Maciol still N.Y. Mills mayor

In what turned out to be a fairly close race, New York Mills Mayor Robert Maciol was re-elected Tuesday for a third term in office.

"It's an incredible feeling that the community came out and supported what we've done and what we believe in," Maciol said.

Maciol received just under 60 percent of the vote, defeating village Trustee John Bialek 543 to 371. John Semeniak and Kenneth L. McCoy, Maciol's running-mates on the "village first" ticket, also were elected to the two open village trustee positions.

Semeniak will be retaining the seat he already fills. McCoy will be replacing Susan White, who chose not to run after eight years in office. The two defeated three other candidates for the positions, receiving 431 and 473 votes respectively.

Bialek, who will continue to serve out his term on the Village Board, said he was disappointed by the results. He did not think it would affect his ability to work with the mayor, however.

"We felt we had the best interests of the village in our run … but on the same note, we congratulate the winners," he said. "There were two philosophies, and the people have spoken."

Maciol and Bialek recently found themselves on opposite sides of a controversy over rezoning the former Bonide Products site to allow Oriskany Manufacturing Technologies to expand within the village. Maciol was in favor of the proposal; Bialek was against it.

The Village Board voted against rezoning 3-2 on Feb. 12.

Village Clerk Sharon Guca said there was a steady turnout of voters throughout the day Tuesday.

"It hasn't been this busy since 2000," she said.

The 2000 village election was Maciol's first run for mayor, and the last time the mayoral race was contested. Maciol defeated then-incumbent mayor Michael Dubiel by a wide margin, Guca said.

This year, many voters seemed to be making their decision based more on personal relationships than politics.

Rita Rosinski of Main Street wouldn't say who she voted for in the election, but said it was not easy to choose between the two candidates.

"I knew both of the men. I knew all of the people who were running this year. It was very difficult," she said.

Maciol said he was looking forward to continuing his work for the village.

"We need to get back to work tomorrow," he said. "We spent way too much time on this campaign."

Observer-Dispatch