Tuesday is election day
Warwick Voters in the Town of Warwick go to the polls on Tuesday to choose a supervisor, reelect two councilmen, and elect a new town justice. Supervisor Michael Sweeton faces off against challenger Penny Steyer for the town’s highest elected office. Sweeton, a Republican, has held the job for six years and is seeking his third term. He has been instrumental in expanding the town’s Purchase of Development Rights program, which preserves open space by buying the development rights to farms, as well as in creating the Community Preservation Fund, another tool in preserving open space. Sweeton, co-owner of Technigrowers Greenhouses, is a member of the Town of Warwick Historical Society, Orange County Farmland Protection Task Force, and Orange County Planning Board. He was named the 2003 Responsible Government Official of the Year by Orange Environment. Sweeton points to a more streamlined government and expansion of transportation and recreation facilities throughout the town as his most important accomplishments while in office. He said revisiting the town’s zoning code, maintaining a low tax rate, and expanding business opportunities in the town are a few of his priorities over the next four years. Steyer, a Democrat, is seeking her first elected office but is no stranger to the workings of government. She is a member of the town’s Architectural Review Board and has sat on several committees including the Village of Warwick Downtown Strategy Steering Committee, the village’s Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee and the Smart Growth Alliance. She was an executive at Hunter Douglas, a Fortune 500 company, as well as the owner of Penra Liquors in the Village of Warwick. Steyer sees growth and economic development as two of the most important issues currently facing the town. She has criticized the town’s zoning, which awards a bonus to developers for clustering houses. She would take that bonus away and rework how development is approved based on soils and available water. To help stir economic growth, Steyer said she would focus on the town’s largest business agriculture and the arts, including journalism and film. Councilmen Leonard DeBuck and James Gerstner are running unopposed for their town council seats. Town justice race With the retirement of longtime justice Daniel Coleman, Richard Farina and Nancy Brenner DeAngelo are vying for the town justice position. Farina, a Democrat, has been the justice in the Village of Warwick since 1997. He has served in the court system for 38 years, including over a quarter of a century certifying town and village judges. In addition to serving the Village of Warwick as justice, Farina has assisted on a regular basis in the cities of Newburgh and Middletown. DeAngelo, a Republican, has served as justice in the Village of Greenwood Lake for the past eight years. She has been a practicing attorney for 22 years. DeAngelo also is a 20-year member of the Greenwood Lake Volunteer Ambulance Corps and a trained emergency medical technician. Polls open 6 a.m. Polls are open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. If you are not sure where your polling place is, either check the Town of Warwick Web site, www.townofwarwick.org, or call the town clerk’s office at Town Hall, 986-1120.