LaMontagne, Devendorf elected to board

By Russ Tarby

Contributing Writer

An unanticipated write-in effort shook up Liverpool’s 2018 village election.

Two Republicans — incumbent Trustee Matt Devendorf and newcomer Michael LaMontagne — each tallied more than 100 votes to win seats on the village board, but 36 write-in ballots were also cast in the June 19 election.

Incumbent Trustee Bradley Young received 27 write-in votes while Planning Board Member John Eallonardo received two such votes.

Trustee Christina Fadden Fitch, also a Republican, posted a Facebook message on June 19 urging party members to vote for Devendorf and LaMontagne because “a write-in effort has been mounted against them based on misrepresentations.”

After the election, Young acknowledged that the write-in campaign originated with Tulip Street residents upset about the proposed Meyer Manor apartment complex planned for 1225 Tulip St.

With Devendorf and LaMontagne running unopposed, Young said voters essentially had “no choice.”

“Why even bother to vote?” Young asked rhetorically. “I gave people a choice.”

The opponents of Meyer Manor favored Young because last Dec. 18, he was the lone trustee to vote against a zone change that would allow an entryway to be built for the planned 108-unit complex. The board approved the zone-change by a vote of 4-1, with Young dissenting. Because the development’s entrance would be located just north of the Thruway bridge, Young expressed concern for traffic safety.

Similarly, when the Liverpool Village Planning Board finally approved the Meyer Manor site plan on May 29, by a vote of 4-1, board member John Eallonardo voted no. Planning Board Member LaMontagne voted in favor of the site plan.

While the project planned by developer Cosimo Zavaglia underwent repeated reviews over the past three years, Eallonardo often voiced concerns about density, scale, traffic and visibility.

Although 36 write-in ballots were cast on June 19, just 29 of them counted after seven were invalidated because they listed Bradley Young’s name twice, according to Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims.

While registered Dems now outnumber Republicans in the village 517 to 447, Democrats have failed to field any candidate for village office since 2001.

The winners

Incumbent Matt Devendorf received 104 votes. First elected in 2016, Devendorf works as director of sales and marketing at Young & Franklin/Tactair. From 2013 and 2016, he served on the village Zoning Board of Appeals.

LaMontagne, who received 107 votes, is a principal architect at C&S Companies in Syracuse, and for the past several years he has sat on the Village Planning Board. He is also a member of the board of directors of FOCUS Greater Syracuse.