By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM – Voters will choose from a political newcomer, an incumbent with four years’ experience, and a former school board member and county legislator when they elect two village trustees Nov. 3.

Each of the candidates is concerned about the state of village finances, and each has some ideas on how to bring them under better control.

Newcomer Nick Sheehan thinks it might be worthwhile to take a look at some property tax exemptions. He also thinks being more transparent with information about things such as the hydro plants would lead to better decisions.

Jim Bunstone, a former St. Lawrence County legislator, said he thinks selling the troubled hydro plants is worth looking into.

Eleanor Hopke, the only incumbent in the race, believes that gathering all the relevant data and being careful in weighing pros and cons while formulating a budget is the best way to ease the fiscal strain the village is under.

Incumbent Hopke was not renominated at her party’s caucus in August. In a close vote, she came in third for the two Democratic spots on the ballot, losing out to Sheehan and another newcomer to village politics, Michael LaSala. LaSala dropped out when he learned his government job disqualified him as a political candidate, leaving open a slot that many thought should logically be given to Hopke. But the party-appointed three-person Vacancy Committee, including Bunstone, decided to place Bunstone on the ballot with Sheehan.

“I did not nominate myself, and I did not not vote for Eleanor,” he said emphatically. “It had to be a majority vote. That’s all I’m going to say about it.

“This issue takes away from the election. It doesn’t make my thought process different, or Eleanor’s or Nick Sheehan’s.”

Hopke, a “mostly retired lab technician” at Clarkson who will turn 69 just before the election, will still be on the ballot, because she is running as an independent as a Sense in Government Party candidate. She had applied for that before the Democratic caucus “so that people who do not want to vote for a major party” might still vote for her. Now she’s counting on that line for re-election.

Hopke was a member of the committee formed to study aspects of a proposal to dissolve the village government in 2011.

“Now I really understand how village government operates and who the people are, and I’m pretty well versed on problems in the community,” she said. “I’m in a better position to be helpful with problems the village is facing for the next few years.”

What are those problems?

“Finances. We have to continue paying back loans on the new hydro, and the old hydro’s not working or bringing in income. We have to decide what to do on sewer plant financing.

“And there’s the general issue of the (state) comptroller’s report on our being susceptible to fiscal stress – we have to pay very close attention to that issue,” she said. Reports from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office have placed the village on a list of municipalities that bear watching due to problems such as low or non-existent reserve funds.

Says Bunstone, “We have to take a look and see what the future of hydro in the village is.” Bunstone, 55, is in car sales and rentals at Mahoney’s Auto Mall in Potsdam.

“Can we make money on this? Many think there is opportunity in selling the hydros, make some deals to benefit the village. I don’t know the answers, but something has to be done unless you want to keep paying for them,” he said. Bunstone was a member of the Potsdam Central School Board of education for 13 years, including one year as president, and served as a St. Lawrence County legislator for four years.

Bunstone also thinks extending village water and sewer services along Routes 56, 11 and 11B as a way to spur development bear looking into. Attempts to approve such plans in the recent past have not been successful, but he wants “to see if we can create some economic development and strengthen the infrastructure” – and maybe improve the tax base along with it.

Sheehan, 27, said “I’d like to push for development, more action downtown, which everybody would like to see.”

A project manager with J.E. Sheehan Contracting Co. in Potsdam, Sheehan also favors more information, easily accessible to the public and trustees, in order to make informed decisions.

“When an idea to invest taxpayer money is proposed to the board, the board members should be educated on the idea to make a proper decision. Conduct a study to collect necessary information and data to show economic impact of the proposed idea prior to decision,” Sheehan wrote in a letter to North Country This Week. “I would work to quantify these ideas and show how we can make them work - or why they would not work.

“My focus is in infrastructure, like hydro and wastewater treatment – that’s where my expertise is, developing and maintaining things like that. Being a project manager, I’m used to dealing with budgets and numbers.”

As for the budget, “I wouldn’t be looking at cutting any services, no jobs, specifically. Some of the packages offered for certain positions could be remodeled,” Sheehan said.

He did suggest “other avenues for creating income,” by taking a look at some of the 70 percent of the property in the village that is now tax-exempt.

“The remaining thirty percent is left to fund the village budget. I support the local institutions, however, I am curious the extent of their contributions versus what could otherwise be collected monetarily to fund the local budget. Generating rental revenue on a nontaxable property should be highly scrutinized and there is far too much of it going on around our village,” Sheehan wrote.

Bunstone said the village provides the services that are needed, “but at the same time we have to find ways to pay for everything, not necessarily through taxes. We have to find ways to generate more revenue.”

“We’re carefully doing the budget,” Hopke said of the current board and the job they are tackling now. “We’re working hard not to overestimate revenues or underestimate expenses. There are some tough decisions ahead that we have to make carefully, and some people won’t like what we decide.”

“We have to balance everything and make reasonable, logical decisions on what has to be done for the best interest of the community. It’s not a straight matter of cutting taxes no matter what, or increasing services no matter what. We’re not in a desperate situation, but we don’t want to get into one. We have to take the comptroller’s evaluation very seriously,” Hopke said. Her understanding of the process will help along the way, she said.

All three candidates expressed a feeling of responsibility to the village they call home and a desire to serve and try to make it better.

If Sheehan is elected, this will be his first elective office.

“I want to get involved, it goes without saying. I don’t see many issues I’m concerned about. I don’t see anything wrong with how things are going now but I do see room for improvement.

“I’m a younger guy, from a younger generation,” he said. “A lot of people are interested in the fact that I’m getting involved, showing that maybe young people are stepping up with a different perspective to these positions, looking for new avenues that maybe weren’t noticed before.

“I personally would enjoy just being involved.”

For his part, Bunstone said “I’m committed to serving the public. I have ideas that can help. I enjoy it, and I learn, and I try to bring a common sense approach. It’s all about the future.”

Hopke’s commitment to the village has only grown as she nears the end of her first term because, she said, she understands the job better now and can be more effective.