I have lived in Cornwall for more than fifty years. Long enough to watch the same kids grow up, leave for a while, and oftentimes, come back. Long enough to know which families still put out the same Christmas lights, which roads get the worst ice, and how many people stop to talk when they see you on Main Street. This town raised my children. It gave me a place to build businesses and a community that showed up when it mattered. I love it, and that is why I am asking you to let me serve, one term, as your Town Supervisor.

This campaign has not felt like the lonely exercise I know campaigns to be. Neighbors have opened their doors and told me what they are worried about, and also what they still love about this place. They talk about the taxes and the debt, yes. They also talk about wanting their kids to be able to stay, about wanting a summer that feels like the ones they remember, about not wanting to lose the feel of the neighborhoods they already have. Those conversations are the reason I am running.

I know the job. I have done it before. My only goal is the best interest of this town. I will start by cutting the supervisor’s salary, eliminating stipends, declining the health benefits, and putting an extra vehicle up for surplus. We can get spending and debt under control without stopping the things that make life here better.

I want those things too. I want a pool and a real summer program again. I want recreation facilities and programs that serve every age. I want our roads to stay the best in the area and I want us working with the county to push the state to do their part. I want a Main Street that is alive, which means making it easier for good projects to move forward. And I want us to grow carefully enough that we keep the open space and the character of our neighborhoods. But I want all of it done in a way that is fiscally responsible, not in a way that saddles our children with taxes that price them out of the town they grew up in. We can protect what we love and still move forward. It does not require giving up the small-town feel we still have.

Early voting starts Saturday, October 24. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. If you still love this town the way I do, talk to the neighbors you trust and vote. I would also ask you to support Angelo Schembari, who is running with me for Town Council.

Thank you for the support you have already given and for the chance to try to keep Cornwall the place we all recognize. It has given us a great deal. I want it to keep giving that to the people who come after us.