By Russ Tarby
Contributing Writer
When the village of Liverpool’s Republican caucus convened April 27, its 35 attendees chose three candidates, including two incumbents, who are assured of victories in the upcoming June 20 election.
The caucus unanimously backed Mayor Gary White to run for a fifth term, Trustee Christina Fadden Fitch for a second term and newcomer Jason Recor who seeks his first term as trustee.
All three will appear on the ballot unopposed. Voting will take place from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, at the Village Hall, 310 Sycamore St.
Recor is an account manager for Time Warner Cable Business. He and his family recently moved to Balsam Street from Bradenton, Florida. He’s originally from Nedrow and attended Onondaga Central High School. Recor is presently a member of the village Zoning Board of Appeals.
Recor will replace Trustee Dennis Hebert, who has served on the board since 2007. Hebert is a financial planner and former IBM employee.
White, a retired deputy police chief from the Syracuse Police Department, served six terms as a village trustee before running for mayor in 2009, when he prevailed over independent candidate Tom Stack by a vote of 291 to 154. In three subsequent elections White ran unopposed.
Fadden Fitch took her seat on the village board after running unopposed in 2015 to replace outgoing Trustee Bob Gaetano. A former assistant executive director of the New York State Right to Life Committee, Fitch ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 2008 and 2010. She works for Brown & Sanford Consulting LLC for Honeywell International.
The Democratic Party has failed to field any candidate for village office since 2001, and has not conducted a caucus since that year when Republican Marlene Ward defeated former Mayor Jon Zappola.
Democrats have been reluctant to challenge the GOP domination of the village despite the fact that registered Dems now outnumber Republicans in the village by more than 30 voters, 521 to 490, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
As of late February, the BOE counted 521 Democrats, 490 Republicans, 410 not enrolled in any party, 83 Independents, 24 Conservatives, two Working Families Party members and two Green Party members, for a total of 1,532 eligible voters out of a population of some 2,300 in the village.
