DELHI _ Seventeen of Delaware County's 19 town supervisors are up for re-election this year, but only the Kortright and Sidney supervisors face competition.
The only countywide race in Delaware County is for the position of treasurer. Incumbent Republican Treasurer Beverly Shields is running unopposed for re-election.
Republican Sidney Supervisor Joseph Maddalone, 73, initially announced that he would not seek re-election, but he said he changed his mind in July.
"Numerous people came to me and wanted me to run," Maddalone said Thursday. "I've done three terms, 12 years in all, and now I want another four years."
Maddalone will be facing a Republican primary challenge in September from Bob McCarthy, 69, of 41 Wood Road. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Dawn Rivers Baker in November.
"It's my fault there will be a primary," Maddalone said. "Bob decided to run when I announced I wasn't going to run."
McCarthy is an industrial engineer who recently retired from his bindery business in Unadilla. He said he holds five patents on products he developed for the binding industry.
McCarthy said the supervisor's position is a full-time job with a minimal salary. He said he decided to run because "it's just such a mess down here.
"Delaware County has a $100 million budget and the county only has 46,000 people," McCarthy continued. "There is no one on the Board of Supervisors, myself included, that I would hire to run a $100 million business.
"The reason the country is in such bad fiscal shape starts at the local level," McCarthy said. "The only thing this county can do is to make taxes attractive to get people to come back."
McCarthy said he believes that if you make people aware of what is going on, they will be more apt to demand changes and improvements. He said he maintains a website at www.sidneytax.com where he is posting important information including assessments, historic tax rates and current tax rates.
"Once public opinion swings, things change," McCarthy said.
Baker, 50, is the Sidney Democratic Committee chairwoman. She said when she was trying to recruit candidates, she realized that she needed someone to run for supervisor who had an idea of what to do in the position.
"I realized that I have an idea of what needs to be done," Baker said. "I plan to look around to see what I can do to bring down the cost of living and doing business in Sidney."
Baker said Sidney needs affordable, clean energy, and she said plans to look at a variety of energy solutions.
Her other focuses include economic development, she said, and working harder to support existing and start-up small businesses.
"I want to reach out to young people to encourage them to stay in Sidney and develop their own businesses that will attract customers from all over the country," Baker said.
She owns and operates a small publishing business.
In Kortright, Republican Supervisor George Haynes Jr. was out of the area and wasn't available for comment Thursday.
His opponent, Steven C. Bower, 49, is building a home on Kelso Road; he was at the construction site Thursday and unavailable for comment by phone.
