In the Town of Gardiner, longtime incumbent supervisor Marybeth Majestic (D) is not running for reelection. Incumbent town board member Michael Hartner is the Democratic Party nominee to replace her; he is being contested by newcomer Ryan Wiley on both the Republican and Gardiner First party lines. Three candidates, Democrats Roberta Clements and Wolfe Scandinaro and Republican Alex Hogan, are vying for two seats on the town board.
Three incumbents, town clerk/tax collector Julia Hansen (D), highway superintendent Brian Stiscia (D) and town justice Robert Rich (D), are running unopposed. There are no propositions specific to the Town of Gardiner on the 2025 ballot.
A meet the candidates event will be held on Sunday, October 26 from 3 to 5 p.m. at Full Circle Gardiner, sponsored and organized by the nonpartisan community group Gardiner². Both candidates for supervisor, Hartner and Wiley, will attend, as will town board candidates Hogan and Scandinaro. Clements, the third board candidate, is unable to attend due to a prior scheduling commitment. Full Circle is located at the corner of Brunswick Road and Route 44/55. Food and beverages will be available during the event from The Benton restaurant and Gardiner Bakehouse.
Supervisor candidates:
Michael Hartner (D)
Two years into his current position on the town board, Michael Hartner is a retired New York State school superintendent with over 30 years in public administration. He has spent
seven years volunteering on four town committees in Gardiner, chairing two of them. He has also done volunteer work as a small claims court mediator, nursing home ombudsman, New Paltz School Board member, Elting Memorial Library trustee and youth sports coach. Says Hartner, “Running a school district and running a town aren’t that different. Both require fiscal discipline, personnel management, long-term planning and clear communication with people who deserve straight answers.”
Hartner describes his philosophy of public service thus: “Deliver excellent services efficiently, treat people with respect and don’t waste their money. That means fostering a workplace where our town employees take pride in their work and residents feel heard and valued when they reach out.” He promises to “bring a proactive, systems-based approach to management – not reactive crisis management” and to “solve problems collaboratively, bringing people together rather than picking sides.”
He emphasizes transparency as an area in which Gardiner government could be improved: “All significant decisions should be made openly, with the full knowledge and participation of the entire Town Board. That’s how you honor the diverse views of Gardiner’s residents. When decisions happen behind closed doors, when local laws are not equitably enforced, trust erodes. We can do better.”
Hartner’s priorities include infrastructure, particularly addressing sewer and water needs in the central hamlet; expanding affordable housing options for seniors and working families who are getting priced out; creating a positive, productive workplace environment for town employees; strengthening and following clear governance policies and procedures; and aggressively pursuing grants to ease the local tax burden. Two challenges for the next supervisor’s term, he predicts, will be federal and state policy shifts that keep pushing costs down to local governments while residents are already stretched thin, and maintaining civility and unity in the community in a time of national disunity.
Ryan Wiley (R, Gardiner First)
Born and raised in Marlboro, Ryan Wiley began his career in New York City as a staffer for councilman Dan Garodnick. He worked with Michael Bloomberg on the Service in School initiative, stationed at the Department of Education to develop extracurricular activities for children in inner-city schools. At the US Department of Justice’s International Trade Field office, he was involved in litigating tariffs and duties.
Finding that “the public sector often presented challenges in implementing change,” he
transitioned to the private sector, developing energy-efficiency programs for utility companies. As his family grew and job-related travel became burdensome, Wiley and his wife turned their focus to historic home restoration and house-flipping, which evolved into real estate acquisition and investment. His current work activities include renovations, new construction, property management and developing a small non-GMO farm and kitchen at Terra Ridge Farm.
Citing his “broad experience, collaboration, fresh ideas and an appetite to outwork anybody,” Wiley calls himself “a problem-solver, and I thrive at working collaboratively. I listen, I learn and I approach issues without dogma. If presented with new facts or information I haven’t considered, I am always willing to reevaluate my position. These are the essential qualities we need in our supervisor.”
With regard to the role of local government, Wiley emphasizes protecting private property rights “while enforcing the code fairly; we should not target landowners for using their property, as allowed, for personal or unfair reasons. Above all, we need to provide value to residents so they feel more of a return for their tax dollars.” Public safety, efficient services, transparency, maintaining infrastructure and fair enforcement of local laws are also high on his priority list. “I will ensure our landowners feel a partnership with the town rather than a confrontational relationship; I will solicit small business investment to broaden our local resources; I will aim to develop our public amenities and recreation to enhance overall well-being for residents and visitors; and lastly, I will operate with a neighborly spirit,” he promises.
Near-term, Wiley sees challenges facing the town with regard to infrastructure, notably the wastewater treatment plant. “We’re working on it, but capacity does need to increase, so we should make the investment to more comfortably attract more investment into the village.” Options he envisions for increasing town revenue include “naming rights agreements on existing public facilities to generate income specifically for the development of additional public amenities and recreation infrastructure.” He decries Gardiner’s “largely reactive conservation process that requires land to be enrolled in conservation easements only when an application for development is filed,” suggesting landowner incentives to broaden land conservation options.
Town board candidates
Roberta Clements (D)
Staten Island native Roberta Clements dreamed of one day being a farmer, and got her first taste of rural life at SUNY New Paltz in the 1980s. She completed her graduate work at CUNY, becoming a certified school psychologist with a Master of Science in Education and an advanced certification in school psychology. She then returned to Ulster County, living in
New Paltz, High Falls and Kingston before settling in Gardiner in 2013. “But my first real interaction with Gardiner was in the early 2000s, when I participated in the Save the Ridge campaign,” she notes.
Clements’ varied employment history included selling real estate and being a legal secretary. But she particularly prides herself on her volunteer work: at hospice, at the Sierra Club, working on the Town of Rosendale comprehensive plan. “When I moved to Gardiner, I joined the Environmental Conservation Commission and was chairperson for four years. I helped establish Climate Smart Gardiner, the large-scale solar law, was instrumental in completing the Natural Resources Inventory and then the online mapping tool, the Community Preservation Plan, and participated in the Community Preservation Fund efforts. We analyzed massive, massive data. I’ve worked with multiple town officials; all the work was a collaborative effort. I’ve reviewed a multitude of development proposals, worked with planning, often engaged in analyzing the town code and of course environmental advocacy. Finally, I began volunteering with the Gardiner Democratic Committee a few years ago. I live by the motto to leave things better than you found them. I was raised to be a good citizen who participates in a democracy: If I have the ability to serve, I should.”
Clements credits all this volunteer work with giving her “insight into how to our local government functions, for better or worse; how to approach writing local laws; budgeting; how to engage stakeholders and promote community participation and engagement; and patience.” She acknowledges the “drama” and “negativity” that have sometimes characterized Gardiner government, but promises to bring “focus and equanimity” to town operations and a “methodical, practical approach to resolve issues” while always seeking common ground on which to build. “From the bottom up, government should be transparent and inclusive. There are times decisions must be made, and not all people will be fully satisfied all the time. But we will know we made the best decision for the highest and best purposes when we act with integrity.”
Environmental impacts – climate change, development pressures, water quality, solid waste management, wetlands – remain Clements’ top concern, but priorities on her list also include clear policies and procedures; passing legislation related to accessory dwelling units; supporting farmers, the firehouse and library and a future EMT department. To achieve “business development in the town that’s healthy for the community, but doesn’t have a negative impact on the environment,” she emphasizes innovation: “not just innovations in technology, but innovations in our thinking and our implementation of services.”
Fiscal responsibility is also a major concern, including keeping a lid on taxes. “The budget planning at the time of writing is considering a significant tax increase, which no resident would want. We’ve got to slow down spending. We need to access more grants and fundraising opportunities,” she says. “I’m ultra-focused on reasonable spending.”
Wolfe Scandinaro (D)
An entrepreneur currently serving on Gardiner’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Housing Task Force, Wolfe Scandinaro started two successful local wireless communications companies in the 1990s and early 2000s. He served as facilities director overseeing six properties in Manhattan while simultaneously managing construction projects that developed more than 30 properties with 60 apartments in the City of Newburgh. He holds electrical and plumbing licenses, EPA 608 certification for refrigeration gases and OSHA Site Safety Supervisor certification. After the pandemic, he founded his current business, Kalmen Construction and Vortec Heating & Cooling. Says Scandinaro, “My decades of entrepreneurial and management experience give me the practical, hands-on understanding needed to evaluate budgets, contracts and project logistics while keeping fiscal responsibility in focus. I’ve built teams, solved problems, and managed large-scale projects under pressure: skills that directly translate to effective town governance.”
Scandinaro credits his regular attendance at Town Board meetings with giving him “invaluable and necessary insight into how local government functions” and allowed him to “build productive working relationships with town officials and board members, even when we don’t always agree, and to help move real projects forward – such as the installation of ‘No Jake Brake’ signs to reduce truck noise in a residential neighborhood near the CLI district. I’ve also volunteered labor and materials for town initiatives, including the Main Street bicycle repair station.”
Volunteerism and community service are important to Scandinaro: “I’ve helped obtain and donate over 350 turkeys annually for a local Hudson Valley food drive feeding more than 2,100 people; donated over 200 pizzas to the Helping Hands Food Pantry during COVID; and continue to support the Toys for Tots program each year through Z3 Consultants. I also started an employment reentry program in partnership with the US Probation Department (Southern District of NY), hiring individuals rebuilding their lives after incarceration. In addition, I’m certified in humane trap/spay/neuter practices and have rescued, fostered and socialized over 100 animals, including cats and kittens.”
Scandinaro believes that local government should be “transparent, collaborative and solutions-oriented. It’s our job to listen to residents, consider every perspective and find balanced ways to protect what makes Gardiner special while ensuring it remains affordable and functional for those who live and work here.” He emphasizes communication and collaboration. “Progress only happens when everyone is part of the solution. My approach is simple: Let’s find ways to get things done instead of reasons why we can’t.”
In the near future, he says, “Gardiner’s biggest challenge is maintaining our rural integrity while accommodating responsible growth.” He lists among his top priorities “updating zoning laws to match current realities, expanding responsible housing options and improving infrastructure while maintaining fair and consistent standards.” Smart environmental practices, supporting local farmers and small businesses, enforceable-but-fair noise regulations and sensible rules for short-term rentals are also on his agenda, along with “responsible, community-backed ways to expand housing options – including affordable housing and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) – in alignment with the Ulster County Housing Smart Communities Initiative.”
Alex Hogan (R)
Describing himself as “an extremely patient person that has the ability to listen to all perspectives and make educated, levelheaded decisions on issues at hand,” Alex Hogan has owned an excavation business for the last 20 years. “I have developed the ability to problem-solve and work with a variety of different people in the area to meet their needs in the process,” he says.
In Hogan’s view, the role of local government is to “listen to the people in the community and represent them accordingly. I think the primary issues are the costs due to rapid inflation and how to combat this without putting financial stress on the taxpayer.”
Hogan identifies “rural character preservation and revenue generation” as the top issues that will be confronting Gardiner’s leadership in the near future. The biggest challenge, he says, will be “how to best stimulate hamlet district businesses while being able to expand with adequate municipal infrastructure.”
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