Christopher P. St. Lawrence is a man who carries himself with the confidence of a man of experience; a leader tested by inheriting the fallout of the poor decisions made by those who came before him, attacked by those who can’t explain the workings of town government, and through it all, persevered and made Ramapo a nationally recognized town and a model for local governments across the nation.

St. Lawrence starts his days off early in the morning, when most Ramapo residents have just begun to prepare for the day ahead. Most days, he pulls into the parking lot outside Town Hall before 8 in the morning, which is completely empty when he shows up for work. Throughout the day, he holds meetings inside and outside his office, and is often seen around town making sure important projects are worked on. At night, he’s still at work, rarely coming home before 9 or 10 PM, and works past midnight sometimes on the nights the town board meets.

After winning 6 elections in the last 13 years, Ramapo Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence will be running yet again- not once, but twice- this Tuesday, as he is running in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for supervisor. In both instances, he faces challengers from the Preserve Ramapo organization: Bruce Levine, who is running in the Democratic Primary, and Robert Romanowski, who is running in the Republican Primary.

The historic nature of this election cannot be overestimated. It has been 26 years since there was a Democratic Primary for a town wide position, and far longer since the town had a Republican primary.

Christopher P. St. Lawrence was born and raised in Ramapo, and as he says, “watched this town grow from a town of 10,000 to a town of 125,000 people.”

While he grew up actively involved in politics, the future supervisor won his first election in 1997, to the Rockland County Legislature. He was re-elected in 1999 to the legislature, and became supervisor in 2000, after the passing of Supervisor Herb Reisman. He was then elected to the position in 2001, and was re-elected in 2003, 2005, and 2007.

When he first became supervisor, Christopher P. St. Lawrence faced the task of dealing with numerous debts incurred by the town government. Through open space purchases and acquisitions, as well as working on adding new parks to the town, enough revenue was brought in to pay off the debts and work on improving town services and activities.

St. Lawrence is proud of the accomplishments of his administration, and can speak at a moment’s notice about what the successes of his tenure were. The financial accomplishments are the most obvious, as this year, the town had a zero percent tax increase, making Ramapo one of only a few municipalities in the country not to raise taxes this year.

The fact that taxes weren’t raised during the current economic crisis is a testament to sound policy, according to St. Lawrence. “I worked for many years to put this town on a solid financial footing by never misusing taxpayer funds and instituting fiscal policies that got Ramapo out of debt and earned us the highest bond rating of any town in Rockland,” he said, adding, “Our bond rating is even higher than Rockland County itself.”

Public safety is another issue that the St. Lawrence administration can hang their hat on. From the time he took office, Supervisor St. Lawrence focused on improving the Ramapo Police Department. During his time as supervisor, Ramapo’s crime rate dropped consistently to the point that it was declared to be the “Safest Town in America,” according to FBI statistics.

Big picture issues aren’t the only thing St Lawrence spends his day on. The Maple Avenue construction project was an important project to the supervisor, who managed and planned every step of the multi-year project, which finished months earlier than expected.

St. Lawrence has also worked on projects outside of the town’s jurisdiction. When the village of Spring Valley spent years on the Union Road bridge project and still didn’t get the project completed, he went into the village and pushed those involved to get back to work, which they ultimately did just a few days after he got involved. As a result of his actions, the project will likely be done in about a month.

Another term for St. Lawrence will bring even more progress and accomplishments.

“I’m going to continue to work on infrastructure and the beautification of this town,” said the supervisor. One of his goals is to turn the Drive-In near Pathmark in Monsey into a “Village Green,” and create residential and commercial properties on it and turn it into something he believes “will make everyone in Ramapo proud and even safer.”

“I’m going to continue to maintain the quality of life our residents have and protect people’s home values,” St. Lawrence promised. An independent look at property values actually showed that contrary to St. Lawrence’s opponents, who insist that development has hurt Ramapo’s property values more than any other areas, Ramapo’s property values have fallen only an average of 8% over the last year, which marked one of the biggest declines in real estate values in years across the country. On average, home values all across Rockland County fell more than twice as much as Ramapo, and in Orangetown, they fell over 23% over the same time period.

Speaking about his opponents in the upcoming primaries, Supervisor St. Lawrence made clear the differences between them. “I actually have a record of accomplishments, and all my opponents have is rhetoric and empty promises,” he said.

Supervisor Christopher P. St. Lawrence has already built up a plethora of support, earning the endorsements of the Independence, Conservative, and Working Families parties. On Tuesday, he is being challenged in both the Democratic and Republican primaries, and has been endorsed by numerous community leaders and elected officials on all levels of government, including Congressman Eliot Engel.