DEFERIET — With the recently elected mayor effectively resigning before he took office, the Board of Trustees Wednesday night named Janet Zando to lead village government.

During the Nov. 6 election, former Mayor John M. Pais unseated Robert J. Foster for mayor with 58 write-in votes to Mr. Foster’s 28.

Citing a possible business conflict and “other things that would cause conflict,” Mr. Pais submitted a letter to the board last week declining the post.

After being sworn into office, newly elected Trustee Janet Zando called for an executive session to discuss the qualifications of certain board members. Returning 15 minutes later, Trustee JoAnn L. Zando nominated Ms. Zando for the mayoral position. With no other nominations heard, Ms. Zando was appointed to fill the position until the November elections.

Mayor Zando thanked the former mayor for his service, especially for “keeping our addresses the same.”

During his time in office, Mr. Foster helped facilitate the installation of postal boxes in the newly renovated municipal building since the former post office building was in need of repair and faced closure.

Ms. Zando said she will probably seek election in November.

With a vacancy for trustee, nominations were requested with newly elected Trustee Timothy Irey nominating former trustee William Littlefield and village resident Nancy Foster nominating her step-son, the former mayor Mr. Foster. Vote for the trustee appointment was tabled to the next meeting.

During public comment, Zachery Anderson, a 10-year resident of the village, voiced his displeasure with the way Mr. Foster was unseated.

“The idea that the village is run like a private country club bothers me. It’s not only for the residents who have been here the longest. It bothers me that it’s not a representative government. I’m here to speak up for the carpet baggers. Mayor Foster did a great job progressing the village into the 21st century,” Mr. Anderson said.

Thousands of readers like you have made Northern New York Newspapers the number one ranked website* for local news and sports coverage in the north country.

You can continue on to this article in a few seconds, or you can visit one of our websites:

• Watertown Daily Times
• The Ogdensburg Journal
• Daily Courier-Observer