John Imperato, president of CSEA Local 8100, is challenging Rep. Donald Lindberg for the District 6 seat on the Otsego County Board of Representatives.
Both men are Republicans, and the race is likely to be settled during the Sept. 15 Republican primary. The general election is Nov. 3.
District 6, the board's second-largest of its 14 districts, comprises the towns of Worcester, Maryland, Decatur and Westford, and is accorded 532 weighted votes when its representative votes on board matters. The districts combined have 6,167 votes.
Imperato, 54, lives in Schenevus in the town of Maryland. He is employed as a dispatcher at the county's Emergency 911 Communications Center, a post he has held since 1999.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, he said the county's standoff with the CSEA, now 21/2 years long, ``may have pushed me into the race, but I'm running to represent everyone in the district.''
The county's approximately 600 CSEA workers have been without a new contract since Jan. 1, 2007. Negotiations between the county and union are in the fact-finding stage, as both sides seek a new agreement.
During negotiations, labor and management have said the rising cost of health care and salaries are the most contentious issues. The county has offered a contract that would include raises of about 3 percent per year, but this has been turned down by the union's negotiating team as inadequate. The union's rejection was because base wages in Otsego are lower than those in other counties.
After years of negotiating, Imperato said, he has come to see the representatives' performance as an issue that needs addressing.
``I don't think they're very effective,'' he said. ``I don't think they have the camaraderie or vision to guide the county toward long-term goals.''
If elected, he said he would like to help with the county's telecommunications projects, and would draw on insights he has gained as a dispatcher.
Imperato, a Long Island native who moved to the area in 1992, said he has been going door-to-door in the district, ``and the response has been very good. People are ready for a change.''
Lindberg: Good things' not recognized
Lindberg, 50, is completing his 10th year on the board, a span he says has given him perspective and knowledge about how to get things done.
``I think the board does a lot of good things that go unrecognized,'' he said.
In recent years, he has pushed to help military veterans by assuring they have a reliable van to transport them to health care appointments, he said.
``I'm not a veteran myself, but I believe we owe them a lot, and should do whatever we can to help them,'' he said.
Lindberg, a former board chairman, noted he is not afraid to be a minority of one on the board.
``It's like that now to an extent, with me telling everyone we should adopt flow-control legislation, but I think you have to stand up for what you believe,'' he said.
Flow-control legislation would mandate that garbage haulers take their loads to MOSA, a measure that would prevent the county from being billed for falling short on its rubbish quota, he said.
Last year, the county fell 2,274 tons short and paid a $237,000 penalty, and it's on course to be further in arrears this year.
Lindberg is an entrepreneur, having operated businesses and owned rental properties in the area. He said he likes to work with numbers as well as people, monitoring the county's finances.
``I've worked hard for what I've got, and I know others have, too, and they don't want to see the county waste anything,'' he said.
Years ago, Lindberg voted against building Otsego Manor, the county's state-of-the-art nursing home, but now he chairs the committee that oversees its operation.
``I thought it would be too big and too expensive for the taxpayers, but now that we have it, I want it to operate as smoothly as possible,'' he said.
He also has voted against measures to increase the county's work force, saying that doing so will eventually lead to higher property taxes.
Lindberg has predicted that the 2010 budget cycle will be difficult, presenting hard choices for a county whose sales tax and occupancy tax collections are down this year.
He said he would like to see the county and CSEA reach an agreement soon, noting that a county proposal made in 2008 was approved by the union's negotiators, then voted down by membership.
``We have been trying to be reasonable because this is something we have to get done,'' he said.
