The race is on for the town supervisor of North Greenbush. With current town supervisor Lou Desso opting not to make a run for re-election, his deputy and a town board member have their eyes on taking the reins of local government.
Republican Deputy Supervisor Joseph Bott has held that post for three years following a nine-year stint on the town board and says he wants to take the town in a new direction. "We got a lot of development and it came real fast. We need to look and see how it impacts our infrastructure on the town and the traffic and all that stuff. We need to do some stuff in our building department. I think we need more of a town manager to do the technical end of it."
Bott's boss Desso, a two-term Republican, changed his mind and decided not to seek reelection this year. "When he last ran, two years ago, he said that he thinks he's all done and he's got a couple of more things he wants to finish and then he's gonna be done. And then all of a sudden there was a change of heart that he was gonna run, so..."
Desso changed his mind again as the state attorney general began investigating the running of a sewer line to Desso’s property.
Mary Frances Sabo has been on the town board for one year. She's ready to lock horns with Bott, who she criticizes for voting in lock-step with Desso. "There've been a lot of issues raised about the current supervisor and Joe has served on the board for quite some time and all this has gone on on his watch and I don't think that there's any coincidence that some of this stuff is starting to surface in the media after I joined the board."
Sabo says despite being the lone Democrat on the panel, she's accomplished much: "I sponsored and got enacted a law that would increase greenspace at existing developments. There is an issue concerning for flag lots and shared driveways and I have gotten some consensus from the rest of the board that the town needs to something in that regard."
Sabo says she found a state grant the town is applying for to help clean up weeds in Snyder's Lake and adds she has a good working relationship with Rensselaer County officials. She is hopeful she will get the support of the County Democratic Committee when it meets next week.
