Supervisor candidates quizzed at public forum

Ellen Calves and Don Scott, seated,  at the Town of Bedford Supervisor Candidate Conversation held Tuesday at Historical Hall. At left are moderators Jeff Morris and Ed Baum of The Recorder, which hosted the program. PETER T. MICHAELIS PHOTOS

By JEFF MORRIS 

In what was a mostly cordial conversation, but with an undertone of conflict, the candidates for Bedford town supervisor shared the stage at the Bedford Historical Society’s Historical Hall in Bedford Village on Tuesday, in a standing-room-only forum hosted by The Recorder.

Supervisor Ellen Calves, running for reelection for the second time in two years due to a new state law switching most local elections to even-numbered years, is being challenged by Don Scott. 

Scott served as a Town Board member from 2015 through 2019, and was the Republican and Conservative candidate for supervisor in 2013, then again ran for supervisor in 2021 on the Bedford United and Republican lines. In 2023 he ran unsuccessfully for Town Board once more on only the Republican line. Calves was elected to the Town Board in 2019, then was elected as supervisor in 2021, winning reelection twice, all as a Democrat.

Candidates Ellen Calves and Dan Scott

Party affiliation

The candidates were asked about party affiliation and working across the aisle, in particular because of Scott’s past attempt to run as an independent and his advocacy for nonpartisan local elections.

Scott cited his work with the Braver Angels organization, teaching how people on opposite sides of the political spectrum can speak to one another. And he said that he worked across the aisle during his five years on the Town Board, when there were two Republicans and three Democrats.

“Working with Chris Burdick, we did not always see eye to eye on everything, but I think that the product that we put forward really represented a diversity of thought,” he said.

Calves said most good ideas come from people whose party affiliations are unknown to her.

“There’s no larger party that’s telling me or any board members how to vote or what to do,” she said. Pointing out there are multiple town committees headed by Republicans, she said they work together for the betterment of the community, “and I think we all have the same goals in mind.”

However, they differed when asked about advocating for nonpartisan elections for town office, without party labels on the ballot. Calves talked about being a member of the Democratic Committee, because there are “a lot of intangibles that go to values,” and said she valued “being part of a larger committee of people who share similar values about what government can do to help people.” 

And, in an apparently backhanded reference to Scott’s campaign — which he described in his opening statement as “trying to demonstrate the power of technology,” and “very open about the use of AI and the tools that we’ve built” — she said her campaign is “not a passive sort of AI-driven campaign that you can do behind a computer” and suggested that her Democratic connection gives her “a huge network of people who are creating our own content.”

Scott responded, “So we can count that as a ‘no’ for nonpartisan local government, and that’s a position. I strongly disagree. I think one of the reasons that we’re in the shape that we’re in in this country is that everything is looked at through a partisan lens.” Scott said he was strongly in favor of nonpartisan local government, which is why at one point he resigned from the Republican Party — but that the reality is, he has to function within a partisan framework to get on the ballot.

Scott said because 52% in Bedford are registered Democrats and 48% are not, “40% has no representation in elective government,” and “you’re leaving a lot of good ideas and a lot of feedback on the table.” 

Calves disputed that. 

“I just was saying why I would run as a Democrat,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that people are not represented 100%.”

She said she represents everyone who is willing to work with her, and that she doesn’t always agree with everyone in the Democratic Party, or even with the people on the Bedford Democratic Committee. “There’s a big difference between being part of a party, and the ability to represent everyone fairly.”

The two did agree on one thing: they both did not like the move of local elections to even-numbered years.

Audience members at the supervisor candidate conversation filled the seats at Historical Hall.

Bedford 2030

A question directed at Calves asked about the fact both she and Town Board member Midge Iorio came from the nonprofit climate advocacy group Bedford 2030, and whether that gave the group undue influence. 

Calves said she and Iorio had gained valuable experience with the nonprofit in how to connect across the town’s hamlets and to learn how the town operates. She denied that Bedford 2030 was exerting any kind of power, pointing instead to “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in grants it had helped the town get, programs it had run, and goals the town could not have achieved on its own.

Scott made general comments about public institutions now being held in low esteem, referenced consulting fees Bedford 2030 had received, and warned that it was essential to avoid any hint of conflict of interest. Calves acknowledged the group had been compensated in the past, but said that was no longer the case.

More topics

The candidates responded to additional questions on a variety of topics, including whether the town can take a more comprehensive approach to affordable housing; the possibility of revamped zoning; whether there is inequity in treatment of the hamlets; water and sewer conditions in Bedford Village and preserving the character of that hamlet; advocating for repaving of state roads; and the use of license plate readers in town. 

Would the supervisor be missed?

Perhaps the most dramatic moment came at the very end, when both candidates gave closing statements. Scott named all the people he knows who work at Town Hall, and he said, “In Bedford we pay over $580,000 year between the salaries of the supervisor and the support people and benefits, and our Town Board members who have a nice salary — and I wonder sometimes if they took a month off, would we notice any change?”

Calves was quick to respond.

“I think if I went away for a month you would notice,” she said. “I actively manage our town. I meet with all of those people that Don knows their name. I know their goals and objectives and hold them to those standards quite constantly. It’s a lot of work to do this job.”

Surprisingly, during the same closing, Scott said he would limit himself to a single two-year term, and “I would love Ellen to be my deputy supervisor if I’m successful. And then after a couple of years, she can step back into being supervisor again.”

Video of the complete forum may be seen in two parts on The Recorder’s YouTube page: https://bit.ly/47INhu1