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RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Village Election

Dem Incumbents Not Running

Mon, Mar 28, 2011

Dem Incumbents Not Running

The three incumbents -- all Democrats -- whose terms on the Village Board of Trustees expire this spring will not seek reelection.

Mayor Sue McVaugh (in photo with Denise Leone at the dedication of the lee brown Coye mural) and trustees Jim Bona and Suzanne Collins have all said they will not be on the ballot in June.

McVaugh, who has been on the board for 15 years, the last six as mayor, said she asked the village Democratic Committee to find another candidate for mayor. She said she hopes to continue to help the village in some way when the new administration takes over.

Like Collins and Bona, McVaugh cited the ever-expanding commitment of time as one of the the things that makes public service increasingly difficult. She said it has been come especially difficult to hold a job and be part of the village government.

Of all the things that have transpired in her time as mayor, McVaugh said she was especially pleased that there has been "virtually no increase in the tax rate and there hasn't been a cut in services" that the average person would notice.

Collins, who just took over as executive director of the Hamilton Food Cupboard, has been on the board eight years. She said she thought it was time for someone else to be on the board. Collins also said she would like to possibly be serve on a board dealing with other local issues.

Collins took over running the Food Cupboard recently when Mary Ellen Shen resigned, taking another position.

Bona, who was elected four years ago, said it was "a rather personal decision not to run. I feel l did my time and I never planned to make a career of it."

Bona, like many elected officials, said public service is very time consuming and he doesn't expect that to change.

"Politics is a tough business and maybe I'm not that tough," he said.

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