Village elections set for Tuesday
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

BATH - Bath voters will have a choice between two political newcomers and a veteran of village politics when they go to the polls March 20.

Polling stations will be open from noon to 9 p.m.

Former board member Donna Simonson is one of two Democrats running for two open seats. Simonson lost her own seat on the board in 2005 when Republicans Nancy Becker and Robin Havens out-polled her. Neither Becker or Havens is seeking reelection, and Simonson is hoping to return to her former seat.

"It's just so interesting, and you feel you can make an impact," she said after being nominated in last month's Democratic caucus.

Her fellow Democrat, Tom Sears, and Republican candidate James Stewart have never held elective office before. The top two vote winners will replace Becker and Havens on the board, joining Trustees Mike Skelly and Jeanne Glass, who were elected last year as first-time board members.

The new board is likely to face an issue that first arose when Simonson was still a village trustee: the disposition of the former Dana Lyon school building. A development company is seeking the demolition of the major portion of the structure and wants to build an Eckerd Pharmacy in its place.

Both Simonson and Sears have expressed misgivings regarding the development. "I think people have made it clear they want it kept," Sears told The Courier. "It just seems logical to try to keep it if we can."

Simonson, who has served on the village Planning Board since 2005, said she opposes rezoning the land for commercial activity, a precondition for the construction of a retail pharmacy.

"That's not a good area to rezone for commercial use," she said. "It's not good for the long term."

Sears agrees on the zoning issue. "I think that's a bad place for it," he told Courier, adding he has not decided whether he would support or oppose the demolition of the former school.

"It doesn't need to sit there and rot," he said. "It needs to either be renovated and used or it needs to come down and be replaced with something."

In other village elections, Hammondsport Mayor Emery Cummings is running unopposed for reelection on both the Democrat and Republican lines

of the ballot.

Three candidates are running for two positions on the Hammondsport village board. Incumbent Stella Pulver, a Republican, is seeking reelection. Also on the ballot are former board member Bruce White, a Republican, and Democrat Mary Ryan.

In The Village of Avoca, the retirement of two longtime village board members has led to a four-way race for two positions. Brian Mattoon, David McRae, Eric Tyner and Brian McBride are running as members of the Citizen Party to replace Lanny Meese and Robert Dodds.

The four candidates qualified for the ballot by circulating nominating petitions in the village.

In the Village of Savona, three incumbents are seeking reelection to office. Mayor Mary O'Connor is running for her second two-year term as a Republican. James Miller and Gregge Dormann, b o th Democrats, are running for twoyear terms.