Schuylerville votes for new mayor
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. >> Democrat Dan Carpenter heads a new team on the Schuylerville Village Board after defeating Republican Jason Young, 174-143, on Tuesday in the race for mayor.
He succeeds longtime Republican Mayor John Sherman, who is retiring from the $6,000-per-year post.
Carpenter, an incumbent trustee, also ran on the Vision for the Village line along with Nicole Proctor and Bryan Drew, the top two vote-getters in a threeway race for two trustee’s seats currently held by Jim Miers and Whitney Colvin. Colvin did not run for another term.
Proctor and Drew got 267 and 199 votes, respectively, to outpoll Miers, the incumbent, who garnered 116 votes.
Carpenter, Proctor and Drew will be sworn in April 1.
“One of my top priorities will be to engage the citizenry a little more,” said Carpenter, 39, who works for Planned Parenthood as statewide political director. “For Schuylerville to be successful, we need to engage the community and business leaders. The Schuylerville Small Business Association has a lot of wonderful goals it wants to accomplish.”
However, one of Carpenter’s first jobs will be appointing someone to fill the remaining two years on his four-year trustee’s term. He plans to start seeking resumes from interested persons in the near future, with hopes of appointing someone at the next village board meeting April 12.
To stay in office, this person must run in a special election next March for the final year of Carpenter’s trustee term.
Trustees are paid $2,500 per year.
The board’s future political makeup could be quite interesting.
Although Proctor and Drew ran with Carpenter on the Vision for the Village line, Proctor is also a Republican while Drew is a Democrat. Trustee Robert Petralia is the lone GOP holdover on the board. So there will be two Democrats (Carpenter, Drew) and two Republicans (Proctor, Petralia).
Carpenter said his appointment for the vacant trustee’s position will not be based on party politics.
“Party politics at the village level really don’t apply,” he said. “Everyone is just out to do the best they can for the community. Consensus building is one of the most important aspects of being an elected official.”
Carpenter said he wants trustees to have a more active role in running the village. Toward that end, he said he plans to form more working committees aimed at carrying out various community improvement projects. Village elections were held throughout Saratoga County on Tuesday.
In Stillwater, Judy Wood-Zeno was the top write-in vote getter for the $6,000-per-year trustee’s job currently held by Tim Campbell, who did not seek re-election. No one filed petitions to be on the ballot for the election, which had seven other write-in candidates. Wood-Zeno got 24 votes, three more than Laura Berlingieri, the next closest candidate, who had 27. Incumbent Trustee Eunice Marshall, who ran unopposed, got 57 votes.
In a public referendum, residents overwhelmingly approved, 60-9, moving village elections from March to November.
This will save the village money because Saratoga County pays for November elections, Mayor Rick Nelson said. Unless there’s a resignation from the village board, requiring a special election, the next village election won’t be until November 2019 when the mayor’s and two trustee’s jobs will be decided.
In South Glens Falls, former Moreau Supervisor Harry Gutheil narrowly won a three-way race for mayor, defeating incumbent Joseph Orlow, 290260, and Brigid Martin who received 43 votes.
Gutheil is a Republican, Orlow ran on an independent “Just Vote” party line and Martin is a Democrat.
In a three-way race for two trustee’s jobs, incumbent Anthony Girard and fellow Republican Nicholas Bodkin outpolled Green Party candidate Christine Elms. Bodkin was the top vote-getter (439), followed by Girard (380) and Elms (244). In Victory, Mayor Patrick Dewey and Trustee Tim Healy, both incumbents, ran unopposed.
Trustees Heidi Parker and Thomas Bergin ran unopposed in Round Lake, and Mayor William Hyde and Trustee Phyllis Ryan ran unopposed in Galway.