 |
| May 05, 2024 |
Welcome! Click here to Login
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Click to visit the
Official Town Site
|
|
|
|
|
|
General News: Mayoral Candidates Face Off in Forum
|
| Mayor Joseph Gross referred to his legal action against the village board for his opening remarks. |
|
| Candidate Brendan Coyne pledged to bring civility, collaboration and consensus to the village board if elected. |
|
| The two candidates for mayor shake hands after the debate. |
March 05, 2011
By Charlie B. Scirbona
The two candidates for Mayor of the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson spoke to a crowd of over 80 people for almost an hour Friday night on why one should be chosen over the other for the position during a candidates forum held by The Cornwall Local.
In their opening remarks, incumbent mayor Joe Gross and candidate Brendan Coyne outlined their qualifications as well as their views on the position. Gross chose to reiterate a statement he read during a press conference earlier in the day when he announced his filing an Article 78 and temporary restraining order against the village board. In his statement, Gross said that for three years he was able to do good things for the village, but that over the past year he and the office of the mayor have been under siege from village Trustees Mark Edsall, James Kane and Douglas Vatter, in an attempt to usurp the powers of the mayor.
Coyne spoke about the need to establish civility, collaboration and consensus between the mayor and the village board. Coyne added that as mayor he would be one of five, and that while he would fight for his position on issues up for a vote he would accept the majority’s decision.
“This is a democracy, when I win fine. When I lose fine,” said Coyne.
The two candidates fielded questions from Kenneth Schmidt, the moderator and former principal of Cornwall-on-Hudson Elementary School, on a broad range of issues from the situation with the DPW building to their accomplishments.
Both candidates expressed their disappointment on the lack of progress in dealing with the building and hoped to use it in the future. However, Coyne said that if he’d been mayor he believed the village would be closer to resolving the issue. Gross pointed out that the board initially opposed his push for the engineering evaluation and soils testing. He added that the problems stemmed originally from mismanagement by the board and previous mayor, citing the lack of engineering schematics and permits for the building.
Gross said his biggest accomplishment during his four years in office has been to change the culture of spending in the village by not allowing a project or purchase to go through without seeing a proper plan or where in the budget the money could come from. He added that by not borrowing money for projects he’s been able to cut the village’s debt.
Coyne pointed to his years on the Cornwall School board, and his time as president of the board when, under his guidance, the board created the School Budget Advisory Board to allow for greater input by community members to allow for greater transparency in the school budget process. He cited his time on the 4th of July planning committee to show how he was able to make the committee work together in a more cohesive manner.
One question posed to Coyne was whether he thought taking team building retreats, like he’d done with the school board, could work with the village board. Coyne said he was for these kinds of retreats to help find commonalities to better promote cooperation between the board and the mayor.
Gross held a different view.
“I love retreats,” said Gross. “I’d like to take one for about the next month,” he joked. Gross changed tones quickly and pointed out that a position on the village government was not like the school board or the 4th of July committee. He added that retreats wouldn’t solve the problem of rules and laws being ignored as in the case of the DPW building.
“We don’t need retreats and Kumbaya, we need to follow the law,” said Gross.
In their closing statement, the candidates reiterated their positions. Coyne held up a book entitled How to Win Local Elections and again called for the need to of civility, collaboration and consensus between the mayor and the board. He also said the current story of David and Goliath, alluding to the division between the mayor and the board, was an old one and that he wanted to help the village write a new story.
Gross ended his statements by first saying that the way to do what’s best was to follow the rules and not focus on the ambiguities of past events. He then read more from his statement given at that he press conference, pledging to recover monies spent on lawyers because of “slipshod negotiations” whether he is re-elected or not.
The village election will be held March 15th.
Comments:
No comments have been posted.
Add a Comment:
Please signup or login to add a comment.
|
 |
|
|
|
