by Bea Peterson
Stunned is the best word to describe local reaction to Tuesday’s election results in the Town of Hoosick. Political newcomers Keith Cipperly, Jeff Wysocki and Louis Schmigel handily defeated long time incumbents Marilyn Douglas, Kevin O’Malley and Mark Cottrell. At press time Cipperly, Schmigel, Douglas and Cottrell had not returned phone calls requesting comments on the outcome.
Town Supervisor Douglas and Councilmen Cottrell and O’Malley were on two lines on the ballot; the Democrat row and the Good Government row. Cipperly, running for the Supervisor spot and Wysocki and Schmigel, running for Council, were on the Republican, Independent, Conservative and Working Party lines. They picked up many votes on the smaller party lines as well as a goodly number of Republican votes.
The vote in Town districts 1 and 5, which encompass a large portion of the Village, were fairly evenly split. Rural districts 2-Hoosick, 3-Buskirk and 4-North Hoosick went heavily for the three new candidates. Districts 6 and 7, a mix of Village and Town were slightly more favorable to the newcomers.
A disappointed Kevin O’Malley said, “I guess people wanted a change.” He felt that he and his constituents had passed some important laws during the 12 years they served. “We passed a cell tower law that puts the burden of the costs involved on the business requesting the tower, not the Town,” he said. “We passed a law banning billboards, and the land use law.” He believes that land use law may be one reason they were voted out of office. “But, if I had it to do over, I would vote for it again,” he said. O’Malley thought, perhaps, the issue with the dog catcher might have been part of the problem as well. “We knew we would have a tough challenge, and we campaigned more this year than in previous years. We had no indication from the people we visited that they weren’t happy,” he said. “I guess they did their thinking in the [voting] booth.”
“I don’t think anybody loves this Town more than I do,” he concluded. After his term is up he will continue to work with the Hoosic River Watershed Association to make the Riverwalk in the Town and through the Village a reality.
Newly elected Councilman Jeff Wysocki believes the land use and a “whole bunch of other issues” had only a small impact on the election outcome. “Most of the people we talked to told us they were not voting for any incumbent,” he said. He and Cipperly and Schmigel haven’t set any goals for their term of office yet. “We want to get organized first,” he said.
One woman in the Village said, “This is a sad day for the people of Hoosick.” Another said, “I don’t think people have any idea how much Marilyn [Douglas] has done for this Town, between the many grants and programs she has written and the many hours she puts in.”
A Hoosick farmer said, “incumbents, no matter who they are, were in trouble this election. Some of the outcomes were very surprising.” He doesn’t believe zoning is an issue at all. “If people read the zoning law and totally understood it they would realize that it doesn’t change anything a good farmer wants to do,” he said.
“Marilyn has done a lot for this Town, but I think people are sick and tired of what’s going on [nationwide]. I’m afraid it’s going to get a lot worse and trickle down locally. Years of poor management have caused the problem, and we haven’t hit bottom yet.”
Votes By District
Dist Douglas Cipperly
1 170 116
2 173 270
3 55 98
4 100 140
5 64 146
6 126 170
7 167 158
Totals 855 1,098
Cott. O’Mal. Wys. Schm.
1 150 183 137 113
2 157 163 287 270
3 58 49 87 93
4 108 95 137 134
5 99 111 128 135
6 122 121 175 172
7 156 184 155 156
Tot. 850 906 1,106 1,073