This November four men will face off in Highland for two Town Board seats. Even across party lines there seems to be a lot of concern about the flooding from the tropical storms last month and how that should guide policy into the future.
Candidates also had a lot to say about high taxes, transparency of government and how development might best play out in the Town of Lloyd.
Here is what the four of them had to say during a pre-election interview with this paper last week.
Alan Van De Bogart
Alan Van De Bogart, 57, has lived in the Town of Lloyd for 26 years. He currently serves on the town’s water and sewer committee and the economic development committee — along with his volunteer work as the vice president of the Bob Shepard Highland Landing Park Association and on the town’s historic preservation group.
Professionally, Van De Bogart is the president of Tillson-based Slipit Industries and has a Master of Business degree from SUNY New Paltz. The Republican candidate is running to improve his surroundings.
“Well, I’m involved in the community. I do want to make the Town of Lloyd better for all of us,” Van De Bogart said.
The top issues he sees facing Highland and Lloyd are the pressure to develop, the revitalization of the downtown hamlet area and taxes.
Van De Bogart said he’d push to guide development in a smart way, and he said that he sees the Walkway Over the Hudson and the Hudson Valley Rail Trail as assets to the town. If the town leaders are smart, they can find ways to leverage those to help everyone.
“I would be helpful to find useful ways to use those tools,” he said.
With a long history, the Highland’s hamlet center is ripe for blooming once again. Van De Bogart pointed to the historic trolley walking tour set up recently as a creative way to get people interested in the downtown area. He’d push for more of those creative kinds of ideas if elected.
While taxes are a deep concern for the candidate, the candidate said he didn’t have a magic-bullet solution to the tax problem. However, it would be one of the areas on which he would spend a good deal of time. If he got elected, he’d look to understand the taxation issue better and work to find solutions for the problems people face now.
“That’s always a concern, I think,” Van De Bogart said. “Taxes today are overwhelming.”
Van De Bogart said he thought his ability to compromise and listen to other viewpoints would be an asset for the people who voted for him.
“I think that the best thing is that I’ve been in circumstances that require problem solving,” he said.
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