WGXC-90.7 FM

Four candidates running in Chatham village race

Mar 14, 2012 3:24 pm
The Register Star has Trevor Alford's profiles the four candidates vying for two seats on the Chatham Village Board in the March 20 election. Incumbent George Grant will face off against former mayor Paul Boehme, Adrienne Morrell and Lenore Packet. Grant has held a seat on the Village Board for 17 years. He counts the transfer of Union Station from the railroad and an improved village sewer system as two important accomplishments during his tenure. He would like to be involved in the final stages of the sewer plant upgrade and believes a compromise must be found between Price Chopper and the owner of the Chatham Plaza. “It does frustrate me that they don’t seem to be talking to each other,” he said. Boehme served as mayor for 20 years and "used his accounting background to keep the village budget within 1.4 percent over a period of 10 years," Alford writes. He also worked to improve the village water system and its roads. Boehme is interested in joining the board "because...there is a lot of activity in Chatham right now." He, too, believes a solution to the Price Chopper controversy can be found if the parties sit down and talk. But before any expansion can happen, he said, the sewer infrastructure must be upgraded. Morrell grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and attended New York University. She is the executive director of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, located in Williamstown, Mass. Her two children are enrolled in the Chatham schools. Morrell's biggest issues are to work within the limits of the 2 percent property tax cap and encourage more residents to volunteer their time to various causes throughout the village. She believes her experience with a non-profit makes her a good candidate for Village Board. As for the Price Chopper controversy, Morrell hopes the planning boards will "balance the increased need for groceries against 'the desire of many of us to protect the beauty and open spaces of Chatham.'" Packet is a Chatham native and the director and teacher of Chatham Preschool. If elected, she told Alford, she "will work with the mayor, other trustees and village department heads to cut costs and 'keep taxes under control.'” Packet said the Price Chopper expansion would be out of her hands as a village trustee, but would prefer the existing mall be expanded. "She likes having some open space that breaks up commercial sites in that area," Alford writes. “We should tread lightly on what open land we have. Once you’ve paved it you’ve lost it,” Packet said. Read the full story in the Register Star.
Wave Farm / WGXC Acra Contact Info
info@wavefarm.org
info@wgxc.org
Mailing: PO Box 13 Acra, NY 12405
Main Office / Acra Studio
(518) 622-2598
WGXC Office
(518) 697-7400
WGXC Hudson Studio
(518) 828-0290
WGXC Feedback
(518) 212-7509 feedback@wgxc.org
Wave Farm / WGXC Acra Studio: 5662 Route 23 Acra, NY 12405
WGXC Hudson Studio: 369 Warren St. Hudson, NY 12534