The recent Irene disaster haunted Olive’s Meet the Candidate event, moderated by the Mid-Hudson league of Women Voters at the town’s meeting hall in Shokan on Saturday, October 22. The 22-year town supervisor Bert Leifeld said the tropical storm and its aftermath “tore this town apart and set people against each other.” His two Republican opponents on hand, third-time supervisor candidate Cindy Johansen and incumbent town board candidate Peter Friedel, spoke about the need for better preparations for future storm events while also praising non-governmental efforts in their community.
There were repeat mentions of rumors by both factions, and talk of bad blood by Leifeld. The town’s budget process, with a spending plan now hovering around the two percent tax cap level, was spoken about as an active entity yet to be decided. Johansen and Friedel said that although they wished local taxes could be kept to no rise, and budget discussion would shift to a “zero-base” format used by many businesses, they emphasized that they weren’t for firing anybody currently employed by Olive.
After the event, candidates provided spin on what went unsaid in the previous hour and a half, but refused to go on the record with a variety of charges. The major public campaign positions stayed largely upbeat, or watered down. There were approximately 40 non-candidates in attendance…and many of those town employees or candidate family members.
Republican town council candidate Donald Van Buren, who also ran two years ago, was unable to attend because of a work emergency.
Friedel, who noted having grown up in town and years of volunteer service from the time he joined the Olive Fire Department at age 16, was the first to introduce himself. He spoke about the need to “have other voices” addressing Olive governance, and pointed out communications problems that arose during the Irene incident, as well as during snow emergencies in recent years.
Henry Rank, an incumbent Democratic councilman seeking a third term, pointed out that he’d been living in Olive since he was 12 and helped start the local Little League. He said he wanted to be able to finish work repairing major flood problems on Watson Hollow Road in West Shokan, and complete work on a Comprehensive Plan for the town.
Johansen, 59 and a town resident since 1994, spoke about her private business experience and said she wanted to bring “new blood” to the town and thought she could help Olive become more efficient in the future. She also questioned why the town needed a master plan, which included the suggestions of future cluster and affordable housing projects.
Leifeld, 73 and a town council member for 11 years before taking on his present position, stressed his 53 years as an Olive resident, his executive board positions with the Catskill Watershed Corporation and Ulster County Mayors and Supervisors Association, and years spent as a tobacco company executive. While pointing out how “I think I’m finally getting it right,” the incumbent quipped that “the storm we could have done without.”
Council candidate Ternice Winne, another lifetime resident of Olive, listed her years working as a member of various community boards, 22 years of banking experience, and her family connections to others working for the town. “It’s time for me to help keep Olive running smoothly,” she said.
Incumbent town justice Ronald Wright, running unopposed, noted how his position’s constraints would keep him saying much beyond a series of well-natured quips he then made throughout the morning’s questions and answers.
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