Republican
Occupation: County Legislator
Answer: I am a lifelong resident of Colonie and am shocked at the direction we are heading. Our roads have never been in such deplorable shape, our infrastructure is deteriorating, traffic conditions caused by uncontrolled development have impacted our residential neighborhoods, the landfill deal has failed us, and crime is increasing A. I served on the Colonie Town Board under the leadership of Supervisor Fred Field. He was an exceptional leader who mentored us in making sure that our residents were our number one priority. I am well aware of both town-wide issues and those affecting neighborhoods. I have fought for over a decade to protect Colonie from deteriorating motels used to house sex offenders. I have also represented Colonie in the Albany County Legislature and served as Minority Leader. And as a former small business owner I know the challenges facing our business community. A. I believe the rising crime rate is one of the biggest issues we face. While our police force is one of the best, we do not have enough officers to address the increase in crime. Murders, armed robberies, shootings, prostitutions, drugs, and residential and car break-ins have plagued us over the last several years. This, coupled with the fact that we had our lowest number of police officers in decades during this crime wave is unconscionable. I will strive to protect our police force as well as our residents. Deteriorating roads and infrastructure remain a major issue and the failure to address this properly over the last 8 years has put added stress on the problem. Our financial rating by the NYS Comptroller classifies us as `stressed` which is unacceptable. And uncontrolled development has caused a negative impact on our residential neighborhoods and quality of life. A. It is my plan to partner with federal agencies such as the DEA and FBI to increase our revenues and to use this money to increase the number of police officers we have patrolling our streets. I will also work with the police chief and department to establish neighborhood patrols. I will address our fiscal situation by having a neutral and unbiased review of our finances and request viable options to address our needs. The New York State Financial Restructuring Board is available to offer us assistance. We must amend our planning review process and address both the short term and long term impact of development. The failure of the current administration to address these traffic issues has caused major long-term problems for Colonie and has affected our residential areas. We must be ready to make amendments to our Land Use Law and the planning process to address these problems.Christine Benedict
Question: Why are you running for Town Supervisor?
Q. How will your experience serve you as Town Supervisor?
Q. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the Town?
Q. What are your ideas for addressing these challenges?