To the Editor:

As someone who has spent his entire life living in Guilderland and East Berne, I try to pay attention to the issues and qualifications of candidates running for local office. I can’t remember when we’ve had a more qualified candidate than Jeff Perlee, who is running  to represent Altamont, parts of Guilderland, Knox, and East Berne in the Albany County Legislature.

Jeff is the eighth generation of his family to call this place home. He cares about the entire Helderberg region. He served for many years as a State Park commissioner, with responsibility for Thacher and Thompsons Lake state parks. In Altamont, Jeff helped secure funds for the redesign of Main Street and he worked to ensure that the post office stayed in the village and that the Altamont Elementary School remained open. Each effort was a success and the community is better for it.

Jeff has held big jobs but he also knows first hand the challenges facing local small business. He founded Hungerford Market — one of Altamont’s most loved venues — at the same time that he was running the New York Lottery, the largest lottery in North America.

Jeff is a great manager and promoter; he was for several years the chairman of the Empire State Winter Games and he led the Capital Region Host Committee of the Special Olympics.

Jeff also serves his neighbors and those in need. He was a founding director of the Guilderland YMCA, vice chair of the Guilderland Food Pantry, and he was cofounder of Altamont Community Tradition, the group that hosts the annual Victorian Holidays Celebration and other great community-building activities. 

I met Jeff at church when we were kids and, like others at Guilderland High School, I knew he would do great things with his life. He graduated from Duke Law School, worked for governors in two different states, and went on to a successful career in business.

But the greatest thing he has done is to step up to be a dad to four young kids who desperately needed a safe and loving home. I know this family well, and there’s not a finer one in town.

I urge all residents, whether you are Democrat, Republican, or independent, to support Jeff Perlee for county legislator.

Mark Jones

Altamont