GUILDERLAND — There are more than nine months to go before the next town election, and speculation is already running high in Guilderland.

Supervisor Kenneth Runion, a Democrat, is currently serving his eighth two-year term, and there have been rumblings that he will not be running again.

Brian Forte, retired Guilderland Police officer and current town board member, told The Enterprise on Tuesday that he was “definitely considering” making a run for supervisor, after serving as a councilman for four years.

Runion, he said, had “pretty much come out and said he wouldn’t run again,” but, Runion, a lawyer, told The Enterprise this week he hadn’t made a decision yet, and probably wouldn’t until the spring.

Forte was arrested by state police on Dec. 12 in Herkimer County for operating a snowmobile while intoxicated, but, he said, he did not think the arrest would be an obstacle to his campaign, should he definitely decide to run.

At a televised town board meeting on Tuesday, Forte addressed the residents of Guilderland, apologizing for the incident, and explaining the circumstances.

Forte said he had been snowmobiling with friends and stopped to get some food, during which he had a couple of drinks. As he was snowmobiling back to a camp, he slid on the ice and hit a tree.

Police and emergency services were called as a precaution, he said, although he did not suffer any injuries. He agreed to take a breath test for alcohol, which registered positive, indicating the drinks had affected him more than he thought.

“It was a stupid mistake,” said Forte. “I am embarrassed and I can promise it will never happen again.”

He said he was thankful for the support he had received in the month since the arrest.

Asked what would influence his final decision on whether to run for supervisor, Forte said, “Well, Ken influences it a lot — he’d be a big hurdle to jump over.”

Kathy Burbank, the former executive director of the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce and briefly of the Community Caregivers, declined to comment on speculation that she would make a run for supervisor.

“It is too early for me to say anything,” said Burbank, noting that, if she did decide to run, The Enterprise would be the first to know.

Burbank confirmed that she had left her position at Community Caregivers at the beginning of January, after serving as director of the organization for 15 months. She had left the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce to head Community Caregivers.

She declined to comment on her reason for leaving Community Caregivers, but Edna Mae Reilly, the president of the board of directors, said Burbank had left to “pursue something else.”

Reilly said the not-for-profit organization, which harnesses volunteers to help the elderly and ailing stay in their homes, was accepting applications for the vacant position, and did not plan to “skip a beat” in the services it provides in the meantime.

Burbank said she thought she had accomplished a lot in her year with Community Caregivers, especially because the year happened to be the organization’s 20th anniversary.

“It kind of fell into my lap that it ended up being that way,” she said.

Burbank helped organize a fundraising appeal to the public, a volunteer recognition event, a neighbors-helping-neighbors day, and she ended the year with the annual gala.

“I think it was a very successful year,” she said.

Mark Grimm, a Republican and former Guilderland Town Board member, had a close run against Runion in 2013.

Runion won the race by a margin of 53 percent, or 583 votes.

Grimm, owner of a communications businessm said he is “seriously considering” another run in 2015, and has gotten a lot of encouragement.

Grimm said he had heard that Runion would not be completing his full term as supervisor and would be stepping down, but Runion said, this week, that was untrue and he didn’t “know where that rumor came from.”

“I haven’t officially decided yet because I need to make sure that, if I do run, I can go all in,” said Grimm. “I usually start campaigning a lot earlier than most people, so I will make a decision soon.”

He said the Guilderland Republican Committee, now headed by Douglas Breakell, had recently met, and was feeling optimistic about its chances in the upcoming year.

Currently, all elected town offices are held by Democrats, except for the highway superintendent; Steve Oliver is a Republican.

As for how Runion will make his final decision, he said, “I’ve been here for 16 years, that’s a long duration. I’m getting older. I’m a grandparent now. There are other things I want to do.”