There are five candidates for two town board seats. The job pays $1,450 a year and carries a four-year term. None of the candidates are incumbents. One candidate, Cherry A. Randall, Republican, of 729 E. Lake Road, did not provide a photo or information.

Street address: 3260 Becker Road Family: Widow, three daughters and sons-in-law, seven grandchildren

Education: Master’s, public administration, Syracuse University , 1987; master’s, nursing, Syracuse University , 2001 Employment: Director of quality and nurse practitioner, Tully Hill Political experience: none Ballot lines: Democrat, Spafford Party

Community involvement: Spafford Area Historical Society, Spafford Area Garden Enthusiasts

The two things I want the town board to accomplish during the next term are to establish open communication in town government so that all citizens have an opportunity and are encouraged to contribute their ideas about the development of a comprehensive plan that will guide growth in the town so that our rural character is preserved and the costs of development are born by the developers, not the taxpayers.

Your town faces dwindling income and rising costs. Do you raise taxes or cut services to balance your budget? if it’s service cuts, which ones?

The town of Spafford has increased its tax base and resulting income over the past few years due to residential development mainly along the two lake shores. Costs have risen as a result of lack of intergovernmental cooperation and poor planning and n~anagement practices. Professional organizational management practices will result in cost savings that can be used to provide services and encourage volunteer efforts to meet additional needs at little cost to the town.

Education: Master's in international relations from Salve Regina University; bachelor's in American and world history from Western Michigan University

Employment: Director of educational and vocational services at the Syracuse Rescue Mission; social studies instructor/substitute teacher; Scouting district executive, Hiawatha Council; naval officer, United States Navy, retired

Community Involvement: Lay Minister, St. Mary's of the Lake Catholic Church; Administrative Board, Borodino Methodist Church; Spafford Historical Society

Two specific things to accomplish: I would like the town board to update our current zoning laws which are very outdated. I would like the town board to spearhead the community in developing a comprehensive plan to determine the future of Spafford. If the community does not determine how they want the town to look like in
the next five to 10 years, then developers will and it may not be how we would like our town to grow.

Your town faces dwindling income and rising costs. Do you raise taxes or cut services to balance your budget? If its service cuts, which ones?

Cutting services to the town is not the way to go. Since the previous town board has done a fairly good job in keeping taxes to the minimum, I would look at seeing where process improvements could be first made before taking the steps to raise taxes. I also believe that better communication and planning between the town, the highway department and the town's two fire districts could result in some savings.

Community involvement Spafford Zoning Board of Appeals, 2001 to present; Spafford Cable TV expansion project; Spafford Public Water Expansion project; board of directors for the Mountain Glen Water Co.; banker, 2005 Marcellus High School After The Ball Party

1. Review and improve the zoning board of appeals process 2. Keep Spafford running in the black. We will continue forward with fiscal responsibility. Managing by facts should become a core value. By doing such and sharing the information, we can have continued financial success and hopefully bring the community back together.

Your town faces dwindling income and rising costs. Do you raise taxes or cut services to balance your budget? If it’s service cuts, which ones?

The best course of action is to avoid this situation. We should look to reduce our Workers Compensation premium. By looking at our employees’ safety record, this may provide opportunity to improve our safety program, possibly reducing absenteeism, workers’ comp costs and sending our people back home in the same condition they arrived at work.

Richard Fesko

Age: 53

Address: 1181 Woodworth Road

Family: Married 31 years to wife, Chris; children: Ben, 29, Kim, 27, Todd, 21 Education: Graduate of Skaneateles High School and bachelor’s in economics from Cornell University Employment Self-employed since graduation from Cornell. I am a partial owner of Fesko Farms, Inc., a dairy/cash crop family farm. Political experience: Town councilor for eight years (1988 to 1996)

Ballot lines: Democratic

Community involvement Past member of Spafford Fire Department, past member of Borodino Grange; on~ the board of directors for Cortland Bulk Milk Co-op; past member of customer board for Agway, Inc.

Two specific things to accomplish:

Most important would be the upgrading of the zoning laws. This could be accomplished with a committee of citizens that are a good cross-section of the population of Spafford to advise the town board on the residents’ wishes. Second, the town board should meet with all boards, committees and employees to instruct and encourage education about their duties and obligations.

Your town faces dwindling income and rising costs. Do you raise taxes or cut services to balance your budget? If it’s service cuts, which ones?

Spafford’s town budget for the most part has always been a fairly lean budget. Raising taxes for the near future will be very hard to avoid. The cost of doing business is increasing rapidly. With growth in the town, the present services, such as the transfer station; will only find increase use. Citizens recently have asked for more services, such as public access to the lake, parks and athletic fields. I therefore feel that every service offered by the town will need to be scrutinized very closely.

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