Rotterdam Democrats back Buffardi over incumbent supervisor Del Gallo

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Mason

Rotterdam Democrats have endorsed a new slate of candidates for town office, shunning incumbent Supervisor Frank Del Gallo and choosing someone different for board member Nicola DiLeva’s seat.

Members of the Town Committee resoundingly endorsed former Schenectady County Sheriff Harry Buffardi for supervisor. They also picked incumbent Wayne Calder and Mike Viscusi as their picks for a pair of Town Board seats, after DiLeva told the party she wasn’t interested in seeking their endorsement.

“Their philosophy is about serving the party,” said DiLeva, who is registered as a Conservative. “I’m not here for the party, I’m here for the residents and the people.”

Buffardi received votes from 27 committee members, while Del Gallo garnered 11. Contacted after this week’s endorsement meeting, Del Gallo said the results were expected and he remains undeterred from his re-election bid.

“I’ll primary everybody,” he said defiantly.

Del Gallo said he also plans to drop his enrollment with the Democrats to rejoin the Conservatives. He said he wasn’t interested in “playing the game” the Democrats wanted him to engage in.

“If you want to get anywhere in politics, you’ve got to play the game they play,” he said.

Rotterdam Democrats also endorsed former Schenectady County Department of Public Works supervisor Vincent Romano for highway superintendent and incumbent Kevin Mercoglan for town justice. Tony Jasenski and Angelo Santabarbara, both incumbents, were nominated for county Legislature, while Mark Powers was selected to run for county Family Court judge.

Del Gallo and DiLeva were both endorsed by the Democrats on the Revitalize Rotterdam ticket in 2009. After winning election, Del Gallo fulfilled a campaign promise to switch from his independent enrollment to Conservative.

Less than a year after they took office, the discourse between Del Gallo and DiLeva began to sour. Del Gallo has verbally sparred with her during board meetings on several occasions, while DiLeva has accused his administration of being secretive and unresponsive to the needs of residents.

The meltdown between the two board members reached a peak in November, when DiLeva introduced a series of 11th-hour amendments to Del Gallo’s proposed budget that reduced the tax increase by nearly 4 percent. DiLeva also introduced a last-minute resolution to name a private law firm as the new town attorney without first consulting Del Gallo or Deputy Supervisor Robert Godlewski.

Del Gallo changed his enrollment again to Democrat late last year. The change, however, doesn’t go into effect until after November’s election.

Jasenski, the committee’s chairman, said Del Gallo’s inability to reach consensus with his fellow board members is one of the main reasons some members refused to endorse him. He said people within the community voiced disappointment over the board’s inability to tackle serious issues facing the town under Del Gallo’s administration.

“They can’t seem to get past the minor issues to see what’s coming down the pike,” he said.

Jasenski doesn’t think shunning Del Gallo will cause a fissure within the party. Rather, he said the committee decided it was in the better interest of the party as a whole to dump the incumbent from the ticket.

“It was a political decision based on what they thought was best for governing Rotterdam,” he said. “Do I think it’s going to splinter the party? I don’t.”

In addition to a possible primary bid for the Democratic endorsement, Del Gallo said he’ll move forward with establishing his own independent party line. He said he may also seek endorsements from other parties.

“I have to run again because I only got half the job done,” he said. “’I’m determined.”

To wage a primary against Buffardi, Del Gallo will need to secure signatures from more than 357 Democrats for an opportunity to ballot. Under this scenario, Democratic voters would have to write in Del Gallo’s name during the primary in September.

Del Gallo could technically also seek a certificate of authorization from the county Democrats. But party Chairman Brian Quail said there’s no sense in him even trying.

“That is not going to happen,” he said Thursday.