up for grabs. Incumbent Democrats Kerin Rigney and Joe Chiarenza seek reelection to their seats, and former Democrat town board member Jack Dooling seeks to again be elected to a seat. Republican Mike Durkin and Conservative Bernard Ment seek to also be elected to these seats. Democrat Jamie Frank will not seek reelection to his seat.
Incumbent Republican Bob Jokl will seek reelection to his seat as town justice. Karen Docter, a Democrat who is currently serving on the town board for a term that ends in 2020, has chosen to instead run as the Democratic challenger for town justice. (Click here to read the town justice candidate profiles.)
Incumbent Democrat Angela Epolito seeks uncontested reelection to the town clerk seat, and incumbent Republican Rocco Conte will also run unopposed for the highway superintendent seat.
Polls on Election Day will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. For more information about the elections, go to ongov.net/elections/index.html.
The Eagle Bulletin distributed uniform candidate questionnaires for all of the contested elections in DeWitt.
Following are the responses of town board candidates organized by alphabetical order of last names:
Town Councilor (Pick 3)
Joe Chiarenza
Political Affiliation: Conservative, Democratic and Veterans Party endorsements.
Educational background and professional history: Graduate of ESM High Schools, SUNY Morrisville and College of Forestry at Syracuse University. I have 25-plus years operations manager of family business Twin Oaks Nursery.
Community service and previous political office history: Dewitt Advisory committee for 25 years, drainage committee, Dewitt Historical Society, 9/11 chairman, sustainability committee, past chairman of Dewitt Earth Day cleanup, tree committee, engineering committee, codfish board member, Sierra Club Dewitt procurement committee. I have served four years on town of Dewitt board.
Why are you running for a seat on the town board?
There are several reason that compel me to run for reelection to the DeWitt Town Board. I enjoy working with the residents, businesses and organizations in the town of DeWitt. I feel my work is not complete and look forward to helping the residents and business of DeWitt to maintain an excellent place to live, work, learn and play. I feel DeWitt is an integral part of the Ole Erie Canal system and it is vital to the growth of DeWitt and New York state. I enjoy being an advocate for the small businesses in DeWitt. Four years ago I promised DeWitt business owners that the town will be more accommodating to inspire small business growth.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
It sounds like a good idea, but the town of DeWitt has been sharing services already with Manlius, East Syracuse and Fayetteville long before the idea was brought up. In doing this, it helps to manage costs.
What do you see as the biggest issues DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
The biggest issue right now in DeWitt is the I-81 project. Removal of the elevated highway and going strictly with the grid will direct truck traffic, pollution, noise and carbon emissions into DeWitt. I am currently working on and in favor of keeping the traffic going through Syracuse and I feel it would have a tremendous economic impact to the city.
The state needs to build a depressed highway or tunnel system through Syracuse, in conjunction with the grid, this would allow traffic to flow easily through Syracuse and not to reroute the burden of traffic on I-481 which was not built to handle the capacity that I-81 is dealing with on a daily basis. DeWitt residents have spoke out on this matter and when reelected I will be carrying their message to the State of New York with the aid of our town supervisor and deputy supervisor.
What distinguishes you from the other candidates?
My background in construction is the biggest difference. I was born and raised in DeWitt and my family business, Twin Oaks Nursery, is 58 years strong. Being on the DeWitt Town Board for the past four years has allowed me to have foraged many wonderful relationships. I look forward to another four years of working with town residents and businesses when I’m reelected.
Jack Dooling
Political Affiliation: Endorsed by Democratic, Working Families and Veterans parties.
Educational background and professional history: St. John Evangelist and Powelson Business College Graduate.
Community service and previous political office history: Retired from Crouse Hinds after 37 years as purchasing manager. I’m a member of CNY Purchasing Agents Association. I’m currently on the board of directors for Vera House, Loretto, Codfish Group as well as a volunteer for all three agencies. I have volunteered 12 years for Vera House and Loretto. I also volunteer at PACE in East Syracuse and at St. Matthews Church as a lector and Eucharist Minister. I was a member of the DeWitt Town Board for four years from 2012-15.
Why are you running for a seat on the town board?
I am running for town board to improve the efficiency of the town and to improve the daily lives of our residents. My wife, Pam, and I were co-chairs for the 911 Memorial Ceremony in Sept 2017 which was a great success. A few examples of what I accomplished during my previous year term were: reducing engineering services cost by $245,000 by changing vendors; reducing the highway department costs by $21,000 per year; organizing a complete repair of the Andrews Road Bridge at no cost to DeWitt tax payers; get maintenance work on pumping stations; and getting the James Street Wegmans to install a wheelchair accessible pathway.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
I was part of the effort to consolidate the supervisor assistant job in the town clerk / tax collector position, which saved two positions. A review of engineering services used by the planning and zoning board can save the town greatly by using the same vendor.
What do you see as the biggest issues DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
We need to improve our tax base from the more than 30 hotel/motels in the town. Currently the county collects tax dollars from the huge number of hotels at Carrier Circle. The town gets zero monies back from the county. Since about 80 percent of the hotels/motels in the county are located in DeWitt this has to change. We should institute a town tax for the travelers where 100 percent of this goes back to the town. Dewitt is paying dearly with police and maintenance for this area of hotel/motels and getting nothing in return.
What distinguishes you from the other candidates?
I am retired and my schedule is my own. I have a lot more time to spend on town business than someone working a full time job. This was especially prevalent during my four years in office. I will do the same and more for the next four years.
Mike Durkin
Political Affiliation: Registered Republican. Endorsed by Republican, Conservative and Independence parties.
Educational background and professional history: Bachelor of Arts – Political Science, Hartwick College, ’95. I have over 20 years of sales and management experience. Currently, I am the Director of Brokerage Services for the CBD Companies based in downtown Syracuse where I’ve worked since 2010.
Community service and previous political office history: I am an active board member of Jamesville DeWitt Youth Athletics Association (2007 to present) and was co-director of JDYAA Lacrosse from 2009 to 2014. I have never held an elected office position.
Why are you running for a seat on the town board?
I am seeking the position for several reasons, but if I were to prioritize, first, our current board is not philosophically diverse enough. The current board members tend to share the same vision and ideologies, so there is minimal debate and exchange of alternative ideas. Second, I do not believe the board operates with enough transparency. And lastly, I am confident that my leadership experience will ensure that I am an effective and engaged board member for the greater good of the entire town.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
In general, I am a proponent for consolidation in government. For our town, I would suggest that we continually review and understand whether there are inefficiencies and duplication of services that can be improved upon. However, before implementing broad-brushed and sweeping changes, we must ensure that service and/or safety is not drastically compromised.
What do you see as the biggest issue DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
I believe our town must embrace and strengthen our commercial tax base. DeWitt is expansive and uniquely positioned with tremendous assets. We must acknowledge that while some our residents may have a 13078 or 13057 zip code, they too are DeWitt. With that in mind, let’s work with state and county government leaders to harness growth opportunities in these areas. And lastly, we must leverage our proximity to I-481 and I-81 with county, state and federal leaders before interstate highway decisions are made and it’s too late to protect our town from increased noise and pollution. Let’s think big.
What distinguishes you from other candidates?
I have over 20 years business, management and sales experience. As a result, I have learned first-hand how to lead, communicate, delegate and negotiate. Each of these attributes are vital principles that an effective board member must possess.
Bernard Ment
Political Affiliation: Conservative
Educational background and professional history: Self-employed owner of three successful businesses, freelance writer and published author.
Community service and previous political office history: Seven-term chairman of the Town of DeWitt Conservative Party, two term secretary of the Onondaga County Conservative Party. Former member of the East Syracuse Village Planning and Zoning Boards.
Why are you running for a seat on the town board?
For too long now, there has only been one political affiliation on the town board. Several members of the board seem to be more distracted with calling attention to other national or statewide issues than they do with the day-to-day necessities of running local government. It’s time we had leaders who are focused on the town, not the minimum wage or President Trump.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
Consolidation must be implemented if the community is going to survive, however it must be done efficiently and responsibly or the effort is doomed to fail. There are a number of ways East Syracuse can consolidate services with DeWitt and we must continue to explore those opportunities. Additionally, we may be able to share services with other towns or the county and fresh perspectives may help to define more of those opportunities.
What do you see as the biggest issue DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
The manufacturing base in DeWitt has dwindled since Magna closed and Carrier and Bristol reduced their facility footprints so the tax base has shifted to retail in the town, but the largest and most significant retail center, ShoppingTown, has received limited, if any, assistance from the town and could easily be revitalized with an influx of fresh ideas. What happens to ShoppingTown will impact the entire town tax base. Unless something is done soon, the community may have to absorb the lost revenue from a facility that was, at one time, one of the largest sources of municipal taxes in Onondaga County.
What distinguishes you from other candidates?
Put simply, I’m not a Democrat nor a Republican nor am I affiliated with either party so my allegiance is with the taxpayers. I can look at any proposal with a fiscally conservative slant without any political bias normally associated with the two major parties.
Kerin Rigney
Political Affiliation: Democrat, endorsed also by Working Families and Women’s Equality parties.
Educational background and professional history: Bachelor’s of Arts in Education and French, University of Delaware; taught French 12 years: Montessori School of Syracuse, Syracuse University and Cazenovia College. Over 13 years teaching business English and negotiating skills to foreign professionals with Syracuse-based educational business; teacher training manual author, teacher trainer and translator.
Community service and previous political office history: Councilor, DeWitt Town Board; commissioner, DeWitt Police Commission; chair, Comprehensive Planning Committee; chair, DeWitt Business Advisory; co-chair, Moving DeWitt; secretary and board member, Local Development Corporation; member, DeWitt Democrats; election inspector; member, DeWitt Rotary; volunteer for DeWitt Clean up, book drive, soup kitchen, Rotary Pancake Breakfast and Butternut Creek trail clean up.
Why are you running for a seat on the town board?
I’m running because I see the positive impact I have made during my time on the board. From passing a deer management plan to fighting the problem of vacant properties, to keeping our taxes stable, I see how my work has helped our town and residents. I would be like to continue using my energy and collaborative problem solving skills to help the residents of our town in the challenges ahead. I am deeply honored for this opportunity to serve my beloved community.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
The very job of local officials is to look for ways to keep services strong by making the most of each tax dollar. In DeWitt, we are constantly looking for ways to save money and streamline services through consolidation and have successfully consolidated services in the judicial system, finances, emergency and police service. Emphasis on government consolidation seems unnecessary but in the end, we should continue to work cooperatively with other municipalities to achieve the cost savings that we all seek.
What do you see as the biggest issue DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
DeWitt Leaders must be prepared and plan for what happens to I-81 and try to find ways to benefit or at least mitigate the effects of potential increased traffic. We, as one of the most impacted suburbs need to focus now on planning ways we can actually capitalize on this possible change to turn this potential negative impact into a positive for our residents. Are there ways this can actually help our economy? What negotiations could we do with the DOT to make this an improvement for us instead of a liability? What are ways we can mitigate any increase in noise and air pollution? How can we involve our residents in this discussion?
What distinguishes you from other candidates?
My record shows my willingness to listen to all sides with an open mind and thoroughly research the issues. To get results, I take every opportunity to educate myself on best practices in municipal government. Most importantly, I am distinguished because I’m not afraid to tackle big issues and to champion the best possible outcomes for our residents.
