HOLLAND
Holland board seat is only contest
Published: October 30, 2009, 12:30 am
Story tools:
Share this story:
Holland voters won’t have many races to ponder when they head to the polls Tuesday.
Cheryl Gerbec is seeking a seat on the Town Board against two incumbents, the only spot on the ballot that features opposition.
Gerbec, a 17-year resident of the town, is making her first run for public office. She said her primary motivation for running is to offer fresh perspective on the Town Board, which is dominated by Republicans. The seats carry four-year terms.
Rounding out the race are incumbents Roberta A. Herr, a Republican also on the Conservative Party line, and Geoffrey W. Hack, a Conservative also carrying the GOP endorsement.
“I want to be a new voice for the people in the town, where currently it’s a single-party, Republican-controlled board,” said Gerbec, 55, who is a teacher’s aide in the Holland Central School District.
Gerbec said she feels qualified through the jobs she has held, in customer service, accounting and management, coupled with her experience in working with others.
Gerbec volunteers at the Holland Reading Center within the Boys & Girls Club. She also has been active with the Cub Scouts, 4-H Club, Parent-Teacher Organization and the local Garden Club.
Hack, 39, said he wants to continue serving the town and is running for his fifth four-year term. A Holland native, he works as an academic intervention teacher at Holland Elementary School.
Herr, 46, is an assistant dietary director at Absolut Care nursing home in East Aurora. A 14-year resident of Holland, she is seeking her second full term.
Neither agrees with Gerbec’s characterization of the dominance by one political party.
“We have a board with different viewpoints and come to a compromise,” Herr said. “The party does not derive who we are. This is my town — not my party — that I’m concerned with.”
“Like every town, the issues are roads and taxes,” Hack said. “We were able to hold the line on the taxes; we want to keep taxes low and keep people here.”
Hack and Herr praised the town’s pro-active efforts to adopt an ordinance on wind turbines.
The unopposed candidates are: Supervisor Michael C. Kasprzyk, Town Clerk Sandra B. Smith, Justice William J. Franczak, Highway Superintendent Patrick F. Joyce and Tax Collector June McArthur. Assessor Marcia Hazlett is not seeking re-election and will be replaced by Tammy Adsitt.
krobinson@buffnews.com
Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.