When voters in the Town of Saugerties head to the polls, they’ll see two contested races on the ballot, along with a pair of unopposed and a single proposition.
Town justice
Incumbent town justice Stanley O’Dell will be challenged by two opponents in an effort to retain his seat.
Stanley O’Dell, incumbent (Republican/Working Families)
O’Dell, a retired state police investigator, was appointed to serve as town justice in October 2022. He’s also in his second year serving as associate judge for the Village of Saugerties.
O’Dell said he’s proud of having been selected from a pool of several candidates, including a few attorneys, to fill the vacancy last year, and hopes to be able to retain the position.
“When I began in the town, I learned that the court had some issues that needed to be addressed,” O’Dell said. “My partner judge (Chris Kraft) and I formed a plan and addressed the problems. I am glad to say that the Town of Saugerties court is respected in the legal community, well-staffed and running smoothly. I know the work, have the experience and have been doing the job. I am hopeful to continue to do the work for the people of Saugerties.”
O’Dell said he believes addiction is the most pressing concern facing the community, “as it leads to recidivism and at times death. It not only takes lives but spirals out and causes crime.”
O’Dell said the police departments like those in Saugerties can be overwhelmed by overdoses, many of them by repeat offenders committing crimes to feed their addiction.
“Public awareness is important, but resources, programs and facilities offering assistance to those with addiction, as well as mental health problems, are key to the issue,” O’Dell said. “I have started the process of working with the Ulster County Department of Mental Health court liaison to broaden our options when dealing with mental health issues. All of us that work daily in the criminal justice system find ourselves at times searching for alternatives to incarceration.”
Aimee Richter, challenger (Democratic)
Richter is a partner with the law firm Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter, LLC, with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Mexico City. Richter’s specialty is family law, one which she said makes her well suited for the role of town justice. Richter also serves as a special master, a mediator for the appellate courts, and is also a member of the New York State Bar Association’s judicial screening panel.
Richter said she was already looking for a way to become more involved with the community before she was asked by a member of the Saugerties Democratic Committee to consider a run for town justice.
“It kind of just seemed to be the perfect storm of events, meaning I was looking to do something and this was something that seemed to be sort of right up with my skillset,” she said.
Richter said that one thing she’s discovered while canvassing ahead of next month’s election is that there’s a general misunderstanding about the role of a town court.
“It’s not just for people who get pulled over on the Thruway,” Richter said. “People really think it’s just like the drunk driving court, but it’s not. They have landlord-tenant court there, they do evictions. They handle civil cases under a certain amount of money; small claims; and court orders of protection, which is something that I’ve been doing for 30 years with my work. I mean, it impacts everybody. And I was thinking it would be important to have some kind of community outreach, have a day, come to the court, see what it does, or have a public information session, and let people really know what goes on there.”
Richter said meeting people as a candidate has shown that the public wants someone knowledgeable as town justice.
“They want to know that their judge is an attorney who understands the law,” she said. “I think they want to know that they get a fair shot.”
Gaetana Ciarlante, challenger (Conservative)
Ciarlante is a retired clinical social worker with experience in forensic work with the court system, corrections, and drug courts, along with experience in mental health and addiction treatment. She also runs a short-term rental company, Hudson Riverfront Preservation, LLC. Ciarlante ran for town supervisor in 2013 and 2015.
Ciarlante said she is running for the town justice position to make use of her professional experience.
“I am concerned about the increase in addiction and domestic violence in our town and seek to apply a recovery model in conjunction with the law and consequences for violating the law,” she said.“At the same time it is a priority to apply the Constitution’s limitations to government overreach and individual rights. This is a critical time as some governments seek to place unconstitutional limitations on personal rights and freedom beginning at a local level.”
Locally, Ciarlante expressed concern with crime, particularly as it relates to drug addiction.
“We are all seeing these stresses on families and sadly they often result in break-ups and sometimes death,” she said, adding that because of her professional history, she’s well-positioned to be a successful town justice. “An effective judge needs to be able to discern which defendant is amenable to change and which is manipulating the system and my experience puts me in the best position to decide this.”
Town board
The town board race sees two incumbents hoping to retain their seats alongside a pair of challengers.
Michael Ivino, incumbent (Democratic)
Ivino, owner of J&J Tree Works, has been in public service since joining the Centerville Fire District in 2010.
“I decided I could continue to build upon that with joining the town board if elected,” he said.
Ivino said he believed infrastructure and development were among the most pressing matters in the town, and he’d like to help address those with a second consecutive term.
“Infrastructure such as our water and sewer systems are in need of upgrades and so on,” he said. “We also have a huge influx of new building and development such as Winston’s (Winston Farm) that needs the board’s attention.”
Leeanne Thornton, incumbent (Democratic)
Thornton is seeking a sixth consecutive four-year term on the town board. Thornton is a retired junior high school social studies teacher.
Al Bruno, challenger (Republican/Conservative)
Bruno works in the engineering department at Vassar Brothers Memorial Hospital as an HVAC technician, and represents 900 employees as a union delegate with SEIU local 1199. Bruno was elected to the Ulster County Legislature in 2019, but did not retain his seat in the 2021 election.
George Heidcamp, challenger (Conservative)
Heidcamp served with the Town of Saugerties Police Department for 38 years, including 18 years as the president of the local PBA. He was also a longtime member of the Saugerties School Board, serving as its president for six years.
Thornton, Bruno and Heidcamp could not be reached by Hudson Valley One prior to deadline.
Town supervisor
Fred Costello (Democratic/Working Families)
Incumbent Fred Costello has been town supervisor for five-and-a-half years, tackling the role while also working in the family business at Sue’s Restaurant on Route 9W. Costello will run unopposed.
“We are in the middle of a number of projects that I feel I could be helpful with, and my experience lends itself to shepherding,” Costello said of his decision to run for another term. “I feel like I still have a lot to offer. I’m excited and honored to have this opportunity to serve in this capacity.”
Costello said the town will continue working to grow responsibly.
“You can see there’s a lot of construction happening, which is good,” he said. “But that has implications as well. So managing those and setting the deck for the future is very important. There’s challenges regarding traffic, and water, and providing services, and housing costs all associated with that. So we’ve got plenty of things to work our way through to make sure that we’re ready for the next cycle.”
Saugerties is also in the midst of reshaping its police department, at least from an administrative point of view. The department is currently helmed by interim police chief Lou Barbaria, who came out of retirement to give town officials a bit of breathing room as they look to find a permanent replacement for former chief Joseph Sinagra, who was placed on administrative leave by the council before officially retiring last month.
“I believe in the need for a community police department here in Saugerties, and right now that’s being challenged by the loss of brass at the top,” Costello said.“And it’s also being challenged by the labor shortage in policing in general. We are working diligently to ensure that there will be stability at the top of the police department, and I can’t thank chief Barbaria enough for coming back when he did to give us the time to have a healthy transition, which is happening. And we have to assure young folks that are seeking employment in law enforcement that our department will be stable and that they can have a successful career if they choose to work here.”
Another challenge for the start of Costello’s next term is budgeting, something he said is an annual concern.
“We’re going to work hard as we have in the past to make sure that we do our best to stay within the property tax cap,” he said. “And we’re proud that we’ve been able to lower the tax rate four out of five years. That’s our goal again this year. I think we’re going to do it, but we’re not quite there yet.”
Receiver of taxes
Diane Friedmann (Republican/Conservative)
Friedmann will run unopposed as receiver of taxes after being appointed to the position in June of this year.
Among the most pressing issues Friedmann said the town faces through the lens of a receiver of taxes is that some local residents can’t afford to pay their taxes.
“In the office we try to make sure the taxpayers know, depending on their circumstances, that there are exemptions they may be eligible for,” she said. “No one wants their taxes to increase but the town board has a hard job with the budget each year trying to keep the town running properly within a set budget; especially with costs rising for everyone.”
Friedmann said it was also important to offer competitive salaries for town employees.
“We have a great staff in an extremely busy office,” she said. “For this office and certain positions throughout the town, the pay is less than it should be. To keep the current employees the town has, the wages have to be competitive. Again, the problem is working that into the budget and trying to keep the public and the town employees happy. Never an easy task.”
Ballot Initiative: Changing the receiver of taxes position from elected to appointed
With considerable turnover in the position of receiver of taxes in recent years, town officials are hoping that making an apolitical position appointed rather than elected will allow Saugerties to ensure they attract the most qualified candidates moving forward.
Diane Friedmann, who runs unopposed as perhaps the last elected receiver of taxes in the Town of Saugerties said she understood both sides of the argument.
“I’m mostly in favor of the position being appointed,” she said. “The person who becomes tax collector has a big responsibility running the office properly and needs to have the experience required for the job. If it’s an elected position and the person who is elected is not doing their job well, by law the town board has no power to do anything. That can be a problem when mistakes are made and if the public is complaining about incompetency. If the position is appointed, the appointed tax collector is chosen by five town board members and not the public so it’s based on who they want. The appointment should have a contract for a set number of years so the person appointed knows that they have the job for at least that many years. In the end, it makes the most sense for the position to be appointed.”
Join the family! 
