Write-in candidate will win town assessor’s post

No one will be on the ballot Tuesday in the race for town assessor, so the job will go to a writein candidate.

No political party nominated a candidate for assessor, but current Assessor Robert Cordella, a Republican who was appointed to the post, is asking that town residents vote for him.

“The office is listed on the ballot with no names beneath it,” said town Assessment Board Chairman Jim Mara said. “... When I called the [Dutchess County] Board of Elections on Friday, they told me that neither party held a caucus and no name came to them for the office.”

Cordella, 56, of 43 Woodside Street, Pine Plains, was appointed in January to fill the seat left vacant when Scott Chase resigned.

Cordella is a retired Consolidated Edison supervisor. He has lived in Pine Plains for 36 years, and he and his wife, Linda, have four adult children.

Cordella was on the Pine Plains Board of Education from 1989 to 1992 and 1993 to 1996 He graduated from LaSalle Academy in Manhattan in 1968 and was in the U.S. Army National Guard Reserve from 1971 to 1981.

He is a member of the Pine Plains Fire and Rescue Squad and the Pine Plains Lions Club.

Cordella said it is important to keep town property assessments at full value and that “we will be doing a review next year to see what updates need to be done.”

Cordella said the position of assessor requires a commitment to site inspections.