The Times Herald Record reports: 

Bethel, NY – The rematch in the Town of Bethel between Supervisor Daniel Sturm and former Supervisor Harold Russell is getting nasty.

While Sturm says he spent two years cleaning up Russell’s mistakes, Russell is circulating a flier that slams Sturm for everything from his business skills to “poor decision making and lack of oversight.”

Bethel is the home to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the gated community of Chapin Estates and many seasonal homes and developments, while still considered a rural small town where it is hard to ignore a person for long. Sturm says Russell hasn’t spoken to him for two years since the night he won the election. “He’s very bitter about it.”

Russell, 61, a Republican, is a longtime dairy farmer who served as supervisor in 2006 and 2007. Sturm, 46, a Democrat who also holds the Conservative line, calls himself a full-time supervisor in the $47,249 job. Sturm also is paid $2,662 a year as the town’s budget officer.

Led by Sturm, the town passed comprehensive zoning and new subdivision laws. The town did away with one-acre zoning, which was unpopular with preservation groups. But the outcome of the election could be determined by voters reaction to the events surrounding the construction of a shul on Schultz Road.

The town attempted to stop the United Talmudical Academy, a Brooklyn-based Hasidic group, from using the building this summer. The town claims the project should have gone to the Planning Board for review and the UTA broke several codes. Seasonal residents have initiated a voter registration drive, which could create a bloc vote against the incumbents.

Russell says that Sturm should have been on top of the project.

“He made the statement he was unaware of it being built,” Russell said. “I mean, come on? Unaware? I am sure when they had the groundbreaking he was at it.”

Sturm said when attorneys and engineers told him there was a problem, he ordered a stop work order and initiated an investigation into past building projects. The town’s longtime building inspector resigned after a review of several projects.

“There were at least five other projects completed without proper Planning Board oversight during Mr. Russell’s term,” Sturm said. “I’ve got one, but he’s got five. We learned about it, we identified it, and we make sure it doesn’t happen again. We stood up to a very powerful group, and I stand by our decisions.”

(Source: Times Herald Record / YWN-112)