To the Editor:

I’d like to introduce myself to my fellow Berne residents. My name is Allen Stempel and I’m running for highway superintendent for the town of Berne. Please consider supporting me now and in November.

The town of Berne has always been my home. The Stempel family has been here for five generations and my ancestry in the Helderbergs extends beyond that. I’m deeply committed to this town and want to see it continue to be a wonderful place to live for both my family and yours.

I’ve stepped up to run for highway superintendent because I feel that my skillset can be a great benefit to this community! I think it’s a great opportunity for me and I believe I can bring a positive, uplifting attitude to the job that will encourage existing employees and future employees to strive to meet their full potential.

I feel the skills, experience, and interests I possess would be beneficial to our town as highway superintendent. I have been a contract tree climber for many years. I have extensive experience in mechanics, welding, and snowplowing.

In the tree-service industry, we can often find ourselves as much as 100 feet from the ground, so safety is the number-one priority in the business. In my career, I’ve worked with many different types of machinery, like cranes, heavy equipment, chippers, trucks, tractors, and rigging.

We have a beautiful town. As an arborist, I have a great appreciation for our forested areas and the flora along our highways. I feel that keeping growth in the highway right-of-way under control is another important part of the job. Safety must be the priority, but aesthetics along the highway must be a consideration too. Signs must be continuously visible and dead and weakened trees near the highway are a hazard.

One of my goals is to inventory town assets and liabilities, assess each condition, and make long-term plans to budget and address issues. The highway department has to be much more proactive than reactive. Working with the Town Board with a plan can address costly mistakes across the board before they happen.

I have been studying the information, guidance and training available to me and reaching out to future colleagues and those experienced in highway engineering and construction. The New York State Association of Towns and the Cornell Local Roads Program are of great benefit.

The New York Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (also known as CHIPs) already funds a great portion of our highway maintenance costs, but can also be utilized for free engineering, survey, and construction inspection services in improvement projects. These benefits have been historically ignored in Berne and would vastly improve the quality of our projects.

York Vehicle and Traffic Law requires that the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the New York Addendum be followed for work-zone safety. Observing this law would vastly improve highway project safety.

The Capital District Transportation Council tracks all government-funded projects in our region. A relationship with that organization can result in access to funding for infrastructure improvements in Berne when state highway projects impacting Berne are in the early planning stages. I will continue to gain as much knowledge as possible so I can best put my skills to work for the town.

It was a big commitment for me to decide to run for highway superintendent. Politics in Berne have been toxic, aggressive, and unproductive. I don’t want to be part of that. I want to be a positive and productive influence on the town.

My family has been a big part of the community for many years. We have always done our best to be productive, compassionate neighbors willing to support anyone in need. We treat people the way we would like to be treated. We treat people with respect.

I hope this November 4th you’ll consider supporting me. I am endorsed by both the Republican and Democratic committees, but you must go to the Democratic line.

I am making a career choice. This will be my primary job. I will oversee operations locally every day. I won’t be doing anything else other than working for the people of Berne. I’m confident that with my skills I can do the job well. I’ll be honest and transparent where I have weak points and work diligently to continue to learn and grow my skills. I’ll take constructive criticism as an opportunity for growth.

It’s going to take respect, decency, and all of us working together to turn the page to become a productive, positive tight-knit community. Thank you for considering me. I really appreciate this opportunity.

Allen Stempel

Berne