Three vie for Lowville village justice seat

LOWVILLE — Residents will choose Tuesday among three candidates for village justice.

Patricia H. Yarina, Janet L. Lee and Adam R. Matteson are seeking the four-year term. Christy L. Cole, who has held the position since 2002, is not running for a third term.

Mrs. Yarina has been a municipal court clerk for the past nine years and acting village justice since last March.

"It was just a natural progression when Christy decided not to run to go for this job," she said.

Mrs. Yarina is court clerk for Martinsburg Town Justice Rose M. Spann, Lowville Town Justice John J. Youngs, Watson Town Justice Gregory Burker and Anthony Cerulli, who is judge for the town of Leyden and village of Port Leyden and acting judge for the town of Lyonsdale.

"I know all the judges in the county," said Mrs. Yarina, secretary of the Lewis County Magistrates' and Court Clerks' Association.

She also estimates that over the past year, she has handled about 75 arraignments in her capacity as acting village justice.

The Lowville Academy and Central School graduate has a bachelor's degree in mathematics from SUNY Brockport. She previously was a substitute teacher and worked at the Lowville branch of Key Bank.

Mrs. Lee for the past 14 years has been a crossing guard on North State Street in front of Lowville Academy and Central School and volunteer overseer of the ice rink at the Lewis County Fairgrounds. This school year, she added playground monitor duties.

Mrs. Lee said she decided to run for judge as another way to give back to her lifelong home community.

"I couldn't have imagined raising my kids anywhere else," she said. "It's just a great place to be, and I want to try and make it better."

While possessing only a high school diploma, Mrs. Lee said, she has plenty of experience in dealing with people, particularly youths.

"What I don't have in education, I have in street smarts," she said.

Mrs. Lee said she enjoys working at the skating rink because it helps keep youths off the streets and, hopefully, out of courtrooms.

Mr. Matteson operates a private law practice out of his Park Avenue home, handling primarily family law and nonprofit corporation work and some criminal cases. He was a member of Lewis County's public defenders group last year but no longer is affiliated with the group, although he still takes some Family Court assignments.

"Being a judge is something I've always wanted to do," Mr. Matteson said.

After spending three years in Buffalo and five years in Syracuse, he moved his family in fall 2007 to Lowville to be closer to north country family members, particularly his parents in Philadelphia.

"Of all the places we've lived, this is where we want to stay," Mr. Matteson said.

He serves on the boards of Mountain View Prevention Services and the Adirondack Mennonite Camping Association, which operates Beaver Camp and Maple Ridge Center.

"I'm a lifetime camper at Beaver Camp," Mr. Matteson said.

A 1992 graduate of Indian River Central School, Philadelphia, he earned a bachelor's degree from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester and a law degree from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va.

The election will be from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the village office on Dayan Street.