IP Endorses Bargabos

Karst Announces Committee Decision in 111th Assembly District Race

By Martha E. Conway

(Oneida – July 9, 2010) Madison County Independence Party Chairman Terry Karst announced last week that his committee voted to endorse Madison County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Richard O. Bargabos (R – Smithfield) as its candidate for New York’s 111th Assembly District seat, which encompasses the entirety of Madison County and portions of Oneida and Otsego counties.

“The Madison County Independence Party is pleased to announce the endorsement of Rick Bargabos for New York’s 111th Assembly seat,” Karst said. “Mr. Bargabos was chosen this year by committee after interviewing numerous candidates for the endorsement. Mr. Bargabos was the leading candidate who promises to bring his own high standards, ethics, and values to bear in the political environment that currently seems to be severely lacking in those traits.”

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of Chairman Terry Karst and the Independence Party,” Bargabos said Friday night. “I firmly believe the candidates going into the general election on the Republican, Independence and Conservative lines will defeat their Democratic opponents.”

Bargabos said he will strive to uphold the principles of the Independence Party, especially one of its main focuses to help work against the apathy and complacency bred in long-term incumbencies.

“It is inevitable that after 20 years of service in the same seat, you will see some degree of complacency in elected officials,” Bargabos said. “The Independence Party is going to help introduce a solution to the systemic flaws that exist in Albany by supporting turnover in state seats.”

Karst named among Bargabos’s public service credits six years’ service on the Town of Smithfield Planning Board, followed by his 2000 election as Smithfield Town Supervisor.

During his 10-plus years on the Madison County Board of Supervisors, Bargabos said he has served on the Government Operations, Native American Affairs, Public Health, Administration and Oversight, Public Utility Service, Solid Waste and Recycling, Buildings and Grounds and Finance, Ways and Means committees, serving as chairman or vice chairman on several of those committees for many years.

“We can’t fix the problems in Albany if we don’t do something different,” Karst said. “I have every confidence that Rick Bargabos will go to Albany, stand toe-to-toe with special-interest-driven politicians and prevail in changing the despicable way that government is operating in Albany. Mr. Bargabos is part of the solution and not simply a continuation of the problem. We need him in the New York State Assembly.”

In addition, Bargabos has served as Chairman of the Madison County Industrial Development Agency since 2007, as Supervisor Representative to the Madison County Farmland Protection Board since 2000 and is the Madison County Industrial Development Representative to the county’s Agriculture Economic Development Committee.

He served as Vice President of the Madison County Board of Health for five years and served on the Madison County Management Salary Task Group for three years.

About Rick Bargabos

In addition to his work as supervisor for the town of Smithfield and in a variety of capacities for Madison County, Bargabos, 47, has been farming for 30 years and has more than 25 years’ experience as a small business owner in the construction trades.

He also is a longtime public servant.

Bargabos also has served in a volunteer capacity for the Peterboro United Methodist Church, Canastota Community Band, Peterboro Veterans’ Memorial, Smithfield Community Association, Peterboro Civil War Weekend, Abolition Hall of Fame, Canastota Children’s Council, Morrisville State College and the Canastota Central School District.

He is a graduate of the Canastota Central School District and studied animal husbandry at SUNY Delhi.

He resides with his wife of 21 years and their two children in Peterboro, New York.

For more information on Bargabos, call 315.447.7398, email rick4assembly@gmail.com or visit rick4assembly.com.

IP Endorses Bargabos

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