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.
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. (Click here to read the candidate profiles for town councilor candidates.) 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 supervisor organized by alphabetical order of last names:
Town Supervisor
Ed Michalenko
Political Affiliation: Democrat, Working Families and Veterans Party.
Educational background and professional history: Former high school biology and chemistry teacher and adjunct professor; received a Ph.D. in environmental science from ESF; professional career dedicated to identifying the impacts of chemicals released to the environment; co-authored five books and over 40 technical publications; performed research for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, National Library of Medicine Hazardous Substance Database, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, Onondaga Lake Partnership, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation; recipient of 2008 and 2012 EPA Environmental Quality Awards; President of the Onondaga Environmental Institute, worked with many others for over 30 years on the cleanup of Onondaga Lake.
Community service and previous political office history: Founding director of the Fiddlers Green Park Association, board director for the DeWitt Limited Development Corporation; Holy Cross Lector and volunteer CYO athletic director and boys varsity basketball coach; science fair judge, environmental classroom and seminar lecturer, field experience instructor, and nature interpretive hikes for local colleges, high schools and community organizations. Former DeWitt Town Board member, current town supervisor.
Why are you running for town supervisor?
I run because I love this community and want to continue many projects and programs I initiated as your supervisor. I’ll continue to maintain wise fiscal management: i.e., no tax increase for 2018 and further our string of 10 years with an annual average budget increase less than 1 percent. My main objectives for the future: finish Carrier Park; implement a deer cull commencing this winter; complete construction of a 2MW solar farm on the town landfill; purchase and convert street lighting to LED for long term savings; further develop flood management projects; enhance financing strategies to support our police, fire and ambulance first responders. There is much yet to be done.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
I am generally in favor but they have to make sense for Dewitt. We have consolidated DeWitt and East Syracuse police, dog control with the SPCA and clerk’s and tax receiver’s offices. We share resources and cooperate across several municipal DOTs, highway, and police departments. Smaller governments are typically closer to the public and more responsive. We need to ask: what would be the ideal form of local government for each service? Then work to build that structure anew, rather than dissolve existing units into one another.
What do you see as the biggest issues DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
Economic and environmental sustainability. I have and will continue to focus on our local economy and maintaining the tax base, while working on numerous environmental issues that are critical to our community. I have worked diligently on the INFICON, Byrne Dairy, Feldmeier and Terradiol projects to secure jobs and the tax base.
The Carrier Park project is synergistic with our more than 30 hotels and can provide over $2.5 million of economic activity annually. My “zombie property” initiative is the only municipal program to restore and return bank foreclosed and dilapidated homes to private ownership, helping to preserve property values and neighborhoods.
And finally, we are engaged in serious discussions with the owners of ShoppingTown to move forward with mixed-use redevelopment combining retail, professional office, and residential spaces similar to that of Mashpee Commons, MA.
What distinguishes you from your opponent?
My opponent has spent most of his energy playing politics by spreading falsehoods and manufacturing spurious attacks. While my opponent plays political games, I am hard at work for the people of the town of Dewitt. As in the past, I will run a positive campaign based on my accomplishments. See dewittdemocrats.org for a comprehensive list.
Gregory Scicchitano
Political Affiliation: Endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties.
Educational background and professional history: B.A from Hartwick College, J.D. from Widener University School of Law. Law Firm of Scicchitano Law, PLLC. Practicing attorney for 26 years with a primary focus on real estate.
Community service and previous political office history: DeWitt Town attorney for nine years. Counsel to State Senator John DeFrancisco for five years. I have never held elected political office.
Why are you running for town supervisor?
I am running for supervisor because the current supervisor has been on the DeWitt Town Board for over 20 years and quite frankly it is time for change. The town residents should have someone as their supervisor that has new ideas and a fresh perspective as to the direction the town could move in. I am running for supervisor because there has been a lack of transparency from the town in relation to tax dollars the town has spent and I believe that it is the duty of the supervisor to make residents aware of all spending that occurs.
What are your thoughts on consolidation/shared services within the town?
Consolidated services within the town are something that should be looked at if taxpayer money can be saved by not having duplicated services. However, consolidation should not be opted for if the services the residents want and are accustomed to are negatively impacted.
What do you see as the biggest issue DeWitt faces, and if elected, how would you address this?
I have been a proponent of working to have ShoppingTown redeveloped. The ShoppingTown site has tremendous potential to be a commercial tax base supernova that benefits the town due to its location. The current board and supervisor have allowed the mall to remain stagnant and have not embraced what the mall site could be.
Instead, it appears the current administration has a vision of turning the site into some urban park-like setting with bike paths, sidewalks and apartments among other things. This vision is a disaster and will forever change the complexion of the site and the town itself. I will seek a redevelopment plan like that seen in Fayetteville (Town Center) and Camillus (Township 5).
What distinguishes you from your opponent?
I have a law practice in DeWitt and being self-employed I can balance being at town hall two to four days a week which the current supervisor does not do and has not done in the past.
