Former mayor wins in Holley

Former Village of Holley Mayor Stanley "Skip" Carpenter regained that seat in the March 16 village elections. Carpenter, who is currently a trustee and who served as mayor during the 1990s, garnered 220 votes. Tom O'Neill, who was also seeking the mayoral position, received 157 votes.

Carpenter thanked all of the residents who came out to vote and especially those who cast their vote for him. "The efforts of everyone who braved the weather on election day were greatly appreciated," he said.

Carpenter says he looks forward to getting to work on new projects within the village and with continuing on with the projects that are underway such as the Route 31 road re-construction, putting in a new electrical substation in the industrial park, to working on the $400,000 sewage treatment plant project and a collaborative effort with the Town of Murray to construct a municipal facility are some of the on-going items on the village's agenda that Carpenter is looking forward to pursuing.

The position of mayor, Carpenter explains, is one that involves the running of a village which is essentially a $5 million business. "I have worked in management most of my career and because I've served before as the mayor, I have the know how to run the village," he said. "Even though the village hasn't really grown too much in size, our budget has and I know that the number one thing on the minds of the residents is taxes."

One of Carpenter's priorities now that he is mayor is to not raise taxes in the upcoming budget. "We want to make sure we don't raise them," he said, adding that Holley probably has one of the highest tax bases of any of the villages in the area. "We're working on the budget now and hopefully we will be able to come up with a budget that has no tax increases. That's what we are shooting for right now."

William Quaranto, who is presently serving as Holley's mayor, ran for trustee and received 170 votes, while John Heise received 259. Heise and Quaranto were unopposed in their bids for the two year trustee seats.

Carpenter and the trustees will be sworn in on April 1.