Jun 21, 2025
Fredonia’s Democratic Party Board of Trustees candidates squared off in a League of Women Voters forum Wednesday at the Opera House.
Incumbent Michelle Twichell and newcomers Christine Cruz Keefe and Leeann Lazarony face a primary Tuesday to decide the Democrats’ nominations for two board seats in the November election. Cruz Keefe and Lazarony are the party’s endorsed candidates.
The opening question of the event inquired about the biggest issue facing Fredonia.
Twichell got to answer first: “The finances and the water issue. These two go hand in hand in preserving our autonomy and moving our village forward to sustain its integrity and independence. I’m focused on watching spending in our budget, and constantly motivating the other trustees to focus on our valuable resource — the reservoir — by voicing our opinion at the least expensive opinion when it comes to our water study.”
Cruz Keefe responded next: “The current tax increase. The best solution is to bring back the position of the village administrator with a competent and capable individual.”
Lazarony said the village budget is the largest issue. “I would use my experience as a trustee and former mayor (of Cassadaga) to work together with the board and the mayor to bring back a village administrator to solve some of our current budget issues.”
The candidates were asked what steps they would take to address the village’s budget crisis. Lazarony repeated that bringing back the village administrator was key. “It’s been proven that the village administrator has saved the village money. I would use data-driven evidence to create a budget, not proposed numbers. … It’s about working together to create the budget you can afford.”
Cruz Keefe said Fredonia should be under an austerity budget and the village deserves “a transparent and concise explanation about how we got into this financial situation.” She also reiterated her desire for an administrator: “In the past, a big part of that person’s job was to watch the budget like a hawk and alert the board to potential overspending.”
Twichell said Treasurer Erlyssa LeBeau “works as a village administrator, although she doesn’t have the authority to speak as much as a village administrator does. I’m always encouraging her to speak up more about how we got into this.” Twichell suggested a hiring freeze and “taking a look at information we are receiving from department heads and keeping them tight on the budget.”
Fredonia’s big hanging question — whether to fix its reservoir, or ditch it and buy water from an outside source — came up a few minutes later.
Twichell answered first: “I’m in favor of keeping our own reservoir and our water.” She said the latest study of the village’s water situation “really is a study just pointing to North County Water District, because after all, the county paid for this water study and I think they’re pretty biased in their opinion.”
Lazarony and Cruz Keefe both said they wanted to do whatever was most fiscally responsible for the village — but weren’t sure yet which course of action to take. “The thought of us losing the revenue that comes from the reservoir does make me very nervous,” Cruz Keefe said.
The trio of candidates was asked about encouraging close working relationships between the village, the town of Pomfret, and SUNY Fredonia. Cruz Keefe touted her SUNY Fredonia connections. Lazarony mentioned her connections made as Cassadaga mayor and encouraged Fredonia residents to reach out to her, also mentioning past work with the university. Twichell said she helped establish a Campus Community Coalition, and that the village already shares services and equipment with Pomfret.
Another query wondered about combining services with “neighboring financially stressed governments” — an apparent reference to the city of Dunkirk.
Lazarony said she is for shared services but questioned the desirability of doing so with Dunkirk.
“Dunkirk is a sinking ship. I really don’t want to join any shared services with them,” Twichell said. She reiterated that Fredonia already shares some services with Pomfret — however, “we used to share our water with them but they’re on the road to stop benefiting from the village water. I really am opposed to working with them because their ideas are not in favor of the village of Fredonia.”
Cruz Keefe said, “it seems there are areas where you could share services… a ladder truck that doesn’t get used very often, it would be better to share something like that.” She suggested that two struggling municipalities might be motivated to share their burdens together.
The candidates were asked about involving Fredonia residents in the village decision-making process. “Well, I think that’s what we’re supposed to do,” said Lazarony. “I think I am your voice. It’s not my decision, it’s your decision, it’s your voice. …whether I like what you have to say or not, I still have to bring it to the board. I still have an obligation to voice your concern, or support you while you voice that.” She spoke of fostering “non-confrontational, not defensive, and welcoming” relationships with residents.
Twichell said, “I wish more people would reach out to me. The only time I usually hear from people are complaints. I would welcome hearing about new ideas … which we could all benefit from.”
Cruz Keefe criticized the board’s rule that speakers from the public are limited to three minutes. “It reads as disrespectful. They’ve taken a lot of time to prepare comments and information, and the trustees need to give those people time to speak because they’re passionate about our village. They want what’s best for our village– we need to listen to those people.”
Twichell pointed out that municipal boards can legally limit speakers to three minutes to keep meetings controlled and orderly. However, she agreed with Cruz Keefe that some speakers should be allowed to go over three minutes — if they have “ideas.”
Lazarony commented then when she watches village board meetings, she feels like public speakers are often disrespected — but some of the speakers aren’t respectful, either. “We need to create an atmosphere that brings us together, not separate,” she said.
A question was asked about plans to cut village expenses. Twichell complained that in the past, some department heads worked around the treasurer’s denial of expenditures by getting them approved from certain favored trustees. “I would like to see a tightening of that, and not always allowing the department heads to be able to control a trustee on what they want to purchase or do,” she said.
Cruz Keefe and Lazarony said a village administrator would help immensely with the issue. “We’re in trouble with the budget because nobody said no,” Lazarony said.
The League of Women Voters’ Marcia Merrins had her customary role of moderator. The debate can be viewed in its entirety on Fredonia Access’ YouTube channel.
This year’s primary date is set for June 24. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. In Fredonia, Wheelock School will be the voting location.
Only Democratic Voters in the Village of Fredonia, Republican Voters in the Town of Carroll and Conservative Voters in the Town of Portland will have a primary in 2025.
Next month, some experts will be meeting with select Chautauqua County lawmakers regarding the possibility of using …
If talk wasn’t cheap, Dunkirk might have gone a long way toward cutting its multimillion-dollar deficit …
Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of New York, Inc. | https://www.observertoday.com | PO Box 391, Dunkirk, NY 14048 | 716-366-3000
