By Matt Youngfrau
MONTICELLO — March 29, 2002 – Now that the dust has settled, the political winds in the Village of Monticello are about to change.
For the first time in years, the Democratic Party has the majority lead on the Village of Monticello Board.
The election was held on March 19. At that time, the results were very much in doubt. Two four-year terms for Village Trustee were being contested. March 19's results saw Democrat and Working Families candidate Scott Schoonmaker garner 383 votes.
In second place were three candidates separated by 11 votes. Incumbent board member and Republican and Conservative candidate Jim Barnicle garnered 354 votes. Democrat and Equal Justice candidate Mary Jo Oppenheim got 347 votes, and incumbent board member and Republican and Wise Government candidate Michael Levinson received 343 votes. Conservative candidate Alvin Dumas garnered 203 votes.
The results were set to be confirmed when all the absentee and affidavit ballots were counted on Tuesday, March 26. With about 60 absentee and affidavit ballots and three candidates separated by 11 votes, the race for the second seat was anybody's ballgame.
When all the votes were counted, the Democrats emerged victorious. Schoonmaker earned 402 votes while Oppenheim garnered 379 votes to win their seats on the board. Barnicle had 367 votes, Levinson had 349 votes, and Dumas finished with 219 votes.
The other race in Monticello was for Village Justice. Democrat and Equal Justice candidate Josephine Finn won the election with 557 votes. Finn beat incumbent Republican and Working Families candidate Philip Conaty, who earned 451 votes.
The new officials take their seats at the next Village Board meeting on Monday. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kane will swear them all in at that meeting.