In Hurley the town clerk and highway superintendent also have contested races in this year’s Democratic primary. Here are the responses to questionnaires sent to each candidate.
Town clerk/tax collector
Lynne Bailey (incumbent)
Q: What do you think are the three most important issues facing the town clerk‘s office and how would you address them?
A: 1) Consistency and leadership, 2) Recordkeeping, and 3) Additional service and payment options for residents.
There’s been little to no oversight at the clerk’s office since 2022 and a series of personnel changes that are just stabilizing now. To provide consistency and leadership, I’ve kept on staff that started last May, provided oversight and much more timely response to other officials and public inquiries. This has produced timely clerk reports, informative minutes of town board meetings, certification of documents and completion of foil requests. Consistency is being built from the inside out by diligently following up on requests, addressing training gaps and by researching best practices to develop, document and implement protocols. I streamlined the recording of tax payments, and by having full staff present for the first six weeks of the year, the clerk’s office efficiently managed all payments while keeping up with other duties.
Recordkeeping is a primary responsibility of the town clerk. Without good records and knowing where to find them, much time is wasted and space is being used for documents that are no longer required. Sadly, there is a history of haphazard filing, no proper inventory, retention schedules are not used and the placement of files remains inconsistent.
I will address this by creating a file plan and a local government records management policy beginning in July. If re-elected, I will spearhead grant applications to complete an inventory of the town’s records, and we can move forward with shredding documents no longer required, and digitizing eligible records for future accessibility. Completing this for the Town of Hurley will greatly enhance accessibility and transparency and ease research for zoning, planning and governance.
To date, with the cooperation of the bookkeeper, electronic copies of all vouchers are now being saved to enable accessibility. Original vouchers are also kept and those records have been are identified. To facilitate the certification of vital records — marriage, birth, death — I extended deputy and sub-registrar status, so these files are now accessible by all clerk staff and no burials would be delayed.
There is a town website for checking and paying taxes, and fees are paid by the user. I’d like to see that extended to some other permits or dog licensing if possible. At the clerk’s office, only exact change and cash are accepted for payments. Initiating card usage at the clerk’s office is a goal, but the extra cost of doing so must be considered. I regularly extend office hours for residents and will continue to do so as needed.
I am committed to delivering top-notch customer service, up-to-date technology, impeccable recordkeeping, organization, trust and accountability to the town clerk’s office.
Q: What makes you qualified for the job?
A: As the newly elected town clerk, I am delivering with timely and quality service, expanded hours and modern administrative skills. Committed to increasing government transparency, workflow efficiencies and opportunities for more online services, I started by simplifying tax payment input. Impeccable record keeping is a key part of the office, and updating systems will make it easier for everyone to access appropriate files.
After five decades of experience, I possess a strong background in managing small offices, customer service, finance, education, computer applications, database usage and transfer, digital design, training, user support and documentation. My education includes an MS in educational technology from NYIT in 2009, and a BS in education in 2003. I’m motivated, capable and good at making things run more efficiently.
As a resident of Hurley since 2013, I attended many meetings with neighbors from across the town, and I served on the zoning task force. I am an original and active member of Hurley’s Climate Smart Task Force (CSTF). My contributions of building our website, creating presentations, posters, reports, marketing mailers, research and writings were vital in obtaining $55,000 in clean energy grants last year and achieving bronze Climate Smart Community status in 2023.
A seasoned financial professional, administrator, and computer technology specialist, I bring a broad range of expertise, management, technology skills, sensitivity and communication savvy to the office of town clerk.
About Bailey
A native New Yorker, I grew up in a small suburban town in the middle of Suffolk County, in a household that strongly valued family, public service, education, a good work ethic and unions. My dad was a civil engineer for the county, and my mom became a public-school teacher. I spent decades working in NYC and Westchester before moving to Ulster County in 2010. I started in finance as an admin on a municipal bond desk in the 70’ss, married and moved to Westchester County in the 8o’s, where I was a mortgage officer and then managed the presentation department for a financial services company.
After 25 years in the financial industry, I turned my attention to web design and computer graphics, completed my BA in 2003 and my ,asters in 2009. I taught technology in NYC and Mt. Vernon public schools and conducted STEM teacher training. I retired from teaching in 2013 and began offering marketing, administrative, communication and file management services for small business and financial service firms until I was elected town clerk. For the past eight years, I’ve mostly managed client services for an independent financial advisor.
Diana Cline
Q: What do you think are the three most important issues facing the town clerk’s office and how would you address them?
A: 1. Communication with the residents of Hurley. At a recent town board meeting two town residents complained they had no knowledge of the EMS program we were talking and voting on that evening — we had already had the public hearing. One of residents mentioned when she checked the Facebook page of the town there were only 800 followers, yet the town has 6000 residents. This needs improvement and I will work with our communications person to see how we can improve this. Judy Mayhon, a previous town clerk, sent two hard copy newsletters each year in the mail. We may have to look into that.
2. Checks and balances for town spending
Karen Horner and Judy Mayhon, the two previous town clerks with decades of time in the position, always reported town expenditures in their monthly reporting, listing the general fund, highway, line H and lighting district. The previous administration stopped reporting any monthly financials one month after Judy Mayhon passed. If the town clerk had been providing the report as they should have been, the town may have avoided some of the budgetary shortfalls the current administration has had to contend with.
3. The town clerk’s office is an extension of community service. I will look for ways to enhance community service. I will restore notary public services to our town (I have been a notary since the late 1990’s) and also reinstate obtaining hunting and fishing licenses in the office. I intend to have extended clerk hours in the evening and Saturdays. A 9 to 4 schedule may be great for retirees and those who work from home, but not for someone who works 8 to 5 Monday through Friday. I will also find a satellite location and schedule dates in West Hurley to conduct clerk business to make it more convenient for those who live closer to this location.
Q: What makes you qualified for the job?
A: I love this town. I was born and raised in this town. I then raised my four wonderful children here. I have spent my entire adult life in community service for the Town of Hurley.
I bought my house and started a career at the post office, both in July 1987. My boss told me being the eyes and ears for the residents of the town were an extension of the postal job. She explained people really care about what goes on in the town — they just don’t have the time to get to meetings. I immediately started attending town meetings and school board meetings.
I joined the town recreation committee in late 1980’s until the McKnight administration ended it in 2022. I became a member of the Hurley Democratic Committee in the early 1990’s and am still a member. In 1995, I became an election inspector in Hurley, this year I will celebrate 30 years. I became a ZBA member in 2002 or 2003. Five years later I became a planning board member. I held that volunteer position until I was elected to the town council in 2024. I have been a Hurley Library trustee since 2015. I have watched, listened and contributed whenever I could to this town my entire life. I will continue this as town clerk.
About Cline
My children were 12 years apart and I was always room mother or a volunteer — so sometimes four schools at a time. (Hurley Nursery, Myer, Bailey and KHS) I became Myer PTA president when my youngest went through Myer and coordinated the community to build the playground that is still there. I retired from the post office in October 2022 after a 35-year career.
Highway superintendent
Mike Shultis (incumbent)
Q: What are the three most important issues facing the highway department and how would you address them?
A: • A new, future-ready highway garage: Shultis emphasizes the critical need for a new highway garage designed to serve the town for the next 75-plus years. He states, “As we’ve upgraded the fleet to meet the challenges of the future, we need to better maintain our fleet.” The proposed complex would include a wash bay, inside storage allowing truck temperatures to be at 45 degrees and preloaded for upcoming snow events. He also highlights the importance of the new facility being able to accommodate future truck technologies, whether electric, hydrogen, ammonia, or other forms of energy, plus it can operate as a cooling/warming center when needed during weather emergencies.
• Upgrading drainage systems in response to climate change: Shultis notes that as climate change continues to impact weather patterns, upgrading drainage systems remains a top priority for highway crews. He proudly states, “When first elected, I transitioned the crew from simple maintenance to a construction crew and have installed more than two miles of drainage pipes in the last seven years at a savings to taxpayers of more than $1 million.” He explains that this approach avoids the higher costs associated with contracting private companies, which traditionally incurred significant expenses due to prevailing wage requirements and sales tax on materials.
• Efficient and cost-effective road paving and crew safety: Shultis plans to continue collaborating with Cornell Local Roads Programs and local asphalt suppliers to identify the most efficient and cost-effective techniques for paving road surfaces. He states, “As prices continue to rise, I’ll continue to look for ways to do more with less to keep our roads safe for the driving, walking and biking.” Additionally, he emphasizes the ongoing education of crews on safety procedures and training.
Q: What makes you qualified for the job?
A: Shultis points to his extensive experience in managing budgets and operations as key qualifications. “Having run my own forest products business since I was 19 and working in the ignition interlock trade — first as NYS director helping promulgate NYS rules when Leandra’s Law was passed — to region director running ten states from Texas to Maine and overseeing a $16 million budget, gave me the tools to oversee the Hurley highways $2 million budget,” he explains. He proudly notes, “In the last seven years, we have not gone over budget under my leadership.”
About Shultis
Growing up on Morgan Hill, the son of Clifford and Margaret Shultis, Mike attributes his aptitude for numbers to his father, a math teacher in Kingston. He graduated from Onteora and quickly ventured into entrepreneurship, running his own forest products business since the age of 19.
Mike and his wife Marie have raised five children, all of whom attended West Hurley and Onteora High School. The Shultis family currently has four grandchildren, with a fifth due soon. His wife, Marie, is the executive director of Awareness Inc., an organization dedicated to helping young adults overcome addiction in Ulster County and the surrounding area.
John Wiacek
Q: What are the three most important issues facing the highway department and how would you address them?
A: • Bullying/harassment-free workplace: When personal issues arise, I will ensure a discrimination/harassment-free workplace and establish a designated protocol for a proper independent investigation of all allegations of abuse.
• Safety: The employees will be properly trained in these areas; equipment safety, flagging safety, work zone safety, vehicle safety and ensuring public safety.
• General maintenance: Listen to the needs of the community regarding general maintenance of the roadways — ditches, pipes, trees, shoulders
Q: What makes you qualified for the job?
A: Wiacek is a heavy motorized equipment operator working supervisor for Town of Hurley for the last seven years and former deputy for Town of Hurley for several years.
He worked at Arold Paving for three years in Kingston and as a heavy motorized equipment operator for the Town of Woodstock for eight years. He worked part time for H and R Rock Construction for ten years in the Town of Olive.
About Wiacek
He was born in Kingston, the youngest of six, and raised in the Town of Olive. He enjoys outdoor activities, travel, working and cooking. He is married with two children residing in the Town of Hurley the last 14 years. He is excited to serve the Town of Hurley community.
Join the family! 
