RENSSELAERVILLE — In his first-ever race for public office, Jost Nickelsberg was elected supervisor of Rensselaerville Tuesday night. Nickelsberg will take over for his fellow Republican, Supervisor J. Robert Lansing, who decided to run for town board instead of supervisor.

According to unofficial results from the Albany County Board of Elections, Nickelsberg beat his Democratic opponent, David Bryan, 515 to 378, or 58 to 42 percent.
"I feel exhilarated because it was a long hard pull," Nickelsberg said. A Rensselaerville resident for only 11 years, Nickelsberg said he had to introduce himself to a lot of people during his campaign. "I really hadn’t gotten to know the community at all," he said.

Nickelsberg said he visited 80 percent of the homes in the town.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "It’s not nearly as tiring an activity as it might be if you’re not having fun."

Nickelsberg, who has worked for 35 years as a securities and investment banker, said he couldn’t say for sure why the voters chose him, but suspected they were attracted to what he called plan 1 and plan 1A.

Plan 1, Nickelsberg said, is to reduce taxes and increase services. He said Berne Supervisor Kevin Crosier has taken many cost-saving steps in Berne and Nickelsberg will learn from him.
"I noticed with great joy that Crosier won next door," Nickelsberg said yesterday. "I hope to have many meetings with him."

Plan 1A is for complete transparency of government, Nickelsberg said.
"Everything that the road department, the assessing department, the zoning board, planning board, and town board do will be 100-percent open and the minutes will be available in the town newsletter and on the website," he said.

Though this is his first elected post, Nickelsberg said he isn’t nervous.
"There’s nothing to be nervous about," he said. "You just bring a ton-and-a-half of common sense and clear thinking every time you go to work."

Nickelsberg’s opponent, Bryan, who was supervisor from 1986 to 1992, said he’s disappointed and surprised at Tuesday’s results.

Bryan, a house principal at Albany High School, said Nickelsberg will probably do a good job.
"He’s got the same sort of ideas I have," Bryan said. "Let’s see if he can do them."

Other elections

Though the faces will change in January, the Republicans held on to their 3-to-2 majority on the Rensselaerville town board in Tuesday’s election.

Two seats were open. Lansing won the most votes, with 454, followed by Democrat Sherri Pine, with 441. Republican Timothy Becker received 423 votes and incumbent Democrat Edward Steven Ryder lost his reelection bid with 396 votes.

This will be Pine’s first public office.
"I’m glad I won," Pine said. "I really want to help the town."

Pine said voters were attracted to her because they believe she will represent the whole town. Political parties end with the election, Pine said.

Ryder was unavailable for comment Wednesday. He had been critical of lack of board response to questions raised by the public and of lack of budget review.

In the race for highway superintendent, incumbent Democrat G. Jon Chase edged Republican challenger Stephen Wood, 470 to 458 in the unofficial results.

Nickelsberg, who is also Republican party chair, said Wood could still win once the absentee ballots are counted.
"Steve Wood is very close," he said.

Chase has come under fire recently for his near-silence on the work of the highway department. If elected, Nickelsberg said, Wood will aggressively work to fix the department’s problems.

In the race for the two open seats on the three-member board of assessors, Republican Donna Kropp and incumbent Democrat Peter Hotaling Jr. won, with 503 and 467 votes, respectively.

In May, Republican Eric Sutton was appointed assessor by the Rensselaerville Town Board to replace Democrat Sean McCormick, who was unable to complete the required training courses for the job. Tuesday, both men lost reelection bids. Sutton received 389 votes, while McCormick received 385.