ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Next week, voters in the Town of Orchard Park will elect a new Town Supervisor. So, where do candidates Joe Liberti and Marie Mahon stand on topics that matter to you?
Liberti is currently a council member and has been on the town's zoning and planning boards.
Mahon moved to Orchard Park in 2022 with her family. This is her first foray into politics, and she wants to change how the town board is currently operating.
I sat down with both and wrote out their answers.
Development Around Bills Stadium
Q: What does development around that look like if you're the Town Supervisor?
Liberti: We have re-zoned it for developers, to be very friendly for businesses, mixed-use as well. Bringing in restaurants, boutique shops, family friendly.
Mahon: You need to take a comprehensive approach, which wasn't what was done when they initially did the development (referring to the current zoning). Unless you made a major change to zoning, we're kind of stuck with that, which is unfortunate. But I would approach what we could do to encourage the building of mixed-use spaces? You can have some smaller coffee shops, you can have some smaller bars and restaurants.
Q: What about adding hotels?
Liberti: I can see either one or two hotels coming to Orchard Park. Something on a boutique level, nothing like a big box hotel, something that fits our character. That's something we're gonna look for.
Mahon: There should be. I'm not from Orchard Park, originally. I have people come to visit me, but there's nowhere for them to stay. If we're going to have people coming into the stadium to go see Bills games, to not have a place for them to stay is just silly. I think that area is just the perfect spot to put a smaller hotel; it doesn't have to be a giant hotel.
Q: How do you balance that with the interests of residents?
Liberti: It's a unique balance for us, because we are. Orchard Park is a gem. We just have to ensure that we maintain that gem; we don't want to be where there's a lot of traffic. We just want a lot of foot traffic.
Mahon: You take a smart approach, and one of the things for me is, we have a lot of empty storefronts already, why would you need to go and plow or pull up trees when you have currently empty buildings? You're trying to bring in and develop smaller businesses that are hopefully run by residents of the town.
Small Businesses
Q: How will you support small businesses?
Liberti: I'm going to work with landlords to ensure that we are filling up our empty storefronts. Also, working with our grant writers to see if we can get more sidewalks that lead up to the village, which will bring foot traffic for all these businesses.
Mahon: I would really go out of my way to actively pursue business, encourage businesses to come to Orchard Park, and make it a friendly place to want to do business with. I would also really want to start a small business incubator, try to work with some of the local companies.
Taxes/Finances
Q: What is your plan to manage the town's taxes and finances?
Liberti: The biggest thing for me is not to overtax any of our residents; we want to make sure we're providing excellent services day in and day out. We don't want to shortcut anyone; we want to provide excellent services every day, all day long.
Mahon: No one wants to raise taxes. The important thing to remember, though, is that if you have a town, a growing town, you need to be able to balance being able to provide those people with services. No one wants higher taxes, but we also want our roads plowed, we also want our sidewalks cleaned off, so I think you have to be able to balance that. Would I want to raise taxes? Absolutely not. But if we continue to lose business, if we continue to lose revenue, that's where it's going to start impacting our residents.
Transparency
Q: How will you engage the community and remain transparent as Town Supervisor?
Liberti: I'm a big believer in transparency, so holding public forums, putting information on our websites. Just keeping the community involved and engaged, that's critical for me. I'm probably too transparent, people have told me over the years, but I want people to know what we're bringing to Orchard Park, day in and day out. I don't want any back-room deals, I'm not like that, I'm very straightforward.
Mahon: I would really like to dive in. They've already started to update our town website. I would really lean into that to make sure we're developing it. I believe that the best way to work with the residents is to get them involved, to have them understand what's going on, and I think you do that through communication platforms like a newsletter. I would also really try to change the way the board operates during monthly meetings. I've been to some of the monthly meetings where I've shown up, and the doors were closed.
Final Message to Voters
Liberti: My biggest thing is just get out and vote. I'm gonna bring that unique change to OP, and I'm gonna maintain and preserve the quality of our town while bringing in more for our residents and what they're looking for.
Mahon: Everyone deserves a seat at the table. Everyone in Orchard Park should be part of what we're going to see over the next 30 years. The choices that are being made in the next three years, be it the stadium, some other capital projects, are going to impact OP for the next 30 years, and residents should be part of it.
November 4 is Election Day, and early voting runs through Sunday, November 2, from 12 to 9 p.m.
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