Rensselaerville Archives —The Altamont Enterprise, November 1, 2007
For Rensselaerville Town Board
Dems’ Chase and Dermody face off against GOP’s Dorman and Wright
By Tyler Schuling
RENSSELAERVILLE — Two incumbents will defend their seats on the town board and two challengers are running for first terms.
Republican Myra Dorman and Democrat Gary Chase are the incumbents. Republican Allyn Wright and Democrat Marie Dermody are the challengers.
Although Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 3-to-1, the Rensselaerville town board has three Republicans and two Democrats. It is the only Hilltown with a Republican majority.
The Republican supervisor, Jost Nickelsberg, was elected two years ago and serves a four-year term. He is not up for re-election.
According to the Albany County Board of Elections, there are 1,493 registered voters in Rensselaerville. The party enrollment breaks down as follows:
— Democrat, 825;
— Republican, 289;
— No party, 271;
— Independence, 67;
— Conservative, 33; and
— Other small party, 8.
Town board members serve four-year terms. If the town’s proposed budget is passed, each will earn $3,500 in 2008.
The four candidates for town board were asked about their background and why they are seeking office. They were also asked about these five issues:
— Law-making: As the town has worked on a new master plan, zoning laws, and subdivision regulations, a committee was charged with gathering information, coming up with a plan, and drafting new laws. The process was changed after the town board adopted the comprehensive land-use plan. Rather than taking the committee’s recommendation, the town board surveyed residents on the issue of zoning in the agricultural district. Candidates were asked if they felt this was the right thing to do;
— Cass: The Office of Children and Family Services, the state agency that runs the Cass Residential Center, has announced that it will close the juvenile detention center in the town in May. Candidates were asked if they favored closing the facility and what they think should happen at Cass now;
— Communications: A telecommunications committee has been researching improvements to the town’s communications — Internet access, cell phone coverage, and communication for emergency services. Candidates were asked what should be done to improve the town’s communications. They were also asked if they thought infrastructure should be added or if existing towers, such as a tower on Pond Hill Road, should be used;
— Spending: This year, the Republican majority adopted a procurement policy that has caused consternation, particularly with the town’s highway superintendent. Candidates were asked how money should be managed; and
— Nepotism and conflicts of interest: The state does not have or enforce laws on nepotism, but leaves the decision up to municipalities. The town’s supervisor with the Republican majority has not re-appointed workers he says have conflicts of interest. Candidates were asked if Rensselaerville should have a conflict of interest policy or a policy on nepotism.
FOR TOWN BOARD
Gary Chase
Democratic incumbent Gary Chase is seeking a third four-year term on the Rensselaerville Town Board.
Chase said he is running because he wants to get the town back on a track with a plan initiated 10 years ago to get town equipment and the town building "up to par."
While the town has come quite a ways it has also gone backwards, and it needs to keep going ahead, he said.
Chase is the son of the Democratic highway superintendent, who has frequently clashed with the Republican supervisor.
When he started on the town board eight years ago, it carried out a sewer project, and he did all the legwork for the town’s first senior van, Chase said.
Then, he said, the town started to buy new equipment and upgrading.
"You can’t save so much money that you put the town behind in years with its equipment," Chase said. "We have equipment here that we’re piecing together because we don’t want to spend any money."
When it comes to budgeting and saving taxpayers money, Chase favors saving money, he said. "I’m a taxpayer myself so I want to save money," he said. "But it’s going to cost the town more money to get caught back up to where we were two years ago."
There needs to be "a happy medium" between making cuts and spending money, he said.
Chase, 41, is also endorsed by the Independence, Conservative, and Working Families parties.
He is married and has three children. He grew up in Medusa and has lived in the town his whole life. He has been a state corrections officer for 10 years at the Greene Correctional Facility. He is also a state recruiting officer and a training officer.
Chase graduated from Greenville High School before attending Hudson Valley Community College for one year. He then attended the corrections officer training academy.
He is a Cub Scout leader for a Greenville troop and is involved in Little League baseball.
Regarding the decision-making process and the town board sending a survey to residents, Chase said, "I feel they should have stopped it."
He said he thinks there was a lot of controversy between the five- and 20-acre zoning in the agricultural district.
Chase cited a public hearing on zoning laws and subdivision regulations held earlier this year, which drew a large crowd.
"That’s why we had almost 300 people out here for one of the meetings, and they kind of put it to our attention that that’s not what the town wanted," he said.
The town sent out a survey to residents last year to aid in the comprehensive planning process.
"I think the town, with the first survey, was a little misguided," Chase said. "‘Do you want open spaces"’ That was the question. People said, ‘Yeah, of course"’ But to what extent is it open space"" Chase asked. Larger acre lots — 20 or 50 acres — was a lot different than what people were thinking, he said. The survey showed about two-thirds favor five-acre zoning.
"That’s what this second survey kind of proved, I think: That people wanted the five acres. They still want the open space, but they want the five acres," Chase said. "They want to go a different route to try to preserve that land. That’s why we’re putting this agricultural committee together."
Regarding Cass, Chase said, if the facility remains open for any reason, it would be a good training center, but no inmates of any kind should be housed there.
Chase referred to officials from the state’s Office of Children and Family Services attending a Rensselaerville meeting in February, in which they outlined plans to erect a perimeter fence at Cass.
"When the guys came here to talk about Camp Cass, I knew from the start that as soon as you"start putting a fence up and you start adding different kinds of security to a place like that, you’re going to get a bigger and meaner and nastier type of clientele that comes through there," he said.
Chase said he’s seen it happen in his job.
"The townspeople," he said, "kind of stepped up and said that they don’t want that here." To make the facility a training center would be a great thing, he said, adding that a fence would be too great of an expense given the few at the facility.
On communications, Chase said, "I think we really need something in this town."
Chase said that, if you look back through town records, the tower on Pond Hill will only work for part of the town.
"So it’s not really the exact spot for a tower to be to utilize the whole town so you’d have to put something else up anyway," he said.
That was the reason the original committee formed — to find the location for a tower that would reach everywhere. The tower on Pond Hill, owned by American Tower, was covering certain areas and cutting off other parts, such as Preston Hollow, he said.
"We couldn’t get a signal down there. We had guys go around with little meters and different radios, and we just couldn’t get a signal down there even from up by that tower," he said.
Chase doesn’t know if the tower on Pond Hill will work, he said.
"I think that, in a few years to come, you’re going to see [Global Positioning System] satellite communication more than a tower," he said.
"We do need to do something," said Chase. Chase said he likes the cellular tower in Middleburgh that looks like a flagpole
"A lot of people have said a lot of good things about that so, if we’re going to get a tower,.. it should be something like that," Chase said.
Asked about the town’s procurement policy, Chase said that it doesn’t pertain just to the highway superintendent.
It pertains to the recycling center and other organizations in the town, too, he said.
Since he’s been on the board, he said, the town’s policy has changed about five times.
The last time it was changed, it followed the guidelines of the state procurement policy; the state has its own policy guidelines, which are followed by the county, and the town was using the same policy, he said.
"That’s what I’d like to see," Chase said, "which puts the spending at the hands of the people that you appoint or the people that are elected."
Chase spoke of a hypothetical situation.
If he were to put someone in a position, such as the recycling coordinator, Chase said, he would be entrusting him to abide by the guidelines of his budget. That person would submit his budget to Chase and he would then look it over and approve it.
"It’s up to him how he spends his money"That’s why I put him there in that position because I know he can do that job," he said.
If Chase were to micro-manage him, he would have to come see him if a tire falls off and he needs to spend money out of his budget; he would have to go through "a whole series of events," Chase said.
"It’s not a good way to do business," he said.
Asked whether the town needs a conflict-of-interest policy or a policy on nepotism, Chase said, "Absolutely not.
"This town was founded on different families, and, I mean, I’m not just talking about my family," he said. Chase’s mother had done paperwork for his father, the highway superintendent, but was not appointed to the job under the current administration.
Families have worked for the town, been involved in politics, and volunteered with the fire companies, he said. Families have worked in different parts of the town, he said.
"Where are you going to put nepotism" Where are you going to draw the line"" he asked. "You can’t."
By law, a husband and wife cannot testify against one another, he said. "But that’s only one type of case. How often do we see it" I’ve never seen it. Could it happen" Maybe.
"But, in my eyes, I look for people that work hard and do the best thing for the town.
"I have no problem with nepotism," he said. "It’s what the town was founded on."
Marie Dermody
Democrat Marie Dermody is making her first run for town council.
Dermody said she is running because "there’s this whole issue with the board of assessment review and the way the stipend was unilaterally and arbitrarily removed from the budget without any negotiation. No compromise."
As a member of the board of assessment review, Dermody has been outspoken about the cut, made by the town board’s Republican majority.
Dermody, 59, retired from the Onteora Central School District in Ulster County after working for 33 years as an elementary-school teacher. She is a consultant for a company out of Allentown, Pa., and gives workshops and seminars to state and national teaching groups.
She tutors students in kindergarten through 10th grade from her home and does bookwork and advertising for a home-based carpet company.
Dermody is also endorsed by the Independence, Conservative, and Working Families parties.
She recently worked on a committee charged with setting standards for the town’s newsletter, and she continues to serve on the town’s board of assessment review. The board’s $1,600 for its four members was eliminated from the town’s budget last fall.
"We were told after the fact. And I started coming to board meetings regularly"and I just saw the way townspeople are treated and dismissed, and I think they deserve more respect than that," said Dermody.
Originally from the Bronx, Dermody has lived in Rensselaerville since the late 1950s. She graduated from Greenville High School. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State University of New York College at New Paltz.
She has been married 25 years and has two stepchildren and four grandchildren.
"We employ the town board. They work for us," Dermody said. "And, therefore, as a whole, they need to be more receptive to what the taxpayers say and want, and [the citizens] need to be treated with respect.
"The entire township has become so divided," she said. "It’s an us-against-them mentality that I hope to change."
Dermody was interviewed at Town Hall after the town board’s October meeting.
"I think tonight you saw how passionate I can be about an issue," she said.
She doesn’t think anyone should take on a job if he or she is not willing to give 100 percent, she said.
"I’m fortunate in that I have the time, and the energy, and, hopefully, the intellect to do a good job as a town council member. I just hope I have the opportunity to do that," Dermody said.
Dermody said she can sometimes be very optimistic and has high hopes to make changes.
"Changes will come slowly because most people are resistant to change," she said. "But I want to make this a place that we can be proud to call home.
"I’m tired of seeing us look like idiots in the press because of all of the bickering and the spatting that’s going on. It’s just not necessary," she said. "We need to come together as a town and work together for the common good, and I hope that’s what I can accomplish."
Regarding law-making for the newly-adopted comprehensive land-use plan, Dermody said, "I think we charged this committee with a very important job. I think the committee was incredibly representative of the entire community.
"If we’re going to give people a job to do, then we need to trust the results," she said.
When you charge a committee and you name people to that committee, you need to trust that they are going to represent the will of the community, she said.
Dermody said she thinks the town wound up spending a lot of money on the lot-size survey, and it helped foster the divisiveness in the town.
Since the outcome on lot-size in an agricultural district was not what a few wanted, it does not give "the powers that be" the right to try and reverse the decision of a democratic committee, she said.
Dermody said she thinks it was a mistake to send the survey to the town’s residents, but she’s happy the results support the committee’s initial finding — to have 5-acre lots in the agricultural zone.
Regarding the Cass Residential Center, Dermody said, "Based on the way it was being run and monitored — with little or no regard to the safety of the surrounding community — I was in favor of closing it."
If Cass couldn’t do a better job, it had no right to be open, she said.
Asked what should happen with Cass now, Dermody said, "I really don’t know. I don’t know what the facility itself is like, what the infrastructure is."
Dermody said she is sure the facility could be used for some worthwhile endeavor.
"At this point, I couldn’t tell you what that is. There’s been talk about a training facility. Perhaps that’s an OK thing. I really don’t know at this point," she said.
Regarding communications, Dermody said, "I firmly believe that the communications issue in this town must be improved for the safety and well-being of everybody in this town."
Unfortunately, she said, there are a lot of people who want service, but "not in my backyard."
Dermody said you can’t have it both ways. There are a number of people in the town willing to put a tower on their property — wherever it needs to be — in order to get service, she said.
"American Tower: It doesn’t sound like they’ve had a great track record with us to improve existing towers, and it depends the condition of that infrastructure as well," she said.
"I think we need to put towers where they need to be to get the optimal service for everybody in this town," she said.
Regarding spending, Dermody said, "There’s no doubt that there needs to be some official procurement policy in place."
The state has a procurement policy, Dermody said. She cited the land-use committee’s decision to not make a local law for mining because the state already has a law that suits the town’s purposes.
"If you want to institute [a procurement policy] that’s different than the state’s, why are we going to something as low as $200"" she asked, citing the current spending limit for town officials; spending over $200 requires three bids from vendors.
"When we start micro-managing every single penny, when there’s a legitimate budget supporting that expenditure, I think that’s a waste of time and effort," she said.
Dermody questions whether there is a need for a process to buy a replacement tire when there is a state procurement policy for a higher dollar amount.
"We need a policy. We need to govern town monies, but we don’t need to micro-manage," she said.
Regarding conflicts of interest and nepotism, Dermody said, "It seems to me that [Supervisor Jost Nickelsberg has] arbitrarily applied a personal policy that he has on nepotism.
Dermody said she has said, "‘It’s OK to have a policy. Just put it in writing and make it official.’ And we’re still not there yet.
"You can’t talk out of both sides of your mouth. If you believe in a policy on anything, make it legal, make it a regulation, put it in the town ledger, let the public know about it, and then stick to it," she said.
Though it hasn’t yet happened, the door is open for tweaking a policy a little bit and breaking it if nothing is in writing, she said.
"If that’s what you want, go for it. Just make it well-known, publicize, and make it official. Don’t do your personal philosophies in town government," she said.
Myra Dorman
Republican Councilwoman Myra Dorman is seeking a second four-year term on the town board.
"I’m running because, with all its faults, I like Rensselaerville, and I want to see it run smoothly, and I want to see it get better every day," Dorman said.
"It’s a great town, but there’s lots of room for improvement, and I want to be involved. I want to do what I can," she said.
Dorman was town supervisor in 1994 and 1995, when Rensselaerville supervisors held two-year terms. She is a trustee of the Rensselaerville Library. She is also a professor.
Originally from Staten Island, Dorman has lived in Rensselaerville for 39 years. She is married and has five children.
Dorman said she felt sending a survey out to residents regarding lot size in the agricultural district was the right thing to do.
"There were a lot of opinions, and we had an excellent research team who spent insurmountable amounts of hours in their work. However, the people felt that they wanted to have a say and this was the opportunity to give them that say," she said.
Dorman has been a member the Cass Residential Center’s Citizens Advisory committee. Regarding Cass, she said, "When the facility opened, it served a younger population than it had for the last two or three years, and I felt it was not working well in the community and it was appropriate that it was closed."
Dorman said she doesn’t know what will be done in the future, but, if the facility went back to the younger detainees, it would serve a better purpose.
"It would serve a more satisfactory purpose in this community, but, right now, because of the difficulties that the camp had with the residents and the population of Rensselaerville, people are very unhappy with it, and it’s better that it’s closed," she said.
On communications in town, Dorman said, "I don’t care what they use. Just get something in here.
"The communications in Rensselaerville are horrendous and we absolutely have to get some services very soon. We have to explore all the possibilities, but it has to be soon. We can’t wait much longer," she said.
Regarding money management, Dorman said, "If you look at our records for the last two years, you’ll see that money is being managed very well.
"However, there is opposition to reporting how that money is being managed from other departments, and I think the town authorities have to come together on a management plan," she said.
"We’re doing very well financially. Taxes have been lowered. People are more comfortable with how money is being spent, but it does have to be accounted for in a very outward, manageable manner," she said.
Regarding conflicts of interest and nepotism policies, Dorman said, "Conflict of interest is a serious matter, but doesn’t always stop progress if it’s taken care of properly, managed properly by the individuals," she said.
"Nepotism should be on the head of those people involved," Dorman said, "and personal judgement should come first with consideration for how it reflects on the whole town."
Allyn Wright
Republican Allyn Wright is seeking his first term on the town board. The chairman of the town’s planning board, Wright has lived in Medusa his whole life. For the past 18 months, he has served on the land-use committee, which created a master plan and drafted new zoning laws.
Wright, 67, and his wife have six children and 10 grandchildren. He graduated from Greenville Central School. He then went on to New York State Ranger School in Wanakena. He has worked for over 35 years as a private consulting forester.
Before serving on the planning board, Wright volunteered as an emergency medical technician in the town’s emergency medical services and as a firefighter with the Medusa Volunteer Fire Company. This year, he was one of the first two volunteers inducted into the Rensselaerville Volunteer Hall of Fame.
On law-making, Wright said the committee that worked on the master plan and new laws was constantly asking residents to come to its meetings. Some came regarding junkyards, he said. Wright said he thinks surveying the town’s residents on five- or 20-acre zoning was a good decision because it is "such a hot-button item" and also because the plan is ultimately theirs.
On the Cass Residential Center, Wright said he once worked at Cass; he was in charge of a program in which the male youths worked in the state forest. While he was employed at the facility, Cass offered good programs, hired local people, and the kids got up in the morning, he said.
In more recent years, Cass "drifted away" from the original program and from hiring local residents, he said. Cass didn’t make an effort to be a part of the community, and fell out of favor, he said. Wright was uncertain about the facility’s future.
"I’m not sure how much input we’ll have," he said.
On the town’s communications, Wright cited three things the town needs: cell phone reception, emergency service communication, and Internet access. He said the town needs to study the locations to make sure reception reaches into "all the pockets of the town." Wright, however, was skeptical of tower placement.
"We don’t want it to look like the top of the Helderbergs," he said, referring to a row of towers with blinking lights.
Regarding town spending, Wright said, "The taxpayers need to know how their money is being spent."
He said he thinks the town should follow state and county guidelines for procurement. Spending, he said, should be done "in line and the right way."
On conflicts of interest and nepotism policies, Wright said, "We have somewhat of a policy already in place." If an applicant comes before the planning board, and they live in the backyard of a planning board member, they will recuse themselves, he said.
"It definitely needs to be looked at," Wright said of nepotism, adding that it’s not easy because Rensselaerville is a small town and many of those in the town are related.
In Rensselaerville
Wood wages write-in campaign against Dems’ incumbent assessor Pine
By Tyler Schuling
RENSSELAERVILLE — Stephen Wood, an enrolled Conservative, is waging a write-in campaign against Democratic incumbent Jeff Pine for assessor, a part-time post.
Wood lost the Conservative Party primary to Pine and was too late with his paperwork to be on the Republican line. Wood lost a close race for highway superintendent in 2005. Pine is seeking his third four-year term.
Assessors serve four-year terms. If the town’s proposed budget is passed this fall, certified assessors will earn $5,665, and uncertified assessors will earn $4,635 in 2008.
Jeff Pine
Democratic incumbent Jeff Pine, one of the town’s three assessors, is seeking a third term in this fall’s election.
It takes a certain personality, he said, to be an assessor; you have to be able to not take things personally.
Pine, 51, works for the town of New Scotland as its code enforcement officer. He has held the post for nine years.
He is married to Democratic Councilwoman Sherri Pine and has two grown children.
Pine is also running on the Conservative line.
Originally from Long Island, Pine has lived in Rensselaerville since 1979 and attended Greenville Central School his last year of high school. He then attended Columbia-Greene Community College.
Pine is a former chairman of the town’s Democratic Social Club. He served as a member of the town’s planning board member for four years, as the town’s zoning officer for two years, and as a town assessor for eight years.
Pine said he knows both the beginning and the end of the building process — building and materials and market values.
Rensselaerville’s three assessors have their own office at Town Hall, where all their records are kept; the town’s clerk has access to and control over the files, Pine said.
Assessors’ hours are on Thursdays from 6 to 8 p.m.
Though assessors have office hours and meet residents by appointment, Pine meets with people outside the set hours at their convenience, he said, such as at a diner. Pine said he receives calls at his home, and the assessor’s post is a 24-hour-a-day job.
Pine said he earned his certification to be an assessor in just nine months.
In two years, Pine and Peter Hotaling, the senior member of the town’s assessors, photographed properties for the town’s inventory, Pine said. An inventory, in which notations are taken of improved and deteriorating conditions of homes, should be performed every three years, he said. During two years of performing an inventory of the town’s 2,000 parcels, Pine said, he and Hotaling spent less than $5,000 and did much of the work for free.
"None of that money was wasted," he said.
Pine said it was not his decision alone to go no further with a revaluation.
It was the decision of the three assessors and of the town board, he said.
Pine estimated New Scotland spent about $100,000 on its revaluation. After performing the revaluation, the parcels in New Scotland retained their full-value assessment for one year, and they are now at 95-percent, he said.
Pine said Rensselaerville should wait until the market becomes less volatile. The only advantage of a 100-percent revaluation, he said, is that the numbers for assessments and full market values match.
"There’s no reason to do that," he said.
Residents can find out their full-value assessment by calling the assessor’s office or by a simple mathematical formula, he said, and the town’s tax rolls are available at the town clerk and assessor offices at Town Hall, with each parcels’ exemptions.
Pine is most proud of being fair, equitable, accessible, and professional, he said. He said the board of assessment review meets an average of five residents on the state-set Grievance Day in May. In 2007, there were no grievances, he said.
"Which is not a bad record," Pine said.
Stephen Wood
After being defeated in the Conservative Party primary and questioning the absentee ballot process, Stephen Wood, who is enrolled as a Conservative, is hoping for enough write-ins on Nov. 6 to win one of the town’s assessor seats.
Wood, 62, said he is running to give Rensselaerville voters a choice.
"They’ve got no choice," said Wood. The town’s voters are going to have to work "damn hard" to have a choice, he said; they have to write his name in, and then they’ll have a choice, he said.
Originally from Durham (Greene County), Wood moved to Rensselaerville 14 or 15 years ago, he said. He has owned S.W. Wood Construction, based in Medusa, since 2000. In 2004, the business was incorporated, and he runs the business with one of his sons, he said.
Wood served in the United States Army from 1963 to 1966; he served in Korea and was also in Vietnam for three or four months, he said.
Wood has been married for 42 years and has two sons and one daughter; another of Wood’s sons is deceased.
Throughout his campaign, Wood has criticized the Albany County Board of Elections and the absentee ballot process. Democrats acted as couriers for some of the town’s 33 enrolled Conservatives in the September primary. All their votes were cast for Democratic candidates. Wood’s opponent, Jeff Pine, said it is rare for a Democrat to not receive the Conservative Party endorsement.
The Democratic commissioner of the Albany County Board of Elections said this month that the absentee ballot is "a strange form" and said that, because it is difficult to fill out, "political operatives" often fill out absentee ballots for others to hurry the process along.
Also, because the board of elections received Wood’s acceptance letter to run on the Republican Party two days after the deadline, Wood is not allowed to run on the GOP line.
This week, Wood questioned where extra money set aside for a revaluation of Rensselaerville has gone.
"Something’s fishy," Wood said. In Rensselaerville, he said, "There’s very little accountability."
Wood said his opponent, Pine, is not doing his job. Wood pointed to the town’s current valuation of property at 55-percent, rather than at full value or 100 percent. He said the assessed value of homes in the town keeps going down every year, and it has to be rectified.
According to Rensselaerville’s clerk to the assessors, Rachel Chase, Rensselaerville’s equalization rate is 54.5-percent. A home with a full-market value of $508,257 has an assessed value of $277,000, Chase said.
"Jeff Pine said it doesn’t make a difference, but I think you’ll find that it does," Wood said.
Pine said approximately $20,000 to $30,000 was encumbered for the revaluation project by the previous administration.
The money, Pine said, was taken away from assessors and returned to the town board at the end of the budget cycle.
About $5,000 of the encumbered money was spent during two years in which Pine and Peter Hotaling, another town assessor, took pictures of the town’s parcels while performing an inventory and doing "legwork," Pine said.
"None of that money was wasted," Pine said.
Democratic Councilman Gary Chase challenged him in court, Wood said, for not getting his acceptance letter in before the cutoff date and won.
"I can’t understand what they’re afraid of," Wood said.
In Rensselaerville
Unopposed Judge La Plante endorsed by all parties
By Tyler Schuling
RENSSELAERVILLE — Victor La Plante, a long-time Rensselaerville town justice, is running unopposed for another four-year term in this fall’s election.
La Plante has been a town justice for 20 years. He said he has handled over 3,500 cases. Rensselaerville has two justices who serve four-year terms and earn $9,150 annually.
Originally from Medusa, La Plante has children who are the fifth generation living in the town. He graduated from Greenville High School and then earned his associate’s degree from Hudson Valley Community College. He is a member of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Greenville.
La Plante served four years in the United States Navy. After that, he worked for the State Police, retiring as a first sergeant after over 25 years.
"I was taught as a farmhand kid that you give back," said La Plante.
La Plante, 70, is endorsed by the Democratic, Republican, Independence, Working Families, and Conservative parties.
La Plante said he has attended all training by the Office of Court Administration, and has never failed to qualify after being tested. He has been part of the impetus to upgrade courtroom facilities in Rensselaerville, he said, and to computerize court records.
La Plante said he is looking forward to his next term because, if he survives one more year, he will have combined for 50 years of government service.
He is married, and has one daughter, two sons, and six grandchildren. He credited his wife, Gail La Plante, to whom he has been married for 50 years, for her support.
"Gail, my lifelong partner, has supported me in anything and everything I’ve wanted to do," said La Plante. "That partnership is the best thing that’s happened to me."