Margay Blackman, Annie Crane and Katherine (Kathy) Kristansen have announced their candidacies for Village Mayor and Village Trustees, respectively, in the June 15, 2021 Village of Brockport election.
Blackman is completing her second term as Brockport mayor. Before that, she served for two years on the village board and as chair of the Village Tree Board. She was a professor of Anthropology at SUNY Brockport for 30 years, and currently co-chairs the Town/Gown committee with college President Heidi Macpherson. During her tenure as mayor, she guided the creation of the village court, the establishment of the town/gown community, municipal solar for the village, village streetlight buyback from National Grid, and the hiring of a police chief, code enforcement officer and village manager. She has two grown children and shares her life with her domestic partner, Ulpian Toney.
Crane has been a Village Trustee since 2016. She has lived in Brockport for 38 years, and with her husband of 41 years, David Newman, has raised two children in the community. As a trustee, Crane is the liaison to the Parks Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, Farmer’s Market and the Seymour Library. She was the co-chair (with Mayor Blackman) of the Village’s Police Advisory Committee. She is a long-term employee of the Lift Bridge Book Shop and enjoys being part of the downtown business district.
Kristansen is in her seventh year as a Village Trustee. She is liaison to the Brockport Merchants Association, BISCO, Brockport Chamber of Commerce, Police Department, Code Enforcement Office, Planning and Zoning Boards, and the Greater Brockport Development Corporation. She was instrumental in crafting the village’s Comprehensive Plan, and is currently working on village codes and zoning revisions. Active in the community, she serves on the Seymour Library After Hours Committee, and as a master gardener, oversees village beautification, including the Market Street renovation project. Kristansen is a retired secondary school math teacher and a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. She and her husband, Mark, have resided in the village for 15 years and have three grown children.
The candidates have a long “short list” of plans for 2021-25, if elected, including forming a committee to prepare for the 2022 Main Street Bridge closure, completing opt-out community solar for all residents, businesses, and houses of worship, renovating Market Street, and adapting the Smith Street bridge for safe bicycle and pedestrian access.
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