The city of Oneonta mayoral race is heating up as Election Day inches closer, with two candidates vying for the position at the city’s head.
Dan Buttermann, who is running as a Democrat and an independent, works in the insurance business and attended the University of Arizona, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music performance. He later received a master’s in business administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Luisa Montanti, who is running under the Republican Party, is the manager of the Southside Mall in Oneonta. After graduating from Oneonta High School, she attended SUNY Oneonta for one year studying business management while working for JCPenney. In 1988, Montanti said, there was an opportunity for growth within the company, and she completed training through JCPenney rather than continuing her college education.
She said she chose the most “practical route,” and it was one of the best decisions she ever made.
After moving to Oneonta in 2011, Buttermann was involved with community bands, meeting other people who were musically engaged. He served on the Oneonta City School District Board of Education and ran for the state assembly in 2018, 2020 and 2022. Though his campaigns were unsuccessful, Buttermann said he learned a lot about community affairs.
Additionally, Buttermann co-founded TedX Oneonta and served on the town of Oneonta Planning Board for two years.
“My qualifications (are) being able to bridge the gap between a diverse cross section of people to try to bring the best of what they have to offer forward,” Buttermann said. “By doing so, you make something of value for the community.”
In local politics, party affiliation should not hold much weight, Montanti said. The national government has alienated people, she added, and she does not want to see those patterns present in Oneonta. Montanti said she is “unified for all.”
“We’re humans, and we have to love one another,” Montanti said. “We have to work together or else we won’t succeed. We won’t. I’m done thinking that we are silos, and it is one party against the other.”
Her main passion for Oneonta, Montanti said, is that she does not want it to fail. She added that she sits on a few human support services related boards, and she has learned that one of the biggest things people can do to be successful is to collaborate.
Buttermann said Oneonta is having trouble competing with other New York cities. Between the 2010 census and the 2020 census, he said Oneonta lost people, contributing to a decrease of almost 5,000 people in the county.
There are several things the city should address to reverse the trend, Butterman said, and bring more people into the community. Tourism and education contribute heavily to the city’s economy, Buttermann said, and the city can partner with organizations attracting people into the area through these pathways.
SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, for instance, have growth goals to reach a recovery level following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If that number goes up in 2030, then that would be an indicator to me that we’re going in the right direction, that we are answering the questions correctly as far as meeting the housing needs, meeting the economic development needs and meeting the needs of every person in this community that needs to be met,” Buttermann said.
Buttermann and Montanti both addressed the proposed affordable housing development on River Street by Rehabilitative Support Services, Inc. It has drawn some backlash from people within the community, especially its Sixth Ward, while gaining support from other community members as well.
Though he acknowledged it is still in the planning phase, Buttermann said he believes the RSS project will be a “net positive” for the community. He added that RSS has modified the plan since the project was first proposed in 2019, addressing some community concerns, which he sees as “good neighbor behavior.”
Montanti said she is not for or against the project, but is concerned about the transparency of the process.
While Montanti said she had apprehensions regarding the proposal that some of the units would be for people who are severely mentally ill, and the city needs to have a clearer idea of what RSS’s plans are for the housing development.
“If we want to build a silo of low income, we want to build Oneonta to be a low-income city, we are facing a detrimental future where you have tourists that are coming in or families that come back to visit family that are seriously upset about the experience they have when they walk on Main Street and the lack of services that are available,” Montanti said.
One of her biggest concerns, Montanti said, is restoring the “integrity of City Hall,” ensuring transparency at all levels. She said if community members are concerned they need to be heard, adding that another one of her main focuses is “reuniting Oneonta.”
Fiscal responsibility also is important, she said, and the city should refrain from spending down its budget. She added that she has operated more than $30 billion worth of sales and profits in her experience.
Revitalizing the process for people to get downtown, where there is vast opportunity for arts and entertainment, is another priority, Montanti said.
“That is the heart and soul of Main Street and Oneonta,” Montanti said.
Building an arts and entertainment district and filling Main Street with more businesses would help to would draw more people to the area, she said.
Buttermann agreed that downtown is another source for improvement and opportunity. He said opening up the Oneonta Theater again could bring more people downtown, and it could be available year round.
Both Buttermann and Montanti agreed that initiatives like implementing paid parking or installing turf at Damaschke field, which Mayor Mark Drnek proposed at a recent Common Council meeting, should not be an immediate priority. Montanti said the city needs to “put a pause on all fluff projects.”
Buttermann said he believes he and Drnek are thinking along the same wavelength in making improvements to the city to attract more people, including tourists, but he is not sure if the baseball field is the best place for the investment.
Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta also both offer pathways for growth, Buttermann said, with the SUNY Oneonta ExCL Center and Hartwick’s Baking Innovation Lab, both located in the city.
“Those are good things because they build good connections with the community, but they also provide opportunities for continued learning for their students,” Buttermann said.
Buttermann and Montanti are set to debate Tuesday, Oct. 28, beginning around 8 p.m., at the Foothills Performing Arts Center Oneonta Candidate Forum.