WALTON _ The Walton mayoral race continues to expand, with six candidates now vying for the two-year position.
The only two candidates on the ballot are Raymond Baldi and Roland Beers, but four write-in candidates have produced the most highly contested race Walton has ever witnessed. The election will be held on Wednesday, March 18.
When the petitions were filed, four candidates were entered, but technicalities knocked Terri Green and Ken Landry off of the official ballot, forcing them to announce write-in campaigns.
In the last few days, two other candidates have announced write-in quests for the position: incumbent Mayor Ed Snow and John Phraner, owner of Northeast Fabricators.
"It's just amazing," Landry said Tuesday. "The slate of candidates changes on a daily basis."
Green's petition was rejected when 12 of the people who signed it were not qualified to vote. Landry was eliminated from the ballot when he missed the deadline to sign a form accepting the nomination.
Baldi, who served as Walton's mayor from 1985 to 1995, said he decided to run because he didn't like what was going on in the village hall.
"This is going to be a very crucial year because of the national economy," Baldi said. "But I believe there is a very bright horizon ahead."
Baldi, who refused to reveal his age but said he served in World War II, said one of his goals is to help senior citizens.
"I love this village," Baldi said.
Beers, 69, is a former village police officer and village justice. He said he is running because he believes Walton needs change.
"I want to make government run smoother and try to smooth things out," Beers said.
Beers said the issues he hopes to tackle include simplifying the budget, finding federal funding to site a new police station and finding out why the village has not received the FEMA money for 2006 flood repairs.
"Some of the FEMA money recently arrived, but we are still a long ways from what we have coming," Beers said.
Beers said he believes the new police station could be located above the village hall, in a portion of what is now the village court.
"We could put up some petitions and put in an elevator," Beers said. "The court should be handicapped-accessible anyway."
Landry, 59, who is a village trustee, said finances are the most pressing issue the village faces.
"We are flirting with bankruptcy," he said. "I have been listening to the voters, and I can and will get the finances under control. We have had two years of budget shortfalls and we are looking at another budget in the red."
Landry said he has sent a mailing to all 1,812 registered voters in the village with his position statement and a detailed explanation of the write-in voting process.
Green, 50, said, laughing, that she decided to run for mayor because she didn't think there were enough people interested in the position.
Green said her goal, if elected, "will be focused primarily on saving our town and to prevent any further downfall." Green said she wants to promote tourism and local businesses, and that the village needs entertainment and recreational activities.
"We need to somehow increase our revenues as a village to increase jobs for those who are out of work," Green said. "I feel we need someone from a younger generation, with new visions, ideas and plans for the future."
Snow, 60, announced at a village board meeting that he would not run for another term, but said Tuesday that he changed his mind when "a lot of people came up to me and asked if I would accept the position if they wrote my name in."
Snow said he believes the biggest issue is "getting our financial house back in order and then dealing with the water infrastructure, which is 100 years old."
He said that before the 2006 flood, he was pursuing a $2 million grant to beautify Delaware Street by taking down the telephone poles, rebuilding the sidewalks and installing period street lights. He said he thinks the grant is still available and would like to apply for funding.
"We need to continue to bring in as many new businesses as possible and make sure that drugs are kept in check," Snow said.
Phraner could not be reached for comment. Messages left for him at work and at home were not returned Tuesday.
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