With village elections on March 18 rapidly approaching, Owego residents will find only one contested election for Village Clerk \/ Treasurer awaiting them when they reach the polls. Incumbent Clerk \/ Treasurer Rod Marchewka, running under the Better Owego Together Party, will see a contest this year, as challenger Joseph Breitwieser of the Shining Light on Owego Party has announced he will run for the two-year term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have been in the position for 20 years and I am reliable, dependable and I enjoy what I do,\u201d said Marchewka, when asked about the upcoming contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For his part, Breitwieser, who previously ran unsuccessfully for Tioga County Sheriff, said that he is running to provide better service to Owego residents and bring greater transparency to the position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs clerk \/ treasurer I will open up records. Whenever possible, individuals should not be forced to fill out forms to view documents that are publicly available. Never will I use the two week Freedom of Information Act wait period to prevent the timely release of information deemed unfavorable to the Board or to myself,\u201d Breitwieser said in an email to the Pennysaver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breitweiser went on to cite state audits from 2015 and 2018 that he said showed deficiencies in Marchewka\u2019s record keeping process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe learned that auditors were unable to perform their job due to noncooperation by Rodney Marchewka, which resulted in Village taxpayers being forced to pay an additional $30,000 to a CPA to correct the records. Rodney has made it clear that he is either unwilling or unable to properly perform his job, and a change is needed in that office,\u201d Breitwieser said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For his part, Marchewka said that he is proud of the work that he has done for the village and the projects that have begun or been completed during his tenure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just enjoy helping people in the village, a lot of people come to us, call us and we try to help them the best we can. I believe the village is satisfied with my work,\u201d Marchewka said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Running unopposed are incumbent trustees Ed Morton of the first ward, Charles Plater of the second ward, and Fran VanHousen of the third ward. All are running under the Better Owego Together Party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The position of mayor is also up for reelection with incumbent Mike Baratta of the Better Owego Together Party also running unopposed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want to continue more of what we have been doing with the village. Just trying to promote all the good things we have available,\u201d Baratta said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baratta also cited his attempts at increasing transparency and the work done to bring millions of dollars in grant money to the village. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe got the DRI last term, let\u2019s keep it rolling forward,\u201d Baratta said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Baratta added that he came up with the Better Owego Together Party for incumbents in the village to run under to show the unity of everyone running for re-election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHopefully people come out and vote, I know uncontested elections aren\u2019t very popular but I still think it is important that people come out to vote and let their voices be heard,\u201d Baratta said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With village elections on March 18 rapidly approaching, Owego residents will find only one contested election for Village Clerk \/ Treasurer awaiting them when they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":77984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n