Bill Wellman is a retired sheriff’s investigator and the Town of Phelps supervisor who became chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors in January 2026. A Republican, he leads a 21-member board that is closing the county landfill and asking the state to let it raise its room tax. He is not on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
So who is Bill Wellman, what has the board done under him, and what are the open questions? The record runs through a local law enforcement career that began in 1994, an appointment to replace a longtime supervisor, a chairmanship that opened when the last chair lost by 12 votes, and a first year of landfill, labor, and tax decisions.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican (also on the Conservative line)
- Hometown
- Clifton Springs, N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official biographies reviewed
- Current Position
- Chairman, Ontario County Board of Supervisors; Phelps Town Supervisor
- Background
- Clifton Springs police officer; Ontario County Sheriff's Office investigator
- In Office Since
- January 2024 (supervisor); January 2026 (chairman)
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Wellman is a lifelong resident of the Phelps and Clifton Springs area and graduated from Midlakes High School in 1989, according to the Finger Lakes Times. He attended Finger Lakes Community College and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from The College at Brockport.
He lives in Clifton Springs with his wife, Allison, and their three children, the newspaper reported. PagPol could not confirm his date or place of birth or his parents’ names, and found no record of military service. His town biography says he is proud of the strong agricultural industry in Phelps.
Phelps Town Hall in the Town of Phelps, where Wellman has served as supervisor since January 2024. (Photo: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
LAW ENFORCEMENT CAREER
In 1994 Wellman joined the Clifton Springs Village Police Department, and in 1996 he moved to the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, according to the Finger Lakes Times. He worked as a school resource officer at Midlakes before he was promoted to criminal investigator. He has since retired from law enforcement.
PagPol could not find the year he retired. He began his law enforcement career in Clifton Springs, the village where he still lives with his family. His stated priorities as chairman include public safety alongside housing, the electric grid, and senior services.
TOWN BOARD AND SUPERVISOR, 2017 TO 2025
In the fall of 2017 Wellman won a seat on the Phelps Town Board and later became deputy supervisor. When Supervisor Norm Teed retired after 18 years, the town board appointed Wellman to serve as supervisor for 2024. “The town is very lucky to have Bill Wellman step in as town supervisor,” Teed said, according to the Finger Lakes Times.
The mineral stream that gave Clifton Springs its name. Wellman began his police career in the village, where he still lives. (Photo: B137, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
The supervisor’s job also gave him a seat on the county board. In November 2024 voters elected him to the rest of the term, effective Jan. 1, 2025. That December the board voted nearly unanimously to close the county landfill run by Casella Waste Systems when its lease ends in 2028, according to Spectrum News. PagPol could not find his vote.
In 2025 he served on the board’s Planning and Environmental Quality Committee. On Nov. 4 he won a full term as supervisor without opposition, with 707 votes on the Republican and Conservative lines. The same day Board Chairman Jared Simpson, elected chairman 20 to 0 that January, appeared to lose his town seat to Democrat Don Cotter.
On Nov. 13 the board adopted a $347.1 million budget for 2026 that cut the tax rate from $5.58 to $5.50 per $1,000 but raised the levy 6.5 percent and the public safety budget 11.6 percent. A recount completed Dec. 3 gave Cotter a 12-vote win over Simpson, according to the Finger Lakes Times, leaving the board’s top job open.
THE CHAIRMANSHIP, 2026
On Jan. 2, 2026, the board elected Wellman chairman 20 to 1. The only no vote came from Canandaigua city supervisor David Baker, a Democrat, who gave no public reason. “I sought the role of chairman because Ontario County must continue planning responsibly for the future while remaining focused on the needs of our residents today,” Wellman said.
“Strengthening the availability and reliability of our electrical grid and advancing efforts to expand affordable housing are central to this work,” he said. In April residents urged the board to stop cooperating with federal immigration authorities. “We do not want you to cooperate with ICE,” resident Nancy Twisle said, according to WHEC.
PagPol found no board response to that request. In May Casella told supervisors it would cap two full sections of the landfill near Rilands Road, and in July the county reviewed seven proposals for handling waste after the closure, according to FingerLakes1. Only one fully addressed cost, timeline, and implementation.
In September the board, with Wellman presiding, asked the state to let it raise its room tax cap from 3 to 6 percent, approved a labor contract with the CSEA through 2030, and moved $610,000 in opioid settlement money into an underfunded insurance reserve, according to FingerLakes1.
At the same meeting, after a point of order, Wellman ruled that a resolution opposing any federal renaming of Lake Ontario would be held until the next month. PagPol could not find how the October vote turned out. Public hearings on a sewer rents law were scheduled for Oct. 15.
Boat houses on the Canandaigua City Pier. Canandaigua is the Ontario County seat, where the Board of Supervisors meets. (Photo: VisitFingerLakes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
THE COUNTY AND THE PARTY MATH
Ontario County had 28,939 active enrolled Republicans and 22,803 Democrats out of 78,746 active voters in February 2026, according to state enrollment figures in PagPol’s Data Spine. More than 22,000 voters belong to no party. Republicans hold 12 of the board’s 21 seats and Democrats hold nine, according to the Finger Lakes Times.
Selected 2025 Ontario County town supervisor races, unofficial results
Wellman (Phelps)Other supervisors
Winning vote totals in eight 2025 supervisor races, from unofficial election night results. Contested races show the runner-up’s total. Source: Finger Lakes Times.
Democrats gained ground in 2025, taking the Town of Canandaigua and South Bristol seats from Republicans and a Geneva city seat from an unaffiliated member, while holding Naples and West Bloomfield, according to the Finger Lakes Times. For other county board leaders, see PagPol’s profiles of Mike Hill and Kevin Geraghty.
LEADERSHIP ROLES
As chairman, Wellman presides over the 21-member board, rules on points of order, and helps set its agenda. Supervisors are chosen town by town, with additional members from the cities of Geneva and Canandaigua. William Namestnik, the Hopewell supervisor, is vice chairman, according to the county’s board roster.
The board elects its chairman each January. Simpson served one year, Todd Campbell of West Bloomfield served two before him, and Jack Marren of Victor held the post for 10 terms before that. Wellman also remains the full-time supervisor of Phelps, a rural, agricultural town in northeastern Ontario County.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
Wellman says he sought the chairmanship to plan responsibly for the future while focusing on residents’ current needs. “These challenges call for coordinated action, long-term investment, and a commitment to practical, community-driven solutions,” he said in January, according to the Finger Lakes Times.
“My goal is to provide steady, unifying leadership, uphold sound fiscal management, and ensure that every decision we make reflects the best interests of the people we serve,” he said. He has also pledged to support public safety and senior services “while being responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND THE COUNTY BUDGET
PagPol could not find a campaign committee for Wellman in state Board of Elections data, and his 2025 race was uncontested. Town races receive no public matching funds. The county’s money story is its budget, whose two largest local revenue sources are property and sales taxes, according to Finger Lakes Times budget figures.
The 2026 budget counts on a property tax levy of $89.0 million, sales tax of $60.4 million, state aid of $39.8 million and federal aid of $22.6 million. State aid fell $3.7 million while federal aid rose about $6 million, and the county drew $19.8 million from reserves, the newspaper reported.
Sales tax made up about 17.4 percent of county revenue. Assessed value rose to $16.1 billion, which allowed the rate to fall even as the levy grew. Over a longer stretch, Ontario’s levy grew faster than those of the nearby counties PagPol compared, rising from $63.5 million in 2021 to $83.3 million in 2025.
Change in county property tax levy, 2021 to 2025
Ontario County (Wellman)Other Finger Lakes and Central New York counties
Percent change in each county’s property tax levy from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2025, before Wellman became chairman. Ontario’s levy rose another 6.5 percent, to $89 million, for 2026. Source: county budget figures compiled in PagPol’s Data Spine.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
PagPol found no ethics complaints, lawsuits, or personal controversies involving Wellman. The criticism the board has faced under him concerns policy. “How many more times are you going to ask the people to show up here?” Twisle asked at the April meeting on immigration enforcement, according to WHEC.
The landfill closure, which predates his chairmanship, has divided supervisors. “I say keep it open and keep the revenue stream to funding diversion programs, including a digester,” Namestnik, now his vice chairman, said in 2024, according to the Finger Lakes Times.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Wellman promises to be a responsible steward of taxpayer dollars. The 2026 budget, adopted while he was a member but before he was chair, cut the tax rate but raised the levy 6.5 percent to $89 million. The county’s state fiscal stress score is zero, the best possible rating.
Canandaigua Lake looking north from Bristol Harbour. The lake draws the tourists whose hotel stays fund Ontario County’s room tax. (Photo: Ruhrfisch, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
He lists affordable housing and the electric grid as top priorities, but PagPol found no specific board action on either through September. He presided as the board moved opioid settlement money into an underfunded insurance reserve. In September the board also asked Albany for more room tax authority.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE COUNTY
A March 2026 comptroller Gorham fire audit found the Town of Gorham used a flawed formula to distribute fire insurance tax money. A June 2026 audit found the Gorham Fire District made 68 of 77 purchases, worth $403,377, without competitive methods.
In July 2026 the comptroller found the Crystal Beach Volunteer Fire Department’s treasurer kept no separate records of fire insurance money. Ontario County scored zero on the comptroller’s 2025 fiscal stress scale, and no municipality in the county was designated as stressed, according to FingerLakes1, although the Village of Manchester went unscored.
LOOKING AHEAD
Wellman is not on the ballot this November. The board’s next big decisions include the post-landfill waste plan, the room tax request in Albany, and the 2027 budget. The board will choose its 2027 chairman in January. For more, visit PagPol’s Ontario County page or subscribe to the Ontario County newsletter.
