The Overlook is conducting a series of interviews with candidates running in the Nov. 3 election, offering readers an opportunity to hear directly from those seeking to shape their communities. In this installment, Editor-in-Chief Noah Eckstein interviewed Shandaken Supervisor Barbara Mansfield, a Democrat seeking reelection.

Mansfield, 65, lives in Phoenicia and works full-time as supervisor. She previously ran Phoenicia Soap Co., which she recently sold to two local women.

Outside town government, Mansfield writes music and literature. She and her husband develop library ukulele programs in memory of their son, Killian Mansfield, who died in 2009 at the age of 16 from a rare form of cancer called synovial sarcoma. Mansfield also runs a monthly ukulele jam in Pine Hill. The couple also have a daughter Calder Mansfield, 25, who is the musician Calder the Destroyer.

The following has been lightly edited for clarity and concision.

What is the most pressing issue facing Shandaken, and what have you done to address it? What would you continue to do if reelected?

Mansfield: I think the thread that ties through all issues in our town currently is the need for housing and most specifically affordable housing.

And I’ve been helpful in terms of putting together applications for state funding and other types of funding for the Wellington project, which is a ten-unit affordable housing project that will break ground this year. And I was helping them even before I had been in office.

And I put forward a memorandum of understanding with RUPCO to do an adaptive reuse of the Phoenicia Elementary School and have been meeting with key stakeholders to move that project forward specifically. 

Where does the proposed reuse of Phoenicia Elementary School stand?

Mansfield: On December 7th, there’s going to be a banger meeting. RUPCO is coming to do a presentation on what that might look like. There are some issues in terms of some zoning changes that need to happen with what they’re planning. And I think that will be evident in the meeting, but none of those issues are insurmountable. It’s just a matter of work.

What should taxpayers expect from the proposed 2027 budget? What costs are driving the increase?

Mansfield: I have sought funds that are beyond the taxpayer. I got a $50,000 renewable grant from Jay Jacobs, TLC Foundation, to do our summer rec program. And without that, we would not have been able to move that program forward.

The issues we face—there’s no town that isn’t facing this—fuel costs, electricity, the costs of sand, gravel for highways, the costs of health insurance, regular insurance, all costs have gone up.

Even though we are exceeding the 2% tax cap, I was able to keep it under 5% in the overall tax levy. And the biggest pain point is going to be our water districts. They’ve been underfunded for a long time and the infrastructure has really, really suffered. We had at least three major main breaks last year in the extreme cold.

And we not only have to still repair one of those in Pine Hill, we really have to update the infrastructure so that we can catch leaks quicker.

The draft comprehensive plan calls for moving town facilities out of the floodplain and developing a longer-term flood-reduction strategy for Phoenicia. What progress has the town made?

Mansfield: We are in contract to purchase a parcel on Rt. 28 in the hamlet of Shandaken, to consolidate services in a non-floodplain parcel.

It’s great. Now we just have to raise the money to build the thing.

How would construction be funded?

Mansfield: It’s going to be through grants. There’s going to be a small amount of—I mean, I don’t say small. That’s not true. There’s going to be proceeds from the sale of the current property as well.

What is the town working on to improve public transportation?

Mansfield: Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you asked about that. We are working with Djola Ventures. The town is to pilot a microtransit program in the town of Shandaken. And I’m wildly excited. This will be something for visitors and residents alike. 

Would it operate on a fixed schedule or through an app?

Mansfield: Microtransit, which works very much like Uber or Lyft.

Would rides be free?

Mansfield: Some people will be free. Some people will pay. Depending on their capacity to do so.

How should residents understand the comprehensive plan’s role in guiding town decisions, particularly on housing and zoning?

Mansfield: It was a document that was created very much by the people of Shandaken who weighed in about what their priorities were. So it’s a very general guide.

I think the biggest source of confusion is when we say we want to allow A, B or C in it, as much as possible. What people aren’t considering is that there is at least 70% of Shandaken that is unbuildable. You can’t do anything. So rampant development is never going to be a problem.

And I think we need to continue making that case as we roll out. We still have two public hearings for the comprehensive plan. I think it’s important that that case be made ever more clearly.

Two building department officials left for jobs in Woodstock this summer. Is the department now adequately staffed?

Mansfield: We actually are still searching for a building safety inspector to do STR (short term rentals) inspections. And I will take the free ad if you want to print that.

We have a CEO, code enforcement officer.

Is the code enforcement officer handling both building and fire inspections?

Mansfield: He is currently doing everything. But we definitely need somebody to help him out.

How difficult has it been to recruit someone for the vacant position?

Mansfield: It’s very tough. Mainly because the requirements for building safety inspector and code enforcement officer come with, respectively, 60 and 120 hours of training.

What would you say to young people who want to build a life in Shandaken but are struggling with housing costs? What is your administration doing to make the town more affordable?

Mansfield: Affordability is an issue everywhere. And we’re going to work as diligently or more than other towns in New York state to make our town more affordable.

We have the added benefit of being, frankly, in the palm of God. We are. It’s so stunningly beautiful here. We have water. Many places you could go in the United States don’t.

And we have a unique bus system, the Pine Hill Trailways, that can go back and forth between New York City and here very easily and a very, very vibrant fiber optic cable company that is spreading quickly in Shandaken, MTC cable. So for remote workers and people who are young, it would be hard pressed to find a more affordable place to live.

What about the availability of jobs?

Mansfield: Well, that’s the thing. There are lots of people who do live that are under the age of 50 in Shandaken and who have moved up here since Covid, who are working remotely.

And they go in on the bus system. 

Beyond remote work, what can the town do to help young people establish businesses locally?

Mansfield: This ties into the broader flood mitigation issue. In order to bring businesses back to our hamlet centers that have clusters of businesses, we need to make it easier for them to update existing buildings.

And a lot of that has to do with if we can pull off doing the Bridge Street project and the Main Street bridge, and making, for instance, Phoenicia, getting Main Street out of the floodplain for the first time ever, that suddenly becomes a very different place to do business. 

What changes have you made to help town government operate more efficiently?

Mansfield: One of the things that’s really important is we just are getting into building permit software to streamline the process for residents and commercial businesses. And that’s another thing that I’ve done to encourage business.

To have to go back and forth with paper and someone who’s not entirely responsive from your building department, and not having a way of streamlining applications has been frustrating for people.

So we’re getting into software now. The CEO that we’ve hired is extremely adept at new programs. And I’m thrilled to say that residents are going to be able to go online and fill out a permit and be prompted to do so without the need of being in front of the CEO. And it’s going to be really helpful.

The other thing is we were using an unsupported, outdated version of QuickBooks that could not be remotely accessed by accountants. And that was a huge problem with turning in our annual financial reports on time. And frankly, for being able to, when we need to hire an outside accountant, to get outside accountants to get certain work done.

Now we’ve updated that system and we’re almost caught up on the annual financial reports, which were five years behind.

Why do you identify with the Democratic Party, and how does that affiliation inform your approach to town government?

Mansfield: I think that it’s important that a town supervisor do what’s best for all the people in a town. And I think the Democratic Party is the party most aligned with helping people who don’t necessarily have money to give back to your campaign.

To help working families, to help people who are seniors and on fixed incomes. It’s important to me to help as many people as possible.

And that’s why I identify with my party. And that’s why those values are something I find very important to advance in government.

Your opponent Angela Galindo has proposed bringing together residents to advise the supervisor on town decisions. How do you view that proposal, and what opportunities do residents already have to participate?

Mansfield: Well, I think that’s kind of redundant. I mean, my door is always open. We have a gazillion committees and boards that people can join and be active on.

We have a PH2, which everyone is welcome to come to, which is held in both Phoenicia and Pine Hill. So we already have those mechanisms in place.

And Angela recently just came to her first couple of PH2 meetings, so I’m surprised she would not recognize that that’s in place. 

How do you spend your time outside town government?

Mansfield: I write. I write both music and literature. I run a family group. My husband and I, in memory of our son, Killian Mansfield, do develop ukulele programs in libraries, so you can check out a library and learn how to play. 

We’ve done it in the towns of Ulster, Kingston, Phoenicia, Olive and Pine Hill, and are looking to expand in the next year or so. We keep adding another library every couple of years.

And we enjoy, actually currently, we run the once-a-month jam, ukulele jam in Pine Hill.

How do you live with grief as time passes?

Mansfield: Losing a child isn’t something you ever get over per se. But being able to share the memory of my son with others is, to me, another way to connect with people because no one escapes grief in this life.

And it’s a way of keeping Killian alive.

Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.