2026 New York General Election

Charlotte Smiseth has been a resident of the Town of Rochester her entire life and is a graduate of Rondout Valley High School. She is also a wife and mother. Charlotte is the Director of Operations and Grant Writer of the Rondout Valley Food Pantry and sits on their board.

Charlotte Smiseth

Charlotte Smiseth has lived in the Town of Rochester her entire life. She graduated from Rondout Valley High School. She is a wife and mother.

Charlotte Smiseth - Rochester NY

What else in your background has prepared you for the job of Highway Superintendent?

Before I was on the Town Board, I ran the Roundout Valley Food Pantry through the pandemic. I started as a general office manager there, and worked my way up to director of operations. I oversaw 8 of the 10 programs they had, and did all the logistics, such as deliveries and roadmapping. Prior to that, I was mostly in the restaurant or hospitality industry in management or supervisory roles.

Smiseth — Town of Rochester Democrats

Charlotte Smiseth works as director of operations and grant writer for the Rondout Valley Food Pantry. She previously worked as a general office manager at the food pantry and in management or supervisory roles in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

General 2 — Town of Rochester Democrats

Born and raised in the Town of Rochester, Charlotte Smiseth is a proud graduate of Rondout Valley and SUNY Ulster. She is a devoted mother, wife, and committed public servant, and a fierce believer in showing up for the place-and the people-we call home. Having served as a member of the Town Board since 2022, Charlotte is running for Highway Superintendent to:

* Restore financial integrity to our Highways Administration

* Institute the highest standards in budget & project management

* Enhance Road Safety for pedestrians and vehicles

* Encourage Advancement of Public Transportation

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Democratic incumbent Town Board members Charlotte Smiseth and Michael Coleman won second terms convincingly on Tuesday.

Charlotte Smiseth (Provided)

Smiseth received 1,379 votes. Coleman got 1,364. They defeated Conservative candidates Lene Fornino, who got 874 votes, and David Linscott, who got 807.

Town of Rochester: Smiseth, Coleman win reelection bids

Charlotte currently serves as a Town Board member. She has served since 2022 and was reelected to a second term in 2025.

Election 2026: Town of Rochester ballot has three contested races

My first priorities would be implementing a budget and project management process and a procurement process to get the best values available. When we're purchasing items, I would like to see us taking advantage of the best sales and the best value that we can get from different suppliers, not just certain corporations, or using mom-and-pops that are local to save on freight. I would also prioritize meeting with Jen Metzger regarding CHIPS, to obtain more funding for our eligible highway projects.

On the ballot for highway superintendent is Councilperson Charlotte Smiseth, on the Democratic and Working Families lines, and Richard Smith Jr. on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Smiseth, 32, is a lifetime resident of the town and in the middle of a second term as councilperson. She graduated from Rondout Valley High School in 2011.

Smiseth said the priority needs to be "getting things on a tighter maintenance schedule as far as the fleet and the actual road, really doing a deep audit on our procurement, our purchasing over the past 10 years and seeing where it’s going, and trying to uniform our fleet. Right now, we have a large mix of different trucks in our fleet, which makes ordering even harder to do."

Rochester ballot has three town races

If you are elected Highway Superintendent, what will be your priorities?

My first priorities would be implementing a budget and project management process and a procurement process to get the best values available. When we're purchasing items, I would like to see us taking advantage of the best sales and the best value that we can get from different suppliers, not just certain corporations, or using mom-and-pops that are local to save on freight. I would also prioritize meeting with Jen Metzger regarding CHIPS, to obtain more funding for our eligible highway projects.

Another priority of mine is to look into how we can support and encourage the advancement of our public transportation. We have over 100 road miles in our town, a lot of our residents don't own vehicles, and we don't have a lot of public transportation.

What is Bridge NY, and can you address why it is taking so long for bridges in town to get fixed?

Bridge NY is a state funding program that helps local governments fix and replace their bridges and culverts. When you have a large, capital project like that, you have to name a lead agency. Typically the lead agency would be the Highway Superintendent except for the grant funding portion, but starting before Erin Enouen's time in office, the Town Supervisor was listed as lead agency for the whole project.

It would be helpful for the workflow to have the Highway Department oversee the engineering, the bids, the specs. There would still be constraints based on the bids we get and when companies we need to work with are available. But more preventative things could be done before we get to the point that a bridge is undrivable. For example, a proper, proactive inspection schedule and regular reports to the Town Board.

It would be helpful for the workflow to have the Highway Department oversee the engineering, the bids, the specs. There would still be constraints based on the bids we get and when companies we need to work with are available. But more preventative things could be done before we get to the point that a bridge is undrivable. For example, a proper, proactive inspection schedule and regular reports to the Town Board.

Also, we need to be working with the county to make sure that we know when their projects are scheduled, so three bridges aren’t shut down at the same time as happened last summer.

Prioritizes seeking additional Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program funding for eligible highway projects.

Calls for tighter road and fleet maintenance schedules, an audit of procurement, and a more uniform vehicle fleet.

Proposes budget, project-management, and procurement processes to seek value from a range of suppliers, including local businesses.

Wants to explore ways to support and encourage expanded public transportation in the town.

Proposes having the Highway Department oversee bridge engineering, bids, and specifications, with proactive inspections and regular Town Board reports.

Calls for coordinating with the county on project schedules to avoid simultaneous bridge closures.

- Prioritizes seeking additional Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program funding for eligible highway projects.
- Calls for tighter road and fleet maintenance schedules, an audit of procurement, and a more uniform vehicle fleet.
- Proposes budget, project-management, and procurement processes to seek value from a range of suppliers, including local businesses.
- Wants to explore ways to support and encourage expanded public transportation in the town.
- Proposes having the Highway Department oversee bridge engineering, bids, and specifications, with proactive inspections and regular Town Board reports.
- Calls for coordinating with the county on project schedules to avoid simultaneous bridge closures.

Transportation & Infrastructure

- Proposes budget, project-management, and procurement processes to seek value from a range of suppliers, including local businesses.
- Wants to explore ways to support and encourage expanded public transportation in the town.
- Proposes having the Highway Department oversee bridge engineering, bids, and specifications, with proactive inspections and regular Town Board reports.
- Calls for coordinating with the county on project schedules to avoid simultaneous bridge closures.

Isaac Brickman

Buket Urgen

Richard Smith (Provided)

Smith, 33, is a lifetime resident of the town. He is owner of R. Smith Site Development. He earned a high school equivalency degree this year.

Richard Smith Jr. is a lifelong resident of the town of Rochester.

Richard Smith Jr. owns R. Smith Site Development.

Smith, 33, is a lifetime resident of the town. He is owner of R. Smith Site Development. He earned a high school equivalency degree this year.

"I believe the budget’s been mismanaged for the last 10 years or so," he said. "It has led to poor maintenance of all of our roadways and our ditches...I don’t know where or how it was spent but from living here and driving these roads every single day of my life I can be sure that there’s not the best of equipment and there’s some roads that really need to be addressed."

Said Rochester's highway budget has been mismanaged for about a decade, resulting in poor road and ditch maintenance and roads in need of attention.

- Said Rochester's highway budget has been mismanaged for about a decade, resulting in poor road and ditch maintenance and roads in need of attention.

New York Superintendent of Highways, Rochester

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Transportation & Infrastructure