Making the Team
Dems nominate Leighton and Fine for Town Board
by David Gordon
Bruce Leighton, running on the Democrat ticket for his second term on the Saugerties Town Board, says he is proud of what the current board has accomplished over the past few years and is hoping to continue the job. His running mate, Jamie Fine, stresses her business background and her interest in town government.
Leighton is registered with the Independence Party; Fine is a registered Democrat.
JAMIE FINE
While she is running for office for the first time, Fine is no stranger to the public sphere. She chairs the town's Property Assessment Advisory Committee and has served on the Economic Development Committee and the Winston Farm Alliance, the citizen's group working to influence the course of development at the 850-acre site of Woodstock '94. She founded the Secret Gardens Tour and continues to coordinate it. She coordinates harvest dinners for the Saugerties Farmers Market.
The New Windsor native has lived in Saugerties for more than 17 years. She has been married for a year to her companion of 24 years. She does not have children.
Fine is retired and has a good deal of time to devote to town affairs, she said. Her career in administration involved budgeting, dealing with employees and management - all of which will come in handy managing town affairs. Her last position - director of human resources for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers - involved handling benefits for the 500 employees of the society, with a $6 million budget. Fine said she has held similar positions in other businesses and organizations.
Fine said she is running "to give something back to the community." When Democrats asked her to run for the County Legislature, she turned them down, because she wanted to concentrate on Saugerties. "This town has a really good feeling of community," she said. She lived in Woodstock for a short time, and "I didn't get the sense of connection that I get here."
Many of the town issues are new to her, Fine said, and she hopes to learn. She acknowledged that in replacing Nancy Campbell on the board, "I will have very big shoes to fill," but with her management background and organizational skills she will be able to do the job.
"I don't have a political agenda; I don't have any hidden agendas," Fine said. "I was assured that I would be free to vote my beliefs on the board."
BRUCE LEIGHTON
Bruce Leighton is finishing up his first term on the town board, and he's looking forward do another term. He said he is uniquely qualified to handle responsibility for the town's water and sewer services, with 25 years in the water supply business.
Leighton served four terms on the village board before running for his position on the town board.
Leighton, a lifelong Saugerties resident, is registered with the Independence Party. The Democrats have not asked him to change his registration, he said.
"I was living out west when my father died, and I came back to run the business," he said. The move cut short a promising career as a folk and country-western musician, he said. That was 25 years ago, and the business, Leighton's Water Treatment, has grown every year since, he said. Leighton acknowledged that the town's various water districts are competition of a sort, but he is happy to lend his expertise to the various water districts in town. While he knew little about the business when he first took over, Leighton said, he has developed his knowledge of water treatment and is now a certified water specialist level five, with six as the highest certification.
He studied economics and marketing at New York State University in Plattsburgh.
About 80 percent of his business is selling and installing water purification systems, Leighton said. He is also a distributor of Berkshire Springs spring water, which he sells under his own label.
Leighton's wife, Kate, works in the business. They have three sons, Mike, the oldest is finishing at SUNY Brockport and will begin teaching next year. Tommy is studying music and John is a senior at Saugerties High School. All his sons are interested in music - mainly classical, he said. "I was a professional musician, and they seem to be following that part of my interests. I won't be retiring any time soon," he said.
Leighton said he is proud of the Town Board's record, and he resents the sometimes snide disparagement of the Republicans in their newspaper column and their campaign, in which GOP chair Joe Roberti has dubbed Leighton a "bobble head," and implied his votes aren't well thought out.
He wants to set the record straight. First up: criticism over the increase in water rates over the past decade. Leighton acknowledged that the price of water has increased, but noted that the town buys water from the village, and when the village raises its prices, the town must follow suit. He would like to see the town charge just a little more to build up a reserve for repairs and maintenance of water purification and sewage treatment so large-scale repairs would not burden taxpayers with sudden increases when major work is needed.
Leighton noted that some of the increases occurred prior to his service on the board. An increase in 1999-2000 paid for new treatment facilities and the installation of a larger water tank, both projects undertaken by the village. Rates were not increased enough to cover the costs at the time. The result was that the capital fund was depleted, he said. In order to cover costs, the town had to borrow from the general fund. The result was another increase in water rates.
"When they (Republicans) criticize us for raising water rates, they show that they don't know how the system works," Leighton said.
Leighton said Republicans also distort the record when they talk about the town board's offer of four times the value of the carousel. The town put down a deposit on the carousel pending an appraisal. When it decided not to buy the carousel, the owners did not want to return the town's deposit. Eventually, the town negotiated the return of $8,000 of the $10,000 deposit.
Leighton's running mate, Jamie Fine, said the Town Board should get credit - not criticism - for trying to keep a wonderful amenity in town. The loss was unfortunate, she said.
On the Republican accusation that the board always votes as a block, Leighton noted that in most cases there's very little to disagree about, given the kinds of issues the town faces. However, he noted, the board has not always been unanimous, citing the vote on placing a historic designation on Winston Farm. That vote was 3-2 against.
Among the achievements of the current town board, Leighton listed effort to bring water and sewer services to Kings Highway, which are almost ready for construction. He cited the gateway law, which is designed to make the approaches to the main parts of Saugerties more attractive. Aquifer protection is another important achievement, he said.
Leighton cited his business experience - payroll, meeting expenses and deadlines, and budgeting - as well as specific water production experience as helpful to serving on the town board.
In addition to the two Town Board positions, the supervisor's position is also up for election this year. The Democrats have already nominated Greg Helsmoortel for a sixth term. So far, Republicans have yet to nominate a candidate.
The general election will be held November 3.
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