The campaign by six candidates for two seats on the Marilla Town Board comes down to a debate about development and the need to change the political order.

Two candidates who were defeated in primaries still have the Conservative Party ballot line: incumbent Daniel Handy, 60, who owns 300 acres of farmland and hopes to build a golf course; and newcomer Joseph Lankes, 22, a Buffalo State College graduate who works for a man who has plans for a senior citizen housing project.

Lankes said his campaign is not associated with anything his boss wants to do.

“I’m just not sure if that’s such a great idea right now,” he said, adding: “I really haven’t seen what the plan looks like. You do need some growth, but you can’t have a ton all at once.”

The campaign also has been an opportunity for change: Democratic candidate Deborah Lerner serves on the board of Primary Challenge, a new organization she said is designed to promote candidates from outside the traditional political system.

Town Clerk Dawn Pearce, a member of the local Republican committee, said she also supported other noncommittee- endorsed candidates to try out in the primary. She helped get signatures for a petition to create a new party line— People’s Choice— to allow room for other names on the ballot. It was, she said, “the only way to make it fair for the voters to have a choice.”

The candidates are:

Lerner, 53, a Marilla native who won the Democratic primary and a saleswoman at Batavia Enclosures. If elected, she says she wants to find ways to preserve the town’s agricultural character and develop community activities to engage local teens. “I know that kids in agricultural areas have different needs,” she said.

Richard Rose, 63, a retired tractor- trailer driver who also won the Democratic primary. He says he wants to find ways to keep the town rural, support local farmers with government assistance, and study proposed developments to be sure they would be a financial advantage. “You’re not going to stop development. What you have to stop is cluster development,” he said. He cited the town’s $1.2 million surplus and low taxes, and said he wants to keep things that way.

Elizabeth Ackerman, 45, a Republican primary winner who says she also was frustrated by the limited candidate options. A physical therapist, she has lived in Marilla for four years. She says she wants to preserve the town’s agricultural character and limit development. “I want to make farming chic again,” she said. “Farming is such an integral part of Western New York. . . . We need to help these farmers remain viable.”

Donald Darrow, 71, the other Republican primary and a Xerox retiree. He founded the town’s annual summer car show and festival. If elected, he said he would work to clean up Marilla’s image, citing the former highway superintendent caught taking money and defrauding the town. “We’ve got a small group of citizens in Marilla that are now fighting to get some sanity back into the town,” he said. “I want to get back to a real transparent type of government.”

Lankes, who recently bought some land from his grandfather to resolve the issue of not being a local taxpayer. One day, he says he hopes to move out of his parents’ house and build his own.

Handy, who has a degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University and is finishing his first term on the board. Last summer, he voted for a zoning change to allow an 18-home development on 46 acres on Bullis Road, saying he believed it met the requirements of the comprehensive plan.