11/07/07 - Cortland treasurer ousted

O’Mara upsets Ferris in county treasurer race

Bob Ellis/staff photographer

Pat O’Mara receives a hug from his sister, Connie Letts, of Horseheads, at Democratic headquarters Tuesday night after defeating Don Ferris for the county treasurer position.

(As published by Cortland Standard, Christine Laubenstein Reporting)

Democrat Patrick O’Mara ousted Cortland County Treasurer Don Ferris in Tuesday’s election, capturing 58 percent of the vote. O’Mara garnered 5,491 votes and Ferris received 3,992, according to unofficial results from the Cortland County Board of Elections.

A crowd of more than 30 people screamed in excitement and cheered “Patrick, Patrick, Patrick,” as results were announced at Democratic headquarters at 16 Church St.

“We need to have integrity, professionalism back in office,” said Tom Brown, one of O’Mara’s campaign managers. “He’s our guy.”

O’Mara said he had a feeling he was going to win the race, though he did not think he would win by as wide a margin as he did. The towns surrounding the city are more heavily Republican, he said.

About 36 percent of registered voters in Cortland County voted in the race, based on numbers provided by the Cortland County Board of Elections.

He credited his victory to strong campaigning, attendance at candidate forums and putting up signs and knocking on doors. Plus, he said, a lot of people know him from the city bar he owns, Paddy’s Pub, his eight years as a county legislator and other community involvement.

Still, the deciding factor in the race was probably setbacks in the Treasurer’s Office in recent years that included inaccuracies and missed deadlines cited by the state Comptroller’s Office.
“He (Ferris) was there but his office had problems,” O’Mara said. “But I don’t know how voters work.”

Ferris said he was surprised by his margin of loss. He helped accomplish a number of things as treasurer, he said, including improving the county’s bond rating, keeping the treasurer’s office under budget and improved earnings on its deposits.

“I feel like I can hold my head up and look in the mirror and not be ashamed of people on my behalf,” he said.

He suspected his campaign was unable to correct public misperception about his job performance. “People seemed to amplify the negative and downplay the positive,” he said.
Ferris, who owns Quali Graphics printing company in Homer, said he has not ruled out running for public office in the future, though he could not be more specific at this point.

O’Mara said one of the first things he will do as treasurer is try to have the state conduct an audit of the office and determine from that what things need attention.

He said he will also make an effort to work well with Democrats and Republicans alike.
“I’ve always been that way, and I always want to keep it that way,” he said.

O’Mara said around 10:30 p.m., soon after the announcement he had officially won, that he planned on going out for a cocktail at Paddy’s Pub with his family to celebrate his victory.
“I’m an early riser,” he said, noting he gets up every day at 5:30 a.m.