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MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Voters confirmed the elections of mostly incumbent candidates running unopposed in several villages across Montgomery County on Tuesday.
An exception in Fultonville was the uncontested election of Timothy Morford as the new village mayor with 73 votes. Outgoing Mayor Linda Petterson-Law did not seek re-election.
Morford, who is the sitting deputy mayor, will leave a seat vacant on the Board of Trustees when he assumes mayoral office on April 1.
“Thank you everyone who came out to vote. I’m happy you voted for me, but more happy that you came out to vote,” Morford said Wednesday.
Improving village finances, expanding the local tax base and building community events are among the incoming mayor’s priorities.
Fultonville officials have already begun discussing potential candidates for appointment to the soon to be vacant trustee seat, according to Morford.
Incumbent Fultonville Trustees Linda Denton and Steve Helmin each received 66 votes to confirm their unopposed re-elections.
In Fort Johnson, incumbents running unopposed will remain in office after Trustee William Bartone secured 17 votes and Trustee Jim Bartone netted 20 votes.
The uncontested races were most notable as part of the last ever election for Fort Johnson with the village set to dissolve into the town of Amsterdam on Dec. 31.
“It didn’t mean anything basically,” Village Clerk Barbara Smith said of the final election. “It’s sad.”
Fort Johnson officials were disappointed after learning the village would still be required by law to hold the annual election this year despite the government’s impending termination.
The decision to dissolve was motivated by mounting concerns over long term operation of the small village as several elected officials and employees look to retire in a time of plummeting community involvement.
Ballots were cast at Fort Johnson Village Hall from just 4 to 8 p.m. under polling hours that were scaled back to save election inspectors from remaining on site for the usual nine hours despite historically low voter turnout.
“It was more than sufficient,” Smith said. “For the last hour and a half there wasn’t anybody there.”
New terms for the re-elected officials will last for under a year before the village is dissolved.
In Hagaman, Trustee Robin Ricci was re-elected with 35 votes and Trustee Richard Conti was re-elected with 26 votes. The incumbents ran unopposed for the pair of open seats.
Reach Ashley Onyon at [email protected] or @AshleyOnyon on Twitter.
