Robert Brum

rbrum@lohud.com

CLARKSTOWN - The election for a seat on the Clarkstown Town Board can be viewed as a referendum on where the town is heading under town Supervisor George Hoehmann’s administration.

The contest between Republican incumbent Adrienne Carey and Democratic challenger Daniel Caprara will largely hinge upon how voters view the GOP-dominated board’s cost-cutting and restructuring measures, as well as controversial actions including Police Chief Michael Sullivan’s suspension.

Carey, a Nanuet resident who was appointed in May to fill an open seat, has largely voted with the board's 4-1 GOP majority. Caprara, a lifelong New City resident, would give the lone Democrat, Stephanie Hausner, an ally on the board.

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Caprara's harshest criticism was for the Town Board's decision to take over the process of implementing a ward system to replace the townwide method of electing board members. He wants the single-member districts created by the Rockland County Board of Elections to keep the town from drawing up districts that would favor the GOP majority.

"My thinking is I question their integrity," Caprara said. "Why not let the bipartisan Board of Elections draw those lines? It’s dishonest and it’s taking the voice away from the Clarkstown voters. I have zero trust in Supervisor Hohemann and Councilwoman Carey."

But Carey said having the lines drawn by the Town Board was in residents' best interest.

"The Board of Elections is appointed, the Town Board is elected," she said. "We passed a local law to provide transparency for the public. If the Board of Elections draws the lines, it's final; if the Town Board does it, it's with town residents' input."

She said workshops would allow the public to have a say during the process.

Caprara opposes the town's action against the police chief, saying the initial charges of insubordination and misconduct didn't warrant his suspension. He said it was too early to comment about accusations that the chief condoned improper investigations, but that the hearing process was "a kangaroo court" because it was being run by well-connected GOP figures.

Carey responded that she found Sullivan to be gracious and well respected and said she was sensitive to the situation because her father was a high-ranking cop. But she said she supports the process.

"Just like any other police officer in Clarkstown, when there are charges brought forward, there's a process, no matter the rank, and that's the way things have been handled in the past and that's how the process is playing out," she said.

Caprara said spending was too high under Hohemann's predecessor, but there would be long-term consequences from some of the supervisor's cost-cutting measures. He said reducing the number of town cops on the county's drug task force would be a mistake in the midst of a heroin epidemic.

Carey said that cut was one of the recommendations that grew out of a study commissioned by the town, but was not part of $2.7 million in savings agreed upon by the town, the Police Department and police officers' union.

She said other measures, like reducing the size of the Town Attorney's Office and the number of take-home vehicles, were vital to reining in rising taxes that are making it hard to residents to stay put. She noted that Hoehmann's proposed budget carried no tax increase for homeowners.

Caprara charged the town with not doing enough to take care of so-called "zombie" properties he said were popping up, including on his street. The town should be making the banks that own the abandoned properties do more to maintain them, he said.

Carey responded that more code enforcers had been brought on.

"Actually, we've had more zombie properties come before the board because it's being reported more by residents," she said.

Caprara said he was more involved in community issues than his opponent. As examples,he said he went to Albany to seek East Ramapo school district reform and spoke out at a Ramapo Town Board meeting in opposition to the Pascack Ridge development along Clarkstown's border.

Caprara said electing him would provide “checks and balances” on the GOP-dominated board.

Carey said she was her "own person" and wasn't brought in to vote in lockstep with the majority.

"I wanted to be part of the change," she said, helping to provide oversight that had been lacking in the previous administration.

Carey is also running on the Reform Party line; Caprara also has Conservative, Independence and Working Families party lines. The two-year post carries an annual salary of $41,000.

The Adrienne Carey file

- Age 48, married with four daughters.

- Nurse administrator at Hackensack UMC Mountainside hospital in New Jersey. Previously worked at Hudson Crossing Surgery Center in New Jersey and Nyack Hospital.

- Involved with the Rockland Women's Business Network and teaches catechism and children's liturgy at St. Anthony's Church in Nanuet. Has been event director for Nyack Hospital's Breast Cancer 5K Run/Walk and is a member of the Rockland Road Runners. Coached in the Nanuet Little League and the Clarkstown and Orangetown Might Midgets soccer leagues. Girl Scout leader and volunteer with Meals on Wheels.

The Daniel Caprara file

- Age 43, married with two children

- FIOS technician who also serves as a business agent for the Communications Workers of America union. Teaches defensive driving.

- Officer with the Clarkstown Auxiliary Police Department.

On the boards of directors of Keep Rockland Beautiful and the Rockland County Central Labor Council; past board member and member of Congers-Valley Cottage Rotary Club, member of the Clarkstown Traffic Safety Board. Volunteer with Hi Tor Animal Care Center, Meals on Wheels, People to People, Homes for Heroes, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Rockland County.

Twitter: @Bee_bob