Highland caucus upset

Republicans back Democratic candidate

By FRITZ MAYER

TOWN OF HIGHLAND, NY — It’s not unusual for a candidate for local office to run on the Conservative line and also either the Republican or Democratic. On the other hand, it is a bit unusual for a candidate to run on both the Democratic and Republican lines. But that’s what might happen in the Town of Highland race for supervisor.

Democrat Andrew Boyar, who formerly served as the supervisor, won the right to run on the Republican line when local Republicans voted for him at the caucus on August 27, over the incumbent Republican supervisor Tina Palecek. There was a concerted effort to turn out Republican voters and about 80 showed up at the caucus, much more than usual.

John LiGreci, chairman of the Sullivan County Republican Committee, said he feels the caucus system should be done away with because it can easily be manipulated. The other method for selecting a party nominee is to have each candidate gather petitions and if there is more than one candidate with an adequate number of petitions, the candidates face off in a primary election.

LiGreci said he’s known Boyar for a long time and respects him, “but he’s not a Republican.”

Boyar, a six-term supervisor of Highland in the ’80s and ’90s, who was also the last chairman of the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors in 1995 and 1996 before the Sullivan County Legislature was created, said he could not say exactly what happened because he was not at the caucus. He said, however, that he had been asked by several Republicans if he would accept the nomination if he received it, and he said “yes.” He said, “I wasn’t really thinking of getting back into politics, but if you’re given an opportunity to run on both lines and essentially have no opposition, that’s an offer you can hardly refuse.”

Boyar, a lawyer, said he left local politics on a high note when he was chairman of the board of supervisors, and that he intentionally stayed away from town politics, not wanting to step on anyone’s toes. But now that he has the Republican nod, he is hoping to also snare the Democratic nomination at that party’s caucus on September 10.

However, Palecek is also hoping to pick up the Democratic endorsement, or perhaps retain office through a write-in campaign. She said that while she accepts the outcome of the Republican caucus, she would like to remain as the town supervisor and would happily accept any support she might receive.

Palecek also said that in 2008 Boyar had threatened to sue the town unless it took action to change the property tax assessments. Boyar said he did not threaten to sue, but instead suggested that it would be better to fix the tax situation rather than wait for a possible lawsuit.

Palecek and the board moved to change the tax formulae in the town but, according to Boyar, did so in a way that did not reduce taxes, but instead led to a tax increase of nine percent in the school tax bills that residents received on September 1.

The tax issue in the town is complex, and regardless of who is chosen on Thursday night, it will likely remain a dominant issue in town politics through the next election cycle.