Democrat James Dolaway is currently seeking reelection for his third term as Wawarsing Town Supervisor. Already having served in the position for the past four years, and as a Town councilperson before that, Dolaway hopes he’ll remain in office so he can complete his plans for the community.

“My plan has always been to be the supervisor for eight to ten years…When I first ran, I stated that you need to be in the office eight to ten years to get your programs done.”

Dolaway, who also owns and operates James’s General Store, is quick to point out that any progress made by the Town Board is a group effort, and shouldn’t be attributed to just one person.

“It’s not just me that gets it accomplished, it’s really the people who assist me, which includes my town board, and other elected employees and officials of the town who help me. I believe nobody really does things single-handedly for the most part,” says Dolaway.

Dolaway is proud of the successes he and the town board have achieved under his administration, such as bringing $12 million in funding from state and federal agencies to the community, and continuing to take advantage of all funding opportunities to pump money back into the town for residents. The board has adopted a new comprehensive plan, with new zoning orders, a new emergency management plan for the township, and the accounting department is fully up to speed — an accomplishment that Dolaway believes was aided because of his accounting knowledge and experience.

“I understand accounting, and I think that’s a big plus when you’re dealing with people’s money. You need to understand accounting procedures.”

Dolaway is also very proud of the success regarding the Creative Stages Daycare Center, which he and the board successfully fought to keep open with a new, three-year lease, despite the financial troubles it had experienced.

“That benefits the employees there, our townships, and the children.”

Dolaway is also eager to point to another accomplishment of his administration: “The Town of Wawarsing is the only town that I’m aware of in the region that’s been successful in securing three years of New York State Small City grants, at $400,000 each. No town in Ulster County has done that. And I have not heard of anyone in the Mid-Hudson region being able to do that — I think that’s an accomplishment.”

As for one of his plans for the town’s future should he be reelected, Dolaway has hopes that the town can follow through with the master plan that has been created for further development of Lippman Park, and to also apply for the funding to do so.

Of course, Dolaway acknowledges the job crisis in the area. “My feeling is that the state and federal governments really need to look, because it’s not just here, they’re going abroad, it’s jobs throughout the United States… and we need to — we, the United States and New York State — need to get the playing field leveled, so that we can compete with the foreign market, and that’s what their job is to do.”

Dolaway has long thought that establishing the position of Economic Development Officer is a good idea, a concept brought back into the spotlight by the recent speech by Noonday Club’s 2006 Citizen of the Year, Dr. Mark Craft. The problem thus far, according to Dolaway, has been the inability to establish the proper criteria for such a position as of yet.

“We have to have somebody who has the expertise. Hopefully it’ll be somebody local who will be available for that position, who has the expertise and background; someone who has a track record.”

Dolaway says he would apply for some economic development money from Small Cities to fund the position. He also said he would want to set up a local tax program, similar to what was done ten years ago with the Nevele Grand, as an incentive for any manufacturers who would want to set up in the industrial area of the township — the former sites of the Imperial Schrade and Hydro plants.

“I would be in favor of doing that because it keeps them on the tax rolls, keeps jobs here. Some may question whether everything was successful, but at this time the Nevele and the Fallsview are still open. And you have to try.”

Despite Dolaway’s positive outlook of his administration, it has not gone without criticism. One of the complaints leveled at town government during Dolaway’s time in office is a feeling of combativeness and dysfunction among board members and the supervisor — a complaint he thinks has been blown out of proportion.

“I think as a whole, the board works well together. People only see the disagreements. They don’t see the 95% of things we agree on, and vote on.” Dolaway doesn’t think there’ve been any major disputes since late last year, which revolved around the aforementioned Creative Stages Daycare Center which “was a hot topic.”
Also, some claim to have had difficulty finding Dolaway in the office, a criticism the supervisor says he only started hearing in this, his fourth year in office. What people may not realize, he says, is that despite his absences from the office itself, Dolaway is on-call and available 24 hours a day. As proof, he cites one time when he kept the Kerhonkson Pump Station running when the station’s manager was stuck in Syracuse; the manager talked Dolaway through the station’s operation procedures via cell phone until 8 p.m. that night.
“Not being in the office doesn’t necessarily mean that the job isn’t getting done. If I’m to be reelected, I will give more consideration to selling my business, because I really love working for the citizens of the Town of Wawarsing…. I’ve sacrificed my business to work for the residents of the Town of Wawarsing. I made that decision, and I would like to continue to work for the residents of the Town of Wawarsing, because I think I’ve done a good job.”

As for whether or not Dolaway would like to add a manager’s position to the town similar to Ellenville’s Village Manager (the position currently held by Elliott Auerbach) in order to help run the town’s day-to-day affairs, the supervisor has thought about it, but doesn’t think it’s necessary just yet.

And for anyone still on the fence about whether or not they should vote Dolway in for another term as supervisor, he invites you to, “Give me a call. My phone numbers are out there, my e-mail addresses are out there, and I will do my best to get back to them.”

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