When it comes to the issues, the village’s two mayoral candidates have somewhat similar platforms.
Both would like to see improvements to the village’s infrastructure. Both say they’d seek revenue to offset property taxes. And both vow to work hard at supporting local businesses.
In fact, the political opponents, Dave Kelly and Marie Cramer, are both registered Republicans.
Their differences are in their background and their approach. He’s a village trustee, firefighter and longtime business owner. She’s a village Planning Board member who’s active in a group called Macedon Village Pride and who works in the health care field.
Village Republicans threw their support behind Cramer at their caucus last month; she will also run on the third-party Community 1st line. Kelly will run on the Democratic and third-party Revenue Creation line.
Kelly will retain his seat as trustee since he’s mid-term if he is not victorious at the polls on election day, March 20. His son, David A. Kelly, ran for mayor in 2008, having won the Republican endorsement over incumbent James Hoteling. But Hoteling was the top vote-getter at the polls.
Having served 16 years as mayor and 11 years before that as a trustee, Hoteling said it’s time to step down.
“In essence, I just felt it was time to pass the torch,” he said, adding that he’s proud of successful battles to save the village from dissolution as well as the launch of the downtown revitalization program, among other things.
“But the one project that means the most to me is the relocation of Erie Street to the traffic light at routes 350 and 31,” he added. “I am very proud to be able to say, ‘I did that.’”
Hoteling said last week he hadn’t yet decided who he’d like to see as a successor. He said he was still “looking over their qualifications, experiences and listening to what they have planned to accomplish during their terms of office.”
Cramer, 46, is married and works part-time in the public health field. On the Planning Board for a year, she has been working on an update to the village’s master plan, which will serve as a tool to guide the municipality on issues like development and infrastructure. It will also prove useful in grant applications, she said.
She first became active in local affairs with the Macedon Village Pride Committee, which began as an opposition to a group called One Macedon that lobbied for village dissolution. The village pride group has since morphed into a sort of cheerleader for local businesses, organizations and events, she said.
When it comes to the issues, the village’s two mayoral candidates have somewhat similar platforms.
Both would like to see improvements to the village’s infrastructure. Both say they’d seek revenue to offset property taxes. And both vow to work hard at supporting local businesses.
In fact, the political opponents, Dave Kelly and Marie Cramer, are both registered Republicans.
Their differences are in their background and their approach. He’s a village trustee, firefighter and longtime business owner. She’s a village Planning Board member who’s active in a group called Macedon Village Pride and who works in the health care field.
Village Republicans threw their support behind Cramer at their caucus last month; she will also run on the third-party Community 1st line. Kelly will run on the Democratic and third-party Revenue Creation line.
Kelly will retain his seat as trustee since he’s mid-term if he is not victorious at the polls on election day, March 20. His son, David A. Kelly, ran for mayor in 2008, having won the Republican endorsement over incumbent James Hoteling. But Hoteling was the top vote-getter at the polls.
Having served 16 years as mayor and 11 years before that as a trustee, Hoteling said it’s time to step down.
“In essence, I just felt it was time to pass the torch,” he said, adding that he’s proud of successful battles to save the village from dissolution as well as the launch of the downtown revitalization program, among other things.
“But the one project that means the most to me is the relocation of Erie Street to the traffic light at routes 350 and 31,” he added. “I am very proud to be able to say, ‘I did that.’”
Hoteling said last week he hadn’t yet decided who he’d like to see as a successor. He said he was still “looking over their qualifications, experiences and listening to what they have planned to accomplish during their terms of office.”
Cramer, 46, is married and works part-time in the public health field. On the Planning Board for a year, she has been working on an update to the village’s master plan, which will serve as a tool to guide the municipality on issues like development and infrastructure. It will also prove useful in grant applications, she said.
She first became active in local affairs with the Macedon Village Pride Committee, which began as an opposition to a group called One Macedon that lobbied for village dissolution. The village pride group has since morphed into a sort of cheerleader for local businesses, organizations and events, she said.
“ I love the community — I think we have wonderful residents in the community,” she said when asked why she decided to run for mayor. “I thought ‘What can I do to make a difference?’”
If elected, Cramer said she’d push for a close examination of the village’s infrastructure — everything from the wastewater treatment plant to sidewalks and roads. “We just need to look and say ‘OK, what needs to be addressed?’” she said.
Cramer said she sees a need for improved communication between residents, government, businesses and civic groups. She said she’d also lend her support to events and projects to improve residents’ quality of life. She points to an endeavor soon to get under way: a butterfly trail slated for an area near Erie Canal Lock 30.
“Macedon Village Pride actually came up with the idea and the village board supported it fully,“ said Cramer. “It’s not going to be a cost to taxpayers — we’re going to do (it) with private donations and volunteers.”
Kelly, 67, said he wants to play a larger role in local government. For experience, he points to his two years as a trustee, his many years in the Macedon Fire Department, which he helped expand, and his background as a business owner. He has owned a Laundromat, a small grocery store and he currently runs Sofia Shoe Repair in Rochester.
“I used to look at the village and say, ‘You know, there’s a lot that can be done around here,’” said the widower, who’s got five grown children. He decided to get more involved during the dissolution debate.
“As all these dissolution things kept coming up I kept going, ‘Once we do that, we’re goners forever.’” he said. “I was raised in the city of Rochester. The village here should be the nucleus of the town.”
If elected, Kelly said his focus would be on finding ways to raise money for the village. He has his sights set on a sludge processor that’s planned for the wastewater treatment plant. It’s expected to cost close to $250,000 but the board anticipates it will cut costs long term since it will spare the village from having to haul sludge elsewhere to be processed.
Kelly would like the village to give neighboring municipalities the option of utilizing the sludge machine, for a fee, to bring in revenue.
Kelly would also like to see the village go in the public utility business, namely by selling electricity to residents as what’s known as an ESCO, or Electric Service Company. The village of Hilton in Monroe County offers the service to its residents, who are billed by Rochester Gas & Electric for the delivery.
“They’ve actually been making money,” said Kelly of Hilton.
He said village residents would have the option of enrolling.
Turning the village into an ESCO would require a public vote, though, and Kelly concedes that would mean plenty of groundwork and “you’re going to have to do some campaigning.”
The mayoral seat isn’t all that’s up for grabs on election day. Trustee David Sliney, who is filling the unexpired term of Ronald DeMena III, will seek another four-year term, and village Code Enforcement Officer Don Lohse is running for the trustee seat being vacated by Kenneth Schreiber, who is not seeking reelection.
Sliney and Lohse will run on the Republican and Democratic lines.
The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. at the fire department at 1 Canal St.
