“After nearly a decade leading the town, Supervisor Rene Merrihew is ready to call it quits.
The popular Republican incumbent who hasn’t had a challenger since she first ran for supervisor in 2004 acknowledged she won’t be seeking a sixth term this fall. In reaching her decision, Merrihew cited personal reasons and a desire to let someone else have a turn at leading the town.
“It’s just time,” she said Friday. “It’s time to move on, time to give someone else the seat.”
When Merrihew leaves office in December, she will have served 14 years on the Town Board, a period during which she watched the creation of two multimillion-dollar sewer districts and significant progress on a third. She proved to be an effective consensus builder on the board, which helped such complex projects advance with relative ease.
“We don’t always agree, but we try to reach a consensus,” she said. “If somebody doesn’t like something, we try to change it so its appealing to everyone.
Merrihew, now 53, was first convinced to run for office in 2000 by then-Republican Supervisor Bob Wall. Adverse to politics, Merrihew said her goal in joining the board was to help the town she’s lived in since early childhood.
She served four years on the board, until Republican Ken LaBelle announced he had no intentions of running for a second term as supervisor, just 15 months into his first 2-year term. Merrihew stepped up to take the GOP nomination, pledging to be responsive to the concerns of residents.””
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Mason, Justin. Schenectady Gazette 5 April 2013.