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General News: Randazzo Rejects Calhoun's Charges
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| Richard Randazzo defended his record on the steps of Cornwall town hall. |
September 29, 2008
It’s campaign season and the race is heating up in the New York State 96th assembly district.
Former Cornwall town supervisor Richard Randazzo, who is the candidate of the Democratic and Working Family parties, stood outside Cornwall Town Hall Monday morning to denounce what he called the deceptions and distortions of his opponent, Republican incumbent assemblywoman Nancy Calhoun.
Randazzo charged that Calhoun has distorted his record as town supervisor, claiming that he raised property tax levies 20 times and that he also raised tax levies by 19% in just one year. In his press conference, Randazzo argued that while tax levies did increase, the amount of property taxes paid often went down. He pointed to a 14% decrease in taxes for most Cornwall taxpayers in 2008. He also dismissed the charge that he raised taxes 19%, blaming his predecessor in office for running up a large debt.
Asked about Randazzo’s claim that property tax payments for individual owners may have gone down when levies were up, Assemblywoman Calhoun pointed to the increased assessments that began during Randazzo’s administration that served to keep the tax rates down. Randazzo countered later that he was not in office when the town assessor started his five-year assessment plan in May 2003.
Candidate Randazzo also rejected Calhoun’s attempt to hold him responsible for the town’s failure to acquire water wells off Route 32 in Mountainville that were later acquired by Kiryas Joel. The former well owner, Star-Newco, offered the wells to the town of Cornwall for free in late 1999. Randazzo said that he and the board voted to accept the wells, subject to bankruptcy approval, but he left office two weeks after the vote and the acquisition of the wells never materialized under the administration of supervisor Helen Bunt, who took office in January 2000. Kiryas Joel purchased the wells in 2002.
Calhoun brushes aside Randazzo’s defense, saying that he should have made sure that the town attorneys followed through on the transfer of the wells. Calhoun today calls the ownership of the wells by Kiryas Joel a vitally important issue for Cornwall.
A final issue that Randazzo tackled was Calhoun’s statement that he refused to adopt a resolution as supervisor that would have called for a cap on property taxes. Randazzo says that a cap alone will not solve the heavy burden taxpayers already face. He is calling for immediate property tax relief by using income tax to pay for education.
As he wrapped up his press conference, Randazzo challenged Calhoun to a public forum where they could compare their platforms.
Assemblywoman Calhoun said she would appear publicly with her challenger and noted that the two could face off, as they did in 2006, on the Cable 6 program, “Meet the Leaders.” She said the two would also be speaking with the editorial board of the Times Herald Record before the election.
This race marks the fourth time that Richard Randazzo has run against Nancy Calhoun since 1990. In the 2006 race for the 96th District seat, Randazzo lost by a margin of 18,601 to 16,651.
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