About Charles
From resident, to advocate, to candidate
I'm Charles Kangethe. I did not set out to run for office. I set out to find out what was being built behind my house — and I kept showing up until residents were part of the decision.
I've spent my career in corporate management roles, where accountability, planning and transparency are not optional. Budgets must balance. Decisions must be explained. Leaders are responsible for long-term outcomes, not short-term pressure.
Alongside that work I'm a part-time real estate agent, which gives me a first-hand view of how town decisions affect property values, traffic, infrastructure and quality of life. And I'm a husband and a father — which is really why any of this matters to me.
How this happened
The path to this campaign
- Before 2024
A resident like any other
Living in Wawayanda, working in corporate management, selling real estate part-time, raising a family. Not involved in town politics.
- August 2024
A hearing notice arrived
My neighbors and I learned the Town was considering a nearly 400,000 square foot warehouse to be built abutting our back yards. Within ten days we formed Save Wawayanda Inc. and filled the town hall with residents questioning the project and the engineering and environmental reviews that should have been conducted.
- August 2024
Speaking publicly
News 12 quoted me discussing the warehouse boom and my concern about its cumulative effects on this community — not one project in isolation, but what all of them together would do to our roads, water and character.
- 2024 – 2026
Sustained advocacy
Save Wawayanda engaged on the Amazon warehouse project of 3.2 million square feet, the Marangi waste facility site and other large industrial plans — making sure they weren't rushed and were evaluated openly. I learned to read complex development proposals, ask tough fact-based questions and manage competing interests respectfully.
- August 26, 2026
Still showing up
I spoke publicly at the Planning Board hearing concerning the waste facility — the same work, in the same room, that started two years earlier.
- November 3, 2026
On the ballot for Town Supervisor
Advocating from the audience has limits. As Supervisor I can make sure residents are informed early and decisions are explained — before the plans are already underway.
What it taught me
Informed residents make better decisions possible
When residents are informed early and decision-making is transparent, outcomes are better and trust is preserved.
That is the core lesson of the last two years, and it is the standard I will bring to Town Hall: planning before approval, transparency from the start, respect for residents and property owners, and decisions grounded in long-term impact rather than pressure.
If this is the kind of leadership you want, help me get there
A town of about 7,687 people can be reached door by door — but only with people and resources behind it.