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Irondequoit Dems tap Trevas for town board, board to hold appointment pending a primary

By a vote of 109-29, the Irondequoit Democratic Committee designated Ryan Trevas to fill an Irondequoit Town Board seat vacated by deputy supervisor Peter Wehner.

Wehner resigned last week due to relocating for work, creating the second vacancy on the board since the start of the year. He was challenged by Kathryn Walker for the seat.

The Irondequoit Town Board would still have to appoint Trevas to the vacant seat.

Town Supervisor John Perticone, in a phone call Tuesday evening, said the board will not be doing so pending a potential Democratic primary challenge to Trevas.

In February, the board appointed Steve Barz, the county's communications director, to a seat that was vacated by John Perticone, who was elected supervisor in November.

Ahead of that, the Irondequoit Democratic Committee designated Barz as its candidate for that seat in the November election.

Trevas, a council leader with the New York Public Employees Federation, was nominated for the committee's designation by Congressman Joe Morelle, the highest elected official in Monroe County.

Walker said her major concern was that the Democratic Committee did not work directly with the Town Board in picking a replacement. She was nominated by Ann Cunningham, a member of the Town Board.

"I'm less concerned about the process and more just the fact that the current board, kind of that that process, the IDC did not work with a board, and that's something that I think has been a challenge in Irondequoit for many years," Walker said.

If Trevas is appointed to the seat and he wants to serve past the end of the year, he will have to run in the November election. The same goes for Barz.

Updated: March 10, 2026 at 8:51 PM EDT
This story has been updated with comment that Trevas will not be appointed to the board pending a Democratic Primary election.
Gino Fanelli is an investigative reporter who also covers City Hall. He joined the staff in 2019 by way of the Rochester Business Journal, and formerly served as a watchdog reporter for Gannett in Maryland and a stringer for the Associated Press.