WESTERLO — In a three-way race for two town board seats, Democrat Jody Ostrander and Republican William Hall bested incumbent Republican Lorraine Pecylak.

Although all five members of the current town board are backed by the GOP, controversial issues recently have resulted in 3-to-2 votes in which Pecylak and longtime Councilwoman Amie Burnside have voted with supervisor Matthew Kryzak.

Ostrander, a former highway superintendent for the town who had started working for the highway department in 1994, was the top vote-getter.

He received over 42 percent of the vote: 499 on the Democratic line, and 210 on the Conservative line.

All results reported here are unofficial, posted Election Night by the Albany County Board of Elections.

Hall, who was making his second run for the office, got over 40 percent of the vote: 429 on the Democratic line, and 429 on the Republican line.

Hall, who has worked as a small-business owner and farmer, told The Enterprise, “The primary issue in Westerlo is the lack of open discussion and transparency from the board. Each member of the board should be making independent decisions in front of the public. Decisions seem to be made in advance and the majority always votes together.”

He said of the town board’s split vote that led to firing an employee and requiring training for the town clerk, “The interpersonal problems are out of control and this shouldn’t have gone as far as it did.”

A former planning board member, Hall opposed consolidating that board with the zoning board. If elected, he said, “I would absolutely restore the planning board.”

Pecylak, who has served on the board for four years, came in third with just over 17 percent: 192 on the Republican line and 98 on the Conservative line.

Pecylak, who voted for firing the employee and requiring training for the clerk, said that the board “should seek the advice of the legal counsel and [be] sure all matters are handled according to Federal and State labor laws.”

She also favored combining the planning and zoning boards and said, “The combination of these boards works perfectly and efficiently for a town the size of Westerlo.”

Westerlo, like Berne and Knox, had town boards dominated by Democrats for decades as most voters were Democrats but, in recent years, Republicans made inroads until the entire board was GOP-backed.

The only other election in Westerlo was uncontested.

Incumbent Town Justice Kenneth Mackey ran unopposed solely on the Democratic line, receiving 668 votes.