VOTE411 Voter Guide

I believe that local government is where the values, concerns and expectations of the citizenry are shared and put into concrete action. My sense is that the Town of Dryden government has lost its way and the choices it has made in recent years do not reflect the needs and expectations of its constituency. Bad choices result in the poor application of time, money and energy which are all in limited supply. Specifically, in these examples, the Town is misguided and belligerent in its past actions: 1. The Rail Trail Pedestrian Bridge. I am a fervent supporter of the Rail Trail and its use as a recreation facility. The "Bridge", however, is an expensive, environmentally inappropriate and duplicative structure. The trail can easily traverse Rte. 13 by using the existing pedestrian underpass only 100 yds. to the West of railbed. The bridge is a $3.25 Million vanity project. 2. Dryden Fiber. The Town, alone in NYS, has begun a government service to provide Internet to the Town. This project is in direct competition to local businesses, who pay taxes and have been providing service for decades. The Federal funds used for this project have been used by other towns to incentivize existing carriers to extend broadband into sparsely populated areas. Dryden Fiber's subscribers are mostly elite homeowners and businesses buying the high speed package at a discount; only a handful are the target households of underserved and unserved. Dryden Fiber is a poor use of town resources.

I have served as a Dryden Village Trustee; and run several businesses requiring HR and administrative skills. I have created and chaired task forces to solve local issues, including the Airport, Traffic patterns and Town/gown relations. I have served on many NFP Boards and their committees and have chaired my church Mission committee for over 20 years. I generally work well with others, am collaborative and supportive of the team effort; but I am unwilling to abandon my core beliefs for conciliation. In my life I have experienced the full range of family and business challenges. I understand that we are not all equally positioned in life, and that we should help those who cannot help themselves, while concentrating our focus on the majority, who deserve our care. I am retired, my children are grown and I am willing and able to commit Full Time to the Supervisor job. I am certain that it requires that level of commitment.

The greatest needs for our community are: 1, Affordability - taxes, utilities, and housing are oppressively expensive. 2. Public safety - rural communities appreciate road patrols and the rule of law. 3. Land use - Solar and WInd farms displacing agriculture and despoiling the land. 4. Failure to capitalize on our unique location by encouraging light commercial and retail development. 5. Limited recreational facilities and development for all ages.

1. Affordability - a.The town budget needs to brought under control. No tax levy increase greater than inflation, I would order a full comprehensive external audit for the town, including Dryden Fiber. b. I will encourage Cornell to share the load, as they share the benefit of their special place in our community, through direct payments and cooperation on public projects. c. Encourage and support the development of affordable housing projects, using NYS programs designed for that purpose. d. Avoid costly and unnecessary projects that don't equitably serve the needs of our residents (e.g. Rail trail bridge)

2. Public safety a. Our local Dryden Village Police Dept. should receive partial town funding. Currently, village residents bear the full cost, but the Village provides services outside the village.

3. Alternative energy projects must be limited to local usage and closely monitored.

4. Dryden's location on main highways and adjacent to Cornell allows for commercial development and should be actively pursued. It will provide tax income and employment for our residents

5. Unlike our neighboring towns, Dryden has few recreation facilities for Youth and Seniors. I would aggressively begin the process to construct ball fields, soccer pitches and a multipurpose indoor facility with an ice arena, meeting rooms and perhaps a pool or indoor pitch, using private and public resources.

I will Immediately move the public comment period to the beginning of the Board meetings. Presently speakers must wait hours to speak and many are discouraged.

Additionally, I will begin a bi- monthly public forum to provide updates, and receive criticism and recommendations

I will continue and improve the existing newsletter and post regular updates on major issues.. My phone and email are public. Anyone can email, text me or I call me.

I am looking to continue the important work that is already underway. This includes building our municipal broadband system, called Dryden Fiber, to serve all residents and businesses in Dryden; finishing the Dryden Rail Trial; continuing to attract new residents and businesses to Dryden; maintaining our roads, bridges, dams, and parks; improving recreation facilities by developing ball fields for youth and adult leagues, and continuing to protect Dryden’s environment as a Climate Smart Community. In addition, I want to continue the fiscally responsible policies we have had over the past 10-years. Responsible budgeting has allowed us to work on all the infrastructure projects that are currently underway, such as broadband and the Dryden Rail Trail. Dryden has seen over $140 million dollars in public and private investment come to the town since 2016. This investment, from State and Federal grants for infrastructure such as bridges, Dryden Fiber, and the Dryden Rail Trail, as well as private investment, have come to Dryden because we have a track record of fiscal responsibility and completing projects. In addition, we have delivered on our vision for sustainable and environmentally friendly development in Dryden with new housing and business development. Dryden continues to lead the region in protecting our local environment and is now has a Silver Certification in New York State's Climate Smart Community Program. We are also now designated a Pro-Housing Community.

In 2025 I was elected to my sixth term as Dryden Town Supervisor. Prior to becoming Town Supervisor, I was Deputy Supervisor from 2012-2015 and I have been on the Town Board since 2008. In addition to representing Dryden, I am an attorney licensed to practice law in New York, Maryland, and Washington D.C. My primary practice areas are criminal law and family court, though occasionally I will do corporate or municipal related work. I am an Attorney for Children in Tompkins County. Currently, I am a member of the Advisory Board for Indigent Representation and a commissioner for both the Bolton Point Water System and the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Plant. My experience in Dryden has included managing employees as well as developing and implementing local laws and policies. Topics we regularly encounter are energy policy, telecommunication policy, zoning, flood control, managing multimillion-dollar budgets, inter-municipal agreements, and infrastructure development and maintenance.

The most important issues facing Dryden today are housing cost and availability, zoning, environmental protection, emergency services, and continuing the projects we have been working on the past few years. These projects are Dryden Fiber, our town owned and operated ISP which will eventually be able to offer fiber to the home internet service to every resident and business at a reasonable price; improving and maintaining our roads, bridges, and parks using local money as well as State and Federal grants; completing the Dryden Rail Trail with public and private investment; revising our zoning to increase housing availability and lower costs, protecting our local environment and our groundwater from pollution; supporting our volunteer fire companies and ambulance service, and working on improving recreational facilities.

The Democratic Town Board has always worked closely with our Highway Superintendent to obtain grants and other assistance for road and public works maintenance on water, sewer, and lighting facilities. We also budget responsibly to meet short term needs as well as long term obligations. This approach has allowed us to get grant money for bridges, roads, stream bank revitalization, building Dryden Fiber, replacing street lights with energy efficient LED lights, etc. To address housing, we created a housing committee that includes the Village of Freeville and the Village of Dryden to help identify sources of funding for affordable housing. To protect the environment and address climate change we continue to do projects that are part of the Climate Smart Community program, which leads to more grant money being made available to Dryden for energy improvements to town facilities. We also took the step to Ban Data Centers and Crypto-mining facilities in the Town of Dryden because these businesses are harmful to the environment and will only increase energy costs region wide while also depleting our fresh water resources due to their insatiable need to cool the thousands of servers needed within their structures.

The Town has an email newsletter that is published monthly. I appear on WHCU monthly to talk about what's happening in the Town. Residents may email or call with questions or concerns. Our Town Board meetings are held twice per month and offer in-person and remote options to participate. During Budget season we may also hod additional budget workshops if we cannot do that work during or regularly scheduled meetings. In addition, town advisory boards also have public meetings and offer people the opportunity to speak and be heard on issues.