COOPERSTOWN -- If you're looking to occupy something, the voting booths are open today across New York.
It's Election Day -- the finish line for races run by candidates for a wide assortment of county, city, town and village offices throughout the region.
Polling places are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Otsego County
Suspense and anxiety are running particularly high in Otsego County, where the intense debate over hydrofracking could have an impact on the makeup of the county Board of Representatives and some town councils.
"This is probably one of the biggest crapshoots I have ever seen," said Rep. Gregory Relic, R-Unadilla, who is not seeking re-election. "There is a lot of emotion on fracking out there, and it's very wide open."
The outcome of the Board of Representative races is also expected to help determine Otsego County's future direction on whether it will continue to operate the 174-patient Otsego Manor nursing home or have a private corporation take it over.
The Board of Representatives will also be determining whether the county will stay involved in solid waste management or yield control to private business.
The candidates have also staked out positions on whether a county manager should be hired to oversee the county's day to day operations. Most Democrats are pushing to hire a county manager, while Republicans generally prefer retaining the current system of having Board of Representatives' committees work directly with county department heads.
"I can't think of any successful $120 million corporation that is run solely by a part time board," Otsego County Treasurer Dan Crowell, a Democrat, said.
But incumbent Rep. Donald Lindberg, R-Worcester, who is running unopposed for his seat, said advocates for a county manager are overselling the need for a new way of handling county business.
"If you don't spend more than what comes in, then you're good," Lindberg said. He speculated that a county manager could end up giving Democrats advice they won't want: such as telling them to sell the nursing home and privatize trash management.
While most campaigns were winding down in the final hours, a dustup broke out in the town of Otsego, where two incumbent Republican councilmen, Bill Michaels and John Schallert, came under unusually strident criticism from two veteran town justices, James Wolff and Dora Cooke, who are also both Republicans.
In an email sent to numerous voters, the judges called Michaels and Schallert "fiscally irresponsible" and urged support for their Democratic challengers, Julie Huntsman and Bennett Sandler.
Michaels called the judges' commentary "disappointing and inappropriate" and defended his record as a councilman.
Contacted by The Daily Star, Wolff said it was "immaterial" that he was inserting himself into political races while still serving as a town judge because both he and Cooke are retiring from the bench at year's end.
Sandler and Huntsman are also running with the endorsement of Sustainable Otsego, the anti-fracking group that has been encouraging towns to adopt bans on gas drilling.
"No matter what happens tomorrow, I think we have had a big impact on this election," said Adrian Kuzminski, the founder and moderator of Sustainable Otsego, whose line is also carried by four Democrats seeking seats on the county board. "We have pretty much defined the (drilling) issue and forced many candidates against their instincts to go along even if it wasn't in their hearts."
County districts with contested races are as follows:
"¢ District 2, where incumbent Rep. James Powers, R-Butternuts, faces Teresa Winchester of Otego, a Democrat.
"¢ District 4, where incumbent Rep. Rich Murphy, D-Town of Oneonta, is being challenged by Scott Gravelin, a Republican Oneonta town councilman.
"¢ District 5, where Democrat Barbara Monroe of Milford faces Republican Pauline Koren of Milford.
"¢ District 7, where Democrat Beth Rosenthal of Roseboom is matched against Republican Raymond Holohan.
"¢ District 8, where incumbent Rep. James Johnson, R-Fly Creek, is being challenged by John Kosmer of Fly Creek.
"¢ District 11, where Democrat Gary Koutnik, D-Oneonta, is facing Republican Barbara Jass of Oneonta.
"¢ District 12, where incumbent Rep. Catherine Rothenberger is challenged by Craig Gelbsman, running on a line called A New Beginning.
Delaware County
By comparison, the election season is generally quieter in Delaware County, where the gas drilling debate is less of an issue because of a ban on hydrofracking in the New York City watershed region. Only four Delaware County towns have contested races for town supervisor.
In Colchester, the incumbent supervisor, Robert Homovich, who won the GOP primary, is being challenged by Theodore Fonda, who is running as an independent.
In Davenport, incumbent Supervisor Dennis Valente, a Democrat, is being challenged by Maria Kelso, a business operator and chairwoman of the Delaware County GOP,
In Delhi, incumbent Supervisor Peter Bracci, a Republican who is a retired campus police supervisor, is being challenged by Democrat David Truscott, the former village of Delhi mayor and a retired mathematics professor.
In Roxbury, incumbent Supervisor Thomas Hynes, a Democrat who runs funeral parlors in the area, is being challenged by William Walcutt, a Republican who serves as the town's code enforcement officer.
A turnout in Delaware County will likely be driven by voter concern over taxes and county spending, said James Eisel, the chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors.
"We have a cap (on county spending) of two percent, while the cost of social service programs are going up three or four percent," Eisel said. "We're trying desperately to keep people employed. We're not hiring. We did not give anyone a raise other than the step increases we have to give under the (union) contract."
Schoharie County
In Schoharie County, incumbent county Clerk Indica Jaycox, a Republican, has had to defend her record from criticism lobbed by Gary Hayes, a Democrat endorsed by the Conservative and Independence parties.
Hayes has said Jaycox failed to properly safeguard confidential and legal documents kept by the county when they were damaged in recent flooding.
