WESTERLO — The town board seats in Westerlo are hotly contested, but the remaining positions of clerk, highway superintendent, and justice have been left unchallenged, with each of the single candidates for those positions backed by the Democratic, Republican, and Conservative parties. 

Incumbent Clerk Karla Weaver stepped up to that position in 2020 following the retirement of Kathleen Spinnato. Weaver had been Spinnato’s deputy clerk since 2015. 

Being town clerk had always been her plan, Weaver told The Enterprise in 2020. 

“I’ve taken the job seriously as I do with everything I am involved in and over the years have participated in training with the town clerks’ and tax collectors’ associations to work toward the goal of one day becoming town clerk,” she said.

Prior to working full-time for the town, Weaver held jobs at a grocery store and two veterinary clinics, and interned with Neiman Marcus while she attended Berkeley College in White Plains (Westchester County). She has a degree in fashion marketing and management.

Weaver was elected by voters later that year to fill out the four-year term.

Highway Superintendent Jody Ostrander is also an incumbent seeking re-election. 

Like Weaver, Ostrander was a deputy who took on the top position following a retirement. The former superintendent, Keith Wright, retired in 2017 after six years in the position. Wright and Ostrander both joined the highway department in 1994. 

His plan at the time, Ostrander said, was to “keep on going how we’ve been going.”

Ostrander was elected to fill out the term later that year, endorsed by the major parties and uncontested, and then re-elected in 2019, again with bipartisan support and no challengers.

Ostrander’s son, Joshua Ostrander, is a political newcomer, running for the open town justice seat, currently held by Democrat Robert Carl, who is not seeking re-election.