I have been a longtime resident and once a business owner in and around Gloversville most of my life.
I am not very happy with the choices we have for mayor in Gloversville.
First, let’s look at James Handy. He stated he had a plan to fix the blight problem in the city, which I know is a very complicated problem – we have absentee landlords, property foreclosed on by banks and county and city tax foreclosed properties. In some cases, even if the code enforcer attempts to enforce the city codes, the landlords live out of the city and can’t be reached but their taxes are paid. Then, from a political standpoint, what mayor wants to call the Fulton?County Board of Supervisors to say “You have 30 houses in my city that need to be taken care of.”
Mr. Handy, as it turned out, did not have a new plan; he said he was going to push the code enforcer and the courts harder to enforced the code. Does this mean he has the guts to call the county and banks and make them take care of the properties they have foreclosed on? I am not so sure. It was hard for me to get a response from him, so on that ground I refuse to vote for Mr. Handy.
Now, onto Dayton King. We need a leader who can work to consolidate more with the city of Johnstown, but Mr. King has just about severed all ties to that city, which we need. For the last few years, Johnstown Fire Department has backed Gloversville up with its manpower and equipment. So on that note, I cannot vote for Mr. King.
There is another guy running, but I know nothing about him. I see a few signs up, but who is he? Maybe he is the man we are looking for to lead the city, but he needs to be a man and speak up. Let us voters know what his idea is for the city to grow and move forward. Nobody has all the answers. I for one would rather have a mayor tell me, “I don’t know, but I will get back to you” and does get back to me with an honest answer, then have the bull thrown at me thinking I am an idiot like Mr. Handy and Mr. King do so often.
JEFFREY R. WALTERS
Gloversville
