NEW SCOTLAND — Incumbent town Judge Thomas Dolin, a Democrat, is running for the fifth time, but this will be only the third time that he has an opponent.
"A number of people have not been happy with the behavior and actions of Judge Dolin," said Lance Luther the chairman of New Scotland’s GOP. A number of people have come before Judge Dolin and were unhappy with the results, Luther said. And, Dolin has gotten involved in politics on the side of the Democrats, Luther said, "When judges should really act independently."

Luther said he was referring to last year when Dolin chose to keep Democrat Deborah Baron on as an unpaid court clerk although she was a council member.

After some town board members objected to a conflict of interest, Baron declined a paycheck, but continued filling Dolin’s court clerk duties until September.
"We’re happy to present an alternative," Luther said on behalf of the Republican committee.

Susan Aron-DeFronzo will run on the Republican ticket this fall. She has lived in Voorheesville since 1999.
"I’ve been in public service since I came out of law school...This seems like the next natural step," Aron-DeFronzo said of her desire to become a town judge.

In response to Luther’s comments about Baron, Dolin said he saw it as an opportunity for someone to work for nothing, to save the town some tax dollars. He said Baron had worked for three different judges over 12 years and that she never received any criticism as a court clerk, so he saw no reason not to accept Baron’s offer to work for free.
Dolin said that he did ultimately choose her replacement in September of 2004. But, he said, during the nine-month period from when Baron took office as a town board member on Jan. 1, 2004, until the new paid clerk began work, "There wasn’t a clerk."

The town judge can perform the duties of a clerk and it is not uncommon for a town judge to be without one, Dolin said. He said Baron, however, was very helpful on the clerical aspects as a volunteer.

Qualifications

Aron-DeFronzo currently works part-time as chief counsel to State Senator Serphin R. Maltese, R.-Queens. Except for a two-year stint as assistant district attorney for Nassau County, she has worked for Maltese since graduating from Cardozo School of Law in New York City in 1989. She also handles Appellate cases for indigent defendants, she said.
Aron-DeFronzo said her diverse background "lends itself to being impartial and fair."
Connie Burns, who chairs the New Scotland Democratic Committee, said that Democrats have endorsed Dolin again this year because "he’s been a judge for awhile now and he’s a very good person."
"He’s a very smart man and well-qualified," Burns said. He’s extremely qualified, because what could make someone more qualified than already being a judge", she said, adding, "He’s been a judge before — he knows what he’s doing."

Dolin said he has been one of New Scotland’s two Judges for 12 years, he said, and now that he’s semi-retired, he has even more time to give the position all the effort it needs. He used to work as a court attorney for Albany County Surrogate’s Court.

He now runs a private practice out of his home on Swift Road, he said. He has lived in Voorheesville since 1968.

Dolin wants to run again because he has an interest in protecting the community, and the laws need to be enforced in order to provide protection, he said.

What he enjoys about court at the local level is the diversity in cases, he said. He handles cases involving illegal dogs, zoning violations, traffic violations, small claims with the jurisdiction now up to $3,000, and murder arraignment.
Dolin said he has always participated in New Scotland’s town government; he has served as town attorney, village attorney, planning board and zoning board attorney. Experience in these municipal positions has "helped me to grasp issues quickly," Dolin said.

New Scotland, he pointed out, is served by three police forces — the Albany County Sheriff’s Department, the State Police, and the park police at Thacher. Dolin will and does wake up in the middle of the night to do arraignments, because they need to be done, he said.

Besides being on the Democratic line, Dolin also has the backing of the Conservative Party, and he has petitioned to be on the Independence primary ballot.

Aron-DeFronzo, running on the Republican line, has petitioned to be on the Independence primary ballot as well. She said that she was too late in requesting the Conservative endorsement, so she has petitioned for the opportunity to ballot in the Conservative Party primary, and will be pursuing a write-in campaign for that Sept. 13 vote.