By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
The Village of Cazenovia held its elections on June 18 at the American Legion Post 88.
All three candidates — two incumbents and one newcomer — were elected to seats on the village board. All races were uncontested.
Seats up for election included the mayor for a two year term as well as two trustee seats also for two year terms.
Results
Mayor Kurt Wheeler (56 votes) and Trustee Fritz Koennecke (59 votes) were reelected to their seats.
This will be Wheeler’s fifth term as mayor, having first being elected to the position in 2011.
Koennecke will serve his fourth term on the board. He currently serves as the police commissioner and as the chair of the Lake Watershed Council.
Susan Light (61 votes) was elected to the position of Village of Cazenovia Trustee. This will be her first term on the board.
Meet Susan Light
Light will fill the seat previously occupied by Amy Mann, who stepped down after serving the village for a decade.
“Had Amy run again or had there been others who were eager to run in her place, I would not have considered the position,” Light said. “However, because I was encouraged to run and the conditions were right, I decided to seek election. I’ve always been interested in and appreciated the work that the village trustees do; I think civic responsibility and community participation are important. I’m excited to participate and I look forward to it.”
Light grew up in Northwest Ohio. She earned her undergraduate degree at Northwestern and completed post-graduate work at the Sorbonne, McGill University and the University of California, San Diego.
She has a PhD in Renaissance English literature, as well as a professional chef’s degree. She has taught literature, French and academic writing at the college level; worked as a freelance writer; cooked in Boston restaurants; and worked at Cook’s Illustrated magazine.
She currently works as a program manager in the Office of Off-Campus Study at Colgate University, where she manages academic programs in Cape Town, Venice, Freiburg, Dijon, Manchester, St. Andrews, Singapore, Kyoto, Geneva and Kingston.
Light moved to Cazenovia in 2003 from Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband, Eric Olson, and their two children.
The couple’s third child was born a year later. Light’s parents, Joan and Randy Light, and her sister, Kelly Light, moved to town soon after.
Since arriving in Cazenovia, Light has been an active member of the community, serving as a volunteer in the schools; a member of the Board of Directors of CazCares, Cazenovia Forum and Project Café; and Commodore of Willow Bank Yacht Club (through September 2019).
“As trustee, I look forward to working with members of the village community, the municipal team and other board members to sustain our village,” Light said.
The village board meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Village Municipal Building, 90 Albany St. To learn more, visit villageofcazenovia.com.
