OBSERVER photo by Eric Tichy Justice Marilyn Gerace speaks during an Ellicott Town Board meeting on Monday.

Ellicott Town Board members voted unanimously to rescind a resolution that would have eliminated one of the town’s two elected judges beginning next year.

No one on the board spoke Monday before a roll call was taken.

The decision to walk back the resolution came just two months after council members voted to eliminate the position currently occupied by Marilyn Gerace. A couple dozen supporters of Gerace and Judge Sally Jaroszynski showed up at the board’s April meeting to protest the move.

Town Supervisor Janet Bowman declined to comment when approached by reporters after Monday’s town board meeting. It was Bowman who called for the original resolution — which was passed in March, though it wasn’t listed on the board’s agenda — to be “rescinded.”

Gerace briefly spoke during the meeting’s public comment portion.

“We should not be celebrating or considering this a victory as this situation should never have escalated to this point,” she said in prepared remarks. “The town board’s ill-advised decision to eliminate a justice position has taken a considerable amount of time, energy and resources, all of which could have been better spent on other matters.

“This entire ordeal was completely avoidable had the board relied on the expertise of others and not succumbed to inaccurate information, innuendoes, conjecture and rumors. Instead, the town board chose to act hastily and without proper consultation with key stakeholders, leading to a decision that has shaken our community’s faith in their leadership.”

A registered Democrat, Gerace’s current term as town justice expires at the end of the year. She is seeking reelection, having already served for more than 30 years while Jaroszynski, also a Democrat, has served for 14 years.

In 2022, Gerace and Jaroszynski heard 2,740 cases in Ellicott Town Court. The vast majority of those cases — 2,347 of the 2,740 — were for vehicle and traffic violations.

During April’s heavily attended town board meeting, Gerace and Jaroszynski said they were both caught off-guard by the resolution eliminating a justice beginning in 2024.

Among those who asked council members to reconsider the resolution was Jason Schmidt, Chautauqua County district attorney. Schmidt noted that Ellicott Town Court is one of the busiest in the county.

At a town board work session last week, Bowman indicated she was going to ask that the resolution be rescinded. Soon after, the resolution was removed from the town’s website.