Committee endorses 5 incumbents, female town board candidate for November
The Marcellus Republican Committee has announced candidate endorsements for the 2009 elections, and change is in the air.
Garnering one of the endorsements for one of the two opening town board positions is Kathleen Carroll, who currently sits on the planning board. Incumbent Bernie Montgomery, who has sat on the town board for nearly 10 years, failed to get the committee’s endorsement.
The Republicans endorsed incumbent Tom Lathrop for the other town board spot.
A party first
Carroll may be the first woman endorsed by the Republicans for town board, Supervisor Dan Ross said.
If elected, she would be the first female ever elected to the Marcellus Town Board.
She and her two children moved to Marcellus 14 years ago from Massachusetts when she took a position as business manager with Covanta Energy. Carroll said she was seeking to become more involved with the community and was appointed to the Town Planning Board in 2006.
Her experience on the planning board and business background will make her a good fit for the town board, she believes, and the post would allow her to use her skills to make a bigger impact on the community.
“I just felt it would be a better fit for me, I could make a better contribution to community,” Carroll said.
Ross agreed.
“It was the feeling of the Republican Committee that Kathy Carroll’s experience as the business manager for Covanta Energy would bring additional financial input to the board as well as the ability to work with board members to solve problems facing the town,” he said in an e-mail. Ross also serves as chair for the Marcellus Republican Committee.
Not giving up
In spite of the politics of ousting an incumbent, Carroll said she is taking the endorsement as a positive step for herself and the community.
“I’m not familiar at all with the politics … I just saw it as an opportunity to get involved with something that interested me and to make a positive impact,” Carroll said. She declined to comment on the party’s decision not to endorse incumbent Montgomery.
Committee co-chair and village mayor Mike Plochocki said the decision to endorse Carroll over incumbent Montgomery was a sign of the committee’s desire for change.
“All the candidates that we had were good and were taken seriously by the committee, but there was a sense among many committee people that it was time for a change on the town board and that particularly that it might also help if that change came in the form of someone who is a woman,” Plochocki said.
But Montgomery said that, although the committee’s decision came as a surprise, he won’t not give up his post so easily.
“I know I’m going to run,” Montgomery said, though whether he’ll primary Carroll or run on another party line has not been decided. “I might get shot down, who knows, but at this point I’m still going for it.”
Republican endorsements
Town Supervisor: Dan Ross
Town Board Councilor: Tom Lathrop, Kathleen Carol
Town Clerk: Karen Pollard
Highway Supervisor: Don McLoughlin
Tax Collector: Elaine Potter