Susan Cockburn worked her whole life to come to Montgomery and she doesn’t plan to ever leave.

The Town of Montgomery election is nearing sooner than we think, and the Town of Montgomery Democratic Committee has officially endorsed Cockburn for Town Supervisor. As a former Montgomery supervisor, Cockburn feels ready to tackle multiple town-wide issues, describing herself as “smart and honest.”

She will face Village of Montgomery Mayor L. Stephen Brescia in this election and the pair have an interesting history. This includes Cockburn once filing a lawsuit against Brescia for violating her first amendment rights in 2021. She and two other women came to a settlement with the village and Brescia, earning $37,500 in the process, after being told they could not speak at a village meeting because they were not village residents. Also, in 2013, Cockburn ran unsuccessfully against Brescia for Orange County Legislator.

Cockburn, an engineer and current math and science tutor for Valley Central students, held office in Montgomery for two terms previously. She moved out of her parent’s home at 17 and put herself through college, studying Pre-Engineering and Government Studies at Hunter College and then receiving her bachelor’s in engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology as part of their five-year Environmental Engineering Program.

After that, she tried many different jobs to see what she liked. “I worked a lot of jobs to find out where my interests were. I did construction work, modeling, and I worked for the New York City Public Development Corporation,” Cockburn mentioned.

After this, Cockburn migrated to Montgomery.

She soon became involved in the community. Cockburn is a Walden Humane Society Board Member and is responsible for establishing Friends of Benedict Farm, a non-profit organization that helped construct a pedestrian bridge to connect the Village of Riverside and Benedict Farm Park. She has also volunteered as a Orange County Youth Soccer Coach, worked on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation program, Trees for Tribs, secured $4,000.00 Athletes 4-Animals Award, and more.

Cockburn’s drive comes from her dedication to Montgomery. She doesn’t plan to retire down South, mentioning that she loves her home and living here.

“I invested here [and] other people invested here. People that grew up here want to leave their properties to their children and they don’t want to see it go down the tubes. It’s circling the drain with all this nonsense,” said Cockburn.

One of the biggest issues Cockburn hopes to handle is the ongoing warehouse conflict. It’s no secret that residents are against incoming warehouses, and Cockburn hopes to back them up on this. “The warehouse moratorium didn’t stop any warehouses. The public weren’t included or incorporated and the moratorium did absolutely nothing,” said Cockburn, referencing a previous attempt to halt the construction of warehouses.

She also wants to handle sewer and water issues, traffic concerns and taxes. Cockburn also mentioned board meetings being more open for public input. “Let’s make sure the town doesn’t become like the Village was when it comes to public input. Montgomery must have an open-door policy at town meetings,” She stated.

Cockburn mentioned many of her past successes when she was acting supervisor, including reversing town budget practice of overtaxing villages, and updating Montgomery’s retirement and pension law from 55 years and five years of service to current and common industry standards.

Cockburn listed even more accomplishments: “The A Fund and B Fund were put into equitable balance and taxes for three villages were reduced.

Complete NYS Comptroller review of town administration, resulted in separation of duties and 100% oversight of all tax dollars coming and going. Senior Liaison to the Town Board. Town Ethics Commission and Ethics Law.”

The list goes on, but Cockburn is ready to make a new one.

“I’m wanting to do smart and honest things for the community. Not things that just benefit whoever comes in with a handful of cash waving it around,” said Cockburn.

The endorsement of Cockburn comes alongside candidate Jeff Samerson, who was endorsed for Town of Montgomery councilman.

Co-Chair of the Town Of Montgomery Democratic Committee Kathy Murray Cannon mentioned that she’s pretty sure both candidates are waiting for confirmation that their petitions are cleared and they are in fact on the ballot. After that, they will begin their campaigns.