Growth pains
Two big towns in the fastest-growing part of Orange County have close races for the top elected spots, with local control of development at stake.
In Monroe, the local Democrats and the SaveMonroe citizens group complicated their incumbent-removal task by squabbling and putting up two slates. As a result, GOP Supervisor Sandy Leonard, buoyed by a huge Kiryas Joel voting bloc, has two challengers dividing the opposition votes: SaveMonroe President Bob Purdy and Alicia Vaccaro, a Democrat. Meanwhile, a cast of four is trying to push veteran councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin out of their seats.
Next door, in the Town of Woodbury, it's been a contentious year for Supervisor Sheila Conroy and the Woodbury Town Board. Now it will be seen if the chips she and two Republican running mates have placed on Bill Brodsky's 451-home development pay off. Four other people in the Town Board race bet they won't.
The Brodsky project needs zoning breaks to allow higher housing density. Normally, that's a nonstarter with residents, but some in Woodbury think it's better than Kiryas Joel staking claim to the land. John Burke, Conroy's Democratic opponent, and his running mates dismiss the proposal as an ill-conceived effort to hold the town's fast-growing neighbor at bay.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/11/06/ompoliti.htm
Two big towns in the fastest-growing part of Orange County have close races for the top elected spots, with local control of development at stake.
In Monroe, the local Democrats and the SaveMonroe citizens group complicated their incumbent-removal task by squabbling and putting up two slates. As a result, GOP Supervisor Sandy Leonard, buoyed by a huge Kiryas Joel voting bloc, has two challengers dividing the opposition votes: SaveMonroe President Bob Purdy and Alicia Vaccaro, a Democrat. Meanwhile, a cast of four is trying to push veteran councilmen Don Weeks and Peter Martin out of their seats.
Next door, in the Town of Woodbury, it's been a contentious year for Supervisor Sheila Conroy and the Woodbury Town Board. Now it will be seen if the chips she and two Republican running mates have placed on Bill Brodsky's 451-home development pay off. Four other people in the Town Board race bet they won't.
The Brodsky project needs zoning breaks to allow higher housing density. Normally, that's a nonstarter with residents, but some in Woodbury think it's better than Kiryas Joel staking claim to the land. John Burke, Conroy's Democratic opponent, and his running mates dismiss the proposal as an ill-conceived effort to hold the town's fast-growing neighbor at bay.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/11/06/ompoliti.htm