WOODSTOCK >> Two incumbents and a first-time candidate are running in the Town Board Democratic primary on Sept.. 10.
The two top vote-getters will have the party’s line on the November election ballot. Voters in that election will elect two people to four-year terms on the board.
The Democratic primary candidates are current board members Ken Panza and Jay Wenk and appoint Deputy Town Supervisor Laura Ricci.
Kenneth Panza
Panza, 72, of 33 Shotwell Road, is seeking a second term. He is a retired software salesman for Oracle and IBM and has lived in the town for 39 years. He and his wife, Marcia, have two children.
Panza graduated from Arlington Heights High School in 1960 and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1965 from University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he later earned a master’s degree in business administration.
“The town has declared itself to be carbon-neutral,” Panza said. “This is just for governmental operations. So our next step is to reduce the carbon footprint for the residents of the town. So we have several projects going on in cooperation with Woodstock Transition – the solarize project, the 10 percent challenge for energy efficiency, the reducing of compostable waste.”
Panza said the town can save money and energy under Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp.’s program to update street lighting.
“There’s a whole long list of open projects, like the reed beds at the wastewater treatment plant, the new water district boundaries, the Cooper Lake and the regional water supply issues, implementation of the Comeau management plan, management issues with some of the buildings, and [at] some point we have to look at the renovation of the town offices up at the Comeau [property].”
Laura Ricci
Ricci, 59, of 121 Whitney Lane, is a manager with IBM. She has lived in the town since 1980 and has three adult stepchildren.
She graduated in 1973 from Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pa., and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware in 1977.
Ricci is a town Planning Board member. She said her certification from the Project Management Institute will be useful to the town for infrastructure needs.
“Because I am a project manager in my profession, I believe I can help the town in the solar project,” she said.
“I’m working actively on the Aquifer Task [Force] with Jay Wenk,” Ricci said. “We are specifically tasked with looking at the water supply that feeds the main part of town, the business part of town, and residents as well. We’re doing the investigation to see if we think there are actions that should be taken to shore that up and make that more safe and secure.”
Ricci also said the town needs to update its master plan for development.
“I think the comprehensive plan requires some focus because on the Planning Board, we are directed to make decisions based on the last comprehensive plan that was approved by the Woodstock Town Board,” she said. “Well, the latest one approved was in the ’60s era, even though there’s been work on the plan, and draft plans and summary plans, there’s really not a full-fledged plan.”
Ricci also will appear on the Working Families Party line in the November election.
Jay Wenk
Wenk, 89, of 307 Meads Mountain Road, is a self-employed cabinet maker seeking a non-consecutive fourth term. (He was on Town Board from 1990-93 and has been back on the board since 2008.)
Wenk has lived in the town for 50 years and has two adult daughters. He graduated in 1943 from East New York Vocational High School in Brooklyn, served in the U.S. Army Infantry from 1944-46 and is a member of Veterans for Peace.
Wenk said he would like the town to find ways to increase revenue instead of cutting services. Included would be establishing fees for use of the Mountainview parking lot off of Rock City Road.
“It’s across the street from the Rock City Road parking lot, which has a $5 all-day charge at certain times of the year,” he said. “The Rock City Road parking lot brings to the town $40,000 a year after expenses. While I don’t immediately expect Mountainview to start with $40,000 of revenue, that’s a damn good bank to be drawing money out of.”
Wenk also would like to see more enforcement of parking violations.
“There are places where we have long lines of ‘No Parking’ signs because the roads are dangerous and narrow,” he said. “What I want to do is have the police issue more parking tickets there because of the danger, and I want the board to consider raising the price of parking tickets from $25 to $35. We’ll either get more money or we’ll get safer roads, or both.”
Wenk said there also needs to be more recognition of artists who have lived in the town.
“I’m working, at no taxpayer expense, on building an artists’ memorial pocket park right next to the Mountainview parking lot,” he said. “That will be a big draw of people to the Colony of the Arts….”
Wenk also will appear on the Working Families Party line in the November election.
