GUILDERLAND — Republican Mark Grimm and Democrat David Cardona will face each other in the race to represent the 29th District in the Albany County Legislature.

The 29th District encompasses seven election districts in the Fort Hunter neighborhood; Republican Lee Carman is finishing his third term in the seat and stepping down to run for the Guilderland Town Board instead.

Grimm, who runs his own business as a media strategist, served one term on the Guilderland Town Board, from 2008 to 2012 and made close but unsuccessful run for supervisor against Democratic incumbent Kenneth Runion in 2013.

He said he considered running for supervisor this year, as Runion retires, but decided the county legislature would be a better fit, because he “could have an immediate positive impact on 300,000 people.”

Cardona, a former trustee in Voorheesville and a chief clerk in the Columbia County Courts, said he is running because he misses being part of a legislative body and serving the public.

Heroin

“Obviously, we should do what we can to get people off of heroin,” said Grimm. “But, if we are spending taxpayer dollars on treatment programs, we need to make sure we are getting results.”

He said he wanted to keep a close eye on how successful the pilot program in the Albany County Correctional Facility is before deciding whether or not to continue it.

“Stronger families are the answer to so many of our problems,” said Grimm. “People need a greater support system in order to learn better ways to deal with the threats out there.”

He said the heroin epidemic is a social issue, a criminal issue, and an economic issue. All of these things, he said, are affected by the breakdown of families.

“It is not only the county’s role, it is also a state and federal issue,” he said. “All of us have got to work together to strengthen the family; the ramifications can be pretty profound if we don’t.”

Cardona said, as a court employee, he has seen how successful Drug Court can be. It involves treatment for criminals as well as mandating family treatment.

“When you get people into these programs early and you keep them in and see them on a weekly basis, the rate of recidivism is much lower,” he said.

The jail, he said, is wonderful at what it does, but the question to ask is: “Is it a good place for treatment?”

“I think it’s a good place to start treating people,” said Cardona, “but treatment has to go beyond the time frame that they are in there; these people need more and we can’t put the responsibility on the jail.”

His recommendation would be for more people to use Drug Courts.

“You need the attorneys and everyone on board to convince the addict that that treatment is the right option for them; you need participation in these programs,” he said. “I think the combination of starting treatment in jail and continuing through the court system could be wonderful.”

Consolidation

“We should leave no stone unturned when exploring how to save money by sharing services,” said Grimm. “But, local governments are very guarded on how they manage their own affairs.”

He called Albany County “quite parochial” and said it doesn’t really operate as a region.

“We have to cultivate a culture of cooperation,” Grimm said. “We should stop and really consider how to share services without sacrificing autonomy.”

It should start, he said, with an open dialog among all municipalities. Particularly important could be discussing purchasing equipment in the county, examining whether group purchasing could be used to get a discount.

“There are a lot of services and they are not considered Democrat or Republican in nature,” he said. “This is a culture of cooperation we need to always be mindful of the taxpayer dollar.”

Cardona said he would like to see a comprehensive study done on each municipality on what equipment and services each provides as compared to the services they spend money on providing.

“As a budget officer in Voorheesville for 10 years, I know we always evaluated those things before making a purchase,” he said. “We would ask ourselves if Guilderland or New Scotland could help with the task.

“I think sharing services is the number-one thing that can save the taxpayers money.”

Suburban poverty

“I campaigned at every house in Guilderland in 2007 and again in 2013,” said Grimm. “The change I saw even in those six years was not good; we are not this rich, suburban town that people think we are.”

First, he said, the county and state should prioritize improving the business climate, because businesses create jobs and generate sales tax.

“There is a cultural attitude that says, ‘I’m responsible for myself and I’m going to pull myself up by my bootstraps,’” he said. “The government should lend a hand but ultimately it’s up to the individual.”

There is not a lot of low-income housing in Guilderland, which is a problem, said Cardona.

“I think people are trying to get out of the city and into the suburbs and are doing anything they can to get out there,” he said.

He, too, said the poverty level could be helped with more jobs.

“Development in Guilderland would be a wonderful thing — well thought out, sound, smart development,” said Cardona. “Let’s create jobs and get these people back to work.”

Veterans

“We, as local officials, should be speaking up about how our veterans are treated at the federal level,” said Grimm. “The federal situation is a mess.”

Oftentimes, he said, a veteran’s principal resource for healthcare is Veterans’ Affairs, and funding for that is the priority.

“We need to be more appreciative for what the veterans do for us and we should do what we can for them with what we can afford,” he said.

Cardona said veterans are the basis of our community.

“They are the reason we are all safe and why we all have the things that we have,” he said. “We should do everything we possibly can to house and care for them, even at a cost.”

He said he would never support cutting any services for veterans.

Care for the elderly

The county, said Grimm, was in danger of losing the nursing home because it was operating at a deficit.

“Now, they are making some progress on saving money so that the service will still be available,” he said. “That’s the key, is to continue to work on making things affordable, otherwise we won’t be able to offer our seniors anything.”

For some seniors, in-home care is the best path, but for others, a quality nursing home is necessary, he said.

“It’s really a case-by-case situation,” said Grimm.

“I think that, any time you can keep the elderly in the comfort of your own home, you should,” said Cardona. “That being said, you can’t always do that.”

There are situations, he said, where they can’t be cared for at home or keeping them home is too expensive, and a facility is a great place for them.

“Keeping people at home who have family and friends to help out is good, but for someone who only has healthcare workers coming in, it may be better to be in a facility,” he said. “Sometimes having seniors all together in the same setting is helpful.”

He said the county should keep the nursing home going “in any way it can.”

Wages

Grimm called a $15 minimum wage “way too high.”

“If you have a $15 minimum wage, it will cost jobs,” he said. “You don’t have to be an economist to know that, if the person making your hamburger is making $15 an hour, the cost of your hamburger is going to go up.”

He said he supported the idea of a gradual increase with inflation.

“It should be sensible,” said Grimm. “It should be statewide, because if you have one county doing something different than another, one of them will be at a disadvantage.”

Cardona said he agreed with the $9 minimum wage but not with the $15 minimum wage.

“I agree with increasing the minimum wage, absolutely, but I wouldn’t want to commit myself to a number six years from now,” he said. “Who knows what will happen with the economy?”

He said he preferred to be conservative and fiscally responsible.

“I like the fact that local government could play a bigger role in the local community than it is sometimes allowed to, so I would support letting each county set its own wage,” he said. “Different communities have different needs and different costs of living.”

County Charter

Grimm said he is firmly against the revised charter. He called it fake reform.

“The charter would leave it up to the legislators to determine how large the legislature should be and that’s like putting the wolves in charge of the hen house,” he said.

The size of the legislature should be cut and the decision should be in the hands of the people, said Grimm.

“There are too many legislators, I believe that,” said Cardona. “I would support downsizing the legislature, no question about it, even if it meant losing my spot down the line.”

He said the legislators themselves should be able to make the right decision after having an independent study done to make a recommendation.

Oil trains

“The idea that you can have regulations on trains from county to county is just not practical,” said Grimm. “We should be strong advocates for the safety of our residents, and we should push to make sure trains are safe, but every county make its own regulations isn’t going to happen.”

The county legislators need to make a bigger push for the state and federal governments to impose regulations, he said.

“I think, as a county legislator, it’s your responsibility to keep everybody in the county safe, and, if trains are coming through and putting people at risk, we should do something about it,” said Cardona.

He said he would need to read more studies to make a determination about what should be done.

Nanny county

“A lot of times, these nanny county laws are not fully researched,” said Grimm. “We need to make sure that these things that, a lot of times, are just talking points, are researched.”

He said the county might have a role to act if the state doesn’t, but that, otherwise, these decisions should be left to the state or federal government.

Cardona said some of the laws are appropriate and some aren’t.

“Each situation is different and we always need to take two things into consideration,” he said. “We need to think about what’s best for people, health-wise, and also about what the effects of the laws are on businesses.”

Those two factors need to be weighed before making a decision, he said.

Other issues

Grimm said during his door-to-door campaigning he found himself educating people on what the legislature does.

“The thing that people are most interested in is their property taxes,” he said. “I want to focus on that.”

He said he believes most people do not know the formula the county uses to divvy up sales tax revenues to its 19 municipalities.

“It’s a raw deal for Guilderland,” he said, because with Crossgates Mall, the town generates the largest portion of sales tax revenues in the county, and also incurs costs through catching and prosecuting shoplifters and responding to medical calls.

Sixty percent of sales tax revenues in the county are kept for “operations” and the other 40 percent are distributed to municipalities based on population, he said.

Albany has the largest population, so it gets the largest portion of the sales tax. Guilderland gets a third of what Albany gets, said Grimm, even though it generates much more than Albany does.

“Nobody is talking about this,” he said. “I feel like it’s my job to educate people about the legislature and make it much more transparent.

“We have to have someone who is really going to fight for people in there, and I have a strong record of looking out for Guilderland’s residents and businesses,” Grimm concluded.

Cardona concluded by saying he wants to focus on four key issues — conservative fiscal responsibility, veterans’ services, senior services, and tasteful development.