by Bea Peterson
Incumbent Republican Keith Cipperly is running for a second term as Hoosick Town Supervisor. He is opposed by former Hoosick Falls Mayor Democrat Laura Reynolds. Democrat Bob Ryan is seeking his eleventh term as Hoosick Councilman and Republican Mark Surdam is seeking his third term. They are opposed by first time Republican candidate Bruce Patire and former Hoosick Falls Village Trustee Democrat Marie O’Neil. Town Justice Dick Whalen is running unopposed.
Town Hall Is Hot Topic
The hot topic at this time is what building will become the next Town Hall. Since the National Guard has moved out of the Hoosick Falls Armory the Board is faced with an uncertain future in the building. The Board hired engineer Bill Cottrell to help them reach a decision. Cottrell has done a study of four options, using the same footprint for each option. The choices are to stay in the Armory with renovations, renovate Patire’s on Church Street or Weeb’s Fish Fry on Main Street or put up a new building on Town property on River Road. All the proposals are still under consideration.
With WCW leaving the community, residents are faced with the loss of another business. That brings up the topic of how to keep the businesses left in Town and how to invite new businesses to the community.
Taxes, of course, are always a hot topic.
Get Out And Vote
Most important of all, every voter should express his or her opinion by going to the polls on November 8. Polls in Hoosick will be open from 6 am to 9 pm. Polling places are the Buskirk Fire House on the Buskirk-West Hoosick Road, North Hoosick Fire House, Route 22, Hoosick Fire House on South Street, the Family Resource Center on River Road and the Armory on Church Street.
Town Supervisor – Keith Cipperly (R,C,I,W)
In a written release Hoosick Town Supervisor Keith Cipperly notes his accomplishments as
voting to eliminate the $2 tax penalty fee which taxpayers often neglected when sending in their late payments. They were then billed for it again, adding “injury to insult,” he said.
Adding a Family Subdivision clause to the Land Use Law was another accomplishment, wrote Cipperly. It allows property owners to gift land to a family member without it becoming a simple subdivision.
He was key to returning the 40 acres of land behind the Sunoco Station on Route 7 to realtor C. Wallace (Wally) Bryce. Bryce deeded the land to the Town in 2005. That land is once again on the tax rolls.
Early this year Cipperly saw to it that the Town Supervisor salary was frozen at its current level. If re-elected, he said he would do the same again. He also provided bailiffs for the Town Court, ensuring the safety of all involved in the Court process.
Cipperly notes that he is currently working with the Zoning Board in regard to making the local Land Use laws less restrictive to the honest, hardworking landowners of the Town.
In the 2012 budget, he wrote he has given the most money ever back to the taxpayers by donating it to the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad, Area Youth Programs, the Hoosick Falls Senior Center and for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade festivities.
Cipperly concluded, “Going forward will not be easy. The Town has many hurdles to overcome, and the decisions we’ll have to make will be long lasting. However, whatever the outcome I promise you I will always vote honestly by keeping the Town’s best interests in mind first.
Cipperly, a resident of Hoosick Falls, is employed by the NYS Department of Transportation. He has two children, which are the light of his life.
Town Supervisor – Laura Reynolds (D,HFP)
After a break from public service, former Hoosick Falls Mayor Laura Reynolds has chosen to run for
Hoosick Town Supervisor. Reynolds said it took her a while to make the decision to seek public office again, noting that it’s good for voters to have a choice. In the end she said, “I feel I have a lot I can bring to the table. I know government, and I know how it works.” She said she also knows budgeting, as she audited the books for various towns for many years. “I’ve done a lot of research in my health care field,” she said, “and some of what I have read angers me.”
“Mainly I want people to understand what is happening financially [in the country] in an understandable way,” she said.
Reynolds sees many issues in the Town’s future. The biggest issue is whether or not to keep the armory as the Town Hall. She is all for keeping the armory “as long as we can make it affordable.” She believes NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) should be involved. “I would hate to lose the biggest facility we have,” she said. “It’s been a good fit for many years.”
She would also like to see more interaction between Village and Town government.
Reynolds was Hoosick Falls Mayor from 2001 to 2009. During that time she oversaw the rebuilding of Route 22 through the Village and the construction of the new state of the art waste water treatment and water treatment plants. These facilities were mandated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and bonded with zero percent interest loans.
Reynolds lives in the Town of Hoosick and is a Certified Public Accountant and Chief Financial Officer for the Hoosick Falls Health Center. She has two children in college.
Town Council – Mark Surdam (R,C,I,W)
Mark Surdam is running for his third term as Hoosick Town Councilman. He comes to the Board without 
an agenda. “I like to think I bring a common sense approach to things and ultimately accomplish what is best for the Town,” he said. He noted he didn’t vote for the Land Use plan as he felt it was such a large issue it should have been decided by all the townspeople. “It will affect them forever,” he said. He feels a decision on the future Town Hall should be a referendum issue as well.
He said some of the decisions facing the Town have been easy ones, such as not allowing Wastetricity to build in Hoosick. “They weren’t honest with us,” he said. However, the recycling plant the Board looked at in Montgomery County was impressive. “Now, something like that would be a great thing for the Town,” he said.
Surdam admits he is not a big politician and does not care for the “silly season,” as he calls it. “I do the best I can,” he said. “Big things, ideas and changes come up. We should vote on them and move on. It is the business of the Town that is important.” He concluded, “I love this Town. It’s a great place to raise a family.”
He said Hoosick has many challenges coming up. The Town Hall is one issue and another is a liner for the Town pool. “We’re lucky to have this facility and the skating rink,” he said. “We have to take care of these things, and that is part of what we do as members of the Board.”
Farmland protection is another upcoming issue, and the Town Hall is a hard one, he said. “People have definite opinions regarding the Armory, both for and against,” he said.
Ultimately, Surdam said, “I like being involved, and I want to give it another shot.”
Surdam and his wife Mary live in Hoosick Falls. They have two adult children. He is employed at Delurey Sales and Service.
Town Council – Bob Ryan (D, HFP)
Bob Ryan has been a Hoosick Town Councilman for 20 years and is running for re-election this year.
“It’s a passion for me,” he said. “I’ve lived in this Town all my life, and I want to be a part of it, to have something to say in the community. I really enjoy being involved.”
Over the years Ryan sees the athletic fields and the Town summer camp as major accomplishments. Making sure these places, and the pool, continue are important for the kids, he said.
“Land use is an uphill battle,” he said. “It is really needed. Protecting people’s rights is important. There can always be modifications. We have to give thought to what is happening and work with the Zoning Board.”
Ryan feels that the Town Hall issue is “one of the biggest decisions the Board has faced in a long time. I am one hundred percent for the armory. It will be money well spent. We don’t have to do all the changes to it at once.” He is not in favor of buying an existing business and closing it down and taking that property off the tax rolls.
He is disappointed that the 2012 budget as presented at the workshop had no planning for the future. “We know that eventually the pool will need a new liner,” he said. “Routine maintenance is very important. We must maintain the roads, bridges and equipment. Money should be set aside for that every year.”
Ryan has always lived in Hoosick Falls. “I care,” he said. “I want to do a fair job. When I sit on the Board I have no party affiliation. I represent everybody.”
He stresses, “Voter turnout is important. It doesn’t cost you anything to vote. It could cost you everything if you don’t.”
Ryan and his wife Carol have three grown children. He is employed at Vishay Tansitor in Bennington, VT.
Town Council – Marie O’Neil (D,HFP)
Former 2000-2004 Hoosick Falls Trustee Marie O’Neil is a candidate for the Hoosick Town 
Council. O’Neil said she wants to see things progress in her home town. O’Neil has been a key figure in the successful St. Patrick’s Day celebrations for many years and was a key figure in the Hoosick Falls 175th five day celebration in 2002. She feels her business and marketing experience and her ability to work with people would be very helpful on the Town Board. She would work to attract new businesses to the community and to improve those businesses already in Town. “I would really like to see the Hoosick Area Chamber of Commerce active again,” she said.
“The armory is very close to my heart,” she added. “There is a lot of use for it. I would hate to see it closed.”
O’Neil feels strongly that there needs to be more communication between the Town and the Village. “Getting them to work together is the first hurdle,” she said.
O’Neil has lived in Hoosick Falls all her life. She has a son in college and is employed as a travel consultant for the Public Employees Federation in Latham.
Town Council – Bruce Patire (R,C,I,W)
Bruce Patire is entering the political arena for the first time. He is running for Hoosick Town Councilman.
He has been attending Board meetings and is happy with everybody serving the Town. He looks at things as “what we can afford and what we can’t afford.” He believes it will be another four to seven years before there is any normalcy in the Country’s financial picture. As for the Town, “We will never be as prosperous as we were without the expansion of the businesses that are here,” he said. If elected he would meet with every plant manager in the Town twice a year. “I would ask them about their business plans and how can I help.”
“If we have more jobs in the community, everything will seek its own level,” he said. “We can go forwards or backwards, but things never stay the same.” He would like to see a small housing development in the community and views it as an asset.
“Our school is doing fantastic,” he said. “Somebody on the Town Board should be at school board meetings. Somebody has to volunteer more time to get things done.” He believes Town Board members should attend Zoning and Planning Board meetings and Hoosick Falls Village Board meetings. “That way the Town can find out about problems before they become major issues,” he said.
As a business minded person he feels he can help analyze the hot spots. He believes the Town cannot afford any of the Town Hall proposals. He believes the best option for the Town is the Patire building, with the floor plan he has devised. He has offered it to the Town, with renovations, for $375,000. He believes the State will not abandon the armory and will use it in some way. “No matter what happens,” he said, “somebody will be mad and somebody will be happy. There are no winners when it comes to taxes.”
Patire and his wife Carol live in Hoosick. They have been married for 36 years. They have three children and two grandchildren. Patire has been involved with community youth programs and Patire Auto Sales for many years. Until 2008, Patire’s was a General Motors dealership.
Candidate photos by Bea Peterson.