Hot Chili politics
The Messenger Post had an interesting piece up about the 12 candidates for Chili town offices. It’s down from the 14 that were competing in the 2003 elections, but man, in a time when Dems are sorely lacking a County Exec candidate, it’s a welcome thing to see so many folks stepping up:
After what seemed a sleepy few election seasons in Chili, politics is back better than ever and. it seems, more than ever.
(snip)
Republicans Dan Melville and Jim Ehmann are running against incumbent Councilmembers Mike Slattery and Ginny Ignatowski for the GOP nod.
The winning duo in September will run in November against the two winners of a Democratic primary among three candidates: Endorsed candidates Jim Vandervoort and Tim Lancaster will be challenged by Steve Ginovsky.And. no, we’re not forgetting the supervisor race. Dennis Cozan wants to wrestle the Democratic endorsement from David Dunning in September with the winner facing Republican incumbent Tracy Logel, who won that supervisor free-for-all back in 2003.
Phew …
What are the issues? Why are folks so all-fired in Chili?
The usual suspects – taxes and government services – will have candidates talking, but their answers impact the lives of voters.
Commercial and retail development is a biggie. In fact, the Mall on Paul proposal that eventually fell through has prompted several candidates on the pro and con side to enter the race.
There was a good discussion about the Mall on Paul in the D&C’s Chili blog last year. The issue seemed to center around re-zoning some land commercial in the middle of a residential area, overdevelopment leading to higher traffic and infrastructure/services needs.
An interesting sidebar of that discussion was about a new mega-church in Chili, and the traffic problems that resulted. One reader noted that a similar church in Pennsylvania had caused the town to invest in widening the road.
I believe there was also the issue of open government with the current supervisor, Logel.