BRIER HILL – A man who hopes to act on his passion for politics says he didn’t mean to cause a stir when he announced that he plans to, someday, seek office.

Benjamin E. VanDamme of Brier Hill is not running for a seat on the county Board of Legislators as a story on NorthCountryNow.com said yesterday.

“It was never my intention to cause conflict,” said. VanDamme, who has received some negative feedback to his announcement that he intended to “put a bid on a county seat” and would be “starting his political campaign sooner than later.”

That statement was interpreted as meaning that he was running for the county board and potentially mounting a challenge against a fellow Republican on the board.

But VanDamme said he didn’t necessarily mean a seat on the board, as yesterday’s story said, but could mean a run for another office, such as county clerk, or an office in another county.

“I was misunderstood and maybe I misunderstood myself,” he said.

“I have a passion for politics,” said VanDamme, a Republican who has served on the volunteer county Youth Advisory Board, and who is a student in Emergency Medical Services at SUNY Canton. He is a member of the Brier Hill Fire Department.

“I want to see more for St. Lawrence County. I am working on things that can be submitted to the legislators,” he said.

He declined to discuss his ideas yet. “I’d like to leave that on the table for now,” he said