BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — The Potsdam village board of trustees has a full bench once more.

The village board approved the appointment of a new trustee at its meeting Monday, April 28.

Joshua Tulloch, a physician’s assistant with Rochester Regional Health, was unanimously appointed to fill the remaining vacancy on the board by the resignation of former Trustee Monique Tirion in January.  

Tulloch is the second new trustee appointment in recent weeks. He joins Trustee Ryan Deuel who was appointed in March to fill the unexpired term of former Deputy Mayor Steve Warr who resigned just after Tirion earlier this year, citing discontent with the leadership of the village.

Like Deuel’s appointment Tulloch’s appointment will be effective from April 28 through Dec. 1.

At the April 28th meeting, Village Mayor Alexandra Jacobs Wilke said Tulloch’s appointment as acting trustee comes after a “lengthy search.”

Tulloch was unable to attend the meeting due to a family emergency the mayor said and is expected to be sworn in at the next regular village meeting.

“I know he's very excited to get started here on the board,” Wilke said.

Tulloch is a local resident and a graduate of Canton High School. After college he served as a U.S. Marine as an amphibious assault and operations officer for six years.

“He completed 2 deployments out of Camp Pendleton and Quantico before honorably being discharged at the rank of captain after his military service,” Wilke said.

Tulloch was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the US State Department based in Prague, the Czech Republic, the mayor said, and then earned his master's degree as a physician associate. He currently works as a primary care provider for the Department of Veteran Affairs, the mayor said.

The new trustee is a member of New Hope Community Church, and a husband and father of a 7-month-old baby girl.

“So congratulations, Joshua, and we look forward to working with you on this board and we look forward to having the swearing in ceremony very soon,” Wilke said. “Once again, I want to thank Josh and all of the members of our board for your willingness to step up and serve our community.”

“I did want to say we talked to so many people in this search and there's some just wonderful people in our community who serve in all different ways and it's wonderful to have another person to work alongside,” the mayor said. “And it says a lot to have a veteran and a healthcare provider and a native son of Potsdam who returned to build a life here wanting to serve on our board alongside everyone else. Having that variety of viewpoints and life experiences on our board and in all of our committees makes us all stronger.”