Candidate Profile: Fulgenzi Seeks 5th Term In 2021

MOUNT PLEASANT, NY - In 2021's general election, residents of the Hudson Valley will be voting for local officials. In anticipation, Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Mount Pleasant Town Supervisor Carl Fulgenzi is seeking re-election in November. He is being challenged by Democrat Joseph A. Bonanno, Jr.

He owned and operated Pleasantville-based Fulgenzi Plumbing & Heating for 42 years until his retirement in 2014. A founding board member of what is now the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce, he served on the Mount Pleasant Town Board for 12 years before becoming Town Supervisor in 2014. The 67-year-old is Secretary of the Thornwood Lions Club and Chairman of the Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Agency.

Learn more about him on his campaign website.

Check out Patch's full Q&A with Carl Fulgenzi:

Why are you seeking elective office?

Being born and raised here, I’ve been involved in this community since a very young age. My father was a Police Officer who moved up the ranks to become Chief and then Commissioner, so community service was instilled in me early on. Service is my passion and I love our community. In my years of serving Mount Pleasant, we’ve made countless improvements that can be seen and felt by residents now and later, with many more in progress and I want to see them through.

The single most pressing issue facing our town is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Well, we tackled a lot of them, but seeing the progress of our downtowns and making sure businesses can thrive is very important to me. I’ve been Chairman of the Board of the Mount Pleasant IDA since 1989, which promotes local business growth. The money we’ve accumulated will be reinvested into the community to help with streetscape projects like sidewalks, plantings, and roadwork throughout the hamlets and villages.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

The biggest differentiator is community involvement and knowledge of how municipal government works. I love my job, but it’s a huge role to take on without any prior experience representing our town. Because of my experience, I have a deep knowledge of construction trades and the inner workings of government. Town Supervisor is not a position that you walk into on January 1st and start running the town. It takes involvement - when I was on the Town Board, I was in Town Hall constantly learning everything I could so I wasn’t shocked and knew what to do to move forward.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Compared to other municipalities, I think we handled the coronavirus exceptionally well. We followed all CDC and health department guidelines by allowing employees to rotate hours so we had limited personnel in the office at a given time. Because of that policy and our financial accountability, nobody lost their job or was furloughed. The Town of Mount Pleasant government never closed - we kept records of who came in and checked temperature, enforced mask policy, and secured all offices so that we could communicate through windows instead of in the office. Though we had to cut back on some senior programs, our senior nutrition programs stayed in place so those who needed it could still eat without being at risk.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Controlling taxes, providing the best services, supporting our work staff who serve our community, providing senior housing, and controlling the tax base without overdevelopment.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

To listen...when people need to talk, just listen. Our residents are reasonable people and often, they just want to be heard. You don’t always have to solve their problem - and sometimes we can’t - but you have to listen and do your best.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Although I haven’t taken a real vacation in seven years, it’s not just me, it’s the people I work with and am surrounded with that make this town what it is. I have an excellent, dedicated Town Board - they’re not just here to fill a spot. They really believe in what they do and have their heart and soul in it. My job is easier because of them and our staff, including our Police Department, which I believe is the finest around. I believe we have the best people who want to do what’s right for the community and I'm proud to be on their team.