Thomaston resident Nancy Sherman said preserving the village’s “unique character” is a paramount goal of hers after being elected to the board of trustees in a write-in campaign last week.

Sherman received 68 votes and defeated Trustee Karen Lynne Siegel, who also ran on a write-in campaign, for the second trustee spot. Sherman, in a phone interview with Blank Slate Media, said she was encouraged to run just days before the election.

A local attorney who has lived in Thomaston for more than 15 years, Sherman said, she became involved in local politics in 2021, when a project to turn the village’s Tower Ford building into a mixed-use apartment building was proposed.

“I advocated tirelessly for saving Tower Ford from destruction and replacing it with a luxury apartment building and I advocated for the landmarking of that building,” Sherman said. “I became very involved with the community at that time.”

The village subsequently granted landmark status to the building in February 2022 following months of highly-contentious meetings between village officials and residents.

“I wanted to continue working for the residents of the community to maintain Thomaston,” Sherman said. “It’s very important in this day and age to maintain the community.”

A lot of the homes in the village were constructed in the early 1900s-1920s, she said, and carry a significant historical value with them.

Proposals to stray from preserving history and turning them into various housing projects, Sherman said, is something the entire Great Neck peninsula could be facing in the coming years.

“I feel that my experience with the development gave me an insight as to what the Great Neck peninsula, specifically Thomaston, could be facing in the near future with respect to overdevelopment and irresponsible overdevelopment.”

Sherman said that her experience as an attorney and general practitioner will be an asset to the board and expressed her desire to work with the rest of the trustees, including Mayor Steven Weinberg and Trustee Burton Weston, who were re-elected to their seats last week.

Creating more of a transparent government, she said, is also something she looks forward to promoting. Village residents, Sherman said, had lost some faith in their elected officials after claims of the Tower Ford public hearing not being properly publicized in July 2021.

Weinberg, in an email to Blank Slate Media in 2021, said, “The Village gave all required legal notices, and complied with all applicable procedural requirements.”

“I look forward to serving with the board and working towards transparency in government, which is very important because people lost a lot of trust in the Village of Thomaston during the Tower Ford experience,” Sherman said.