BDC ENDORSEMENTS

The BDC is proud of our endorsed candidates for 2019. In a time of great national turmoil, community grassroots activism is more critical than ever. We on the BDC are prepared to dedicate the time, energy, and funds necessary to support progressive Democrats – but we need your help, too! Please get out and vote!

Town Supervisor
REELECT DAVID VANLUVEN

Since joining the Town Board in 2016 and becoming Supervisor in 2018, David has worked to better guide residential development, protect farms and forests, showcase the great work of town employees, advance renewable energy programs, and build bridges across political divides. Professionally, David has led a variety of programs with environmental nonprofits and state agencies where he forged strong teams, navigated shifting politics, managed complex budgets, and raised millions through grants and appropriations. David, his wife Isabelle Bleecker, and his three daughters live in Delmar. David has a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.S. from Tufts University.

Town Board
​REELECT DAN COFFEY

Dan Coffey was elected in 2018 in a special election to serve a one-year term. He is running in 2019 for a full four-year term. Dan is managing partner at Bowitch & Coffey, an Albany litigation law firm. Dan brings to the Town Board a strong background in planning and development, having served as the Town’s Zoning Board Chair for 7 years and served on the Planning Board for one year. He has a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia and a law degree from Georgetown. He has prior experience working for the US Congressional Budget Office and Government Accountability Office in Washington, DC.  He, his wife Eileen and two daughters have lived in Delmar since 1999. Since joining the Town Board in January 2019, Dan has worked to establish a Farms and Forest Fund to preserve open space, supported a moratorium on vape shops, increased Parkland SetAside fees, and worked on an update to the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.

Town Board
​REELECT JOYCE BECKER

​Joyce is serving her first term on the Bethlehem Town Board and appointed Deputy Town Supervisor in 2018. She continues her mission of working to improve the life of families and older adults in Bethlehem by serving on the boards of Bethlehem Senior Projects, Inc., Bethlehem Community Fund and in June completed two terms as a Trustee of the Bethlehem Public Library. Joyce is a recognized leader in our community and brings an impartial voice to Town government. She and her husband Mark have lives in Delmar for over 40 years.

Superintendent of Highways
​ELECT MARC DORSEY

Marc Dorsey is a lifelong resident and graduate of BCSD. He completed apprenticeship programs with the International Union of Operating Engineers and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters which led to earning a certificate in Construction Technology from HVCC and an A.S. from Corning Community College. After spending a decade in commercial trades, Marc pursued a career in law enforcement.

As a current Staff Sergeant in the Air National Guard, instructing security forces and teaching infantry tactics, and as a former Sergeant in the Army National Guard, Marc has spent the last 13 years as a Logistics Specialist for the NY State Department of Homeland Security Emergency Services. While serving his country, his tour included a deployment with his team to Afghanistan in 2012.
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Having a strong background in the construction trades, leadership, the military, and Homeland Security, Marc understands the working needs of this department, both from a financial and labor perspective. He not only appreciates what it takes to bring out the best in a team through mutual trust and respect, but will facilitate those qualities here in the Highway Department.

​Town Clerk
REELECT NANCI MOQUIN

​I moved to Bethlehem 28 years ago to raise my daughters.  The Town hired me 16 years ago as the Planning Board’s and Zoning Board’s Administrative Assistant, a position I was in for 6 years. I have held the office of Town Clerk for 10 years, instituting changes that have increased efficiency and transparency in my office. Prior to working for the Town I was employed as a paralegal, a program educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension and  a computer operator. All skills that have been useful to the office of Town Clerk.

Receiver of Taxes
​REELECT ALICIA RONEY

​Alicia Roney was elected as the Receiver of Taxes and has served the Town of Bethlehem since January of 2016. She grew up in the Town of Bethlehem and lives in Delmar with her son. She is a graduate of Bethlehem Central School District and Hudson Valley Community College. Previously employed by Albany County Department for Aging, she was the Aging Service Specialist monitoring services and programs for the department. Alicia worked for the town as a Deputy Town Clerk in the Town Clerk and Tax office prior to her election. As Receiver of Taxes, she is responsible for processing property tax payments, receiving payments for your water bills, and collecting additional town monies. She is a licensed Notary Public.

ALBANY COUNTY LEGISLATURE

​District 33
REELECT WILLIAM REINHARDT

​Bill worked for 26 years at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) until his retirement from NYSERDA in 2010. In 2012, Bill was elected to the Bethlehem Town Council, where he used his energy and economics experience to support a sustainable community strategy for Bethlehem in the context of our changing global climate. In 2014, Bill cofounded Solarize Albany, a nonprofit citizens group, to transform the solar energy markets in the Capital District. In 2015, Bill successfully ran for the Albany County legislature. If re-elected in 2019, he will continue to work for a more sustainable Capital District.

District 34
REELECT JOANNE CUNNINGHAM

Joanne E. Cunningham was elected to her first term in the Albany County Legislature in November 2015 and represents Legislative District 34, which encompasses central Delmar. Joanne also was elected to the Bethlehem Central School District Board of Education and served from 2013 to 2017. Joanne has served on the Bethlehem Democratic Committee (BDC) for several years, was appointed to the position of First-Vice Chair in 2017 and was unanimously elected as the Chair of the BDC in September 2018.

Joanne has more than two decades of executive management experience as the current Executive Director of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare, as the former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Home Care Association of New York State, and as the former Executive Director of the Healthcare Trustees of New York State.

Joanne has extensive experience as a volunteer and Board Member for many Bethlehem organizations including many sports booster clubs including the Bethlehem Central Athletic Association, the Bethlehem Central High School Varsity Hockey Booster Club, the Bethlehem Central High School Varsity Gymnastics Team and others. In addition, Joanne has served in several volunteer appointments for the Town of Bethlehem, including the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency and the Bethlehem 2020 Committee. Joanne and her husband Brent Meredith have 4 children and 2 dogs and live in Central Delmar.

District 35
ELECT JEFF KUHN

​Jeff Kuhn is a life-long Democrat who has lived in Bethlehem for over 12 years.

Jeff was elected to the Bethlehem Town Board in 2011, and served on the town board until 2015. Jeff also served as the deputy supervisor from 2014 to 2015. While on the town board, Jeff focused on managing the town in a professional manner to deliver important core governmental services (e.g., police, water, sewer, and highway) in a fiscally efficient, responsible, and effective manner consistent with the progressive principles of the Democratic Party. Jeff also focused on developing the town’s commercial and industrial tax base in order to put downward pressure on local residential property taxes.

During his first year on the town board, Jeff helped craft a budget that closed a multi-million dollar gap created by the termination of a decades-old payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement without raising taxes above the 2% cap by finding new ways to deliver core town services as efficiently as possible. In recognition of these efforts by Jeff and the other members of the board to improve town operations, the NYS Local Government and Efficiency Program awarded Bethlehem a $776,107 grant in 2012. In 2013, S&P raised its long-term rating of the town’s general obligations bonds to “AA+” from “AA”.

Jeff has been a member of the Bethlehem Democratic Committee since 2010, and he served as the chair of the BDC from 2012 to 2018. As chair of the BDC, he worked with other members to diversify the committee, welcome new members, and implement a cooperative organizational structure to encourage the meaningful participation of all members in important decisions.

Jeff received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the American University in Washington, D.C. and his JD from Boston College Law School.

Jeff now works in Albany as an attorney specializing in environmental and energy law for one of the largest law firms in the world.

Jeff and his wife, Kristen, live in Delmar with their four young children.

District 36
ELECT MATT MILLER

​I have been a Regents and AP Biology teacher in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Schools for 26 years. I have also been the local teachers union president for 18 years and spent 6 years as the district Energy Education Manager, saving over $2.4 million of taxpayer money in that time. Much of my time has been spent volunteering for Bethlehem Tomboys, Hudson Valley LL, Cub Scouts, Bethlehem Babe Ruth and other travel baseball teams, along with coaching Varsity Softball at RCS. In addition, I also ran the Ski Club for many years and advised the Class of 2000 and the Class of 2016. I started the RCS Science Olympiad team 22 years ago, ran the Capitol Region Science Olympiad for 17 years and have been a NYS and National Science Olympiad event writer and supervisor. I am also presently the President of the RCS Sports Association. In my personal time, I am an avid geocacher and enjoy kayaking and hiking.

Karen, my wife, is an elementary school principal in Coxsackie-Athens CSD. We have two children, Nicole, a pre-med senior at the University of Washington, and Christopher, a freshman at Penn State Schreyers Honors College and the Salutatorian of the RCS Class of 2019. Our family likes to travel, explore nature and, as you might guess, discuss politics. We have lived in Selkirk for 25 years and I came to the Capital Region nearly 30 years ago after being born and raised in Massapequa, L.I, N.Y..  Educationally, I received a B.S. in Biology(7-12) from SUNY-Oneonta and an M.S. in Biology Education from the University at Albany.

District 38
REELECT VICKY PLOTSKY

Vicky Plotsky has served as the Albany County Legislator for District 38 in the Towns of New Scotland and Bethlehem since January 2018.  Vicky is a graduate of Albany Law School and lives in Clarksville. Her primary interests at the Legislature are reform and environmental issues. She currently serves as chair of the Law Committee and as a member of the Conservation, Sustainability & Green Initiatives Committee.