Wayne Taylor is now the chair of the Essex County Republican Committee following the departure of former Chairman John Gereau. (Provided photo — Wayne Taylor)

The Essex County Republican Committee has seen a shift in leadership this summer. Wayne Taylor, who became vice chair of the committee in November, is now the chair.

The first and second vice chair spots are currently vacant. The shift in leadership came when the former chair, John Gereau, stepped down last month to become the publisher of the Enterprise.

Taylor, a Ticonderoga native, has long been involved in local leadership and as a member of the committee. A “child of the 70s,” his early career included working for the village of Ticonderoga. He was an instrument electrician for International Paper before moving to the civil service in 2007, working as the county director of Weights and Measures until his retirement in 2021.

During that time, he also spent 16 years as a town councilman in Ticonderoga. This has given him deep insight into how local government operates and what he sees as its central balancing act: maintaining goods and services, keeping taxes affordable and ensuring quality of life for public employees.

“I don’t take things for granted, and I appreciate our public servants, our elected officials that are willing to step in the gap and be subject to lots of scrutiny, very little praise and lots of ridicule,” he said.

Taylor has been a member of the Republican committee for around 25 years. Some of that time was spent as town chairman, but he never really wanted to run for other leadership roles — he sees himself as more of a “facilitator on the ground.”

He finally decided to run for vice chair of the committee last year at the encouragement of a close friend who wanted to nominate him.

Taylor said he has a lot to learn and is grateful for the members of the committee who are always ready to pitch in.

“We’re learning as we go, and I’ve got some great people to work with,” he said.

The committee is already facing some unusual situations at different levels of government. There’s an impending special election for the Assembly District 115 seat about to be vacated by Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateugay Lake) and Wilmington Town Supervisor Favor Smith recently announced his retirement after being nominated for the Republican party line in November’s local election.

The most important challenge for Taylor’s party, as he sees it, is voter education. He said the majority of voters in Ticonderoga are “non-committed,” and he wants to get the word out about what it means to be a Republican.

“We aren’t the dastardly, people-hurting group that sometimes gets portrayed by the media,” he said. “We live in a nice little microcosm here in Essex County. We’ve been able to maintain ourselves and maintain our way of living separate from some of the national political trends.”

Instead, he would like to see the Republican party defined by the John F. Kennedy quote, “ask not what your country can do (for you). Ask what you can do for your country.” To him, this means a sense of togetherness, never losing sight of the huge costs that can come from providing goods and services while still providing practical and tangible benefits.

“We don’t have a lot of disposable income to waste on things that are nice-to-haves and pie in the sky mentalities,” he said. “We have to be common sense, practical — make your money do something for you, do something for the taxpayer, do something tangible for everybody.”

He said he is lucky enough to have three grown children and five grandchildren who still live nearby. He wants New York to improve residents’ quality of life and make it more affordable to live here so that his grandchildren, and others like them, can keep their homes here.

With these goals in mind, Taylor is optimistic about this time in politics and is prouder than ever to be a Republican.

“Never in my adult life have I ever been happier with being a Republican than I am today,” he said. “I’m not gonna apologize for anything. I think that you need to give folks a chance and let things come out in the wash, so to speak. I’m very encouraged with what I’ve seen done so far, and I’m in hopes that our state can come back.”