NORWICH – Though Democrats and some Republicans have yet to caucus in several towns, at least three new faces will make up the Chenango County Board of Supervisors in 2012.
In addition to Richard B. Decker of North Norwich’s news last week and Afton’s Robert Briggs previously reported decision to retire, the supervisor from the Town of Smithville will also step away from public office.
Allan I. Johnson has supervised this small, rural town (pop. 1,330) located in south central Chenango County for the past six years. Now is the right time to retire, he said, so as to free up time for travel and to allow someone else to take over.
“Jobs like this ought to be rotated among the people. I’m in favor of self-imposed term limits; in my mind, you do the job for a while and then you let someone else do it.”
During his tenure, the town council began updating its comprehensive plan (a task Johnson hopes is complete before he leaves office at year’s end) and made improvements to the town hall, its grounds and the community park. An 11-acre parcel of land between the town hall and fire station was purchased for future municipal use.
“We’ve just tried to keep a little progress going and keep the peace,” said Johnson. “The only real challenges on the town level have been dogs and roads. We’re just trying to keep people served well and satisfied. You know you’ll never satisfy everybody, but you try.”
A number of Smithville property owners have leased their land to energy companies for natural gas drilling, according to Johnson, and many issues surrounding the industry have come before the town board. He said he would have liked more leadership from the county regarding road use ordinances and leasing town-owned land.
“I’ve tried to keep an eye on that to determine when would be the right time for a municipality like ours to take specific action,” he said, “ but I’m not convinced that I’ve seen the best solutions. I was hoping to see something at the county level that would try to coordinate things for all of us.”
Two Republicans vying for Johnson’s seat will face off in the primary Sept. 13: Fred J. Heisler, Jr. and Councilman Roger J. Connelly. Heisler is also running on the Conservative party line. Democrats must caucus in Smithville between now and Sept. 23, which is the last day for candidates to accept or deny a nomination.
Johnson said he was not supporting any specific candidate.
In Afton, Republican John H. Lawrence, a current town councilman, filed his party’s petition to run for supervisor. Briggs has given him his vote of confidence.
Possible supervisor races setting up in Columbus, Coventry
In Columbus, incumbent Supervisor Pamela Weidman, a Democrat, could not be reached for comment on whether she will be her party’s nominee at caucus on Aug. 17. Town Clerk Brenda Weidman said she “believed” there would be at least one Democratic candidate for supervisor.
