In the end, the party faithful stuck with incumbent town Supervisor Rickey Dattola and village Mayor Mary Fontana. After both were nominated and seconded in their respective races, they received one vote each — from the caucus secretary. It was enough to cement their positions on the Republican ticket in this year’s general election, slated for Nov. 4.

Their seemingly paradoxical vote counts were just procedural measures that reflected uncontested races, foregoing the need for everyone in attendance to fill out a ballot. Additionally, Leonard “Lenny” Young III, who also serves as town justice, was selected in an unopposed race to fill the remainder of the village Justice’s

term, which was open after Justice Chris Delair retired earlier this year.

The future is now, so to speak. That’s because the village board adopted a local law and resolution allowing Young to serve as justice for both courts for the remainder of this village justice term. The village plans on abolishing its court — which it legally cannot do until the village justice term expires in 2026 — and folding those responsibilities into the town court in an effort to reduce unnecessary redundancy between the two and save money.

Adam Boudreau (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

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Contested races

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There were two positions on the Republican ticket for village trustee, and two positions for town councilor. Each race had three eligible candidates nominated and seconded, meaning the caucuses headed to a secret ballot to determine each of those races.

The village trustee caucus vote was between Brasen LaVassaur, David “Haji” Maroun and David Plummer. Maroun was running for his seventh term on the board, while LaVassaur and Plummer were seeking public office for the first time. After the votes were tallied, the newcomers prevailed. LaVassaur and Plummer secured the Republican nominations with 33 and 31 votes, respectively, while Maroun finished in third place with 11 votes. Village Trustee Leon LeBlanc, who was at the caucuses, declined to run for reelection.

Brasen LaVassaur (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

LaVassaur said he was grateful for the support, and was focused on careful stewardship of the village’s tight finances.

“It feels nice that I have the support of the community behind me and they’re willing to let me stand up and talk for them,” he said.

Plummer, who is a retired nurse and works part-time at the Tupper Lake Central School District, said retirement has afforded him some extra time, which he wanted to devote to service in local government. He said priorities for him included boosting tourism initiatives, cleaning up blight around the village and expanding Narcan training to potentially save a life during an opioid drug overdose.

The town councilor caucus vote was between Adam Boudreau, John Gillis and Owen Littlefield. Gillis said on Sunday that he was not planning on seeking the Republican nomination and was not present at the caucus, but was nominated and seconded nonetheless. After the votes were tallied, Boudreau and Littlefield secured the Republican nominations with 42 and 35 votes, respectively, while Gillis finished in third place with 11 votes.

Boudreau is the president of Kentile Excavating and said he threw his hat into town politics out of a desire to keep Tupper Lake as a viable place to live, make a living and a raise a family, both for current and future generations.

David Plummer (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

“I’m excited to try to make a difference,” Boudreau said. “The biggest priorities are housing, jobs — I want to see my kids have the opportunity to stick around here — and infrastructure.”

Gillis said on Sunday that he plans to seek the Democratic nomination at the party’s caucuses slated for July 15 — potentially setting up a contested general election. The Conservative Party’s caucuses are scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 9 at Aaron Maddox Hall.

Voters mingle between the Tupper Lake village and town Republican Party caucuses held at the Emergency Services Building on Monday. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)