DeWitt drops bid for Shawangunk supervisor

By RICK REMSNYDER
Posted 5/23/23

Saying he couldn’t commit the time necessary to be a full-time Supervisor in the Town of Shawangunk, Councilman Adrian “Binker” DeWitt pulled out of the race Sunday in a Facebook …

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DeWitt drops bid for Shawangunk supervisor

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Saying he couldn’t commit the time necessary to be a full-time Supervisor in the Town of Shawangunk, Councilman Adrian “Binker” DeWitt pulled out of the race Sunday in a Facebook post.

“The supervisor position is a full-time job and, in my opinion, you need to be in that office most of the day every day to do it right,” DeWitt said. “I can’t see how I can commit to that and do the job to my satisfaction. I will not be staying in the race for that reason alone.”

DeWitt is a district supervisor for the Orange County Highway Department. He has been a member of the Shawangunk Town Board for 21 years, including the last 13 as the Deputy Supervisor under current Supervisor John Valk, who has announced he won’t run for re-election in November.

Although DeWitt’s name will remain on the ballot for the June 27 Republican primary, his decision leaves longtime Ulster County Legislator Ken Ronk Jr. as the lone candidate for the Supervisor’s position. Ronk was to face off in the primary against DeWitt. There is no declared Democratic candidate.

“I thank Councilman DeWitt for a clean, issue-based campaign, and if I’m elected Town Supervisor, I look forward to working with him on the Town Board to move Shawangunk forward,” Ronk told the Wallkill Valley Times early Monday.

DeWitt said he will continue to serve on the Town Board.
“I put in many hours on the Town Board and will continue to do so to push the Town in a forward position,” DeWitt said. “I will be on the board as a very aggressive person to push the Town in the direction it needs to go. I would have liked to have announced this sooner, but for personal reasons I could not.”

There remains a three-way race in the GOP primary for two spots on the Town Board. Incumbents Brian Amthor and Robert Miller and former Shawangunk Highway Superintendent and current Wallkill School Board president Joseph LoCicero will face off in the primary.
Democrat Adrienne Gelfand-Perine has also announced her candidacy for the board.