GREEN VICTORY IN NEW YORK - New Paltz just turned green

[RedCeltic]

This past sunday I went down to a village called New Paltz on the Hudson (New York) because the State Chair believed that Jason West had a good chance or winning the election for Mayor as a Green Party candidate.

What They didn't expect was for New Paltz to also elect several trusties... making New Paltz the first town in New York State to have a Green majority!!


Here's the story::::


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New Paltz – In a stunning political upset, a former SUNY New Paltz student was elected village mayor last night by a large margin.
Twenty-six-year-old Jason West handily beat 16-year incumbent Mayor Thomas Nyquist, village Trustee Robert Feldman and independent Carl Heissenbuttel for the post. Julia Walsh and Rebecca Rotzler, who ran with West on the Green Party ticket, also won seats on the Village Board, giving them a new majority.
West said he and his supporters had spent the day shuttling students from the SUNY campus to the village fire hall yesterday. At times, one observer said, the fire hall entrance looked more like the student union building than a fire hall.
The new mayor, who takes office June 1, said his victory was not a matter of college students dominating the village election. Rather, he said, his environmentally focused message had struck a chord with residents as well as students.
That assessment didn't hold much water with the men he defeated. Nyquist, having seen the writing on the wall, prepared a concession speech before the polls closed.
The Green Party, he said, "has used students who are ill-informed about New Paltz community issues to get elected."
He decried the injection of the nationally organized Green Party, saying they had introduced politics into what has traditionally been a non-partisan election. Feldman predicting a "mass exodus" of young families and seniors "because [West's] motivations are not the same as homeowners', but for renters and students."
After the results were announced, West reiterated his key issues of making the village an environmentally sustainable community.
West received 322 votes to Nyquist's 258 and Feldman's 255. Rotzler and Walsh received 342 and 343 votes, respectively, while incumbent Trustee Tom Cotton received 275, Floyd Kniffen got 262, incumbent Trustee Vici Danskin received 242, and Lyn Bauer received 242 votes. Independent mayoral candidate Carl Heissenbuttel received 34 votes.

[Sensitive]

Good.

[RedCeltic]

Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Green Party wins in New Paltz
By Gabriel J. Wasserman
Poughkeepsie Journal

NEW PALTZ -- Voters handed the reins of village government to a 26-year-old house painter and his two Green Party running mates Tuesday, ending Mayor Tom Nyquist's 20-year tenure on the village board.
''This is a momentum of the issues,'' said Mayor-elect Jason West, an environmental activist pledging to put New Paltz on ''the cutting edge'' of solar power. ''We pulled out all the stops to get everyone we know to get out and vote. ... We had a guy in a chicken suit.''

West's Innovation Party, a local branch of Ralph Nader's Green Party, distributed an estimated 11,000 brochures and campaigned hard on the State University of New York New Paltz campus.

One supporter walked around on stilts, using a megaphone to bellow for votes.

The results are unofficial, but Village Attorney Jack Zand said he saw no significant problems with how votes were logged and counted. The 869 voters who came to the polls represent nearly a fourth of the registered population, an average turnout for a contested mayoral race, according to Village Clerk Jean Gallucci.

Voters chose Julia Walsh, a 23-year-old junior majoring in political science at SUNY New Paltz. They also picked political activist Rebecca Rotzler, a 41-year-old project facilitator for the Mid-Hudson Leadership Academy at Ulster County Board of Cooperative Educational Services.

Rotzler has strong ties to students and often campaigns for their causes. College students represent roughly half the village population, but traditionally have not held sway at the polls.

''It's a sad day for our village,'' said Trustee Robert Feldman, a 46-year-old entrepreneur who broadcasts village board meetings live through the municipal Web site. A former Nyquist protege, he agreed it was time for change, just not what West and his running mates have in mind.

Several notables lose

Terms are for four years, starting in June. Trustee Tom Cotton lost his seat, and Trustee Ruth Elwell did not run for re-election. Vici Danskin, the town's historic preservation chairwoman, also was unsuccessful, as were village planning board members Floyd Kniffen and Lyn Bauer. Carl Heisenbuttel, a 44-year-old janitor, received only a few dozen votes for mayor.

Nyquist handed out a prepared statement in McGillicuddy's restaurant on Main Street, where he sat with his wife, Elwell, Danskin and a few other friends.

''I am sorry to see the Green Party elected,'' the statement reads. ''They were spoilers in the presidential election. And now they have used the students, most of whom are ill-informed on New Paltz community issues, to get themselves elected.

Nyquist, 71, is a former New Paltz professor of African studies. He runs a consulting firm focusing on higher education issues.

After serving a term as a trustee, he is serving his fourth as mayor.

West, a former candidate for state Assembly, is chairman of the Town of New Paltz Environmental Conservation Commission. He has been advocating for years about the need for government to pursue alternative fuel sources.

The Innovation Party campaigned door-to-door and made phone calls almost until the polls closed at 9 p.m.

''I just got a really good feeling that they were truly interested,'' said Abdulla Alnouri, a college freshman. ''They best represent the students.''

Party leaders screamed, cried and hugged each other after the vote tallies were read in the New Paltz firehouse. A party at Cabaloosa, a downtown nightclub, followed.

RESULTS
NEW PALTZ VOTE
Mayor

Robert Feldman: 255

Carl Heisenbuttel: 34

(i) Tom Nyquist: 258

Jason West: 322

Trustee: (choose 2)

Lyn Bauer: 242

(i) Tom Cotton: 275

Vici Danskin: 242

Floyd Kniffen: 262

Rebecca Rotzler: 342

Julia Walsh: 343

(i) indicates incumbent

[Umoja]

One small step for man....

[RedCeltic]

Upstart ousts New Paltz mayor




By Hallie Arnold, Freeman staff May 07, 2003




NEW PALTZ - The three-member Innovation Party ticket led by Green Party member Jason West swept the village elections Tuesday, unseating 16-year incumbent Mayor Thomas Nyquist, who finished almost dead even with challenger Robert Feldman.

West, 26, received 322 votes, according to unofficial election results released at the polls Tuesday night, easily defeating Nyquist, who garnered 258 votes in his fifth run for mayor, and Feldman, a village trustee who was a close third with 255. Trailing way behind was a fourth candidate, Carl Heissenbuttel, with 34 votes.

Because Feldman's seat on the Village Board was not up for election, he will remain on the board. But the Innovation Party will hold a majority.

West, a house painter and puppeteer, said his vision is to explore alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and use them in local government to "make New Paltz the cutting edge of environmentally sustainable practices within municipalities."

A SUNY New Paltz graduate, he had also called for improved relations between the village and college students.

West said his two prior campaigns, for state Assembly, were all about getting the issues of sustainability and democracy out into the public, issues he said have come home to roost in the village.

"It was specifically to drive home to people that these are things we can do in our communities, and you saw the result of that today," he said. "We've talked about it to our community, and they have faith in our ability to get things done."

West's two running mates on the Innovation Party ticket were also victorious Tuesday, taking both open trustee seats on the Village Board and unseating one-term incumbent Thomas Cotton.

The top vote-getter was Julia Walsh, with 343 votes, followed by running mate Rebecca Rotzler, with 342 votes. Both, along with West, will serve four-year terms starting June 1.

Rotzler said she was not at all surprised that the Innovation Party did so well in the election.

"We're all about new ideas, changing things, and democracy," she said. "We want the government to be more open here, and we wanted a more democratic representation of the community."

Rotzler said the Innovation Party's victory will give the village board a more diverse background than the current board. Rotzler is Native American, and Walsh is a SUNY student, two groups Rotzler said should be represented in village government.

Trailing in their bids for trustee seats were Cotton, with 275 votes; Floyd Kniffen, with 262 votes; and Lyn Bauer and Victoria Danskin, who each received 242 votes.

[exploding toast]

its a start...