X

First female ever appointed to Massena Town Council

Posted 1/4/18

By ANDY GARDNER MASSENA -- The Town Council on Jan. 3 appointed their first ever female member. Melanie Cunningham, a Democrat, was unanimously voted to the seat vacated by Steve O’Shaughnessy, who …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

First female ever appointed to Massena Town Council

Posted

By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA -- The Town Council on Jan. 3 appointed their first ever female member.

Melanie Cunningham, a Democrat, was unanimously voted to the seat vacated by Steve O’Shaughnessy, who is now supervisor.

Her appointment means Democrats have all five voting seats on the board.

O’Shaughnessy was elected to the board’s top office in November after serving two years on the council.

Cunningham was on the Massena Memorial Hospital Board of Managers, from which she resigned prior to taking her seat on the Town Council.

“I was the one that seconded her nomination. I talked to her several different times. When I was running for supervisor, I wanted to engage young people and figure out what they wanted to do … her and I clicked on the same page. She wants to get involved in youth groups,” O’Shaughnessy said, adding that she is the school nurse at Salmon River Central and has background teaching religious education.

“She’s got a level head as far as the hospital. We talked about that and she realizes, as do most of us, that it needs to privatize. And I think she’s a hard worker. She’s one of the people involved in the General Motors shutdown, one of the last few out of there. She put in the effort and went back to school to get her nursing degree and that takes a lot. She raised a family here in Massena, she’s got roots here … and I think she’ll be an asset to the community,” the supervisor said.

Because Cunningham is filling out an unexpired term, she will have to run for her seat in November, if she wishes to remain on the board.