DeWitt, NY -After nearly 20 years serving town supervisor, Ed Michalenko has decided to step aside from local government.
That means the top post in DeWitt is an open seat for the first time since 2007.
Two candidates are running for the two-year seat, which pays $58,000 a year. The job is classified as part-time.
Max Ruckdeschel, who was elected as a town councilor in 2021, is running as a Democrat. He also serves as the chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. He has a year left on his town board seat.
His Republican opponent is Richard Kunz, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the town board in 2020 and 2022.
Michalenko has been supervisor since 2007. He had a challenger in 2011 and 2015, but won re-election each time.
He did not return a phone call or text for this story.
DeWitt Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko Stephen D. Cannerelli | scannerelli@syracuse.com
Both candidates are continuing to gather signatures for petitions to place them on the ballot. That deadline is April 3.
DeWitt has a population of about 25,000 residents with a police department and an annual budget of more than $18 million.
Ruckdeschel, 44, said he sees the supervisor job as a full-time position and would look into reclassifying it as such.
But even without that change, he said he’d treat running DeWitt as a primary job.
While Michalenko, a fellow Democrat, may have worked full-time at the job, he wasn’t at town hall very often, Ruckdeschel said.
“I would be in the office the majority of the time,” he said, ”and that way I can easily respond to citizens and town concerns."
Ruckdeschel doesn’t have an outside job right now. He previously worked at the University of Buffalo in public policy and local government research. He said he’s a full-time dad to his school-age children.
As supervisor, Ruckdeschel said he hopes to help improve the town of DeWitt’s infrastructure. That involves continuing a water meter replacement program, making sure there’s adequate water and addressing any lead found in the water.
Kunz, 72, said he wants to see more transparency in the town. For example, property taxes have been increasing the past few years without any real explanation, he said.
His opponent says town taxes have gone up but minimally - a large part of residents’ tax bills goes to the county and school districts, he said.
“One of my goals as supervisor is to keep our property taxes in DeWitt as low as possible,” he said.
Kunz also said he decided to run because he’s unhappy with with the way the DeWitt Town Board handled ending a longtime fire protection agreement with the East Syracuse Volunteer Fire Department.
Much of the decisions were made behind closed doors, which Kunz said he disagrees with.
Ruckdeschel said there’s a long history associated with that issue, and the town was backed into a corner when the village needed more money for its contract. He said he believes having the DeWitt Fire Department provide service for the northern part of the town is a solution that’s as good or better than the way it was done previously.
Kunz is an active firefighter with the South Bay Fire Department and is a Coast Guard veteran and in the Coast Guard auxiliary. He is retired from the automotive industry, where he worked in retail and then worked in fleet maintenance and finance.
Kunz said he also plans to serve as a full-time supervisor.
“If you’re not there, how can you talk to anybody,” he said.
Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com