By Michael Ryan
WINDHAM - Whatever else may be debated about the November elections and the lead-up to them in Windham, there is apparently no debating a possible “live” debate between the candidates for town supervisor.
Republican incumbent Thomas Hoyt, in office six years, is being challenged by Democratic Party choice Connor Exum.
Hoyt first won the job by defeating Democrat Nick Bove and has been unopposed the past two votes, each for a two-year term, with Exum emerging as a political presence over the past year or so.
“While I’m a registered democrat…my true allegiance is to Anarcho-Syndicalism,” Exum has written, introducing himself to the public..
“Simply put Anarcho-Syndicalism is a horizontal egalitarian economic and political system that emphasizes the creation of syndicates (Unions) as the basic form of political and economic distribution of power,” Exum wrote.
Hoyt is firmly entrenched as vice-chairman of the Greene County Republican Party and chairman of the GOP in Windham.
Social media has forever changed politics and while we seldom if ever wander into that world, it is an unavoidable reality these days.
Exum is a voice on the internet and at town council meetings where he sets up a camera and, at the most recent session, verbally threw down the gauntlet regarding a face-off with Hoyt.
“Are you afraid to debate me?” Exum asked, a week ago or so, after Hoyt has repeatedly declined his in-person and online invites.
Hoyt, not revealing if he was trembling or not, said a town council meeting, where the community’s business is being conducted, was not the right place to discuss the matter and moved on.
Exum, in a followup phone interview, said, “it’s frustrating” that Hoyt won’t go one-on-one, “but it doesn’t just let me down as a candidate.
“The worse thing is that the residents don’t get a chance to probe our policy with their own questions,” Exum said, calling for a town hall-style format.
“I have a vision that includes developing our community’s local economic base to include more than our core industries of hospitality, skiing, real estate and building,” Exum says.
Hoyt says, “I am busy doing work for the town’s residents. I’ll let my record speak for itself,” noting he has been a public servant for 27 years, previously serving as local highway superintendent.
“My vision is about replacing one-hundred year old water mains and putting up a new ambulance building and senior citizen center,” Hoyt says.
Hoyt also points to dollars secured from State and federal entities to help with those tasks, and improvements made to C.D. Lane Park in cooperation with a local foundation.
One likely discussion within a debate would be the proposed new zoning legislation that has been formulated over the past two years by a commission of local residents and an independent consultant.
That document went through a public hearing, in August, and is expected to be presented to the town council later this fall for additional public hearings and potential signing into law.
Hoyt has come out strongly in favor of the regulations, pointing to the wide development and growth of Windham, suggesting that zoning, “should have been put in place twenty-five years ago.”
Exum says, “I am fully opposed to it. When one looks closely at the usage chart of the zoning proposal, one is struck by the fact that our Zoning Commission has placed continual extra costs for the development and growth of the middle class in the form of special permits and other regulations on key property uses.
“How can the community stand behind a local official who is unwilling or unable to present his vision for Windham’s future?” Exum asks, with particular regard to zoning.
Hoyt, pursuing a lively door-to-door campaign says, “I think people know me and know I care about the community I grew up in, where my family settled in 1840, and where my daughter and granddaughter live.
“The zoning commission did an excellent job, putting together a lot of very crucial information. Zoning is all about being good neighbors, not being overly restrictive or complicated,” Hoyt says.
Exum, in his campaign literature has stated, “I ask you, the residents of Windham, to call the town hall and request a debate of these important issues in our community,” providing the main office telephone number.
Hoyt objected to dragging an election into the middle of town government, saying office workers, under any administration, have better things to do with taxpayer dollars than being Debate Central.
Beyond the supervisor’s race, there are contests for the following positions:
—Town council…incumbent Republican town council members Wayne van Valin and Ian Peters against Democrat Debra Daily (voters choose two).
—Town justice…Republican Marilyn Carreras (appointed to fill an unexpired term in December, 2024) versus Democrat Ann Rabin.
—Republicans Robert Murray and incumbent Katherine Murray, running unopposed for highway superintendent and tax collector, respectively.
And officials report that the posting of expletive undeleted signs on three local lawns over the Labor Day weekend has not been repeated.
The signage, reportedly crudely critical of supporters of President Trump and God, was investigated by local police and quickly removed.
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