COVENTRY – The two candidates vying for supervisor of the Town of Coventry share a vision for uniting citizens, one that provides a more fiscally transparent government and improves communications from the town council.
Coventry is currently splintered on several fronts, they say, not the least of which is over a regional utility company’s proposal to build a natural gas pipeline through the town. The public franchise proposal, by Leatherstocking Gas Company LLC, came before the town board in June and again in July and is still unresolved. Large numbers of residents on both sides of the issue crowded the town hall and others picketed outside during the public hearings.
Supervisor candidate George Westcott, who was town justice in the early 2000s, said Coventry had “lost its friendly nature” and was “broken a part” with infighting on the pipeline and natural gas drilling in general.
But even before hydraulic fracturing and water safety questions put this tiny town of 1,255 people in the news, its residents were already reeling from a property reassessment project in 2009. The latter led to three-term Supervisor Janice O’Shea being voted out of office. And instability has reigned, as exemplified by incumbent Supervisor John Phelan’s loss in the Republican Party primary in September.
Westcott, who is 51, said his landslide primary win against Phelan was humbling.
“I had many, many good people working with me to get elected. One person cannot get elected on their own. We are just being honest with the voters and showing integrity and character, the things that really make a difference,” he said.
Westcott also appears on the ballot as the Democrat’s pick and under the independent platform, “Aim High.” He is native of Coventry, having graduated from Afton Central School in 1978, and is currently a commodity manager at Raymond Corporation in Greene. The candidate previously worked at Lockheed Martin as a master planner and earned a bachelor’s degree from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Westcott is pro gas, but “with stipulations,” he said. He aims to work with the town council and residents to learn more about the safety issues surrounding high water fracturing for shale gas and to set a clear direction for the town.
“On the county level, too, we are really going to have to take a good hard look at the natural gas direction that we are going on to make sure what we do what is correct for our people,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough issue to tackle.”
Independence Party candidate Larry G. Clark, 55, said taxpayers want someone who can represent them and provide answers “whether good or bad.”
“There’s been a lot of dissatisfaction over the last two years and I would like the people to begin feeling comfortable with the people who represent them again,” he said.
Clark is a group leader for manufacturing company Amphenol in Sidney where he has worked for the past 23 years. This is not his first foray into politics. He bemoaned higher property taxes after the revaluation project and encouraged a better business climate for Coventry when he ran for supervisor in 2009. He is also credited with being the first member of the Coventry Events Committee, sponsor of the Coventry Blueberry Festival and other seasonal events.
Like Westcott, Clark said he has no concern allowing Leatherstocking Pipeline, LLC to move forward with its franchise unless there are safety issues involved. He said the company is not a drilling or hydraulic fracturing company, and the town’s economy would benefit by having the new infrastructure.
He said he would rely on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to monitor natural gas drilling and assure the safeguards citizens are demanding.
“Not everybody’s going to be happy when New York State decides what they are going to do, but it’s New York and whatever they give us we have to work from there. You’ve got to be realistic of what today’s society is and the need for energy. We can’t just shut them out. We need to come up with the best result,” he said.
Last Thursday, October 13, the Sidney Town Board voted to grant the Leatherstocking Gas Company a public franchise agreement. Sidney Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy told the Watershed Post that he voted in favor of the pipeline in order to make a favorable environment for flood-ravaged Amphenol, which is considering a move out of Sidney. The franchise has to be approved in all three municipalities. The Bainbridge Town Council is slated to take a vote on the matter next Tuesday, Nov. 1.