By Russ Tarby
Contributing Writer
The town of Salina’s Second Ward Councilor James Magnarelli has announced that he will not seek re-election to a seventh two-year term this year.
The lone Democrat on the town board, Magnarelli has served as the Second Ward Councilor for 11 years and as deputy supervisor for the past two years.
In 2009, Magnarelli won his first election by upsetting incumbent Republican Councilor Tom Saya by a mere 24 votes. Two years later Saya tried to recapture his seat, but Magnarelli prevailed by about 125 votes.
In his four subsequent elections, Magnarelli has run unopposed.
Retired in 2006 from Niagara Mohawk/National Grid, Magnarelli, 69, has been thinking about leaving the town board for the past few years.
“Actually I was planning to step down in 2019, but there was a major change to the town of Salina when our longtime supervisor, Mark Nicotra, stepped down and our board elected Colleen Gunnip to fill that very important role,” Magnarelli said. “So I stayed on to work with Colleen, and I was honored that she appointed me deputy supervisor to assist her in leading town government.”
For Gunnip, the feeling is mutual.
“Jim has been a tremendous asset on the Town Board and as my deputy supervisor,” she said. “The ideas and suggestions he makes from his career at National Grid have helped make town services more efficient and streamlined. His knowledge and guidance on issues are invaluable to me. Our entire Town Board works together as a team to put the best interest of the residents first, including Jim. He will truly be missed.”
Magnarelli’s proud of what the town board has done during his tenure.
“My primary goal has always been to keep taxes at a reasonable level while providing for all the services our residents expect and deserve,” he said.
A major issue facing the town is managing an aging infrastructure at a cost which residents can afford, he said.
‘We’ve done great work improving our roads, drainage and sewers,” he said.
Labor relations is another area in which Magnarelli excelled. Over the years he was the board’s representative at the negotiating table hammering out three contracts each for Teamsters and SEIU workers..
Christopher Shepherd, chairman of the town’s Democratic Committee, thinks Magnarelli’s leadership skills impressed everyone at the town hall regardless of party.
“I’d bet people of all political outlooks will agree we’re better off since Jim arrived on the local government scene,” Shepherd said. “He has been a truly outstanding public servant who has generously served our community. He and [his wife] Fran have sacrificed a lot of dinners, weekends and evenings while he is connected to the phone doing the day-to-day things required of local officials.”
For his part, Magnarelli said he was pleased to serve the residents of Salina.
“And it has been a privilege to work alongside my fellow board members,” he said, “and with the dedicated men and women who come to work each day in the town hall and highway department.”
Who will step up in the 2nd Ward?
Who will replace Jim Magnarelli as Second Ward Councilor?
This coming November, for the first time in 12 years, town Republicans will have a chance to run for the position without having to face an incumbent.
The Second Ward includes neighborhoods such as Chestnut Hill, Sunflower Drive, Oot Meadows and the Jewell tract off Buckley Road.
Town Democratic Chairman Christopher Shepherd said his committee is interviewing “a very qualified woman” to run for the open seat, while the Republicans have already nominated a young businessman, according to GOP Chairman Nick Paro.
Matthew Cushing, an outside sales representative at Henderson Products, Inc. and a former volunteer at the Minoa Fire Department, will make a run to represent the Second Ward.
“We’re excited about his candidacy,” Paro wrote in an email. “Newly married and awaiting his first child, it’s families like Matt Cushing’s that reflect the future of the town of Salina. It’s important we get young members of our community to help steer our town for years to come.”