Meet the candidates: Town of Ellenburg

ELLENBURG — With the general election approaching, voters have three weeks to get dialed into the issues. Meet your candidates. David Leonard, town supervisor (incumbent) Democratic Party Leonard started off as a school teacher in Ellenburg, eventually venturing off to travel around the country for several years. He returned in 2010, built a house, acquired a job as a painting contractor for 30 years and has been supervisor for four years. During his time as supervisor, the town has completed a recreation park that has two baseball fields and one basketball court, received two grants to acquire a new plow truck and assist residents to make improvements to their homes and updated their existing zoning laws two years ago from 1991. Leonard said there aren't any major issues facing the community at this point and he would like to continue to see it that way if re-elected. "It's been a very interesting experience being supervisor," he said. "I enjoy the opportunities and challenges it presents." Jason Dezan, town supervisor Republican Party Dezan was not immediately available for comment by the time this story went to print on Tuesday. Gary Bombard, town councilman Republican Party Bombard worked in the Department of Corrections for 32 years. Following his retirement, he put in a stint on the town board before taking a break. If elected back to the seat, Bombard would like the tackle the issues of keeping taxes down to a reasonable amount and spending money efficiently and not foolishly. Bombard said he would also like to see there be more Republicans on the town board — only one sits on the board now — in order to balance out opinions. "I want to see Ellenburg be the kind of a town that people want to move to," he said. "I want this to be a town that everybody is proud of." Jeremy Brunton, town councilman Democratic Party Brunton graduated from Northern Adirondack Central School in 1998 and Grand Canyon University with a bachelor's in history in 2013 and is in the process of completing his masters in secondary education at the same school. On the side, he's worked in retail, sales and education and has served as former vice president of the JCEO Head Start policy council and the Town of Ellenburg Democratic Committee as a member. If elected, Brunton would like to focus on addressing two specific issues: taxes and loss of family farms. With taxes, he plans to work with others at the town level to ensure that they stay at a fair rate. As of the loss of family farms, which are becoming less common in Ellenburg compared to the past, he plans to address the instability of milk prices by working with county, state and federal officials to see what could be done to raise the price of milk and keep it up so that farmers can stay in the area. "I want to give back to the community that I live in," he said. "I believe that my educational background, plus past and present work experience, can be an asset to the town." Joseph Kramer, town councilman Democratic Party Kramer has worked in corrections since 1985. He plans on retiring in a couple months and serving on the town board if elected. He ran for office three times before and attended almost every town meeting up until these past couple years when his shift changed at work, said the candidate. If elected, Kramer intends to focus on lowering taxes and continuing the incorporation of wind turbines within the town. His biggest goal is to get more community members to attend the town meetings and be there for them if they have any questions or concerns. "I just want the people to feel like they're represented," he said. "I want to be able to serve the town and better it." Richard Trombley, town councilman (incumbent) Republican Party Trombley worked for a dairy farmer for 30 years. Once he sold his farm in 2000, he worked a few different jobs and has been town councilman on the board for four years. If re-elected, Trombley would like to focus on saving taxpayer money by lowering taxes. One way to do that, he said, is by adding in more wind turbines. Though some people claimed their taxes went up after incorporation of the first wind turbines, others, like Trombley, said their taxes cut in half. He would like to see them go down even more. "My main thing is to save the people's money," Trombley said. "I've always tried to help people and that's why I'm running for re-election." Jolie Sargeant, town clerk Democratic Party Sargeant is a lifelong resident of Ellenburg Depot. She grew up on a dairy farm and graduated from Northern Adirondack Central School in 2005. "I'm running for town clerk because I think it's a great opportunity to serve the community," she said. "If elected, I hope to continue the great work the current town clerk is doing." The current clerk is retiring after this term. Opponent Bethany Drown, Republican, declined to comment. Town justice and tax collector Republican Kenneth Prevo will be running unopposed for town justice. Democrat Nathan LaBombard will be running unopposed for tax collector.

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Meet the candidates: Town of Ellenburg

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