Trustees Hotaling and Cardona re-elected

VOORHEESVILLE — With little more than 100 residents turning out to vote in Tuesday’s uncontested election, incumbent trustees William Hotaling and David Cardona kept their seats and were elected to new four-year terms.

The village has about 2,800 residents.

“I really enjoy what I do with the village and the people I work with,” Cardona told The Enterprise this week. “I feel like I can make a difference.” Cardona was appointed to the board in 2004. He works for the state court system, serving as chief clerk for Albany family court. He received 99 votes Tuesday, according to unofficial election results.

“I just love the village,” Hotaling said. He will begin his fourth four-year term in April. “I like the people here. I was born here,” he said. “I worked here for 29 years.” Hotaling, who serves as deputy mayor, retired from the village as superintendent of public works. He received 108 votes this year.

There were no write-in votes, according to Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Karen Finnessey.

“Dave and I are just part of a board that really cares for the village and everyone who lives in it,” Hotaling said.

Cardona is the budget officer for the village, working for the next few months on the 2011-12 budget to be adopted this summer.

“That’s always a lot of work,” Hotaling said. “We’re working on our budget now. We’ll keep it as low as we can.”

“The biggest thing everyone is faced with is the current fiscal situation, keeping the budget under control. That’s what I hope to continue,” Cardona said. “I’m going to continue to monitor the budget very closely.”

Election budget

The village declined to have the Albany County Board of Elections regulate its election this year.

“The villages got an extension” on the state law requiring use of electronic ballot machines, Democratic Commissioner Matthew Clyne told The Enterprise. “The only question is the use of the machines — what machines you’re going to use,” he said. Only two villages chose to use the new electronic ballots in Albany County, Clyne said; Altamont and Menands both went through the board of elections.

Voorheesville chose to use a paper ballot, Clyne said, noting that the form was similar to an absentee ballot.

“It would have cost us $500 just to print the ballots for 100 people,” Finnessey said this week. The village budget for elections is only $500, she said.

“We knew we were only going to get about 100 people, so we created a ballot according to the NYCOM [New York Conference Of Mayors] book. We created a whole new paper ballot [following] the criteria of New York State Law,” Finnessey said. “We had an oval they had to fill in.”

The election cost the village $220, she said. Each of two elections officers were paid $100 each, and the village bought them dinner. The ballots, themselves, were drafted and printed on village letterhead out of the general office supplies budget.

“Had [the election] been contested, we would have probably gone the other route,” Finnessey said about using the new ballot machines.

Future plans

Both Hotaling and Cardona look forward to upcoming projects.

“We’ve been working with the sewer line on Maple Avenue,” Hotaling said. “They’ll start boring, again, as soon as the frost is out of the ground. We want to get the sewer cleaned up. We’re always looking for new water areas.” Hotaling is the board’s planning commission liaison.

Hotaling and Cardona both volunteer with the fire department. Cardona referred to the independent study being conducted to determine if a new fire truck is needed in the village.

“I’m anxious to see how the study comes out,” he said.

“I’m also going to take a close look at the parks,” said Cardona, the recreation representative for the board. “I don’t want to throw money away, but [the village should] clean up the parks a bit, and make them a little more user-friendly. I plan to do that.”

During his last term, Hotaling said, the board decided to upgrade meters on village homes and replace the old bridge on Pine Street.

He praised residents and fellow board members.

“They all care about the village. It’s a great place to do this kind of work,” Hotaling said. “I’ll probably be here to the end.”