Democratic Caucus Results

The Democratic caucus was held last night, Monday, January 26, at the Alfred Village Hall. There was a tremendous turnout of people interested in nominating candidates for village mayor and board trustees. Tons of students from Alfred State, faculty and staff from both schools, and community residents showed up to show support. The race is now officially on for the nominated students and long term residents.102 students and residents were registered Democrats voted in the caucus. The nominees were given three minutes to speak and convince the populace to vote for them. The first nomination was for town mayor. Jason Rodd and Justin Griggs were nominated. Some town residents were of the opinion that Jason Rodd was only running for the position because of a student conspiracy, but he assured everyone that this was not the case. He wants to be a strong voice and leader for students and fulltime residents. He is looking for the best in the two campuses. He mentioned a noise violation law, which states that a person can be imprisoned up to 15 days. “This law was created to help end parties but there are better ways to do that,” he said. Justin Grigg is the current mayor of Alfred. If reelected he wants to expand his term so that the can form better partnerships with the outside communities. Justin Grigg. won The next nomination was for the town trustees. Nick Ferraro and Peter McClain were the first nominees. Nick Ferraro is an Alfred State student. He wants the long term residents and short term residents to be treated equally. Peter McClain is a graduate of Alfred University. He is on the Hot Dog Day planning board. The winner was Peter McClain. The last nomination was for the second spot on the Alfred Board of Trustees of Alfred. Kory Shick and Tom McDowell were the second nominees. Kory is an Alfred State student and has been a town resident for three years. If elected he wants to promote economic stability and an equal inclusion of all community members. He wants the community to come together as one to solve the problems. "I have a lot of different things I would like to do. There are problems in Alfred, just like everywhere, and I have a creative and strategic way of going about them. Students, as well as village members, have a good opportunity to work together and I'm doing my part to make sure it happens" said Shick. Tom McDowell is a professor of computer information technology. He has been actively involved in the community by being a coach on several sport teams, and helping out with Cub Scouts. The winner was Tom McDowell. The Democratic caucus was held a week after the Republican caucus, which resulted in Jason Rodd, Nick Ferraro, and Kory Shick defeating Justin Grigg, Peter McClain, and Tom McDowell. In Alfred, candidates can – and often are – nominated by both parties. Now that candidates have been chosen, the three positions will be up for election in March, and a clearcut choice for the future of Alfred will be presented. Current Mayor Grigg admitted after the caucus last night that the real winners in this process are the people of the village and democracy itself, since many, many more people are now participating in the elections