6/13/07 - Legislator Kay Breed will not seek re-election

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

One of the most outspoken Republican members of the Cortland County Legislature has decided not to seek re-election, and candidates from both parties are lining up to replace her.

Kay Breed, a representative of Cortlandville, said Tuesday that she would not seek re-election, citing frustration with “the lack of direction” by the Legislature during the last two-year term.

Meanwhile, Gene Waldbauer, a member of the Cortlandville Planning Board, has announced his intent to run for Breed’s seat as a Republican, while Mary Claire Pennello, a longtime educator and the mother of Matt Pennello, who lost to Breed by six votes in the 2005 election, is seeking the seat as a Democrat.

Breed, who served two, two-year terms as a legislator, said she was tired of “beating my head against the wall.”
“My biggest concern of all is that people who sit on the Legislature are just not asking questions,” Breed said. “Meanwhile every time I ask a question, people act like it’s unimportant … People say things like, ‘Oh, you’re just trying to block things,’ but I’m not, I’m trying to get answers before we decide.”

Breed was critical of the current leadership in the Legislature, and of County Administrator Scott Schrader. “I think Mr. Schrader is trying to usurp some of the legislative powers — I ask for a follow up on figures and facts, and I never get it,” she said. “I think we just have very weak leadership right now, there doesn’t seem to be any direction on where we’re going.”

Legislature Chairman Marilyn Brown (D-8th Ward), when told about Breed’s comments, said she felt the Legislature has made progress, especially financially. “We’ve been able to keep taxes under control, we’ve gotten the finances under control, and we’ve improved our Constitutional Tax Limit, so I think this Legislature has certainly moved forward,” Brown said. “If Mrs. Breed has made suggestions that haven’t been accepted by the Legislature, that’s because one legislator doesn’t make all the decisions, and in those cases the other members didn’t agree with her.”

Waldbauer, who has been a member of the Cortlandville Planning Board for three years, said that he’s looking forward to talking with constituents in the area, learning about the issues.
“I’ve got to educate myself, learn what the people are most concerned about, so I can truly represent them,” Waldbauer said. “This is the first I’ve really talked about it with anybody, but I’m excited, I think I can do a lot.”

An account manager for commercial air conditioning company Trane, Waldbauer was born and raised in Cortland before moving for 10 years to the West Coast with his wife, Rhonda. The Waldbauers and their two children moved back to the area five years ago, he said.

If elected, Waldbauer said he hoped to bring an open mind to the Legislature. "I always have an open mind, an ability to look at both sides of an issue, and I think that’s important,” he said.

From the Democratic Party, Pennello jokingly called running “a family tradition,” after her son Matt’s narrow loss to Breed in 2005. “I have three sons, and I want to be able to help develop the strongest possible county so that they have a future here and they don’t feel like they have to leave,” Pennello said.

A former teacher and administrator, Pennello said she wanted to focus on helping Cortlandville develop infrastructure for its ongoing economic development, and on making sure businesses that come to the town are responsible. “There’s an awful lot of potential out here in Cortlandville that I believe has not been tapped, but we need to make sure the businesses that do come here fulfill their responsibility,” she said. “I don’t want it to become like a dumping ground.”

The Cortland County Democratic Committee will formally nominate candidates for positions Thursday night.

Yesterday was the first day potential candidates for all elected offices in the county could seek signatures on designating petitions, which are to be filed between July 16 and July 19.