No contest
Aylward, Marshall run for trustee



ALTAMONT — Chris Marshall and William Aylward, who are running for village trustee on a slate that Mayor James Gaughan orchestrated, have been campaigning the old-fashioned way, they say. Despite being the only two candidates on the ballot for the two open seats on the village board for the March 20 election, they’ve been sending out campaign pamphlets and going door-to-door.
The two decided to run together when Gaughan introduced them, Aylward said. Marshall, who is new to politics, said that she decided to team up with long-time-incumbent Aylward after Gaughan introduced the two because she thought it would be to her advantage. "I am, in contrast, much more unknown," she said, comparing herself to Aylward, who served as Altamont’s mayor in the 1970’s and has since been a village trustee. He is also a former Guilderland Supervisor and currently an Albany County legislator.

Although she has very little history of participating in government herself, Marshall said that one of the common goals she shares with Aylward is getting citizens more involved with village government. She suggested that the village start sending out a newsletter, as recommended in the comprehensive plan, to get people more involved, or spiffing up the village’s website.
On their shared campaign flier, the first thing that Aylward and Marshall promise is to, "Work in harmony to achieve results for Altamont residents." Marshall is planning to replace Trustee Harvey Vlahos on the village board. Vlahos has a history of being at odds with the rest of the board — he is often the only member to raise questions prior to voting on an item. His term will expire this spring and he won’t appear on the ballot, although he hasn’t ruled out a write-in campaign.

Aylward is a retired Guilderland social-studies teacher, active in local politics for decades. Marshall, who is originally from Buffalo, moved to the Albany area when she got a job in the state Civil Service Division and has lived in Altamont for 20 years.

Both candidates named the comprehensive plan as the biggest issue for the village in coming years. Trustee Dean Whalen, an architect, headed the committee that formed the plan and Vlahos served on it. Neither Aylward nor Marshall were involved with creating the village’s new comprehensive plan, which took over a year to complete.
"Obviously the comprehensive plan is going to be the big issue," said Marshall when asked what her platform is. "Now that its adopted," she said, "it needs to be actualized."
Aylward also said that a lot of what the village will be dealing with in the next few years will involve the comprehensive plan. "It deals with the wholeness, the totality of life," he said of the plan.

Both candidates also mentioned sidewalks as something the village should deal with in the next few years. Marshall, who lives in the suburban Kushaqua development, would like to have Altamont’s developments connected to the village center by sidewalks and Aylward would like to fix the sidewalks that have fallen into disrepair on some Altamont streets.

Fixing the roads and drainage around the village was former Mayor Paul DeSarbo’s legacy, Aylward said. Marshall likes the direction that Gaughan is taking the village in. Both Marshall and Aylward agree that Gaughan’s administration has done well in handling the village’s water-shortage problems. Under his administration, a suit was settled that allowed the village to buy land where water had been discovered during DeSarbo’s tenure. The new well is to be on soon.

Marshall said, in addition to adding water to the village system, Gaughan has done well in building a sense of community. She named two examples — the farmers’ market by the train station in the summer and the Pigtacular; the Pigtacular was a program created by the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce that encouraged businesses and organizations to decorate statues of pigs which were auctioned off for charity.

Looking after Altamont’s senior citizens was named by both candidates as being another positive aspect of the current administration. They would both like to see more services for Altamont’s youth, too, which is something suggested in the comprehensive plan.
"We are attentive to the seniors," said Aylward. "We should be attentive to the youth."