By Frank Rizzo
CALLICOON — October 5, 2010 — Hard work and dedication paid off for H. John Kramer of Hortonville when he was voted the president of the New York State Magistrates Association (NYSMA) last Tuesday.
The association, made up of over 2,200 village and town justices, fortuitously held its five-day annual meeting at the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, part of Kramer’s territory as Town of Delaware Justice.
Kramer had been the association’s vice president for the past year. Ever since joining the executive committee in 2002 he has served as director and treasurer.
Keynote speaker was Third Judicial District Administrative Justice George B. Ceresia of Rensselaer County.
Ceresia praised Kramer for his dynamic leadership, noting, “he will keep the Magistrates Association going in the right direction.”
The judge lauded the members of the association for their “unheralded service… they receive little financial reward and are called upon at all hours.”
Kramer said he was well served by his predecessor, Edward Van Der Water, whose outgoing speech Tuesday night was a passionate endorsement of the association and the municipal justice system.
“We advocate or you,” said Van Der water, “because you deserve it. Under difficult conditions, you always found a way to make our justice system work. You serve a special calling, and you are making a difference.”
Kramer pronounced himself “thrilled” by his election, and likewise for getting Judge Ceresia as keynote.
“I work with Judge Ceresia on the Third Judicial District Advisory Committee,” Kramer noted. ‘he’s a nice guy, and pro village and towns justices.”
He singled out members of the Town of Delaware Town Board, his clerk, Sally Creegan, County Clerk Dan Briggs and County Family Court Judge Mark Meddaugh.
A 1967 graduate of Delaware Valley CS Kramer and wife Donna have a daughter, Emily, 19. He spent six years as an auditor with the New York State Comptroller’s Office before joining the county as Director of Fiscal Management, retiring in 2002.
“I love this association and what it stands for, and pledge to continue strengthening it,” Kramer told the hundreds in attendance.