The town Republican Committee has endorsed town Councilman Tim Szczepaniak to run for town supervisor this fall.
Szczepaniak would replace current supervisor Patrick Ziegler, who decided not to seek re-election after a single two-year term in office.
Ziegler, who works in higher education finance, has to travel extensively, cutting into time he could spend at Town Hall. Szczepaniak has been his deputy supervisor.
All town elected offices are currently held by Republicans, though until two years ago the town had an Independent/Democrat supervisor, Patti Southworth, and Democrats have been elected to the Town Board in the recent past.
Szczepaniak, who was first elected to the Town Board in 2007, lives in Burnt Hills with his wife and two daughters. He is a project analyst and manager at the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory in Niskayuna, where he has worked for 27 years.
“I’ll adjust my hours here at work. I’ll be at Town Hall every day,” Szczepaniak said on Monday.
Szczepaniak said he wants to encourage more economic development in the commercially zoned Route 50 corridor, bringing in sewers to complement the public water line installed there more than a decade ago.
“At the same time, we’ve got to protect farmland, too,” he said.
The Republican Committee has nominated Charles Curtis, a dairy farmer, to run for the vacancy that Szczepaniak’s run for supervisor would create on the Town Board. The committee also re-nominated Councilman William Goslin for a second four-year term.
Szczepaniak noted that if all were elected, the Town Board would have a lawyer, a teacher, an information technology professional and a farmer on it.
“We’ve got a very diverse board, and I think that’s good for the residents,” Szczepaniak said.
Deputy Town Clerk Carol Gumienny was nominated for town clerk, with the expected retirement of current Town Clerk Carol Shemo. Anne C. Hogue was re-nominated for another term as tax collector.
Town Democrats aren’t expected to make their nominations until a caucus later in the year.
Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 885-6705, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.
Categories: -News-, Schenectady County
