Minoa — On Tuesday, March 15, the village of Minoa will hold elections for the seats of mayor and two trustee positions. All candidates this year are running in uncontested races, with William Brazill seeking the mayoral seat and incumbent village trustees John Abbott and Eric Christensen seeking reelection unopposed.
Brazill, currently serving as deputy mayor, is seeking the position of mayor following the announcement from current mayor Richard Donovan to retire after 26 years on the village board, including 12 years as mayor. Brazill served as Acting Minoa Village Justice 10 years before deciding to run for a village trustee position, where he has served for the past 14 years.
Incumbent village trustees Eric Christensen and John Abbott will also seek reelection. Christensen has served as a village trustee since 2010, filling the vacancy of Ed Theobald when he was elected supervisor in the town of Manlius. Abbott is owner of Abbott’s Catering and has been involved in the Minoa Fire Department for more than 30 years, serving as board member, president and vice president.
The terms for mayor and trustee are both four years. Minoa village elections will be held from noon to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15 at the village offices, 240 N. Main St. in Minoa.
All three candidates have answered profile questions submitted to them by the Eagle Bulletin. Their responses are below:
William F. Brazill
Position seeking:
Mayor
Local political party affiliation:
Trust Party (Independent Petition)
Political experience:
24 years total — 10 years as acting village justice, 14 years on the Village of Minoa Board (Deputy Mayor 12 years)
Education:
SUNY Cortland, OCC
Work experience/organizations involved with:
Outside sales representative, NES Rentals 17 years. Construction Equipment.
ESM Youth Sports (12 years, four years as president), four years as president of ESM Sports Booster Club, member of Board of Managers for the East Area YMCA (2005-2013), member of NYCOM (14 years), member of Onondaga County Mayors Association (14 years), ESM Athletic Hall of Fame Committee (6 years), Town of Manlius Critical Response Committee, Town of Manlius Emergency Service Committee, and various committees for the ESM School District.
continued — How long have you lived in Minoa?
49 years
Why do you decide to seek the position as mayor of Minoa?
I moved to Minoa when I was eight years old and I just always have loved this village. Most of my adult life I have been dedicated to the community and raising my family in the village of Minoa. It is such a wonderful feeling to give back to this village. We have a great quality of life that we have been able to maintain and I’m just so excited to keep Minoa moving forward. Many issues that will affect our village in the next four years, needs someone that will be able to understand and resolve the problems that we will face. I feel with my experience, knowledge of our community and local and state government I’m the perfect person to be mayor of our village.
What do you believe is one of the biggest problems the village of Minoa currently faces? How will you address these issues?
There are many issues that are facing Minoa and all municipalities in Onondaga County. I will have a great team working together to go forward and address the issues. We will continue securing grants from all possible sources to bring revenue to the community for improvements, continue to work on our state of the art wastewater treatment plant, along with our CERF (Cleanwater Education Research Facility) we will find ways to become self-sufficient while closely managing the village’s expenses to offset the ever increasing burden we face from the state and the county.
What are your views of the consolidation of local government?
I would like to first say I commend the committee who worked for 18 months to gather the information that makes up the Consensus Report. There are a lot of great ideas that came out of the report that could and in some cases have been implemented. Inter-municipal cooperation goes a long way in containing the costs to run a village. However, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Villages are the closest government to the people. People choose to live in different areas for different reasons and are willing to pay for those services and the quality of life that they receive.
continued — What will be your top priority in your first term as mayor?
We will find ways to continue to grow as a community and maintain all of our services. Continue to work on growth in our new community, Minoa Farms. Support and funding for the Minoa Volunteer Fire Department and the Minoa Ambulance, to make sure they have the best equipment and highest level of training available. Continue expanding our CERF program with ESM Central School District and ESF. I will continue to keep the lines of communication open to all of our residents through the Minoa News, the village web site, Twitter and coming soon, “Pizza with the Mayor.”
John Abbott
Position seeking:
Village trustee
Local political party affiliation:
Independent
Political experience:
I have been on the Minoa Village Board for the past four years. I was also the vice president of the Minoa Fire Department for eight years, and the president for one year. I have been on the Minoa Fire Department board for over 10 years.
Education:
Graduate of East Syracuse Minoa High School, class of 1979; bachelor’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in 1986.
Work experience/organizations involved with:
I have experience as an executive chef in country clubs and hotels in various states such as Alabama, Georgia and New York. For the past 25 years, I have owned and operated my own business, Abbott’s Catering.
How long have you lived in Minoa?
I have lived in Minoa for over 40 years
What do you believe is one of the biggest problems the village of Minoa currently faces?
One of the biggest problems the village of Minoa currently faces is not enough funding to keep up to date on the conditions of the village roads, sidewalks and walkways. Another issue is being able to provide village wide activities that will appeal to all ages and specifically target certain groups of individuals; (youth, elderly, interest groups). Lastly, I feel that the village could benefit from more volunteers for our local fire department. We are a fully volunteer fire department and with more participants, services could improve greatly to help the community.
continued — Why do you want to continue to serve as a trustee in Minoa?
Within the past four years, I feel that I have done a lot to help the community members in our village. I have learned a lot of useful information and strategies through the various workshops and seminars that I have gone to with my fellow board members in Albany, that have been able to be implemented into helping to improve our village. I enjoy helping our community and my fellow neighbors. I know that if I continue on the board as a trustee in Minoa, I will continue to bring new ideas and work with those to help improve and maintain the great community that we live in.
What will be your top priority in your next term?
One of the top priorities that I want to work on during my next term is to help our local fire department volunteers work outside of the village with other local fire departments. Smaller fire departments such as Kirkville, Fayetteville and Manlius have responded to many of our village calls and we have responded to help out with their calls as well when needed. By working together and creating this professional working relationship with these neighboring fire departments, it can help to strengthen the volunteer fire departments moral and camaraderie. I want to help continue making Minoa a great place to live and for families to raise their children. In doing so, I want to ensure that there are plenty of village wide activities that will take place throughout the year for families and individuals to take part in. I hope to see that the businesses in and around our village continue to grow and flourish and that our community remains a safe place for those whom are living here and visiting our area.
continued — Eric Christensen
Position seeking:
Village trustee
Local political party affiliation:
Citizens Party
Political experience:
Current village of Minoa board member for six years.
Education:
Graduate Fayetteville-Manlius High School.
Work experience/organizations involved with:
Work for Raymour & Flanigan, and currently have experience of more than 25 years in the financial industry. Serve as race director for Hope for Heather and am an ESM School District Key Communicator.
How long have you lived in Minoa?
29 years.
What do you believe is one of the biggest problems the village of Minoa currently faces?
To be able to continue the fine services that our village can provide without having to raise taxes.
Why do you want to continue to serve as a trustee in Minoa?
Our village has had several good things come about while I’ve been on the board. I want to continue to work toward a good quality of life for our residents so that they can continue to raise their families.
What will be your top priority in your next term?
To continue the fine service that village residents have come to expect.
