The Guilderland Democratic Party will be meeting virtually by Zoom to decide on candidate endorsements for the upcoming Democratic primary election. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no opportunity for the public to watch or listen to this meeting in a way that they can ensure that integrity of the vote is restricted to only those Committee Members attending according to the Guilderland Democratic Committee Chair, Jacob Crawford.
On Saturday night it was announced that Guilderland Democratic Party Executive Committee met earlier that day and voted to
recommended to the chair the following individuals for endorsement by the full Guilderland Democratic Committee for 2021:
- Town Supervisor - Peter Barber - Incumbent
- Town Clerk - Lynne Buchanan - Incumbent
- Town Council - Amanda Beedle
- Town Council - Paul Pastore - Incumbent
- Town Justice - Denise Randall - Incumbent
We also know that Christine Napierski and Kevin McDonald are running for Town Board Council seats and interviewed with Guilderland Democratic Party Executive Committee.
Christine Napierski is a former Guilderland Town Justice and has been serving on the GCRG Steering Committee since nearly the beginning of this organization until she recently resigned to run for Guilderland Town Board. She has already been endorsed by the Working Families Party.
Kevin McDonald is a resident of Westmere Terrace and one of the plaintiffs in the suit against the Town for their violations of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process for the proposed development by Pyramid Corporations on Rapp Road, the Mall Ring Road and Western Avenue, including the Costco. Kevin and the other plaintiffs won this lawsuit in the State Supreme Court which is currently being appealed by both the Town and the Pyramid Corporations. He will learn whether or not the is endorsed by he Working Families Party after their next vote, which is also expected to happen on this same Monday night.
Amanda Beedle was appointed to the Guilderland Planning Board in January 2020 and voted to approved the SEQRA process the town was sued for lost in Supreme Court by Kevin McDonald and others. She was previously appointed in January 2018 to Deputy Registrar of Vital Statistics and Marriage Officer.
Supervisor Peter Barber is currently leading the town's appeal, alongside the Pyramid Corporations, to the Supreme Court decision.
In the court decision, Supreme Court Justice Peter Lynch stated that the Town of Guilderland Planning Board’s SEQRA process for the Rapp Road Residential/Western Avenue Mixed Use Redevelopment Projects “violated SEQRA procedure and the ‘hard look’ test, rendering the . . . approvals arbitrary and capricious, null and void.” Click here to read more about the decision.
We are not aware at this time of candidates being considered by the Republican and Conservative Parties.
None of the active parties in Guilderland (Conservative, Democratic, Republican and Working Families) appear to have active websites, but Republican Party does have a private Facebook group, Guilderland Republican Committee, and the Democratic Party has a Public Facebook Page, Guilderland Democrats.
If you have knowledge of additional candidates from any party or no party at all, please let us know. The Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth cannot, and does not, officially endorse any particular candidate at this time.