Politics at play in Canandaigua Town Board appointment?
CANANDAIGUA — Who will be the fifth member of the Canandaigua Town Board?
The answer may not come until February, but several town residents now say they are pretty sure that whoever winds up being appointed, he or she will be a Republican.
It's incoming Supervisor Jared Simpson's former seat on the Town Board that is open. Simpson and Councilmembers Terry Fennelly, Adeline Rudolph and Gary Davis — all are Republicans — will vote to determine who fills the seat for the remainder of the year.
The board could decide at its meeting in February.
Vince Golbeck, who is chairman of the Canandaigua Democratic Committee, said at the board's meeting last Monday that 18 people responded to the town’s request for applications but seven were called in for interviews.
All are Republicans, Golbeck said.
Left out of the running, he said, was Ryan Staychock, who ran unsuccessfully for a board seat last November as an independent, as well as former town Councilman Kevin Reynolds, also an independent, among others. Staychock, with 1,250 votes, finished behind Fennelly, an incumbent who received 1,756 votes, and newcomer Rudolph, who received 1,795 votes.
“Do you think this is truly fair?” Golbeck asked members of the Town Board, adding that this is raising concerns of transparency and political maneuvering and asked for a reopening of the interview process. The three councilmembers and supervisors interviewed candidates last Monday.
"Please hear everybody,” Golbeck said.
Simpson, who took the office Jan. 1, said close to 20 people had expressed interest and some pulled their names from consideration as the process went along. The board is looking at people who will do a good job and not at political parties, he said.
“We tried to look at the best people and the best candidates, people who brought different perspectives to the town and perspectives we might not have on the Town Board, and people that we all felt comfortable going forward with,” Simpson said.
This decision is not something that board members want to rush into “because we’ve been given the faith of the electorate to do due diligence,” Simpson said.
The five-member board is the governing body of the town and determines policies and financial decisions.
The appointee could decide to run this year for the completion of the term in 2023. A full four-year term would begin in 2024.
Board members will be paid $5,371 for 2022.
Simpson said he could not believe the number of qualified people who applied for the job and that it was not an easy decision to narrow it down.
"It is nice that we have people who are willing to step up and willing to do their civic duty,” Simpson said.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Politics at play in Canandaigua Town Board appointment?
