Published: March 19, 2009 12:00 am      

4 mayors defeated in area

At least four incumbent mayors were ousted in Delaware and Chenango counties Wednesday night, but one who survived wasn't even on the ballot.

The mayors in Delhi, Hobart, Stamford and New Berlin were defeated, along with a sitting trustee in Hobart and Sidney.

But in the most-competitive area race, the six-way Walton mayoral contest, Mayor Ed Snow was re-elected in a write-in victory.

In Delhi, challenger Richard Maxey easily defeated Mayor David Truscott, 229-83. High turnout led to delays in counting ballots, Maxey said at about 11 p.m. He said that the ballot box filled to capacity with paper ballots, and later voters had to seal their ballots inside envelopes. Those situations, amid huge turnout led to a delay in counting the results, he said.

Meanwhile, in Walton, more than 600 of the 1,821 registered voters in the village cast votes, with Snow gaining 215 write-in votes.

"I want to thank everyone for again showing confidence in me, and I will continue to do what I started four years ago," Snow said.

Snow, 60, announced at a village board meeting that he would not run for another term, but he said he changed his mind when people and asked if he would accept the position if they wrote in his name.

Snow said he wants to continue to encourage new businesses to open in the village, he plans to continue to wage a war against drugs and his first priority is getting the village back on solid financial ground.

The only two candidates on the Walton ballot were Raymond Baldi, who garnered 53 votes, and former Walton Justice Roland Beers, who received 137 votes.

Beers said, "The people spoke, and if they want Mr. Snow again, they got him."

Baldi, who served as Walton's mayor from 1985 to 1995, left the Walton Village Hall after the results were announced without commenting on the outcome.

Walton Trustee Ken Landry and Terri Green each filed petitions that were disqualified. They then waged write-in campaigns. Landry, who will continue to serve on the Walton Village Board as a trustee, received 101 votes, and Green got 3 votes.

Green said she was pleased with the outcome of the election.

"If (Snow) had run to start with, the list of candidates wouldn't have gone on and on," Green said. "I will continue to support Mayor Snow."

Green's petition was rejected when 12 of the people who signed it were not qualified to vote. Landry was eliminated from the ballot when he missed the deadline to sign a form accepting the nomination.

John Phraner, who launched a last-minute write-in campaign, received 53 votes.

Landry and Phraner were not at the village hall to hear the results.

In other area voting:

Delaware County

HOBART

Two incumbents in Hobart were defeated during village elections Wednesday.

Mayor Kenneth Brockway was defeated by Aaron Kaufman in a three-way race for the village's chief executive position.

Kaufman's 81 votes topped the longtime mayor's 66 votes. Gordon Key received 8 votes.

Brockway has been mayor for 14 years.

A five-way race for two trustee positions saw William Webb take 100 votes and James Barr III pick up 87 votes. Incumbent Don Dales' 60 votes was not enough for him to retain his seat. William Palmer and Joseph Roufe picked up 30 and 17 votes respectively.

STAMFORD

First-term Stamford Mayor Anne Slatin was defeated in her re-election bid by Michael Jacobs.

Jacobs had 137 votes to Slatin's 128. There were 17 absentee votes included in the total, according to village election officials.

Also in Stamford, Joan Hinman and Bruce Velan were elected to two trustee seats.

HANCOCK

In a contest for Hancock's open mayoral seat, Celia Vasquez took 176 votes to John Martin's 131.

A four-way race for two trustee seats ended with William Schoonmaker picking up 173 votes and Dorothy Picozzi getting 132. Joseph Doran came close with 126 votes, while Brad Esolen rounded out the race with 50.

MARGARETVILLE

Trustee John Van Benschoten won the Margaretville mayoral election by just three votes. Carol O'Bierne picked up 66 votes, while Van Benschoten tallied 69.

Mayor William Stanton, who announced he would not run for re-election, picked up one write-in vote.

Iris Mead and Wallace Patterson were elected to two open trustee seats with 92 and 85 votes respectively. Van Benschoten received 18 write-in votes, while Fred Miller and Teresa Goodchild each picked up 1.

Chenango County

NEW BERLIN

Trustee Wade Schrag edged incumbent New Berlin Mayor Carol Riley by two votes in Wednesday's election.

Riley, a 14-year incumbent, was not on the ballot but waged an active write-in campaign.

Village clerk Diane Davisson said Schrag received 67 votes to Riley's 65.

Also re-elected Wednesday were trustees Terry Potter, who received 103 votes, and Mike Conroe, who received 93.

AFTON

A three-way race for two Afton trustee seats was won by Gloria Harvey and Ronald Zablocki, who picked up 94 and 54 votes, respectively. Patrick Dedman came in third with 45 votes.

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Cooperstown Bureau reporter Tom Grace contributed to this report.