Slate in flux: Democrats pitch Peter Barber

Enterprise file photo — Melissa Hale-Spencer

Peter Barber, at an event this month supporting Nick Viscio for Albany County Legislature, confirmed this week that he has officially received the Guilderland Democratic Committee’s endorsement for town supervisor.

GUILDERLAND — After long-time Supervisor Kenneth Runion announced last month that he would not be seeking re-election in the fall, notable town Democrats scrambled for the party’s nod.

Current town board members Al Maikels and Brian Forte, zoning board of appeals Chairman Peter Barber, and former executive director of the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce and Community Caregivers Kathy Burbank all interviewed for the spot.

Barber, an attorney, confirmed this week that he had received the Democratic Committee’s endorsement, and said that Runion and Maikels would be on the ballot for the town board seats. Burbank expressed surprise that Runion had been selected for that role.

Runion, however, told The Enterprise on Wednesday that he had “contemplated it” and decided he would not be accepting the nomination.

He said he had been trying to contact the town’s Democratic Committee Chairman David Bosworth to let him know of his decision, but had not been able to do so. The Enterprise was also unable to reach Bosworth for comment.

Runion made the decision to retire after 16 years as town supervisor because, he said, he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family, including his new granddaughter.

When he heard that there would be a vacancy on the town board, he thought it might be a role he could fill because it would be part-time and flexible.

“Some circumstances have changed in the past few days,” said Runion on Wednesday. One of the changes includes having a pending sale on his house.

“It just wouldn’t be a good time for me to run a campaign,” he said.

The vacancy on the town board he referred to is Brian Forte’s seat; Maikels, an accountant, will seek to keep his seat. 

“If the people I have worked with for many years don’t think I’m the right fit, then I trust their opinion,” Maikels said, of not receiving the endorsement for supervisor.

Forte told The Enterprise he had interviewed for the position of supervisor, and, when he did not get the endorsement, was told by the Democratic committee he was “not allowed” to interview to keep his seat on the town board.

He said he did not know why the party was not interested in him as an incumbent board member.

Last month, when Runion announced his retirement, Forte told The Enterprise “I have been assuming I will be the candidate.”

 

Brian Forte, a registered Democrat, did not receive his party’s endorsement for town supervisor, and may run on the Republican ticket instead.

 

Forte had announced at a town board meeting in February that he planned to run for supervisor; at the same time, he apologized to the community for an arrest that was made in December, when he operated a snowmobile while intoxicated.

Forte said this week that, after he did not receive the nod for supervisor from the town’s Democratic Committee, he was approached by the town’s Republican Committee and asked to run for supervisor on its ticket.

The chairman of the Republican Committee, Douglas Breakell, said this week the decision for Forte to interview stemmed from a “mutual connection.”

Breakell declined to confirm whether Forte would definitely get the Republican Party’s endorsement for supervisor. He said several people had interviewed for the position, and an official decision would be made on Monday.

In order to run on the Republican ticket, Forte would need to be granted a Wilson Pakula — a 1947 act written by Malcolm Wilson, then a state assemblyman and later New York’s lieutenant governor, and Irwin Pakula, a state senator. The Wilson Pakula Act requires candidates not enrolled in a particular party to receive permission from party officials to run. 

“I don’t know that running on the Republican line would change my views at all,” said Forte. “I’ve always been a fairly conservative Democrat.”

Runion had switched from the Republican to the Democratic Party early in his career. The town of Guilderland had long been Republican but is currently roughly divided into thirds — Democrats, Republicans, and those who are not enrolled or enrolled in a small party.

Running for supervisor, Forte said, is something he “has always aspired to do,” and, having worked for the town in various capacities — including as a police officer — for more than 30 years, he believes he has a good working knowledge of the community.

He said he is dedicated to transparency, and he champions smart, responsible development, fiscal restraint, and increased services.

“I still have the best interests of the town at heart,” said Forte, regardless of which party line he runs on.

Barber told The Enterprise he was surprised by Forte’s potential decision to run on the Republican ticket.

“He can do what he wants to do,” said Barber. “I know Brian. I like Brian. I just don’t know where he stands right now, so I guess we will see.”

Barber also said that, if he is successful in his race, he hopes to continue what Runion has set into motion over the past 16 years. He called Runion an “outstanding steward for the town.”

He said he would be interested in promoting more shared services, and in “preserving the quality of the town while promoting its growth.”

Former Republican town board member Mark Grimm, who ran a close but unsuccessful campaign for supervisor against Runion in 2013, told The Enterprise last month that he was “definitely considering” making another run, and that he would decide soon.

Breakell told The Enterprise this week that Grimm had interviewed for several positions and would be on the ballot “somewhere,” but he declined to name a position. Grimm could not be reached for comment.

Other potential candidates in the mix for the Republican ticket include Michele Coons and Lee Carman, who each have made a run for the town board in the past — Coons in 2011 and Carman in 2013.

Coons, a registered Conservative, worked as town comptroller in 1998 and 1999 during the Jerry Yerbury administration, and works as the merchant services manager for the Retail Council of New York State.

In her 2011 campaign, she focused on responsible development and attracting more businesses by streamlining government.

Carman, the minority leader in the Albany County Legislature and the vice president of financing at Kinderhook Bank, said during his last campaign that it was “most important to expand the tax base and be open to discussions with small businesses.”

Burbank said, after her experience with the Democratic Committee’s process, she would not be supporting the Democratic candidates.

“I would support a ticket that included Forte, Coons, and Carman,” she said.

She was disappointed in how the decision-making was handled, she said, after Bosworth approached her back in November and encouraged her to run for supervisor.

“I was not thinking that’s what he would ask, but the more I talked to people, everyone was so enthusiastic about it,” said Burbank.

She ended up leaving her job with Community Caregivers so she could focus on the campaign, she said.

She said she was not made aware that there were any other candidates interested in running for the position except for Brian Forte.

“I know it is an election, but I counted on the committee to determine who was running or not and communicate it not only to the whole committee, but to other candidates,” said Burbank.

She said it was unclear who the 60 members of the Guilderland Democratic Committee are, and that candidates only interviewed with a panel of roughly 10 members, even though all committee members voted on the endorsement.

The few committee members with whom she was familiar had been unaware she was even interviewing for the position until right before the vote, she said.

“I am very disappointed in the representatives of my party for putting up such a town hall insider slate of candidates,” she said.

That, she said, is why she’s backing the Republican candidates.

“If you look at both slates, one is new faces and diverse backgrounds out in the community, and the other is the same old status quo,” Burbank said. 

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