Former Town of Shawangunk Highway Superintendent and current Wallkill School Board president Joseph LoCicero has announced his candidacy to run for the Shawangunk Town Board.

There will be two seats with four-year terms up for grabs in the November election. The terms for current board members Brian Amthor and Robert Miller expire at the end of 2023. Neither Amthor nor Miller have announced whether they will seek office again.

Town Supervisor John Valk has announced that he won’t run for another term. Ulster County Legislator Ken Ronk said he will seek Valk’s seat, while Town Board member Adrian “Binker” DeWitt said he is leaning toward also running.

LoCicero, 50, served as the town’s highway superintendent for 5 ½ years, but gave up the job to run for the supervisor’s office. Valk narrowly won the GOP nomination by three votes over LoCicero at the GOP caucus and then easily won the general election in November 2021 by a 2,526-476 margin over LoCicero, who ran a write-in campaign when he didn’t get the Republican nomination.

LoCicero said he decided to run for the town board instead of supervisor because he feels there’s two “viable candidates” to replace Valk.

“I feel I would do more if I got on the board and could help out in some way,” he said. “If I get on the board, I feel I could work with all the guys.”

LoCicero feels his experience as the building inspector for the Town of Plattekill could be a big asset to the board.
“I was a department head there for many, many years before retiring,” LoCicero said.

LoCicero has been on the Wallkill School Board since 2010 and has been president since 2011.

He and his wife Colleen have two children, Madison and Michael. LoCicero graduated from Wallkill High School in 1991.

LoCicero attended SUNY Ulster, but soon joined the military in 1992. LoCicero joined the United States Army Reserves and served for two years before being transferred to the U.S. Air National Guard at Stewart Airport. He retired after 23 years of service.

LoCicero has been with the Wallkill Fire Department for over 30 years.

LoCicero feels his military and fire department experience will bring a unique perspective to the town board.

“Plus, my school board experience working with a budget of over $70 million would be very helpful as a town board member,” LoCicero said.

LoCicero has been disappointed in the way the town has been run in recent years.

“I’d like to see the town move forward,” he said. “I think people are looking for change. I’m looking to make a difference in the town I’ve grown up in most of my life.”
As an example of the recent lack of progress, LoCicero said the town hasn’t crafted any long-range plans.

“I’d like to see a five-year, a 10-year and a 20-year plan,” he said. “There’s no emergency management for the town. I know they’re starting that process, but that’s what I did in the military.”

LoCicero said he can devote more time to the job than others who are still working.

“I’m a young man,” LoCicero said. “I’m energetic and I’m retired. I’d like to see the board and its members be more involved in the town. Showing up for different events like the WOW Weekend and Lions Club events. These are great organizations in our town. They do a ton of stuff and it’s nice to be there to show our appreciation.”

LoCicero said the town needs to do more to attract new businesses. He said neighboring towns such as Gardiner and Plattekill have done a good job of attracting businesses, while Shawangunk has been stagnant.

“I would like to see us have a better focus of where we want to go,” he said. “You look at Plattekill and Gardiner and they have revamped themselves. They’ve revamped the whole infrastructure and the places are beautiful. People come there and they enjoy themselves. They sit outside and have dinner. I’d like to see Shawangunk do the same thing. We really need to figure out what we want to be when we grow up.”

LoCicero said the town needs to provide more money for the highway department’s employees and must upgrade its equipment.

“The workers need to be treated like human beings,” he said.
“Their equipment is subpar at best. As the highway superintendent, I begged for trucks every year. (Current highway superintendent) Rich Blazeski begs for the same thing I did. It doesn’t matter who sits in that seat every year. It’s just a lack of a budgetary thought process. We need to buy so many vehicles every year, so we don’t break down in the middle of the wintertime.”

The Town of Shawangunk GOP will no longer pick candidates in a party caucus. In June, there will be a primary to select candidates.