Charlie Potter of Gloversville, a member of the Fulton County Board of Supervisors, became Wednesday the first person to announce a candidacy to succeed Robert Smullen in representing the 118th Assembly District.

Potter, 53, said he would build his campaign on a four-issue platform: emergency response, education, economic development and agriculture. Technology and communications infrastructure play a large part in each area.

“Caroga Lake is really ready to blossom, but they have no cell phone service,” Potter said. It’s an issue across much of the 118th District, which includes Hamilton County, most of Herkimer and Fulton counties, parts of Oneida and Montgomery counties and the town of Richfield Springs in Otsego County.

“A lot of the 118th is in the [Adirondack Park Agency], so it’s a little tricky,” Potter said.

Potter was chair of the Fulton County Board of Supervisors, and remains the chair of the Gloversville GOP. He also spent several months working for state Sen. Mark Walczyk, R-Sackets Harbor.

His announcement follows Smullen’s announcement he would seek the 21st Congressional District seat to succeed Elise Stefanik, who is running for governor. Potter likes to point out that he first endorsed Stefanik for office in 2013, during her first campaign for Congress.

Cell phone coverage is one issue — and a lack of service can hinder emergency response times — but broadband access can hamper economic development, too, particularly in agricultural areas that may be underserved.

“Assemblyman Smullen talked about broadband; I would pick up the baton with that, working with our federal partners — maybe even him.

“Agriculture is a big economic driver,” Potter said. “He understands, as a freshman Assembly member in the minority party, he’d have limited authority to bring about change on his own. “I’m not going to be a ranker right off the bat. … I am willing to partner up. I’m also confident that I can build bridges.”

Communication infrastructure would help isolated rural communities grow, he said, and might help school districts expand their digital resources and remote-learning capabilities. That’s a particular concern for him in Gloversville, where his daughter attends pre-K and Potter is an alumnus.

State Education Department data shows the Gloversville Enlarged School District has a 17% dropout rate, more than three times the state level, and a longtime problem with truancy.

“The truancy is a real hellacious issue,” Potter said. “I could use the Gloversville school district as a template, and maybe extend solutions to other districts.”

Potter also said he supports both government transparency and sound fiscal management.

“It’s a challenging balance but an essential balance in these trying times.”

A fence climbing Grinch decoration in the front yard of a home on County Route 126 in the town of Perth on Tuesday.

Lock up the roast beast

ALBANY — With measles cases on the rise in parts of New York, the state’s Health Department is urging the public to protect themselves against the highly infectious disease.

A total of 35 measles cases — including 16 outside of New York City — have been confirmed this year so far, with a growing number linked to international travel in the lower Hudson Valley since October, according to the department.

Cases have been confirmed in Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties in the Hudson Valley, as well as Suffolk and Ontario counties.

”Risk of inadvertent exposure across New York is increasing,” said Dr. James McDonald, health commissioner, in a statement. “Even one death from a preventable disease is tragic.”{/span}

The highly contagious disease has been spreading throughout parts of the U.S. and Canada for much of this year.

A total of 1,798 cases have been reported across the U.S. as of Nov. 26, and have resulted in 212 hospitalizations and three deaths, according to........

© The Leader Herald