To the Editor:
This year, there are five candidates running for two town board seats in Guilderland. As a sitting board member myself, I have been following this campaign with great interest.

When I ran for town board in 2019, my slogan was “A Voice for the Residents.” It was obvious then, and still is now, that the residents need to have much more control over what happens in their town.

Two years later, it seems sometimes like all five candidates, including the two Republicans, are now ostensibly running on the same issue that I ran on, co-opting my slogan in different variations. It’s easy to say you are for the residents, but which candidate really will be?

I am strongly convinced that Kevin McDonald is that person.

Let’s look at Kevin’s background. Kevin is a lifelong Democrat, who grew up poor in Arbor Hill. He faced many challenges to improve himself.

He got a job working for the city of Albany in public service with the police department, where he learned about budgeting and management. He rose through the ranks and became a union leader and has devoted his life and more than 20-year career to making positive changes for the betterment of all.

He is endorsed by the unions. He knows how to fight for fairness and equality, and how to stand up to power.

Kevin has a wife and two children (one with special needs) and has lived in an established Guilderland neighborhood for over a decade. Kevin is not a lawyer or a doctor. He is just like you — in fact, he is the embodiment of the average working family man. It’s not a surprise that he is endorsed by the Working Families Party.

When a billionaire developer tried to bully his neighborhood and treat it as “collateral damage” in its new five-story project, which would destroy not only his and his neighbors’ quality of life but also destroy a National Natural (environmental) Landmark called the Pine Bush and a National Historic Landmark known as Rapp Road Historic District, much like David and Goliath, Kevin stood up and fought for everyone’s rights.

It was a brave thing to do. By his actions, Kevin alone has already shown that he will fight for all residents’ rights. He has walked the walk.

Kevin is also different from many of the other candidates because he is not beholden to any political agenda. He is not related to anyone in town government and, because he has never worked for anyone in the town hall, he does not owe any allegiance to anyone in positions of power in the town.

Amanda Beedle, a current planning board member, is also running for the town board. Amanda is a wonderful person, but she is used to working for the people in power in the town.

She also is the only candidate who has a voting record to run on, which is usually a big plus for a candidate, but I have not heard her talk about her record at all in her campaign. Why not?

In her almost two years on the planning board, she has voted consistently with the chair of the planning board in favor of every development project in town. It stands to reason that, based on her voting record on the planning board, she will do the same thing on the town board and vote with the supervisor on every single issue. How is this “independent?” How is this “change?”

When Republicans Dr. Sheridan and his running mate, Amanda Knasel, first entered the race, their platform was pro-developer. As reported in The Altamont Enterprise, “Knasel said that she’d like to bring in more development and make it an easier process for businesses.” Sheridan agreed. [“GOP backs two political newcomers for town board,” The Altamont Enterprise, June 7, 2021].

Yet in Dr. Sheridan’s letter to the editor last week he appeared to do a flip-flop, writing “Guilderland residents are often not informed of the decisions that impact local neighborhoods until after the fact. The effective approach, for all involved, is to include the public and to educate them on the impacts of policy or projects prior to actions occurring.” [“Vote for change that will move our town forward,” Oct. 22, 2021].

Which is it? Oddly, nowhere in his letter did he even mention he was a Republican.

Kevin is not against all development; he just wants the town to grow responsibly, as he has consistently said all along. Unlike with the other candidates, by both his words and his actions, you know where Kevin stands.

Over the last year-and-a-half, I have gotten to know Kevin and his family well, and I can honestly say he is one of the most decent, honest, caring people I have ever met. He has no “higher political ambitions” that drive some to compromise their principles.

Kevin is a man of his word, who deeply cares about the people in this town, as well as the environment and making sure all growth is done responsibly. He recognizes that, whenever there is a clash between the residents and a developer, there is an inherent imbalance of power (residents don’t have access to high-priced attorneys or engineers) and the town should be working to help even out that gap.

Kevin is also different from most candidates in that he is not taking any contributions from developers, either directly or indirectly, so as to not to owe anyone any “favors.” Of the remaining candidates, only Christine Napierski has also made that pledge.

In short, I am voting for and endorsing Kevin McDonald for town board because I believe we need a true, honest, independent voice on the town board who really does have the interests of the residents at heart, who can stand up and speak truth to power, and who is not afraid to vote against powerful people if the circumstances demand it.

I am also endorsing Christine Napierski, because I believe she, too, wants the residents to have more control of their town. With Kevin McDonald and Christine Napierski, I believe we can have a town board that finally puts the residents in control of their town, and isn’t that the way it should be?

Laurel Bohl

Councilwoman

Guilderland