Councilman Leshinski ascends to mayor’s office in South Amherst

David Leshinski

SOUTH AMHERST — Village Council President David Leshinski was elected to the mayor’s office Tuesday, beating challenger and former Mayor Ronald Schmitz.

According to unofficial election results, Leshinski defeated Schmitz 345 to 185, or 75 percent to 35 percent.

Leshinski, who has been on Council since 2005 and has been Council president for the past four years, had served as acting mayor during Mayor Barbara Becker’s absence for medical issues.

Leshinski has said he will take steps to ensure that South Amherst never finds itself at the center of a financial scandal again.

Former South Amherst Clerk/Treasurer Kim Green was indicted in May on charges of theft, theft in office and tampering with records charges for allegedly stealing more than $500,000 from the village.

Ronald Schmitz

The theft led state Auditor Dave Yost to fire two state Auditor’s Office employees and demote a third for failing to perform work that would have uncovered the alleged theft earlier.

Leshinski said he learned that during a time of crisis, communications with all parties are paramount. He also said he will be involved in every aspect of the village’s day-to-day operations and have close relationships with every board, committee and office as a way to hold village employees responsible.

Leshinski said Tuesday night that he was humbled and he appreciates the support given to him by residents of the village and he’s looking forward to leading South Amherst.

“I want to open lines of communication and engage the people,” he said.

“What I want to do is serve the people because if it wasn’t for the people we wouldn’t have a village.”

Schmitz, who served for many years on Village Council and served as mayor for seven years prior to Becker’s tenure, declined to comment.

South Amherst, a village of more than 1,600 people, has 1,006 registered voters and 530 people voted in the mayor’s race on Tuesday.

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