POUGHKEEPSIE – Independence Party Beacon Mayor Randy Casale and challenger Lee Kyriacou, a Democratic member of the city council, talked about issues as some 200 members of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce listened in Poughkeepsie Wednesday morning.
Casale, born and raised in Beacon and serving as mayor for the past eight years says that emergency services are the most pressing issue facing the county’s southern city. Beacon operates a hybrid fire department, consisting of both paid professionals and volunteers. Casale said “volunteerism is on the decline,” which will lengthen response times if not addressed. Casale suggested increasing the number of career staff at the fire department to make sure emergency needs are met.
The mayor also noted that, because of the lack of a nearby hospital, ambulance runs last more than an hour by the time they get the patient to Poughkeepsie hospitals and return, which creates a problem if a second or third call comes in while the first ambulance is still out. Casale, himself is a 25-year member of the Beacon Fire Department.
Kyriacou, a current member of the city council, serving in his ninth term, when asked about the most pressing issue said “how do we manage our renaissance” as the most important. The councilman stressed the need for proper planning and zoning as the way to address the growth. While Casale cited affordable housing and congestion as his second and third largest issues, Kyriacou went with traffic control via increased planning methods and said zoning regulations are third on the list.
The topic of salary for the position of mayor was addressed by both candidates with Casale saying that he originally promised to be a full-time mayor with a part-time salary eight years ago and hasn’t changed his stance. Kyriacou said that the city has a full-time administrator so there is no need for the taxpayers to pay for two full-time leaders. He said that if elected, he would rely on the city administrator to manage the day-to-day operations of Beacon.
During one round of remarks, Casale gave the most applauded line of the morning. Addressing accusations of catering to developers through tax breaks, Casale said “Not one developer that came into Beacon did I give a tax break to. We’re selling gold now; I don’t have to give things away to developers.”
