Legislature will meet Thursday to pick leaders
3 new members will take oaths of office
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature will meet Thursday during the group’s annual organizational meeting. The seven-member body will choose its chairman and vice chairman.
Three new members – Fred Miller of Albion, Ken DeRoller of Kendall and John DeFilipps of Clarendon – will all be sworn in and will take the oaths of office.
David Callard has been the Legislature chairman the past four years. He is expected to continue in that position. The Legislature is guaranteed to have a new vice chairman because George Bower of Holley retired as a legislator after 24 years.
DeFilipps was elected to take Bower’s spot on the Legislature. DeFilipps has been a member of the Clarendon Town Board for the past 12 years.
He owned a convenience store and gas station in Clarendon for 10 years before joining the Town Board. He worked 28 years at General Motors in Rochester before retiring six years ago. He recently helped develop the Red Rock Ponds RV Resort in Murray.
DeRoller was elected to succeed Ken Rush of Carlton, who didn’t seek re-election after 14 years in a district that includes the towns of Carlton, Kendall and Murray, as well as the village of Holley.
DeRoller worked 38 years at Kodak, retiring 11 years ago in the information technology department as a business analyst. DeRoller also worked as Kendall’s town assessor and served 25 years on the Town Planning Board, including 15 years as chairman.
He has been a member of the Orleans Economic Development Agency the past 10 years. He also helped shape a waterfront development plan in 2002 for the towns of Yates, Carlton and Kendall, a project that helped those communities secure grants.
Miller will be the first Democrat on the Legislature since Gary Kent was last on the Legislature four years ago. Miller has been an Albion village trustee the past five years. He resigned from the position to become a legislator. He also runs Family Hardware in downtown Albion, a business he has owned since 1986.
Thursday’s meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. in the legislative chambers of the County Clerks’ Building, 3 South Main St.
