Many open contests in primaries

One Steuben County legislative seat could be decided Tuesday, with a host of preliminary battles shaping up over other spots on the county Legislature and municipal boards.

Primaries are slated in three legislative districts, while council seats, supervisors and highway superintendents in 20 towns are being contested.

In legislative District 5, Republicans Michael Hanna, of Hammondsport, and Janet Stone, of Pulteney, are vying for the seat being vacated by retiring Legislator David Stachnik, R-Hammondsport.

A Realtor and former Hammondsport village trustee, Hanna, 65, has attended most town board meetings in the district since he announced his candidacy early this spring.

“Getting to know the people, getting their ideas, has been really interesting,” Hanna said. “They are concerned about taxes, and the effect of the state on local govern-ment, and the need to create more jobs.”

The district includes Ham-mondsport, Pulteney and Prattsburgh.

A retired nurse and Town of Pulteney councilwoman, Stone, 72, said her background with rural issues and experience in town government will help her provide better representation on the Legislature.

Stone said constituents have not raised many issues to her, but believe there is a real need to have a woman on the Legislature.

“Women look at things differently,” she said. “I feel a mix of men and women (on the Legislature) will make a real difference.”

Stone and Hanna have conducted very low-key campaigns, and regularly attended meetings of the Legislature. The pair will meet on the Republican ballot, with Stone assuring herself a spot on the Nov. 3 general election ballot on the Conservative and Independence party lines.

Legislative District 10 is likely to go down to the Nov. 3 wire beginning with primary contests for the Republican and Conservative parties.

In the Sept. 15 races, Woodhull Town Councilman Ed Sahrle is challenging one-term Legislator Dan Farrand, R-Rathbone. 

Both candidates have elicited dozens of letters of support endorsing their candidacies. District 10 includes the towns of Greenwood, Jasper, Rathbone, Troupsburg, West Union and Woodhull.

A Canisteo native, Farrand, 54, now lives on a family farm in Rathbone. A former U.S. Marine and part-time police officer in Addison and Canisteo, Farrand was an aide to State Sen. John R. “Randy” Kuhl , R-Hammondsport, until 2005, then worked for State Sen. George R. Winner,
R-Elmira, until early this year.

Farrand is a member of the Legislature’s Agriculture, Industry and Planning Committee, vice chairman of the Legislature’s Public Safety and Corrections Committee, and chairman of the Rules Committee.

A Woodhull town councilman since 2003, Sahrle, 65, is running unopposed for the town seat this year. The Elkland, Pa.-native worked for Kodak for 34 years in purchasing, production planning and supply chain management.

Sahrle also worked in Hong Kong for two years setting up infrastructure for Kodak there.

He said he entered the race to make a difference. As he has campaigned, he has learned people in the areas are tired of the old way things have been done, Sahrle said.

“People want a change, they want government to change,” Sahrle said. “There’s a lot of concern about our government, and the state, taxes being imposed on us and the fees, the state of our roads. We just need to look at it from a different perspective. We need to look at it from outside the box.”

Farrand has declined to be interviewed by The Leader, but has said in the past taxpayers’ money is sacred and he feels he has contributed a great deal to the county during the past four years.
The contest will continue until November, regardless of the primaries. Farrand has a spot on the Independence Party line, and both men have secured other independent lines. Democrats selected Judith Reagan, of Rathbone, as their candidate in November.

In legislative District 13, a pair of Republican Corning Town Board members will square off in a race to fill the seat being vacated by Legislator Tom Schwartz, due to term limits.

Town Supervisor Peter Marchese, 53, will face town Councilman Carol Ferratella, 64, in the Republican Primary for a seat representing Caton, Corning and Hornby.

Ferratella served 32 years on the Riverside Town Board prior to her current four-year term on the Corning Town Board.

“I just look at my experience in local government and I think I have a lot to offer to the county,” Ferratella said.

Marchese, a first-term town supervisor, believes his years of experience in business, instead of government, give him fresh ideas that would benefit the county.

“If I was elected to the seat I would continue to hold the town supervisor position and the Legislature seat,” Marchese said.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democratic candidate Don E. Divens in the November general election.

If defeated in the Republican primary, Ferratella will also run for the seat in the November election under the Conservative and Independence lines.