New Lebanon voters permanently replace council member ousted for delinquent taxes

The village of New Lebanon Municipal Building on South Clayton Road. AIMEE HANCOCK / STAFF

The village of New Lebanon Municipal Building on South Clayton Road. AIMEE HANCOCK / STAFF

The New Lebanon Village Council will welcome a new member in the coming weeks.

The village electorate voted during the Nov. 5 election to appoint Christopher Sands to the council position vacated this summer by former member Tammy Loch.

Council subsequently appointed Charles Cooper as Loch’s interim replacement. Sands will fill the seat permanently.

Sands was the only candidate to file and be approved for placement on the ballot. He was approved as a write-in, according to Interim Village Manager Rob Anderson.

Unofficial, final results from the Montgomery County Board of Elections show just 20.67% of votes were cast in approval of Sands’ placement, however, the majority of votes, or 79.33%, went toward other, invalid write-in candidates.

Loch forfeited her seat in June after it was discovered she was in violation of the village charter because of delinquent taxes she owes the municipality. Her term was set to expire next year.

New Lebanon voters last year approved an amendment to the village charter section 2.01, which stipulates that electorates of the village “must remain in good standing on all municipal income taxes throughout their elected term.”

Loch has secured legal counsel to fight her removal from council. In a letter to the village’s Law Director Michael McNamee dated Oct. 25, Loch’s attorney asserts his client was, in fact, in good standing as she was complying with a village payment plan.

The village has also recently appointed a new permanent manager, Peter Sexton, who is set to replace Anderson in mid-December.

Sexton, who is the husband of Councilwoman Melissa Sexton, was appointed to the position last month in a 4-2 vote, with Councilmen Gale Joy and Lyndon Perkins dissenting. Melissa Sexton recused herself from the vote.

Peter Sexton most recently served as operations manager for the Montgomery County Juvenile Court’s Nicholas Residential Treatment Center.

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