Town Board, highway post among Hurley races
Voters in Hurley will decide contested races for two Town Board seats, highway superintendent and two town justice positions.
Town voters on Tuesday, Nov. 5, will decide contested races for two Town Board seats, highway superintendent, and two town justice positions.
Town Board
Seeking four-year seats on the Hurley Town Board are incumbent Councilman Matthew LaClair, of 315 Tanglewood Court, West Hurley; Melinda McKnight, of 60 Holland Drive, West Hurley; Peter Humphries, of 22 Tanglewood Road, West Hurley; and Matthew May, 31 Elks Park Road, West Hurley.
Councilman John Dittus is not seeking re-election and former Councilman John Gill resigned last year.
LaClair, 55, was appointed to the Town Board on Jan. 1 to fill Gill’s unexpired term. He will be on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines. LaClair, the director of facilities for the Schodack school system, has lived in the town for six years.
“My plan is to ... continue to look at small, environmentally-friendly growth in the community to build the tax base,” LaClair said.
He said the town should also look at “building our solar base.”
McKnight, 50, is a firsttime candidate running on the Democratic, Green, and Working Families party lines on the ballot. The co-owner of Energy Conservation Specialists, she has lived in the town for 12 years.
McKnight said the town has operated out of compliance with the state Open Meetings Law and points to a recent Comprehensive Review Committee meeting as an example of town officials’ questionable willingness to be transparent with residents. The committee is reviewing possible changes to the town zoning code but recently met behind closed doors, with two candidates for the Town Board not allowed to attend.
“I am about responsible development and the right development happening in the right location,” she said. “There is some development that’s proposed that the location isn’t really a good location. A lot more time needs to be spent looking at insuring that the development that’s proposed is in the right and best location.”
Humphries, 37, is a firsttime candidate running on the Democratic, Green, and Working Families party lines. A self-employed general contractor, he has lived in the town for 10 years.
Humphries, too, is troubled by the town Comprehensive Plan Review Committee going behind closed doors to discuss possible zoning revisions.
“That was terrible what happened the other night when they literally ran out and ran in the back door,” he said. “These are public meetings and they should be public for everybody.”
Humphries said the town Zoning Board of Appeals should also be of concern to residents after a recent meeting had to be cancelled because there was no quorum.
May, 33, is running on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence party lines. He is an auto mechanic with West Hurley Service Center. A lifelong resident of the town, he graduated from Onteora High School in 2005.
“A priority is the West Hurley Elementary School and trying to keep it from becoming a housing development,” he said. “It would be nice to see it become something for the town, like a community center. I just don’t want to see it become a development.”
Town justice
Vying for two four-year terms as town justice are incumbent Justice John Parker, of 374 state Route 28A; Roy Hochberg, of 402 Old Route 28, Glenford; and Michael Di Battista, of 523 Walnut St.
One of the positions was previously held by the late
Justice Michael F. Jordan.
Parker, 74, is seeking his ninth term, running on the Republican, Conservative, Green, and Independence ballot lines. He has lived in the town for 49 years.
“We are all very concerned about the changes to bail coming in January,” Parker said. “We feel it’s going to make the judges’ job, the courts’ job, the police’s job, a lot more difficult. Our feeling is that we’re being influenced by problems like down in New York City, where defendants get lost in the system.”
Hochberg, 77, who previously served on the Ulster County Legislature from 2009-11, is running on the Democratic, Green, and Working Families party lines. He has lived in the town since 1972.
“Come Jan. 1 there are some huge changes coming for bail reform; how evictions are handled; there’s the decriminalization of marijuana; and a whole list of changes,” he said. “That is going to require a lot of changes in the way all of the justices and all of the courts deal with things and deal with people. I’m ready and willing to do that.”
DiBattista, 71, ran unsuccessfully for justice about 20 years ago and is running on the Republican and Conservative ballot lines. He has lived in the town for 44 years.
“The criminal laws are going to get changed a lot regarding bail,” he said. “It’s going to be appearance tickets issued for almost ... every minor offense, every minor violation, and every misdemeanor, and actually some felonies, too.”
Highway superintendent
Michael Shultis, 63, of 1 Shultis Lane, Hurley, is seeking a second two-year term on the Democratic, Green, Working Families, and Independence party lines. He previously served as town supervisor from 2006-07 after running unsuccessfully in 2003 and was not re-elected in 2007. He was unsuccessful in a 2015 bid for highway superintendent, but won the seat in 2017. He has lived in the town for 61 years.
Shultis was not available for an interview on issues related to the position.
Gavin Bellows, 38, of 350 Wynkoop Road, Hurley, is a first-time candidate running on the Republican and Conservative lines. He is a self-employed electrical contractor and a lifelong resident of the town.
“I would like to keep the town (Highway Department) as a service and maintenance group and focus on that,” he said. “If there’s extra time after all those have occurred I would say some install work, but not focus on an install department.” By “install work,” he later said, he was referring to new roads.
Town Clerk
Incumbent town Clerk Judy Mayhon, of 188 Old Route 209, is running unopposed for a seventh twoyear term on the Democratic and Working Families lines. It will be the only uncontested race on the Hurley ballot.