Minoa reelects village justice and two trustees
By Lauren Young
Staff Writer
Two trustees for the Fayetteville Village Board were voted in on Tuesday night and, in a surprising turn of events, one of the two incumbents did not win reelection.
Trustee Michael Small and challenger Pamela Ashby won the Fayetteville village election for two, four-year village trustee positions on March 20 after a 15-hour voting period. Ashby will become the only woman on the board.
Trustee Christopher Randall additionally ran for reelection, but lost to Ashby and Small, with Small receiving the most votes. Unofficial vote tallies were: Small: 260, Ashby: 182 and Randall: 163.
From 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. residents were given the opportunity to cast their vote for the two new trustees onsite at 425 East Genesee Street in Fayetteville.
Ashby, a Fayetteville resident, said she her bond with the village extends to include her husband, Nathan, and their three children who reside in the Brookside Neighborhood where she has served on the Brookside Neighborhood Association for the past year.
“We came to Fayetteville to enjoy village life and I want to see it preserved for future generations,” she said in a Letter to the Editor. “Our village has been run well, but recent issues concerning increased traffic and massive development proposals call for a more diverse village board with competing visions, not status quo. I’m concerned that preserving the special and historic character of the village is not being addressed.”
As a resident on Margo Lane, there are additionally no incumbents who live east of the village center.
“The Village of Fayetteville is indeed a special place, which is why we have to work hard to move our community forward in a way that preserves what we are and yet keeps an open mind about what we can be. There will be many tough choices over the next few years, especially in the area of development proposals that will come before the board,” she said.
Trustee Michael Small was reelected, serving on the board since 2001. Small, a Fayetteville native, is also a funeral director at the Eaton-Tubbs Funeral Home where he has worked for the past 37 years. He is additionally a member of the Wortley Foundation Board of Directors, a member and treasurer of the Manlius Historical Society Board of Trustees, board member of the Fayetteville Memory Garden, Onondaga-Oswego Funeral Directors Association, the New York State Funeral Directors Association and a former member and chairman of the Fayetteville Senior Center Board.
Small currently serves as a liaison to the DPW Department, Parks Commission, Tree Commission, Beautification Committee and Audit Committee.
The Village of Minoa also held village elections for two trustees and one justice position last Tuesday. All three candidates ran unopposed.
Current trustees Greg Rinaldi and John Champagne won reelection the two trustee seats on the board receiving 108 votes and 123 votes, respectively, while current Justice Janet Stanley also won reelection for her position, receiving 118 votes.
