Former Otisville trustee and Deputy Mayor Isaac “Ike” Palmer plans to return to the village board and use his experience and ideas to serve the community.
Four candidates are vying for two village board seats on March 19; each winner will serve a five-year term, following which trustees will be elected on a regular four-year term.
Born and raised in Orange County, Mr. Palmer graduated from Goshen Central School District and studied chemical engineering at Clarkson University on a four-year scholarship.
However, he had to leave college early to take care of family matters. He later got into the trade of building gasoline stations and convenience stores in Orange County.
He once worked under Edmund Lloyd, a famed local who first introduced the “shopping under one roof” concept to Middletown.
In 1987, when his first son was around 1 year old, Mr. Palmer moved his family to Otisville for the well-rated school district and quality of life.
He then switched to work in the elevator construction industry and commuted to Manhattan to work at different sites until he retired about 12 years ago.
At the encouragement of his neighbor and village trustee Diane Loeven, Mr. Palmer began to serve on the review committee around 2011 and then on the planning board for several years.
Having been in the construction field most of his life, he enjoyed using his expertise in the approval process and once served as the planning board president.
In 2014, Palmer ran for and won a trustee seat on the four-member village board and subsequently worked on a number of village infrastructure projects, including rebuilding the water main, upgrading the village hall, and replacing the leaking roof of the village fire department.
“The mayor felt confident in me in terms of dealing with engineers and contractors and putting the right people together,” Mr. Palmer said of longtime former Mayor Brian Wona, under whom he served as deputy mayor for two terms before losing his trustee bid in 2022 by 10 votes.
Last March, he ran for village mayor and lost to Brian Carey by 24 votes.
Even though Mr. Palmer did not hold any official village post in the past year, he said he tried to remain active in the community, including volunteering his time in the annual yard sale as he always did.
He said he kept his eyes open on village facilities and sometimes suggested maintenance or upgrade ideas.
“Sometimes, if you let things go too long, then it becomes a costly replacement project as opposed to a maintenance project,” he said. “If you can do a simple shingle replacement, that is a lot cheaper than doing a roof tear-off and replacing the whole roof.”
If reelected, Mr. Palmer hopes to upgrade the Veterans Memorial Park by adding a new toddler swing, more picnic areas beyond the pavilion, and new wildflower and grass sections.
He also plans to start some infrastructure projects, such as a new power generator for the village hall and the upkeep of the roof of the village salt shed.
The Otisville-Mount Hope Democratic Committee endorsed Mr. Palmer.
