App users, tap here to watch video report.
MAYVILLE – There has been a change in leadership at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections Office.
Democratic Election Commissioner Norm Green announced he is resigning on Thursday evening after the county legislature appointed a new commissioner last week.
Green, who declared his intention to retire last year, has been serving as holdover commissioner after the legislature withdrew a vote on his would-be successor Luz Torres in October 2020.
Last week, lawmakers approved another candidate for the job, Loren Kent, during their monthly meeting. Kent is expected to fill Green’s position, however, that is not set in stone pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Green.
“I absolutely continue to support Luz to replace me,” said Green in a statement. “As a Democrat, I work for diversity at all levels. It is exciting to think about having the first ever Hispanic department head taking over from me. Luz has been training for this job for the last three years and the plan has been for her to take over from me. She is an experienced manager, has helped to administer budgets and is fully trained by the state to be an election commissioner.”
The County Legislature has yet to announce specific reasoning for selecting Kent over Torres, who was recommended by majority vote for the job by the county Democratic Committee.
The Legislature’s Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Nazzaro says the case is slated to go before the court next month. He says the Democratic Caucus will be making a public statement outlining their rational and reasoning after the court comes to a verdict.
Green has served as Democratic Election Commissioner for the past 22-years.
“We’ve accomplished much at the Board of Elections over the past 22 years and the credit must be given to our full time staff of six and, numerous seasonal part timers and the nearly 600 poll workers who deliver democracy one or two days a year at our poll sites,” said Green. “While many, many election boards in the state and nation have admittedly failed, we have delivered world-class elections in our county and have done so with a twelve year near flat budget.”
He says Republican Election Commissioner Brian Abram has been a great partner in their joint bi-partisan efforts to oversee voting in Chautauqua County.
Leave a Reply