Sail remains furled for Tusten Democrats

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

TUSTEN, NY — Four terms of office will expire at the end of the year in the Town of Tusten, and the positions remain uncontested, a situation that has one Democratic Party committeeman looking high and low for potential candidates.

Open offices include the town supervisor, two council seats and the highway superintendent.

Committeeman Ron Scheuren said his party has no one new to nominate, nor a single prospect, to run on the Democratic ticket. Only Barbara Buckman (D) plans to run for another term as an incumbent councilman.

Richard Crandall, in his sixth year as Town of Tusten Supervisor, decided in May not to run for another two-year term, and his Republican Party has nominated Ben Johnson, a manager at Narrowsburg Motors Sales and former New York State Trooper, to run for the town’s lead office.

Louis Meckle will run for councilman as a Republican incumbent, and the party nominated George Kinch to run for Highway Superintendent since Nathaniel (Skip) Feagles will retire from that office.

Johnson expressed praise of Crandall’s leadership and said his main concern is growth and the influx of people to the town.

“The Code Enforcement Officer has consistently shown an increase in building permits. I want to continue Dick’s [Crandall’s] tradition of making sure the town is ready for growth. We need it, and we shouldn’t shut our doors to the future,” Johnson said.

Kathy Michell, Scheuren’s fellow Democratic committeeman and former school board member, did not indicate that she would run for any of the elected positions, but she said her party will continue her work with the ambulance corps to improve emergency service in Tusten.

Timothy Hill, commissioner of elections for Sullivan County, said, “We’d like to see some more lights down there [in Tusten]. That would be good for the system, all around.”

Scheuren said August will be a busy month, and he hopes to hold a caucus to nominate candidates for the open offices.

He explained that in the past, Democratic voters have been outnumbered two to one in the town.

“Our main objective is to get more involvement. Our Democratic voters seem to come out for school votes, but not as much for town elections,” he said.

Another challenge is to find people willing to accept part-time stipends for offices that require—especially of the supervisor—full-time dedication during most weeks, Scheuren said.

The town sets the salary for its supervisor and councilmen based upon its budget, according to Hill, and the town board can make alterations or even promote positions from part-time to full-time status and compensation.

Crandall said of the future, “One hopes that we continue to modernize our infrastructure and government practices, that we continue to progress.”

Unless contending candidates step forward and instigate debate, discussions that tease out more specific definitions of progress among Tusten’s municipal leaders stand a good chance of never happening, at least not before the November elections.

Petitions, political calendars and more information may be found at the office of the Board of Elections at Government Center on North Street in Monticello or call 845/794-3000, ext. 5024.