NORWICH – Democrat James J. McNeil has been declared the unofficial victor in Tuesday’s closely-contested ward supervisor race against his repeat challenger for the seat, Republican Scott M. Sutton.
McNeil held on to his seat in 2007 in an even closer race with Sutton, in which the final results weren’t computed until a week later, 411 votes to 495.
This time around, that gap grew slightly with McNeil receiving 413 votes to Sutton’s 296.
“I’m overwhelmed with the outcome and the support that the residents of Wards 1, 2 and 3 have given me. I feel they have a lot of confidence in me and I’m deeply humbled by that,” said McNeil Tuesday night, thanking the support of voters, family and friends.
Just like in 2007, the race was one of the most closely contested in the Norwich area, with the candidates campaigning door to door in the wards, attending public events and through paid advertising.
Sutton released a written statement Wednesday morning which began: “To those who voted for me and supported me along the way, I extend my deepest appreciation and gratitude. Thank you. You are the voices who hope for a better tomorrow.”
McNeil will assume his sixth term Jan. 1. He pledged to continue his agenda Tuesday, saying he would oppose any new county positions being added that would increase the tax burden on regular citizens.
“We don’t need to increase the size of government and maybe we can even reduce the size of it through natural attrition. The hardest part is going to be maintaining the services that people need,” he said.
McNeil said one of the issues facing the county is the rising cost of retirement contributions.
“There is going be a big increase in the retirement contributions and it’s a going to be a big bite locally. Chenango County is in pretty good shape financially. We have a surplus that’s sufficient to weather just about any foreseeable storm, and we shouldn’t have to increase taxes,” said McNeil.
McNeil also said he had a rising concern over the finances of the new Chenango County Jail, explaining the facility wasn’t boarding outside prisoners as much as it had been. The facility takes in outside prisoners from over -capacity areas and receives additional funds for the inmates.
“The jail is a concern. We’re not boarding prisoners like we used to. I want to see what can be done about trying to bring more in,” he said.
McNeil is also pushing to have a county-wide revaluation of property assessments, but said Tuesday he believes the measure won’t come to fruition anytime soon.
“It’s something we’re looking at in the future,” he said.
Sutton would not speculate on plans to run against McNeil in the future, saying only that he didn’t want to comment.
“Together we were disappointed with the results of the election, for the numbers seem to indicate that the majority of voters in the city do not want, or are afraid of, change. This discouragement slows the growth of new ideas and progress, such as the renovation of our parks and trails, and defeats new businesses and prosperity, such as the loss of our ice cream parlors.  I will not give up on you,” his statement read.