ROYALTON A Republican primary will pit newcomer Mary A. Cedeno a registered Democrat against Republican Daniel R. Bragg for a one-year Town Board term in Royalton on Tuesday.
But Cedeno said she is a Democrat on paper, alone, and as a fiscal conservative, the Republican Party is where I belong.
To that end, Cedeno said she filed the necessary paperwork to switch her affiliation earlier this year, but election law dictates that it will not become complete until after the November general election.
In the meantime, Cedeno will face Bragg for a one-year term on the Town Board, with the blessing of the Niagara County Republican Party.
When Richard Lang became town supervisor in January, he had two years left in his Town Board term. The board appointed former Councilman Lee Criswell to fill the first year, but the second year is now up for election.
Bragg, 53, is currently serving the second year of his second three-year term on the Royalton- Hartland Board of Education. He manages Stan-dish- Jones Building Supply Co. in Gasport and lives on Washington Avenue in Gasport.
In a five-way race for three Town Board seats last November, Bragg finished fourth.
Bragg said, The Royalton Republican Committee endorsed me, but the county Republicans authorized Mary to run in the primary. Thats fine. . . . Let the people decide.
Bragg said the current board needs to create a vision. Theyre working on a master plan right now and need to set goals within that vision and stay on target.
I can see down the road whats coming, he said. Look at the state budget. This is just the first wave of budget cuts and theres more to come. We need to manage our money we should always know where we are today [with town finances] and where we will be tomorrow. Obviously, the taxpayers are strained everybody knows this stuff. We need to demonstrate management of money.
Cedeno, 44, lives on Lincoln Avenue Extension and is a project administrator for URS Corp., an environmental engineering firm, for whom she has worked for seven years.
She said she first became interested in local government two years ago, when the town levied whopping tax hikes in order to straighten out town finances. The town budget raised taxes by 266 percent in the Village of Middleport and by 67 percent elsewhere in town.
That got my attention, she said. I started attending all of the board meetings because I wanted to see how the money was being spent and I started asking questions and making suggestions.
Cedeno said Lang asked her to submit her resume to be considered to serve the first year of the two remaining years he had on the Town Board. The Town Board chose Criswell but appointed Cedeno to fill an opening on the Planning Board in February.
With the town completing a master plan, this is a very important time for this community, she said. We need to set this up and follow it. I believe Ive had a positive impact on the Planning Board.
As to the duties of a town councilwoman, she said, Spending must be planned long-term. There must be budgeting. We need to try and cut back on spending and thats difficult because costs are going up, but we have to plan for that, as well.
Polls in Royalton will be open from noon to 9 p. m. Tuesday, and the towns six voting districts have been consolidated into three sites Terrys Corners Fire Hall at 7801 Chestnut Ridge Road, Gasport; Middleport Fire Hall, 28 Main St.; and Wolcottsville Fire Hall, 6337 Wolcottsville Road, Akron.
