LIBERTY — Frank DeMayo may have left office in 2007, but he never left Liberty. Starting in 2020, he will succeed Brian Rourke as town supervisor.

It's a bit of a comeback story for the former supervisor who took office in 2003 but lost re-election in a close race to Democrat John Schmidt in 2007. Although DeMayo ran unopposed this year, he still garnered 1,123 votes while campaigning on the Republican, Conservative and Independent Party lines.

“I always had in the back of my mind that I may run again. I felt there was a lot of unfinished business,” DeMayo said. “I always wanted to get back into it.”

DeMayo enters at the beginning of a new chapter on the town board, as Supervisor Brian Rourke and Councilman Russell Reeves are both ending their tenures.

“Frank and I are friends and colleagues, and he is someone I have a great deal of respect for. I'm very pleased that he will be returning as supervisor,” said Rourke.

“He has an economic development mindset, which is essential if we are to build up our tax base. He got along well with the staff here when he previously served,” Rourke continued. “If given adequate resources and support, I have full confidence that he will do a great job.”

DeMayo said his priorities are to ease the tax burdens by attracting new business that will expand the town's tax base. He also said he'd like to continue the “positive momentum” created by the current board.

He praised the town board for its pursuit of grant funding for various projects and initiatives.

“A lot more grants have been written now, whether they're small or large, I get a sense that there's more engagement,” DeMayo said.

Yet one of the biggest challenges facing Liberty continues to be the heavy tax burden on its residents.

“The taxes are killing us,” DeMayo said. “We know that they're killing us.”

He acknowledged significant tax increases during his first two years in office because at the time he felt the town had no choice.

“We had a town barn that was crumbling, we had a community pool that needed complete resurfacing … we needed to do something.”

While DeMayo said it's good that the town board has kept a zero percent tax increase for the past few years while maintaining healthy capital improvement budgets in most departments, the reality is that they must increase revenues by attracting new businesses.

He spoke of Bruce Davidson's work trying to rehabilitate the Liberty Theater on Main Street. “That could be an anchor here,” DeMayo said.

He cited Rourke's private business efforts with the Downtown Barn and the Super Clean Laundromat on Darbee Lane, as well as Sims Foster's plans for the Sullivan County Golf and Country Club on Route 52.

DeMayo also spoke of the commitment and effort of volunteers and town employees. Whether Nancy Levine's work with Swan Lake Renaissance, Joanne Gerow's work with the Gerry Foundation to open the Liberty Animal Shelter on Old Monticello Road, or Keri-Ann Poley's efforts to secure grant funding through the Supervisor's Office, DeMayo believes Liberty's greatest asset continues to be its people.

“These are people who are putting real skin in the game, and in order to resurrect this downtown that's what we need,” he said while stressing that cooperation between the town and village will be essential moving forward.

Since leaving office, DeMayo has kept involved with his congregation at the Vine and Branch Church on Route 52. “That's definitely been a joy for me.”

DeMayo cited good working relationships with the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, the Sullivan Catskills Visitors Association, Sullivan Renaissance and the County Legislature.

Supervisor Rourke said he's been working closely with DeMayo over the past few months to ensure a smooth transition.

“I feel confident that he will be able to leverage the successes we have had over the last two years and produce even greater results for the community,” said Rourke.