After serving four two-year terms as mayor of Liverpool, Marlene Ward has decided against running for a fifth term in this year’s June 16 village election.
She plans to officially announce her decision at the monthly meeting of the village board of trustees at 7 p.m. Monday Feb. 23, at the Village Hall, 310 Sycamore St.
{Q}”I think it’s time,”{Q} she said last week.
Ward, a Republican, was first elected mayor on June 20, 2001, when she defeated Democratic candidate and former Mayor Jon Zappola by a vote of 389 to 172. She ran three more times, each time unopposed, in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Before becoming mayor, Ward had served for seven years as a village trustee and four years as deputy mayor under then-Mayor Jim Farrell. She had also worked for eight years as Liverpool Village Court clerk, helped establish the Senior Nutrition Center at Salina Town Hall and has served on the boards of the Liverpool Public Library, YMCA, Humane Association of CNY and Liverpool Little League.
She was sworn in as Liverpool’s 13th mayor, its first-ever female mayor, on July 1, 2001. Her parents, Ed and Margaret Black who have since passed on, held the Bible as Ward took the oath of office.
Ward, who is in her early-70s, is married to former Salina Town Supervisor Richard “Ace” Ward, and the couple resides at 309 Fourth St.
During her eight years as mayor, the village has accomplished several major projects including a much-needed overhaul of the sanitary sewer system, the adoption of a comprehensive master plan, renovations to Johnson and Washington parks, cemetery improvements and significant street-scaping in the village business district.
In 2002 when Wal-Mart announced its intention to locate a supercenter on Route 57, Ward sprung into action. She lobbied hard against the proposal, chaired public hearings on the subject, wrote letters to town, county and state officials, and in 2006 Ward and the village sued the Salina Town Planning Board, charging that the planners were failing to protect town residents who live in the village from the adverse effects of the traffic increase which a supercenter would cause.
The Article 78 court case was never fully resolved because Wal-Mart dropped its Route 57 development plans in April 2008.
On the lighter side, Ward and her husband mixed village business with pleasure in 2003 when they celebrated their Oct. 10 wedding anniversary by visiting Liverpool, England. There Mayor Ward solidified the village’s “sister city” relationship with the British port city at an afternoon tea with Lord Mayor Ron Gould.
Who will follow Ward as Liverpool’s mayor? Chances are it will be another Republican because the Democratic Party has failed to field a candidate in any village election since 2001.
Last year, however, Republican Anthony LaValle waged a successful independent campaign for village Justice against GOP nominee George Alessio.
Joe Ostuni Jr., chairman of the village Republican Party, said this year’s GOP Caucus will be scheduled between April 21 and April 28. No one has yet approached him about seeking the candidacy, Ostuni said Sunday, “but I’ve been talking with the trustees.”
The four trustees, all Republicans, are Deputy Mayor Gary White, Jim Rosier, Nick Kochan and Dennis Hebert.
“But any registered Republicans in the village are eligible to run for office in our caucus,” Ostuni said. Interested candidates should contact him at 457
