Two democrats seek open seat on Amenia’s Town Board

AMENIA — Voters will have a chance to fill the vacant seat on the Town Council this year after the board has spent nearly two years with an incomplete roster of four voting members.

Two candidates — democrats Damian Gutierrez and Kimberley Travis — are eyeing the seat. Both are seeking the democratic party line on the ballot in November, and will face off in a primary election on June 23.

The local head of the Republican party, Jaime Vitiello, said they will not run a candidate for supervisor or councilperson as no one showed interest.

Travis, who’s best known around town for organizing the regular anti-Trump protests at Fountain Square in Amenia, said local Democratic Party leadership asked her to run because of her skills with organizing people and events. She said she wants to focus on listening to others and serving all townspeople if she is elected to the town council.

Travis emphasized a desire to push Amenia forward on issues, lamenting projects she said have stalled such as the Route 44 sidewalk.

“I want to see our local tax dollars go toward the betterment of our community,” Travis said. “Not get stuck in a quagmire.”

Damian Gutierrez has already served the town as a councilman and a member of various committees. He said he is looking forward to possibly rejoining the current board.“I’ve only ever worked with Vicki before and we accomplished a lot together, Gutierrez said. “To me it’s not about personalities or party.”

He believes his private sector experience could help. “I spent a lot oftime when I was in office working on legal matters,” Gutierrez said. “I helped migrate the town from a 1980’s email back office technology to a cloud solution intended for small governments.” One of the “big idea projects” he is interested in is the creation of a Facilities Director to look over town properties and lands and buildings as a paid position.

An unfilled board seat has become part of the local political scene over the past three election cycles, beginning with Leo Blackman being elected to the supervisor position the same year that two new board members, Paul Winters and Brad Rebillard, were elected. At the time, the council rejected the appointment of Vicki Doyle. Instead, the Board voted to interview other candidates in executive session and Nicole Ahearn was appointed when Rosanna Hamm, a Democrat, chose to support a Republican because she thought they could work well together, all political power aside.

Then Paul Winters’s sudden death created another open term that would require a second appointment.

This time, the board decided not to fill Winters’s position and chose to function as two Democrats and two Republicans. That vacancy continued after the November 2025 election, when Rosanna Hamm was elected supervisor and left an open year on her board seat. Once again, the board chose to function as four, and while it was technically three Democrats and one Republican, working together across party lines prevailed and the major issues facing the town — the new town garage, sidewalk, water projects, and pending lawsuits — were addressed with compromise, town officials said.

Current membership has focused on functioning smoothly and keeping tempers calm since the elections last November, working hard to avoid the acrimony of recent past boards. A new member, Walter Dietrich, and veteran Doyle — who was reelected to a seat on the board in 2025 — have voted almost unanimously with incumbents Hamm and Ahearn on the current issues facing the town.

“All four of us want the best for Amenia and that’s the point,” Dietrich said.

Doyle similarly emphasized a commitment to work fairly with anyone, regardless of party affiliation. “I will work with Republicans,” Doyle said. “We should fight for the town, not each other.”

Ahearn summarized the mood of the current board. “Not a lot of 2-2 votes,” Ahearn said. “We’re trying to come together for the town.”