Fornario: 'I'm for the people, not the party'

GOSHEN — Frank Fornario is a Republican, but he's liberal with his home-baked cookies.

He's known for his friendly chats with the public — sometimes at Blooming Grove town hall, where he's the supervisor, and sometimes at a popular local deli. He also hosts "The Fornario Scenario" on WTBQ Radio. He likes to talk about what he calls the "Three Big E's" — education, economics, and ethics — while passing around chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes oatmeal raisin.

Now he's challenging fellow Republican and Blooming Grove resident Nancy Calhoun for her seat in the New York State Assembly. Goshen Mayor Kyle Roddey, another Republican, is also competing for the GOP ballot line. But Fornario says that, in these days of unfunded mandates and school aid cuts, he's the best choice to get the job done because of his extensive experience with state authorities on both sides of the political aisle.

"While I'm registered as a Republican, I'll put it on the line for all of the people," he said.

He decided on a life of public service when he was only 19 years old. He taught for 37 years, and has served as county legislator and town supervisor. His legislative experience gave him insight into the larger issues, he said, and a good rapport with county and state leaders.

He pointed to his numerous accomplishments in the legislature that called for bi-partisan efforts. He's forged partnerships to protect the watershed, and with Democrat Roxanne Donnery of Woodbury protested the Kiryas Joel pipeline. He's done battle with county Executive Ed Diana to get an inspector general to oversee ethics and spending, and over the disposition of Valley View nursing home.

He's also bumped heads with Calhoun, which lost him the support of some Republican Party heads while he campaigned for supervisor. Nevertheless, he won by a large majority on the Common Sense Party line. This time, he hopes to win Calhoun's job under the Republican umbrella. He is running as a fiscal conservative, confident he can cut costs by streamlining government.

"We are in a hostile political environment, but no political party has a monopoly on good ideas," Fornario said. "Most people really want to do the right thing. They just question, what is the right path?"

On his list His favorite projects include benefits for veterans, tax relief, watershed protection, and mental health services. While in the legislature he worked to reduce burial fees for veterans. He worked to get permission for the Heritage Trail crossing that had presented a stumbling block when the Chester Academy was being built. He fought to get a pedestrian sign for downtown Goshen that allows for safe crossing. He established the county dog park, calling it "some of the best money we ever spent."

After last year's tornado, hurricane and tropical storm, he worked in cooperation with South Blooming Grove and Washingtonville officials to quickly repair two bridges and make a vast array of repairs.

Other tasks on his priority list include sharing services with Washingtonville to decrease costs, and, at the state level, enticing people and businesses to stay in Orange County and the state. For one thing, he said, a consortium of towns is looking into getting better deals through shared purchasing.

He said he's proud of the efficiency of Blooming Grove's planning board when working on the expansive Mediacom headquarters on Museum Village Road. As a result, he said, this very rural community finally has a significant commercial rateable property to help offset taxes. And he's been working to get Mountco, which is developing the former Camp LaGuardia property in Chester and Blooming Grove, to reduce the number of residences it plans to build "by hundreds" in return for more commercial/office development at the site.

Fornario is married to Patricia Fornario, with whom he raised five children. He assures his Blooming Grove neighbors that "I'll still be here," even if he's elected to the Assembly. "I'm not going anywhere."

And he's writing a book, "Life, Love and Chocolate Chip Cookies." When he finally gets to sit down with Governor Cuomo, he said, he'll offer him his chocolate chip cookies along with his ideas.

"And he'll realize at once that they're not half-baked," he said.

The Republican state primary is Sept. 11.