Karl, Lesser and Chan triumph in Monroe
Monroe Voters chose Village Trustee John Karl III as the next mayor with 569 votes over challenger and outgoing Trustee Jeffrey W. Peifer’s 505. Karl served for the past two years as a fiscal conservative, seeking to end health benefits for board members and the village attorney. He also supported and pressed for a more open dialogue at board meetings and with the public, which often sparked a heated exchange with other board members. Following the election results, Karl said he “looked forward to open government and a changed government” and he said he looks forward to working cooperatively with the new board. Wayne Chan’s 609 votes and Charles Lesser’s 542 votes surpassed James Purcells 468 and T. Scott Ferguson’s 308 votes to capture the two open trustee seats. Chan is former president of the Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps and chairman of the committee planning the new ambulance corps building. He pledges to “give people 110 percent, and do what I can in office.” Lesser is a longtime Monroe resident and owner of Monroe Jewelers. He said Tuesday night that he and Karl, his running mate, will strive to do the best on the citizens’ behalf. Lesser, Karl and Trustee Steven Maneri - the new mayor’s running mate in the previous election - will form a new allied majority on the board. The new board members will officially assume their positions upon being sworn into office, which will occur prior to the reorganization meeting on April 4. Karl’s new role as mayor will leave vacant his trustee position. This void will be filled by an appointment of the new mayor until a special election is held next year. Karl said he will be meeting with the new board to solicit their input on a candidate for the position. This election brought less voter turnout than the last mayoral race despite an increase in the number of registered voters. In 2002, there were 4,385 registered voters within the village with 1,257 votes cast. Only 1,096 votes were counted in this election with an increase to 4,495 registered voters.