Albion mayor Javier, trustee Riley close out terms on Village Board

Photos by Tom Rivers: Albion village trustee Joyce Riley and mayor Angel Javier Jr. both are finishing four-year terms on the Village Board.

ALBION – The Albion Village Board meeting on Wednesday was the last one for Angel Javier Jr. as mayor and Joyce Riley as village trustee. They both are finishing four-year terms.

Javier, 36, didn’t seek re-election. He said he is moving outside the village and will be living in the Town of Albion. He wouldn’t have been eligible to be mayor.

Riley, 77, narrowly lost to Tim McMurray for mayor, 209 to 202, during the election on March 18.

Village residents also elected Jami Allport and Kevin Sheehan as trustees on the board with terms starting on April 1.

Riley, during Wednesday’s meeting, said she enjoyed the four years as trustee and has a deep admiration for the village employees.

“It has certainly been a learning moment,” Riley said about her time on the board. “Thank you for giving me these four years.”

With the election of McMurray, Allport and Sheehan, Riley said the village “is ready for a new look.” Her goal is the village will continue to offer all of its services, although “it may look a little different.”

The fire department, for example, now operates out of the Albion Joint Fire District rather than through the village budget with elected fire commissioners providing the oversight, not the Village Board.

Code enforcement officer Chris Kinter praised Riley for her work securing grants for the village. He also thanked Javier for his efforts as mayor.

John Grillo, the Albion recreation director, thanked both Riley and Javier for their service to the village.

After the meeting, Javier said he feels a sense of accomplishment during his four years as mayor.

“We brought in millions of dollars that is spread around through our water infrastructure and grants for the police and grants for our recreation department,” Javier said.

He also cited the land acquisition to allow for a future expansion of Mount Albion Cemetery. The village paid $250,874.58 to Patricia Nelson for the land that is next to Mount Albion’s southwest corner. That is about $7,000 an acre. The sale was finalized on Nov. 8, 2024 after about two years of effort.

A good chunk of Javier’s and Riley’s tenure involved the closing of the Main Street lift bridge. The bridge shut down to traffic on Nov. 14, 2022 for what was expected to be about 18 months for a major rehabilitation. But the project faced several delays and finally was complete on Sept.19, 2025.

The village dedicated the Erie Canal Park on Sept. 28, 2024. The new park includes a lamppost and a bench made from repurposed steel from the Main Street lift bridge when it was originally constructed in 1914. Bill Schutt, left, is the artist from Batavia who made the lamppost. A Go Art! grant paid for Schutt to make the lamppost. Albion Mayor Angel Javier Jr. is next to Schutt and then Deputy Mayor Joyce Riley is on the bench that was made by employees in the sewer plant, the Joint Pollution Control Facility. Village employees Ric Albright, Kyle Piccirilli and William Malone worked on the bench, which also includes a time capsule to be opened on Sept. 28, 2059. Albion students also were part of the day’s celebration which included the unveiling on a monument to the 15 people killed in the Main Street bridge collapsed on Sept. 28, 1859. A huge crowd gathered on the bridge that day to watch a tightrope walker.

Javier worries about the affordability in the village. He led a public hearing on June 11, 2025 to get a conversation started about possible dissolution of the village and consolidating many of the services in the village with the towns of Albion and Gaines. That idea has been seriously pursued at this point, but Javier said village residents might want to consider that in the future.

“I think it will be very difficult for any municipality at this time to operate,” he said after Wednesday’s meeting. “You’re really going to have to look at what your residents want. The residents are going to have to make a decision. If you want this it’s going to cost money. If you don’t want it, you’re going to have to tell the governing body.”

Javier said the village has been able to expand programs in youth recreation program through grants. He praised recreation director John Grillo for bringing in significantly more funding to expand that program. Other department heads also are being proactive pursuing grants, Javier said.

Overall, he counts many successes in Albion in the past four years.

“It was the village that did it, not necessarily me,” he said. “We all worked together to move forward.”