CAZENOVIA — On June 18, voters elected Jennifer Marotto Lutter (Caz Forward) and Katherine Hahn (Democratic) to the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees for two-year terms.
Kelly Ryan Vidakovic (Republican, Your Neighborhood Voice) and Colton Mennig (Democratic, Strong Community) were also contenders in the race for trustee.
Hahn, the incumbent candidate, has served on the board since June 2022.
Lutter, a newcomer, will fill the seat vacated by Maureen Fellows, who has retired after eight years of service to the village and its residents. Throughout her tenure, Fellows’ roles included deputy mayor, police commissioner, court liaison, parks commissioner, lake watershed council delegate, Cazenovia Area Community Development Association representative, and chairperson of the police advisory committee.
“The community is fortunate to have had four well-qualified citizens willing to serve on the village board of trustees,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler. “We look forward to welcoming Jennifer Lutter to the board and thank Kathy Hahn for her continued service where her experience and expertise will be greatly valued.”
On June 12, the Cazenovia League of Women Voters (LWV) presented a community forum for the four candidates to introduce themselves and respond to questions.
Following the election, the Madison County Board of Elections (BOE) posted the unofficial results on its website at madisoncounty.ny.gov/2128/2024-Election-Results.
The Madison County BOE reported that Lutter received 246 total votes, Hahn received 217 votes, Vidakovic received 208, and Mennig received 134.
“I’m very excited to be elected by village residents as a trustee, especially in such a high turnout election,” Lutter said after her election was made official. “I think the turnout indicates both renewed engagement for some residents and many new people becoming involved, which are positive developments. I hope to continue building on these trends of heightened engagement and look forward to working with the community on creative projects and initiatives.”
On June 19, the Madison County BOE announced a June 24 manual recount of the Village of Cazenovia election due to the close contest between Hahn and Vidakovic.
According to New York State Election Law, an automatic recount is required if the margin of victory is 0.5 percent or less.
The recount resulted in no changes to the election night report, and the results were made official on the Madison County BOE website.
“I’d like to thank the Cazenovia village residents for participating in the public forum [and] the election, and for selecting me to continue to serve as a trustee,” said Hahn on June 25. “I extend congratulations to Jen Lutter and look [forward to] working with her, Mayor Wheeler, and the other trustees as we endeavor to support the village, its residents, and the greater Cazenovia community. I hope my contributions in the coming two years will help Cazenovia thrive.”
About Lutter
Lutter holds a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
She has over 15 years of community development experience, mostly focused on small towns and business district improvement.
She served as executive director of the Partnership for Community Development (PCD) in Hamilton, NY, for nearly seven years. In that role, she launched Madison County’s first certified New York State Business Incubator, among many other planning initiatives. For her work at PCD, she was named to the 2019 Central New York Business Journal 40 Under Forty list.
In her candidate biography, Lutter said she was running for trustee to bring her experience and ideas to the broader community.
She hopes to focus on the following initiatives: finding a viable and sustainable future for the Cazenovia College campus that enriches the community; increasing the vitality of the village’s downtown business core and encouraging further investment; improving pedestrian infrastructure, parks, and amenities for youth and families; and increasing resident engagement. She is especially interested in expanding public participation in village government and bringing in new ideas and perspectives from the community.
Lutter lives in the village with her husband and three-year-old son in a house that runs on renewable energy.
About Hahn
Hahn moved to Cazenovia in 1979 and graduated from Cazenovia High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Bates College in Maine and a master’s degree in environmental science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.
After living in Boston and Syracuse for several years, she returned to Cazenovia in 1991. She has been living in the village since 2005.
In her professional life, Hahn is an associate director of corporate environmental, health, and safety at Curia Global, Inc., an international biotechnology company headquartered in Albany, NY, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
She served on the Cazenovia school board from 2010-2017 and again from 2019-2022. She also serves on the Town of Cazenovia Advisory Conservation Commission and the Town of Cazenovia Sewer Commission.
Since being elected to the village board of trustees in 2022, Hahn has served as the water and fire commissioner. She was also involved in the final phases of a solar energy project started by former trustee Dave Porter; she continues to monitor the program today.
In her candidate biography, Hahn said one of the reasons she sought re-election was her desire to give back to the community she has called home for most of her life.
“During the preceding two years as a trustee, I was learning how the village operates and building an understanding of how I can best apply my experience to the position; the coming two years will allow me to continue to apply both my professional experience and the knowledge gained since first being elected to the board,” she said. “In addition, I am involved with some initiatives [that] I would like to see through to completion. The village received funding for [the] development of a drinking water source protection plan which will guide the village with protecting our water supply while allowing for responsible growth. Development of this plan has just begun. Similarly, I continue to explore sustainability projects, again with an eye toward allowing responsible growth while retaining good stewardship of our resources.”
The Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees typically meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the village municipal building at 90 Albany St.
To learn more about the Village of Cazenovia and the board of trustees, visit villageofcazenovia.com.
