A line formed out the door into the hallway, as more than sixty people, including twenty-four county, town and village candidates, packed into a small room in the Trudy Resnick Farber Center in Ellenville, on Tuesday, October 16, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The standing room only crowd of diverse citizens participated in a "Meet The Candidates Night," sponsored by the Ellenville NAACP.

The evening was broken into separate meetings — candidates running for Ulster County Legislature and district attorney were followed by town and village positions. Each group of candidates sat at a long table in the front of the room, and were given two minutes to introduce themselves. The evening's moderator was Ellenville NAACP Present Maude Bruce.

What follows are a few comments from each group of candidates as they weighed in on a wide range of issues.

Ulster County District Attorney candidates on the subject of alleged gang activity
Holley Carnwright (Republican, Citizens for Justice) said, "We are encouraging the sharing of information between Ulster County and all the different agencies. Ellenville is one of the targeted areas."

Jonathan Sennett (Democrat, Working Families Party) called for, "better communication with law enforcement by being more efficient and maximizing resources in the DA's office."

Vincent Bradley (Independent, Conservative) agreed with Sennett, and touted his own prosecution record, adding, "These people are coming from other areas, such as Kingston, to commit crimes and recruit our youth in gangs."

Ulster County Legislature candidates on what they have done or would do to focus more attention on Ellenville and Wawarsing
Mary Sheeley (Democrat, Independent, Working Families Party, Endorsed) responded, "We have been trying to work with Canal Street Cutlery, with JM Originals. We have to hold on to the businesses that are already here."

Susan Nibe (Republican, Independent) stated that "tourism" must play a larger role in the area's economic development.

Joe Stoeckeler, Jr. (Democrat, Incumbent) used the success of keeping Ellenville Regional Hospital alive as a model of how federal, state, county, town and village governments can work together.

Wawarsing
In the second part of the evening, a discussion of the need for a Town Manager ensued with the many of the town candidates stating that they saw no need for the position and how it would be a waste to taxpayer dollars.

Incumbent Republican candidate for town council, Terry Houck, expressed his support for the creation of the position and that more study needs to be done.

When Debbie Briggs asked why the town was not more involved in "working together" with the village in such projects as the art initiative, town supervisor challenger Michael Walkerwicz (People's Party) said, if elected, he would be more proactive than his predecessor at bringing diverse forces together, adding, "Every initiative better be on the supervisor's mind."

Town council candidate Georgine Matichuk (Republican, We the People) admitted it will take "work" and that "new blood" was needed.

Gregg Wood, the Democratic and Clean Sweep candidate for town council expressed the "need to work together."

Current town supervisor James Dolaway (Democrat, Incumbent) gave examples of cooperative successes, including the YMCA, the airport and the farmer's market and stated that he had helped bring in more than $12 million in grants.

Ellenville
The final hour was given over to the Ellenville Mayoral Candidates: Mayor Jeff Kaplan (Democrat, Incumbent) and Ruben Torres (Republican), and Village Trustee candidate Francisco Oliveras (Democrat) — all of whom, when asked, expressed support for a Wal-Mart coming to the Napanoch Valley Mall, saying it would be a boon, creating jobs and keeping shoppers in the area.

Jeff Kaplan downplayed the possible negative effect on local businesses, the low wages Wal-Mart is reputed to pay its workers and the fact that much of the money will not be staying in the community.

"Ellenville is not your typical community. I look at the types of business that could be affected by a Wal-Mart and, quite frankly, most of the damage has already been done by Middletown, by Monticello, by Kingston."

Kaplan, a real estate attorney assisting in the negotiations between the mall's current owner, Joe Tso and Wal-Mart, revealed that, "We are currently working out some contingencies and we hope to have a plan for Wal-Mart for people to look at and respond to, within the next six to eight months."

Torres said, "Mayor Kaplan's vision is the wrong vision," and called for "tax incentives" to bring new businesses to the area.

When asked whether the Village of Ellenville should be dissolved and the local government be consolidated into the Town of Wawarsing, only Jeff Kaplan had a response.

"I am a big fan of consolidation of services. There's a reason for a village government, that is, service in an area where there's a dense amount of population. I sort of question the need for towns, more than the need for villages."

Many other topics were discussed during the three-hour meeting, including alternative sentencing for drug offenders, the need for a local youth center, the airport, and more effective ways to reach the disenfranchised.

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