Few vote in village election

Thursday, March 18, 2021 - 16:49

ALTAMONT — Turnout was low in Altamont even judging by typical uncontested election standards. 

Mayor Kerry Dineen received 54 votes in her second unopposed run for the office, down from 71 votes in 2017. 

Tresa Matulewicz, who filled the retiring Dean Whalen’s seat, received 52 votes. Matulewicz, a member of the village’s zoning board of appeals, was the only candidate to submit a petition before the Feb. 9 filing deadline. 

Trustee John Scally received 53 votes in his second unopposed election, down from 72 votes in 2017. 

Also unopposed in his third bid for elected office was Justice James Greene, who received 54 votes; in 2017, seventy-one villagers voted for Greene. 

A total of 60 ballots were cast — 49 in-person and 11 absentee.

The village has a population of about 1,700.

Tuesday’s turnout was about a 75-percent drop from the village’s previous contested election, in 2019. 

In that election, which was largely over the rezone of a Stewart’s-owned property from residential to commercial, Nicholas Fahrenkopf was the top vote-getter with 210. His running mate, Michelle Ganance, garnered 193 votes while their opponents received 185 and 184 votes. 

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