Town of Scriba Elects First Woman Supervisor

SCRIBA, NY – Since the Town of Scriba’s formal government was established in 1811 there have been 50 town supervisors. On November 7th, after more than 200 years, voters in the town of Scriba made an historic decision. Kelly Lagoe was elected the town’s first woman town supervisor.

“This is truly ground breaking,” said Scriba Town Historian Laurie Ann Marrano-Johnson. “Kelly joins a list of firsts for women in Scriba that includes Tax Collector Rose Capston in 1935; first Council person on record, Norma Canale in 1978; and Town Clerk Cynthia Crowley (Orr) in 1983. It’s exciting that we are part of this history making event.”

Lagoe has been involved with Scriba government since 2016 when she was elected to the town board. She was appointed to fulfill the term of town supervisor following the resignation of James Oldenburg earlier this year.

“Being a member of the town board was a wonderful experience,” said Lagoe. “I ran for board member because I was curious to know more about how the town was run. I enjoyed my time on the board and strived to do what was best for our community.”
Following her term as board member Lagoe continued to attend every meeting to keep abreast of the latest happenings and board decisions pertaining to the town and doing what she could to advocate for her community. After coming up short by a slim margin in a bid for town supervisor in 2022, Lagoe was determined to continue her goal of becoming town supervisor.

“Having been CSEA union president and senior payroll clerk with the Oswego City School District, I was confident that with my experience of working with budgets, accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and overseeing expenses I could best serve the town as supervisor. I never wavered from my goal and here we are today!” said Lagoe.
As town supervisor Lagoe is looking forward to the challenges ahead and has a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, including determining ways to improve the efficiency of all departments and addressing community members concerns.

“I want to enhance the communication and interaction between the board and our community members. Making our website easier to access and navigate and encouraging people to attend meetings are ways to do so. Transparency is important and communication is the key to having things run smoothly. I have an open door policy. Community members can reach out to me at any time. I’m always open to suggestions. If someone has a great idea, share it. I’m here to work for the people and collaboratively we can make our community better,” said Lagoe.

As for being the first woman elected town supervisor, it’s something Lagoe never thought of in an historical perspective. “It’s an honor to have that designation and I’m humbled by the support I received from the voters,” she added.

“With the election of Kelly as town supervisor our board reflects the societal role changes that are happening all over our country and the acceptance of women not only in politics but as leaders as well,” added Marrano-Johnson. “In many ways it is a momentous achievement that we as a community can be proud of.”

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