Hilltown Archives — The Altamont Enterprise, October 6, 2011
Kenneth Crawford
By Zach Simeone
BERNE — Kenneth Crawford, 76, is a Republican making another run for town board, though it’s the first since he retired from his career as a dairy farmer.
“I was a dairy farmer for 56 years, and I fell and broke my back coming out of the silo, so I had to sell the cows,” said Crawford. “Now, my son’s raising heifers, so, I help him with the heifers, and we sell hay, too.”
He thinks his business experience would make him an asset to the town board.
“I was very disappointed when Stewart’s didn’t come in,” he said. “I thought that would be a boost to the town. I figured, we need more business; let’s be more friendly to any business that wants to come in.”
Crawford went on to say that he has not followed the town’s budgeting in recent years.
“We’re paying enough taxes. I think I’d like to see a public vote on it. They’re the ones that have to pay the extra tax,” he said. “We should try and trim it, but I’m not too familiar with the whole budget, so I don’t know just where they would trim it.”
He thinks the town should research hydraulic fracturing before making judgments on its occurrence in town.
“Well, I’m not an environmental activist, but I am an active environmentalist as a farmer,” said Crawford. “But, they also say they surround it with concrete, so, it doesn’t seem like it could get into the water supply. I think it’s fairly common. I don’t think we can stop it in the end, but it’s for the benefit of all the people to keep the price of natural gas down.”
He thinks residential wind power would be suitable for the town, but does not favor industrial-scale wind turbines being built in town.
“I don’t think we have enough wind anyway in this area,” said Crawford. “Today, we do, but most of the time, we don’t.”
Again, he thinks the town has to do more research.
Crawford also thinks that the selection committee for a new town supervisor should be “a mixed committee, some Democrats, and some Republicans,” he said.
Crawford supports the sewer project, though he is concerned about the cost, despite the town being approved for grant money to cover about 80 percent of the $3.6 million cost.
“Yes, I think there’s a need for it,” Crawford said of the sewer project, which the state has required of the town. He added that, if elected, he would be willing to contribute to project management.
“If they need me,” he said, “I would.”