Medina election called ‘ugliest in history of the village’

Sherman gets praise and some criticism for tenure as mayor at final regular board meeting

Election inspectors count votes and verify voters’ signatures on March 18 when about 900 people voted in the village election. Mary Ann Ander is in front. In back, from left include Linda Deyle, Judy Szulis and Cynthia Kiebala.

MEDINA –  The hard-fought recent village election featured many social media posts that residents say were often nasty and unfair personal attacks.

Those posts, campaign mailers and comments at public meetings often set an unpleasant tone.

“This was the ugliest election in the history of the village,” resident Mary Hare said during Monday’s Village Board meeting.

She faulted the union for Medina firefighters for dividing the village with their social media posts. That union endorsed Mayor Marguerite Sherman and Courtney Henderson as a trustee.

When the votes were counted last Wednesday night, Debbie Padoleski won as mayor, 489-405 over Marguerite Sherman, while Jeff Wagner, 491 votes, and Mark Prawel, 487 votes, were both elected trustees. Dean Bellack received 319 votes and Henderson, 212 as a write-in.

Mayor Marguerite Sherman is ending 12 years on the Village Board including the past two years as Medina mayor. She urged the board to work together for the betterment of the community.

The firefighters’ union worries about a move to declare a new ladder truck surplus, and possible reductions in staff. Padoleski has cited the example of volunteer departments nearby. Medina has 17 paid firefighters who provide an ambulance service to western Orleans County in addition to responding to fire and other emergency calls.

Hare chided the union for being so vocal in the election.

“Most people want to see them gone,” she said during Monday’s meeting.

Kayla Rosenbeck, the mayor’s daughter, also spoke during the meeting, and said she received an “extremely vile letter” during the election. She said many of the public comments crossed a line of decency.

“It was an absolutely horrendous election,” she said.

Rosenbeck is an English teacher at Medina and she said many high school students have attended village meetings and witnessed character attacks and also seen the aggressive online comments.

“We all need to do better,” Rosenbeck said. “How we communicate matters. Students watch how adults handle disagreements, stress and patience.”

Rosenbeck said she also needs to do better.

“We need to choose words that lift up and don’t tear down,” she said.

Rosenbeck thanked her mother for an “unwavering commitment” during her time as a village trustee and mayor.

Another speaker during Monday’s meeting, Ellen Goheen, said she received a message urging her to vote in the election. Goheen said she moved out of the village eight years ago and wasn’t an eligible village voter. The message came from Village Trustee Jess Marciano and wasn’t from Medina’s mass notification system, which started five years ago.

Marciano said she had a list of numbers and sent them texts from her personal phone number, urging them to vote. She apologized to Goheen for bothering her. Marciano said the message didn’t favor any particular candidates and simply said to get out and vote.

“It was nothing improper from the village,” Marciano said during Monday’s meeting. “It was 100 percent me trying to get more people out to vote in our village.”

Medina had 894 people vote out of 3,655 eligible for a turnout of 24.5 percent.

Monday was the final regular board meeting for Mayor Marguerite Sherman. She has been mayor the past two years and was a trustee for 10 years before that.

Trustee Prawel thanked her for the numerous hours she put in for the community.

“I want to thank Mayor Sherman for all of her service,” Prawel said. “It was a lot of hard work for the Village of Medina.”

Trustee Marciano and Village Clerk/Treasurer Jada Burgess also commended Sherman for her tenure on the board.

“You’ve done a lot for this village,” Burgess said.

Sherman’s husband Jon Sherman also spoke during the meeting, saying his wife listened to residents and scheduled vacations so she wouldn’t miss village meetings. Even on vacation, she answered emails and messages.

“It’s 24-7,” he said. “The Village of Medina has come a long way in the past 12 years as a destination.”

He urged the new board that takes over April 1 to keep moving the community forward.

The mayor said the village has had many successes in recent years, and other communities routinely reach out to Medina to try to model the community’s success. Sherman said the struggles with a new ladder truck and an addition that would be big enough to house it have “tarnished” the village.

That truck has been declared surplus and the village is looking to sell it, although nothing is definitive now. The truck is currently in Tonawanda for some “punch list” work by a mechanic. Once it’s back in Medina it will likely be housed in the DPW building while the board determines if and when it will be sold.

“I remain proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the past 12 years,” Sherman said at Monday’s board meeting.

The state is investing millions in Medina through the Canal Corp. and the NY Forward program. Private entities also are putting their money in the village, she said.

Sherman said she wishes the new board the best, and said differences of opinion should be viewed as an asset.

Brian Hellner, a Newfane resident operating a tour boat business from the Medina Canal Basin, addressed the board and said his experience in recent years with Sherman and the board have often been “frustrating and discouraging.”

He said correspondence has been unprofessional and “unnecessary threatening.”

“We should be treated as partners, not adversaries,” he said.

Hellner said he looks forward to a different approach by the Mayor-elect Padoleski and the new board.

John Parada, a resident, responded that the board has been accommodating to Hellner in getting him a permit and lease to operate the tour boat business. Parada said Hellner often didn’t follow the rules, which required a response from the village. When Parada spoke, Hellner and his son Rollin, owner of The Walsh, got up and walked out of the meeting room at the Shelby Town Hall.

The new mayor and the two elected trustees will be sworn in at 6 p.m. on April 6. There are two budget meetings on March 25 and March 27 before the start of the Padoleski tenure as mayor.