After ten years of service, Deputy Mayor Paul Brooks stepped down from his village trustee position at a Village of Cazenovia board meeting April 6.
“It’s been a distinct pleasure serving the community,” said Brooks.
Mayor Tom Dougherty expressed his appreciation for Brooks’s time on the board.
“Paul has been a great trustee,” Mayor Tom Dougherty said. “We will miss his hard work and dedication in the village of Cazenovia.”
Brooks, who works as the director of the Syracuse Technology Garden, decided in late March that increasing responsibilities and demands in his full-time job left inadequate time for him to commit to the village board.
“I finally came to the realization that I don’t have time to do the job effectively because of the demands of my full-time day job,” he said.
Village Trustee Kurt Wheeler was appointed as deputy mayor.
Dougherty filled the position of police commissioner.
Brooks’s open position on the board was filled by Richard Huftalen. Huftalen is owner and president of McIntosh Box and Pallette Company and a Cazenovia Forum board member.
Huftalen also assumed the position of commissioner of fire.
Brooks expressed confidence in Huftalen.
“I think it’s a great choice. He’s young, he’s got the energy, he’s bright,” Brooks said.
The village board accomplished much during Brooks’s tenure. Over the past ten years, Brooks said, the bathhouse at Lakeland Park was built, a new memorial in Memorial Park was built and the board finalized a compromised solution for the Lakeside Park boat launch.
Brooks was proud of these accomplishments and of the village police and fire departments.
“The police department and fire department I think are among the best village departments in the state,” he said.
Brooks was first elected to the village board in 1998.
