GOP Representatives

Damian Ulatowski

Town Supervisor

Bio: Damian is a longtime resident of the Town of Clay and holds a BA from Fredonia State University. 

Damian is a 20-year veteran of Town government (specifically for the Town of Clay) and has held several positions including Councilman, Liaison to the Highway Department, Deputy Supervisor and currently in his role as Supervisor to the Town where he was appointed in 2008 and elected in 2009. He currently serves as President of the Onondaga County Supervisor’s Association leading a group of nineteen elected officials. During his tenure, he has supported and advocated for smaller local governments and is committed to providing efficient governmental services. He has maintained a stable Town budget without compromising Town services and has delivered a 0% Town tax increase over the past 3 years.

He was an integral participant in bringing an Amazon Distribution Center to Clay resulting in a building that is the second largest of its kind in the world and now employs almost 2000 central New York workers. Moving forward, Micron a memory chip manufacturer has committed to build on a property in Clay that will bring chip technology to the east coast and expand the labor force by almost 40,000 over the next ten years; making Clay, a great place to live, work and raise a family.  He is an advocate of green technology, having secured numerous grants over the years for various projects including upgrades to the Town highway garage and solar array systems located at town hall and the highway offices. He recently secured a grant to switch the town’s overhead lighting system to LED, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars. His long-range vision is sustainability for a cleaner, greener community for the future and beyond. To that end, Damian has secured a $2.9 million grant from NYS DEC for remediation of a Brownfield in the historic Three Rivers area of the Town of Clay. Thinking outside of the box the supervisor together with the town board is hoping to   transform a 67-acre parcel on vacant land gifted to the town into a community wide green project. “Project green” hosts a community garden with a solar powered irrigation system, a fully functional greenhouse to accommodate individual resident garden plots and, the project will also host walking and cross-country skiing trails along with non-traditional outdoor recreational activities.

Damian is an advocate for the health and safety of his staff and residents. In May 2018, the Town of Clay received the Ken Herman Sr. Memorial Awardthrough Public Employer Risk Management Association (PERMA). The award is provided to a municipality that exemplifies PERMA’s mission to improve workplace safety and wellness through exceptional participation and utilization of PERMA’S programs.  Accordingly, Damian was asked (by PERMA Executives) to lead a Pilot Member Chapter Program for the Northern Region and was honored for his exemplary high standards of partnership, leadership, and dedication in May 2019.

Damian continues to serve on a number of boards in both the Clay community as well as the insurance industry. His many activities have included serving as a community representative to the Airport Neighbors Advisory Committee, continues as a volunteer with Meals-on-Wheels.  In addition, Damian shares a Board Member seat on the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority on a rotating basis where he has served as a member of the Governance and Human Resource Committee.

Damian is also an active parishioner St. Rose of Lima Church in the Village of North Syracuse, NY. He and his wife Mary Ellen have two grown children and several grandchildren of whom he is very proud.

Jill Hageman-Clark

Town Clerk

Bio: Town Clerk since March of 2009; Supervisor for Deputy Clerks, Recording Secretary to the Town Board; Record Management Officer, Processor of Dog Licenses, Marriage Licenses, Conservation/Hunting Licenses, Solicitors Licenses, Handicapped Parking Permits and Acceptance Agent for US Passports.

Expanded Clerk’s office to include facilitating applications for U.S. Passports and the FAVOR program for veterans. As Marriage Officer, Jill also performs weddings.

NYS Registered Municipal Clerk; Advanced her training by attending Association of Towns, New York.

Association of Local Government Records Officers and The NYS Town Clerks Association conferences.

Member of the NYS Town Clerks Association, International Institute of Municipal Clerks, the Onondaga County Town Clerks Association and the NY Association of Local Government Records Officers; NYS Notary, Sub-Registrar for the Town of Clay and Treasurer for the Onondaga County Town Clerks Association.

Member of the Town of Clay Safety Committee, working with local Volunteer Fire Departments for the Length of Service.

Program, and processor for Workers Compensation for Town Employees and Fire Departments.

Town of Clay resident most of her life. Jill’s daughter, Jacquie, is studying at SUNY Binghamton.

Jill is active with Kindred Spirits Greyhound Rescue and the North Area YMCA.

Joseph Bick

Deputy Supervisor

Joe is a registered nurse and works as a manager for St. Joseph’s Health where he has worked since 1998. He holds Master’s Degree from Le Moyne College, Bachelor’s Degree from the SUNY Institute of Technology and an Associate’s Degree from the St. Elizabeth College of Nursing. 

Joe has served on the town board since 2007 and is the current Deputy Supervisor. 

Joe is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom Afghanistan, where he served as an Army nurse treating casualties as part of Combined Joint Taskforce 180. He served 11 years in the US Army Reserve attaining the rank of Captain. 

He and his wife, Jennifer, have been Clay residents since 1993 and live just outside the Village of North Syracuse with their two children.

JoDee Kelly

Receiver of Taxes

Kevin J. Meaker

Town CouncilOR

Bio: Kevin is seeking his 2nd term as Town Councilor for the Town of Clay. Kevin has been involved in the community in several ways, including but not limited to: a member of the Baldwinsville Central School District Special Education & Athletic Budget Advisory Committee, CYO Athletic Director and Varsity Basketball Coach at Our Lady of Pompei School, volunteer with the American Red Cross and formerly a DAV volunteer driver for Veterans of Syracuse.

Kevin has proudly been endorsed by the Republican Party, Independence Party, Veterans Party, and the Conservative Party.

Since being elected in 2017 Kevin has been an advocate for several businesses to come to the Town Of Clay including Amazon, knowing that projects like this will have a direct effect on keeping taxes low in our Town. Kevin has worked along with the Recreation Department to ensure our Recreation programs continue to serve our residents. He has been an advocate for programs such as the special needs snowmobile ride, concerts in the park, the summer camp program, and all of our senior programs. He has assisted several Town of Clay residents by listening to and addressing their concerns. He takes pride in making himself always available and easily approachable. Kevin has been appointed as the Town of Clay’s Alternate Delegate to the Association of Towns of NYS and the Liason to the Town’s Recreation Department, Planning Department, and Liason to the Cicero-North Syracuse School District.

Kevin has been a resident of CNY his entire life. He is a graduate of Bryant and Stratton College. Kevin currently owns Meaker Real Estate and is co-owner of Sogno Realty. He has been a Licensed Real Estate Broker since 2006. For approximately 5 years he worked in the Oswego City School District as an Educator working with at-risk youth and special needs students. He was also a restaurant owner in Clay.

Kevin is the proud Dad of three children and two stepchildren. His wife, Alison, is a third-grade school teacher.

Moving forward into 2022 and beyond, Kevin will continue to listen to and address Town of Clay Resident’s concerns first and foremost. He will also work tirelessly to maintain our town’s low taxes.

Ryan A. Pleskach

Town CouncilOR

Bio: Ryan Pleskach grew up in northern New York and is a graduate of Clarkson University in Potsdam. He spent the first five years after college living and working in Maryland and northern Virginia. In 2011, Ryan and his wife, Deanna, returned to New York choosing Clay as their home. They welcomed their daughter, Eleanor in 2013 and continue to live in Clay with their golden retriever, Nala.

For the last two and a half years Mr. Pleskach has been the COO, and since March, CEO, of ResilienX, a technology startup run out of The Tech Garden in Syracuse. ResilienX is a small business that provides safety assurance software for autonomous systems. ResilienX customers include the State of Ohio, the FAA, the US Navy, and the US Air Force.

Mr. Pleskach is also one of only 3,092 Certified Emergency Managers in the world. He spent eight years working for Booz Allen Hamilton supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a focus on interoperable communications for disaster response. The communication plans his team helped FEMA develop have been used for responding to national disasters since 2010. Immediately prior to co-founding ResilienX, he worked for SRC, Inc. where he was a program manager in the Electronic Warfare Division. In this role he served as the Program Manager delivering both hardware and software solutions for military counter-drone applications.

Ryan is an active member in the CNY community and a graduate of the Leadership Greater Syracuse program (2016). In 2017 he was elected to his first term as Town Board Member in Clay, and in 2018 he completed the CenterState CEO Executive Leadership Development Series. Finally, in 2019 he was recognized by CNY Business Journal as a 40 Under Forty recipient.

After joining the Town of Clay Republican committee in 2011, he was appointed to the Zoning Board of Appeals in 2015. Prior to re-locating to Central New York, he worked on numerous campaigns including Congressional races in Maryland, a city council election in Alexandria, Virginia, and Senator John McCain’s Presidential campaign in 2008. Previously, Ryan has worked as an intern for former Congressman John M. McHugh (R-NY 23rd ) and State Senator Thomas F. O’Mara (R-Horseheads, NY).​

Mr. Pleskach looks forward to continuing in his role on the Town Board and infusing new ideas that will continue to make Clay a tremendous place to live, work, and raise a family. He will work with his colleagues on the Board to:
– Continue to bring thoughtful growth and jobs to the community to help keep property taxes low.
– Streamline local government services.
– Implement new technologies to improve resident services.

David Hess

Town CouncilOR

David is an 18 year Town of Clay resident appointed to the Clay Town Board June 2015.

BS Niagara University, 26 year utility employee and IBEW member. 

Former Board of Directors for Seneca River South Little League.

Served 3 years as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and served 4 years on the Planning Board including 3 years as Chairman.

Former Board of Director and Member for NYS Planning Federation.

Married 21 years to his wife, Kristin, and has 2 college-aged children.

Eugene Young

Town CouncilOR

Bio: Gene has been a Clay Town Councilor for 14 years and a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for 35 years. He is a retired member of the Moyers Corners Fire Department having served over 22 years. During that time he held the positions of Secretary and Vice-President of the organization.

From 1992 until 2008, Gene was a member of Congressman James Walsh’s Military Selection Committee helping to choose young men and women in our community to attend the United States Military Academy.

He received his Bachelor’s Degree and his Law Degree from Syracuse University, and has spent over 30 years as a practicing attorney. He is a partner with Davidson and Young PC.

Gene is married and has one son.

Deborah Magaro-Dolan

Town Councilor

Bio: Moving to the Town of Clay in 1980, Deborah is almost a lifelong Clay resident. Debbie spent many years as a stay-at-home mom, returning to full time work outside the home in 2019 as a Buyer for Onondaga County.

Deborah is a volunteer at heart spending many years fundraising for various organizations, including the Bishop Foery Foundation, a Neighborhood Center of Catholic Charities, her boys’ ski team, the Labrador Mountain Ski Club, and the Bayberry Community Association. Deborah has spent many years in various roles with the Bayberry Community Association including president, executive board member, area representative, and event planner. She is also an active member of the Epiphany Parish of Liverpool where she has volunteered over the years in various roles. She has also spent time volunteering on various election committees working to get candidates into office.

Deborah currently sits on the Town of Clay Zoning Board of Appeals and is an alumna of SUNY Oswego with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, minor in Sociology and earned a Master’s Degree in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University.

Choosing to stay in Liverpool after high school and college graduation, Deborah and her husband, Steve Dolan, have been married over 20 years. They have been busy raising their two boys, Joseph, an Eagle Scout and a Junior at SUNY Oswego and Jacob a 9 th grader at Liverpool High School.

Brian May

1st Legilative District

Brian represents the 1st Legislative District which includes the Town of Lysander and small portion of Clay.

Known for his pragmatic and traditionally conservative approach to local governance, Brian is an independent voice for all residents of his district and across Onondaga County. As a proven leader and consensus-builder, Brian is currently privileged to serve as Republican Majority Leader of the Legislature. He has also chaired the Public Safety and Ways & Means committees of the Legislature.

Brian has spent his entire professional career in the private sector fulfilling a variety of leadership roles in business development.

Brian and his wife of over 25 years reside in Lysander with their four children.

James Rowley

2nd Legilative District

Bio: Jim Rowley is a life-long resident of the Town of Clay. He attended Liverpool Schools where he met his wife Tracy. Jim and Tracy raised three children in Clay where all three graduated from Liverpool. He graduated from Clarkson with a BS degree in accounting and earned his MBA at Syracuse University.

Jim held posts as Councilor, Deputy Supervisor and Supervisor with the Town of Clay and was the architect of the Clay Police consolidation with Onondaga County in 2008. He has an extensive background in municipal finance previously serving as Chief Fiscal Officer for Onondaga County and currently as the Assistant Superintendent for Finance at Oneida City Schools.

Dr. Cody Kelly

14th Legilative District

Bio: Cody Kelly is a lifelong resident of the 14th District. He graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School in 2009, and received his Doctorate of Physical Therapy from SUNY Upstate Medical University in 2016. As a Physical Therapist, Dr. Kelly works with children all over Onondaga County. Providing home-based care has allowed Dr. Kelly to witness first hand some of the issues affecting people across different communities, like the effects of poverty. He believes in responsible local government which limits the tax burden on families and promotes economic growth and job opportunities.

In his time on the County Legislature, Dr. Kelly has cut taxes while investing in our children through school mental health clinics and special education funding. He has invested in our Senior Centers, Main Streets and Veteran communities. He has secured millions of dollars in local infrastructure spending to improve services and recruit business. This infrastructure spending culminated with Micron, the largest private investment in American history, which will alter the economic trajectory of the region. Cody has been recognized by Local VFW Post 7290 as an “Outstanding Spokesperson for Freedom.” Dr. Kelly carries the endorsements of the Republican, Conservative, and Veterans Parties.

Endorsed by: Republican Party