Albion appoints 2 to Village Board
ALBION – The Albion Village Board has two new members with Christopher Barry and former Trustee Kevin Sheehan.
They joined the board on Friday following the resignations of Peter Sidari and Mattea Navarra. Those two stayed on the board an extra month after their terms were to expire on March 31. They stayed during a busy month of April while the Village Board finalized the village budget.
Christopher Barry
Sidari and Navarra both didn’t seek re-election. The village election was scheduled for March 18 but then was pushed to April 28 and then again to an undetermined date in June. The governor on May 1 announced the village elections would be moved to Sept. 15. His directives gave current board members the option of staying in their positions until the next election.
Sidari and Navarra opted to resign rather than stay in the positions another 4 ½ months.
Sheehan and Barry both are Republican candidates in the election. Mayor Eileen Banker asked them if they would be willing to start before the Sept. 15 election and both agreed. They were appointed to the board by Banker and trustees Gary Katsanis and Stan Farone.
Kevin Sheehan
Maurice Taylor, a candidate backed by the Democratic Party, also will be on the ballot in September. He was backed by Democrats during a caucus in January.
He said today he will decide closer to the Sept. 15 election whether he will be mounting an active campaign for the position.
Kevin Sheehan, 57, was on the Village Board for eight years and was interested in running for mayor in March 2014. But the Hatch Act derailed those plans and prompted him to step away from the Village Board. (The Hatch Act prevents a federal employee from running in a partisan election.)
Sheehan worked as a union plumber for 27 years before getting a job with the federal VA in Batavia. He was the maintenance mechanic work lead and retired on Sept. 21 after about six years.
The South Clinton Street resident said he enjoys getting involved with the inner-workings of the village government.
Sheehan has a new job as a safety compliance consultant for Safety York Solutions. The job gives him lots of flexibility, he said.
Christopher Barry, 47, works as sergeant at the Orleans Correctional Facility. He started his career as a corrections officer 16 years ago. Barry, a South Main Street resident, said he looks forward to knowing more about how the village government works. He and his wife Lisa have two children, ages 5 and 9.
Taylor, 53, of McKinstry Street retired in 2016 after 27 years as a corrections officer. Taylor and his wife Ethel raised four children in Albion. They have five grandchildren.
