Former trustee rejoins Village Board

The most recent opening on the Belgium Village Board drew more candidates than most elections.

Trustees got to choose from six candidates on Monday, three of whom are former trustees.

Former trustees Dale Pfeifer, Jeff Thiel and Victor Lecato threw their hats into the ring, as did Plan Commission member Carissa Barnes, D’Lacey Eichinger and Amanda Bornbach.

Three were nominated by trustees to join the board: Pfeifer, Bornbach and Lecato.

A majority of the six-member board — four votes — were required for a candidate to be named trustee. Voting was to take place until a candidate was selected.

Trustees only needed to take one vote.

Don Gotcher, Rose Sauers and Dan Wolff voted for Lecato, along with Roseanne Geib, who voted via Zoom chat.

Pete Anzia voted for Pfeifer and Sarah Heisler voted for Bornbach.

Lecato was sworn in right away and joined the board at the front of the room.

He had served as a trustee from 2018 to 2020. He didn’t run for re-election due to his job but now has time to return.

In his application, Lecato said, “I have family (kids/grandkids) that live in Belgium and I want to make sure Belgium grows in a way that will keep them here.”

Lecato replaces the late Clem Gottsacker, who served from 2003 to 2021. He died on Aug. 29 at 69.

Lecato is the second new board member in the past several months. Geib was appointed in summer after Josh Borden resigned since he was moving to Cedar Grove.