District 39
Stevens challenges incumbent Gordon

HILLTOWNS — A state engineer and Knox native son is challenging a popular Democratic incumbent to represent the Hilltowns in the Albany County Legislature.

Travis Stevens, a Republican, works for the Office of General Services in Albany and volunteers with the Knox Volunteer Fire Department. At 32, he’s making his first run for office.

His goals include: tax relief for middle-class working families and seniors, diversifying the local economy, and supporting a year-round recreational center for youths.
"I want to protect families and their property values," he said.

Stevens said he is a realist, a friend, and a neighbor and he won’t make uninformed decisions.
Alexander "Sandy" Gordon, a Democrat, has represented the 39th District — Berne, Knox, and Rensselaerville — since 1996. Gordon defeated Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier in the Democratic primary last Tuesday. Crosier, an enrolled Democrat, is endorsed by the Working Families and Conservative parties. Crosier said this week he is uncertain whether he will continue to run.
Gordon, a Knox farmer, wants to "continue to work on agricultural issues and energy issues and the places where they can support each other."

Other goals include: conserving energy in the county’s usage and buildings, maintaining a balanced budget, and examining, enhancing, and preserving quality of life.
"Hopefully, we’re going to see opportunities for more input as far as trying to work at getting guns off the streets in the city of Albany, where that has become such a plague on the community," Gordon said.

Stevens

Stevens would either introduce or support measures to downsize the legislature to help provide tax relief, he said. He believes less government results in better efficiency.

While Stevens would like to see more information about the added 1-percent county sales tax, he said he believes it could be repealed.
"Any tax that we can cut back on could help out," Stevens said.

Stevens said the county should support individual towns in their planning.

While he supports agriculture and the rural economy, he said, he doesn’t want to forget about the other taxpayers.

Stevens questioned the amount of time spent on the proposed county nursing home, and the use of tax money.
"I don’t understand why it has taken this long," Stevens said. Most of the seniors he has spoken with, he said, want to stay in their own homes.

For the proposed convention center in Albany, Stevens said, the county should play a role that doesn’t burden taxpayers.
"There can be growth, but it has to be smart growth," he said, adding that needs will dictate how much is spent on the project. All information would have to be gathered before placing a spending cap on the project, Stevens said.
"I believe that shared services has been going on for years," Stevens said, citing highway departments’ using each others’ equipment, storage facilities, and road materials.
"That’s already being done"I think shared services works, but I don’t think consolidation works unless [highway departments] are the same, equal entities," he said.

Gordon
"If we would have downsized [the legislature], we would have lost the issue on the highway department merger," Gordon said. "I think that there are many people who may have thought we should downsize before, but now they recognize the significant importance of having somebody with a particular Hilltown presence and ability to articulate and represent the issues," he said, referring to a proposal backed by Crosier as Berne supervisor to merge the town’s highway department with the county.
Regarding the 1-percent sales tax, Gordon said, "Every chief executive of every municipality except the supervisor from Rensselaerville has requested the continuation of that flow of money.
"There are two particularly important things to keep in mind," he said.

About 40 percent of the revenue is collected from people who live outside the county and shop here, he said.
"There is absolutely no other way for us to receive tax monies from people outside of our county other than the sales tax," Gordon said. "Yes, the sales tax is regressive, but it is not as regressive as property tax."

If there weren’t a provision to extend the 1-percent additional sales tax in the three Hilltowns, it would probably invoke a 30- to 40-percent real property tax change to maintain the budget, he said.

Gordon cited the Albany County Community Housing Trust Fund, established to create and preserve affordable housing, as a good opportunity for county planning. The county executive earlier earmarked $300,000 for its projects. The housing fund was unanimously approved at the county’s meeting this month.
"This is very good to take a look at because we need make sure that there is mixed-income housing stock throughout the county," said Gordon, "but we also need look at this as a potential vehicle for some farmland preservation as well."

The Berger Commission put some very strict restrictions on Albany County, and the bed count at the nursing home is to be reduced to 250 beds by June of 2008, Gordon said. This is when the process is starting, he said, and it would have been better had they put the restriction later — after the project was completed.
"I think the state is inflexible," Gordon said, adding that the decision showed "a lack of consideration for the human element."
For the convention center, the county "is going to be in a major funding role," said Gordon. The county, he said, will develop and review a request for proposals and be involved in all aspects of construction.
"There’s going to be a lot of hands-on play for the county," Gordon said.

Gordon spearheaded a resolution to form the county’s Municipal Highway Services Board, with a representative appointed from each municipality. Rensselaerville has not appointed a person to the board, said Gordon.
"There are absolute opportunities to save money," Gordon said. "We should review every one of them, but this is something that needs to be done in a very open process in the light of day."

There are some very good opportunities, and the county would be at fault if it didn’t review all the information, he said.
Gordon said input should be given from "more than just a couple" of executives and include county and town policymakers. "That was part of what was wrong with the way that this merger was brought out," he said, adding that good government comes from soliciting suggestions, opening the floor, listening to the suggestions, and then jointly making decisions.
"We should hear from every town, and we should pick what works for each particular town," Gordon said.