To the Editor:

Democrats, you can make your voices heard in the Democratic primary this June for two Guilderland Town Board seats. Town residents deserve to know who the candidates are and what they stand for.

Kevin McDonald and Christine Napierski are challenging the Guilderland Democratic Committee’s handpicked selections for the two town board seats.

Kevin is a dedicated family man and wants only the best for his community. He has 22 years of public service with the city of Albany and 20 years of union leadership. He has executive and problem-solving skills as well the ability to listen to problems and mediate fair settlements between parties of differing points of view.  

Kevin and his wife, Sarah, along with my husband and I and Red-Kap Sales were petitioners in a lawsuit against Pyramid and the town of Guilderland with regard to the Rapp Road apartments and Costco. Kevin personally participated in every meeting in person and tele-participated when COVID struck, speaking at every public opportunity.

We won this lawsuit. Judge Peter Lynch wrote a scathing decision that detailed numerous examples of Pyramid providing false and misleading information on the impact of its proposed development project.

Judge Lynch also found equally troubling that the Guilderland Planning Board accepted everything Pyramid claimed without taking a hard look at the application and failed to require that Pyramid offer scaled-down alternatives in order to minimize the negative impacts of its massive proposal on the environment and the community.

He also criticized the Guilderland Planning Board for failing to follow the State Environmental Quality Review Act process required by law, and declared its decision null and void. 

The fight Kevin showed during this lawsuit shows his willingness to fight for the residents of Guilderland. Kevin always maintained, “This was done on behalf of all the residents of Westmere Terrace along with the other negatively impacted residents and businesses by this development.”  

This is who Kevin is. Spearheading the fight for our neighborhood for two-plus years, he is now seeking to do more to protect the interests of all town residents and the town which he loves.

Clearly, the author of the letter to the editor printed last week, “The endorsed candidates have a record to run on” (whose many years of public service to the town had origins in his leadership of the grassroots movement FORCE — Friends Organized to Resist Crossgates Expansion), does not know his facts.

We know Kevin McDonald and all the things he has done to fight for his neighborhood and the residents of this town.

Christine Napierski introduced herself in a letter to the readership last week, “The choice is clear: Keep the status quo or vote for change.” A long-time resident dedicated to her family and community, she has 30 years of experience as an attorney and is a former Guilderland town justice.

When she encountered what she felt to be systemic unfairness in how the party’s political process operated, she brought a legal challenge to fight it. Christine has the determination to battle for the underdog, no matter how big or established the opponent. 

Kevin and Christine have a lot in common in that they both want to be advocates for the residents of Guilderland. They want open government with more transparency. They want responsible growth. They want to preserve what green space we have left with genuine mindfulness of environmental concerns.

They care about the future that we will be leaving to our children and grandchildren. These are just a few things that Kevin and Christine care about and want to fight for.

If you are concerned with the way our town government is being run and want to make a change, vote for Kevin McDonald and Christine Napierski.  

Lisa and Tom Hart

Guilderland