Election 2024: Garcia wins Grand Island Council seat; new term limits OK'd

Article and Photos by Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

GOP candidate Jose Garcia defeated his Democratic opponent, Wayne West, for the fifth seat on the Grand Island Town Board on Tuesday night.

Garcia pulled ahead – 57% to 43% – to fill the remaining year of the council seat previously held by Peter Marston, who won the race for town supervisor in 2023.

The Town Board has functioned with only four members since previous supervisor John Whitney resigned in August 2023. Marston took over as deputy supervisor while his council seat remained unfilled.

Also on the ballot, Grand Island’s proposal No. 1, to modify term limits, passed easily, with 69.7% of voters for and 33.3% against. The new local law would limit the term of office for supervisor and council member to 12 years, up from the previous eight-year limit set in 2016. The measure also limits to 16 years the term of office for highway superintendent and town clerk; but terms for those two positions that were completed before Jan. 1, 2025, do not count toward the term limit.

Garcia, 53, is a 1989 graduate of the Grand Island High School. He served 29 years as a senior special agent in the Department of Homeland Security/INS Office of Professional Responsibility. He since has founded a small business to provide private investigation and language interpretation services.

West, 66, has a background in military, nonprofit and community service, as well as real estate and corporate management. In 2023, he also made an unsuccessful run for the open seat.

Garcia, watching returns Tuesday night, said 2024 is unique as an election year.

“So now, we have a special election for council. Although many people come out and vote for our council candidates, we don’t see the type of turnout that we’re seeing, because it’s such an interesting political time nationally,” he said.

“Our hope is that, locally, people still look at the candidates as their friends, their family – people that are going to look out for them – and not really be terribly concerned about the parties.”

Successful Town Board candidate Jose Garcia poses with his campaign team on election night at the Sandy Beach Yacht Club, where supporters gathered to watch the returns. From left, they are Erie County Sheriff John Garcia, the candidate’s uncle; Dorothy and Jose Garcia; their daughters, Isabela and Samantha; Italo Baldassarre; and Lou Genovese.

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He said that, although parties have importance in holding core political values, “I think in a local election, especially on Grand Island, we’re all a big family. We all get along. There are many Democrats in this room today, many Republicans and Conservatives and the like,” referring to the group of supporters gathered to watch the returns at the Sandy Beach Yacht Club.

“We’re just people in the residence of a wonderful place to live.”

Garcia said he has goals he wants to pursue to improve amenities in the community and be a steward for controlled growth on the Island.

“There are many things that are facing Grand Island. We could call them challenges, but I think they’re just realities,” Garcia said. “Development on the Island is happening. We, as Islanders, look at it as development at a break-neck pace – to us – but if you look at it for the countywide, we’re actually below development numbers for other towns. That doesn’t mean it should be higher on Grand Island. It’s just a fact.”

“We see it differently because we’re accustomed to our open spaces and less development, and this is a new phenomenon in the last few years,” he said. “For me, I want to just monitor that. We want to make sure we’re building developments and neighborhoods that attract young families that want to grow and set roots here on Grand Island, attend our schools, be a part of our culture.”

Garcia said he wants to make sure development is done responsibly: “That if we have density, apartment complexes – they’re necessary in life – but we have them in the center of our town so they can help our businesses flourish.”

He also has said that town leadership must find innovative ways to control crime and support the efforts of the police in preventing crime – especially crimes of opportunity, such as petit theft and vandalism.

The campaign team for Town Board candidate Wayne West gathered at the Holiday Inn Express to monitor the election returns on Tuesday night. From left: Paul Leuchner, John Chin, Roger Cook, Rita Volpe, Lynnda West, Bill Oehler and Matt Riley.

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West was unavailable for an interview on election night, but his daughter and campaign manager, Lynnda West, spoke of his goals for Grand Island and the nature of his campaign for Town Board.

“My dad has really made an effort to not only be a part of the community, but also to show that he cares about Grand Island,” she said. “Our community is one that is special. We have generations and generations growing up and living here – and we deserve a little bit better as far as amenities that are available to us.’

She said that, as his team was putting together the West campaign, members wanted to establish gathering places in the town center to get his message out. They found there were not a lot of options. She said the goal is to create such opportunities in the community in order to strengthen it.

She added that West, during his campaign, offered forums where residents could voice their concerns and suggest solutions.