Dan Hust | Democrat Sullivan County Board of Elections Commissioners Faith Kaplan (Democrat) and Rodney Gaebel (Republican) make their rounds at the Ted Stroebele Neighborhood Facility, a polling place for Village of Monticello voters..

Elections portend major changes

By Dan Hust
SULLIVAN COUNTY — March 19, 2010 — Five of Sullivan County’s six incorporated villages held elections on Tuesday, and results in both Monticello and Liberty – if yet-to-be-counted absentee ballots don’t change them – will reshape their village boards.
The Village of Woodridge holds its elections in June, but below you’ll find results from Bloomingburg, Jeffersonville, Liberty, Monticello and Wurtsboro.
All results are unofficial, with absentee ballots scheduled to be counted next week.
Bloomingburg
Bloomingburg’s three candidates ran unopposed.
Progressive Mayor Mark Berentsen was returned to a two-year term with 48 votes, while A New Beginning Trustee Margaret “Peggy” Wood also was returned to her two-year seat via 42 votes.
Former Village Justice Glenn Kroll, who gave up the four-year position to run for Sullivan County District Attorney, has got it back again, thanks to 41 voters.
Jeffersonville
Both Jeffersonville Village Board candidates ran unopposed, reflected in an almost-nonexistent voter turnout.
Incumbent Trustee William Thony was returned to his seat with 11 votes, while Kevin Walter garnered retiring Trustee Susan Hemmer’s position with 10 votes. Both will serve two-year terms.
Liberty
Liberty featured a competitive race for two two-year village board seats.
With just eight absentee ballots and two affidavits left to be counted, Incumbent Independence, Common Sense and Republican Trustee David Simon has lost his position, with only 115 votes compared to Democrat/Conservative challengers Luis Alvarez (172 votes) and former Trustee Joan Stoddard (155 votes)
With 89 votes, Independence, Common Sense and Republican Dawn Green won’t be able to make up any difference either.
Monticello
Monticello’s village board may be very different at its next meeting – but with more than 300 absentee ballots yet to be counted, no one can be declared the definitive winner yet.
Incumbent Republican, Independence and Conservative Trustee Scott Schoonmaker and his running mate, Brian Soller, are currently trailing incumbent Democrat and G Man Trustee TC Hutchins and his running mate, Rev. James Matthews.
Hutchins’ 427 votes and Matthews’ 398 have outdistanced Soller’s 362 and Schoonmaker’s 327. All are vying for two four-year seats as village trustees, with Hutchins (the deputy mayor) and Matthews seen as being more favorable to Mayor Gordon Jenkins’ agenda than Soller and Schoonmaker.
Incumbent Village Judge Josephine Finn ran unopposed on the Republican, Democrat, Independence and Conservative lines for another four years, garnering 551 votes.
Wurtsboro
Incumbent Republican Trustee Barbara Semonite was the lone candidate in Wurtsboro’s village elections, seeking to return to her board seat for another two years.
Thanks to 67 voters, she will.