Despite the overwhelming presence of uncontested elections set to take place in Tioga County on March 15, this year’s election still managed to pack in one or two surprises. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the fact that Newark Valley Mayor Jim Tornatore is running for another term, despite the fact that he had said last year that his current term would be his last.
“I have been mayor for 19 years, and no matter what you do new people are there. We turn over trustees quite frequently, so I just thought differently about it; I reconsidered,” said Tornatore.
Going forward, Tornatore said he would be more careful with his retirement pronouncements.
“I love the village and I think that we do good things, infrastructure wise. So never say never,” said Tornatore.
One thing that Tornatore said has him very hopeful for the future of Newark Valley is that younger generations are becoming much more actively engaged in local government.
“What we have developed in this election is youth. Other than me, if the four candidates succeed and win, the average age will be in the middle thirties, which I think is fantastic and something good for the future of the village,” said Tornatore.
As a result of younger trustees coming in, Tornatore said he would focus a great deal more on mentoring than he had in previous terms.
“I am going to do more mentoring,” said Tornatore.
In Owego only uncontested races will be taking place, but Mayor Mike Baratta insists that he is not taking that fact for granted.
“We have figured out how to rebuild the police department, we finished a complete rebuild of the sewage treatment plant and we are in the process now of moving into our new municipal building, which was [funded entirely through grants] and didn’t cost taxpayers anything,” said Baratta.
Looking forward, Baratta said that he is excited to see how current village Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects start to take shape as they break ground in the next couple of years.
“All the village owned ones are in some form of design right now; there are a lot of big changes coming. A lot of good changes,” said Baratta.
In the village of Owego, Mayor Baratta is running for Mayor, and everyone is running uncontested. Rod Marchewka is running for Clerk Treasurer, James Morton is running for Trustee for the 1st Ward, Charles Platter is running for Trustee for the 2nd Ward, Fran Van Housen is running for Trustee for the 3rd Ward, and David Boland is running for Justice. All are incumbents that are running to simply maintain their seats.
Polling will take place at the Central Fire Station from noon to 9 p.m. For more information contact the Village Offices at (607) 687-3555.
In the Village of Newark Valley, James Tornatore is running for Mayor, a four-year term; Scott Kasmarcik is running for Trustee, a four-year term; Joseph Mooney is running for Trustee, a four-year team; and Ted Hardenstein is running for Trustee, a two-year term.
Polling will take place at the Municipal Building, located at 9 Park St. in Newark Valley, from noon to 9 p.m. For more information, contact the Village Office at (607) 642-8686.
In the Village of Waverly, Keith Correll is running for Trustee, a two-year term; John Kevin Sweeney is running for Trustee, a two-year term; and Courtney Aronstam is running for Trustee, a two-year term.
There is also a Ballot Referendum in Waverly; “Shall the Village of Waverly opt-out of allowing retail cannabis dispensaries from locating and operating within the boundaries of the Village of Waverly?”
Candor, Spencer and Nichols could not be reached in time for this report. You can contact their village offices to find out voting information.
Be the first to comment on "March 15 election has a surprise twist"