HILLTOWNS — Two town justices are running unopposed Nov. 7 in an off year for local elections.

Victoria H. Geldner is running unopposed for Rensselaerville town justice on the Democratic and Conservative tickets. Berne long-time town justice Richard M. Guilz Sr. is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket for Berne town justice.

Guilz has been a Berne town justice for 22 years.

For two years, he did not serve as one of the two town justices, but was appointed.

A Berne resident since 1971, Guilz, a Democrat, has a high school diploma and a two-year degree from technical school for computer programming.

Guilz is married, has two children, both of whom are living in Berne. He retired in 2001 from Colony Liquor and Wine Distributors in Kingston (Ulster County), after working as office manager for the company for 32 years.

Guilz, a life member of the East Berne Volunteer Fire Company, has been with the fire department for 32 years.

His career as town justice, he said, started in 1982, when the Democratic party chair, who knew of Guilz’s interest in being a councilman, offered him a place to run as a town justice.

Each year, Guilz said, he spends three days retraining and testing.
"In a small town, the populous feels much more comfortable having town justices, as opposed to going to the county or another town, because we know what’s going on in our town," he said.