Dennis Dickinson, a civil engineer who served as Lake George Town Supervisor from 1980 to 1982, defeated incumbent Supervisor Frank McCoy.
With 197 absentee ballots yet to be counted, Dickinson leads McCoy by 129 votes. Dickinson is expected to receive at least half those votes.
McCoy, who was endorsed by the Glens Falls Post-Star, said he was “flabbergasted” by his loss.
“I spent every waking moment of the last few weeks on this campaign,” he said. “I was able get my record of accomplishments out there, to highlight the differences between Dennis and me,” said McCoy.
Among those differences, McCoy said, was whether to use Occupancy Tax funds to help combat Asian clams.
Dickinson, who defeated McCoy in the Republican primary, said his positions had been mischaracterized.
“I am an environmentalist; that’s my number one concern ,” said Dickinson.
Dickinson said he understood the importance of combatting invasive species, but hoped “to attack the problem on the front end: before the boats carrying invasives are launched on the lake.”
Dickinson said he would support user fees to raise funds for invasive species control.
“There are 5,500 boats trailered from other water bodies to Lake George every year,” said Dickinson. “They should contribute to the costs of the effort. You pay to play.”
Dickinson said he had also been accused of being pro-development.
“I want to make it more difficult and expensive to develop, not less,” he said. “I want to re-do our zoning, so that zoning conforms to what the land can accommodate.”
While supporting incentives that would encourage the owners of motels to update their properties, he did not favor loosening restrictions on environmental protections, he said.
“I want to allow people to re-develop in ways that will permit the re-development of commercial properties in return for concessions that will benefit the environment,” he said. “That would also benefit the economy, bringing in more visitors, and the more visitors we have, the high our higher occupancy and sales tax revenues.”
Dickinson was supported by the Lake George Citizens’ Group, whose candidates for two seats on the Town Board defeated the endorsed Republican candidates.
Democrat Dan Hurley led by 583 votes, followed by Citizens Group candidate Marisa Muratori with 568 votes. If the two maintain their leads, they will replace Republican incumbents Scott Wood and Caryl Clark, who garned 468 and 465 votes, respectively.
Lake George’s New Supervisor: I’m an Environmentalist”
November 10th, 2011‘Transition Bolton Landing’ Presents Talk at Bolton Free Library, May 24
May 20th, 2011Inspired by Transition US, an organization that “seeks to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis,” a Transition Bolton Landing group has been formed.
The group held its first public event on Friday May 6 at Bolton Landing’s Conservation Club at Edgecomb Pond in Bolton Landing to discuss the formation of a transition effort for the community in anticipation of the anticipated significant changes in the local community that will result from dramatically increasing energy costs.
On Tuesday, May 24, the group will sponsor a talk at the Bolton Free Library at 7 pm by Transition US trainer Tina Clarke.
Tina Clarke has been an advocate, educator, consultant, and director of nonprofit programs since 1985. She was recently a consultant with Bill McKibben’s global 350.org initiative and the Sustainability Institute. She has been providing professional training and support for community leaders and campaigns for over 20 years. In Washington, D.C. she directed national citizen advocacy training programs for faith communities, and directed Greenpeace USA’s citizen activist network. She has consulted with over 400 NGOs on organizational development, public outreach, coalition-building, and energy and environmental issues. In Massachusetts she directed a regional nonprofit assistance center, training leaders in strategic planning, fundraising, and organizational development. As a Campaign Director for Clean Water Action, she initiated and helped lead coalitions on environmental justice, toxins and energy. Tina has an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, a B.A. in urban studies from Macalester College, and is certified for consensus process facilitation and mediation. She is popular speaker on energy and environmental issues, creative frugality, and social change. She has trained and advised over three dozen Transition Initiatives. Tina lives in a below-zero energy, passive solar-heated, Platiunm LEED, low-toxic “Power House” that she helped design and build. In 2009 the home won the Massachusetts utility company-sponsored competition, the Zero Energy Challenge, and in 2010 won the NESEA award for zero energy buildings. The house is free of all fossil fuels and wood-burning, and generated 2.5 times more energy than needed in 2009.
For more information about Transition Bolton Landing, contact Bill Campbell at 744-0341.
