Stephen Brescia’s election as Montgomery Town Supervisor will create two other vacancies in local government. He may have a hand in filling both of them.
Brescia captured nearly 65 percent of the vote last week in defeating Susan Cockburn in the supervisor’s race. Unofficial results from the Orange County Board of Elections show a lead of 2,178 to 1,180 with four write-ins and with absentee ballots still to be counted.
The victory will require Brescia to vacate his two other elected offices, although the exact timing for either is not clear. He officially becomes the town supervisor on January 1, 2024 and is expected to resign as both the mayor of the Village of Montgomery and from his seat in the Orange County Legislature at that time.
Under New York State’s Municipal Home Rule Law and Village Law, the rules and procedures for a village mayor being elected as a town supervisor, the timing of their resignation as mayor and the process for their replacement can vary depending on the specific circumstances, the village’s charter and local laws.
When Brescia resigns as mayor, the village board of trustees is expected to appoint an interim or acting mayor to serve until the next village election in March. Trustee Darlene Andolsek is the current deputy mayor and could be appointed to serve until the next election.
Brescia is also a county legislator, representing the 9th district, which includes portions of the Town of Montgomery and the Town of Wallkill, including the villages of Montgomery and Maybrook. According to Orange County Republican Election Commissioner Courtney Canfield Greene, the town boards of Montgomery - of which Brescia will now sit - and Wallkill, will choose the next county legislator with “weighted votes assigned to each member of such board(based upon the ratio of population contained within such municipality for said legislative district as compared to that of the whole legislative district.”
Canfield Greene said only the town boards, and not the village boards, will choose the next legislator who will serve the remainder of the year, with seat up for election in November of 2024. Should the two town board not fill the position within 45 days, the chair of the Orange County Legislature may appoint someone to serve through the next election cycle.
Brescia did not respond to a request for clarification of his transition timeline.
Other town races
In the race for town justice, incumbent Frederick Gorss defeated challenger Catherine Lee by a margin of 1,843 to 957. Republican and Conservative-backed candidates Cindy L. Voss and Mark W. Hoyt were winners over Democrat Jeff Samson and Integrity First Candidate Kristen Brown.