Stuart deCamp of Thendara has announced he is running as an Independent candidate for Supervisor of the Town of Webb in the November general election.Assessing waste, reducing spending and living within our means are at the top of his list of priorities if elected Supervisor, he said.Born and raised in Thendara, he is a 1982 graduate of the Town of Webb School, a graduate of SUNY Fredonia College, and The Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain, where he studied the Spanish language and taught the English language. He is also a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Management.In 1987, he was hired by F. Eugene Romano of Old Forge and Utica to work at his Resort Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he was responsible for the daily operations and for supervising 155 employees, which included staff and union workers in Reservations, Food and Beverage, Purchasing, Security, Pool and Human Resources. He was also in charge of a $44 million refurbishing project and was responsible for coordinating architects, engineers, designers, imports and exports, contractors and supplies, with full control of all construction materials and payments to contractors based on contract agreements. When the year-long project was completed in 1990, he continued to oversee various departments for quality and hospitality.He was assistant general manager of the hotel when he was called home in 1996 to care for his ailing father. At that time he was hired by Tricor Management in New Hartford, which completed a multi-million dollar home renovation over the next three years.In 1998 he earned his Insurance and Securities licenses, which he still holds today as an Independent Broker. He and his partner, Jimi Ortiz, are co-owners of three businesses in Thendara: Moose River House Bed and Breakfast, Feathers and Boughs, Inc. Pet Centers, and the Thendara Town Hall Wedding and Events Center.“I firmly believe my abilities to operate a 238 room Resort Hotel and Casino, 365 days a year, seven days a week, overseeing hundreds of employees, staff and cost controls, while being hospitable to guests and one another, gives me the unique ability to operate the Town of Webb, with its diverse needs and personalities,” he said.Since returning to Thendara and Old Forge 15 years ago, he has been involved in various construction projects. “I’ve worked with the Zoning Board, the Planning Board and the Codes Department getting projects done, and I feel that the town works very hard, but it could use additional help, and I think I can help the town significantly. “Having run hotels, casinos, restaurants and bars, I think that I could benefit the community as a whole, because we are a tourist community and all of us, whether we want to admit it or not, need tourism.”Old Forge and Thendara used to be a lumber town, he said, until it reinvented itself into a tourist and second home destination. “Now we are at a place where we need to ask: what can we do to better expose what we have to offer?”He has heard comments, he said, from people who are concerned about taxes and where the taxes are going in the next few years. “I want to get involved and help in any way that I can. There are many people in this community on fixed incomes who have lived here for 25 or 30 years who say, ‘Why all of a sudden am I taxed out when I’m 65 or 70 years old?’ That’s not fair. It’s just not fair,” said deCamp.“It’s a huge challenge, but every problem has a solution. You just have to work at it until you find the solution that works best for everyone. I have the energy to do it. I have the know-how, and I hope the community likes what they know about me and will support me for the position of Town Supervisor.deCamp is running on the Independent party line, “Voice of the People.”