James Brick is a Perry farmer and the Town of Perry supervisor who became chairman of the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors in January 2026. A Republican, he leads a 16-member board whose 2027 budget, in working figures, would raise the county property tax levy about 23 percent. He is not on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot.
So who is James Brick, what has he done, and what do his critics say? The record runs through a family farm he has worked since 1967, two decades as Perry supervisor, a lopsided 2025 reelection, a contested vote for chairman, and a first year shaped by broadband towers, health insurance costs, and the state tax cap.
Quick Facts
- Party
- Republican
- Hometown
- Perry, N.Y.
- Date of Birth
- Not listed in official records reviewed
- Current Position
- Chairman, Wyoming County Board of Supervisors; Perry Town Supervisor
- Background
- Owner and operator of Bricdale Farm; longtime Perry Center firefighter
- In Office Since
- 2006 (supervisor); January 2026 (chairman)
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
Brick graduated from Perry Central High School, according to a resume posted by the Wyoming County Industrial Development Agency. He has spent his working life in Perry, where he has farmed for more than five decades and has served in town government since 2006.
PagPol could not confirm his date or place of birth, his parents’ names, or details about a spouse or children. PagPol found no record of military service. His resume lists no family information, and the official county and town records reviewed for this profile focus only on his public roles and his farm.
THE FARM AND THE FIREHOUSE, 1967 TO 2005
Brick has owned and operated Bricdale Farm in Perry since 1967, according to his resume. For nearly four decades it was a dairy and cash crop farm. In 2006, the same year he entered town government, the farm dropped dairy and turned to cash crops alone.
He had also served the Perry Center Fire Department for 50 years by the time of his resume, including six years as chief. He has sat on the Cornell Cooperative Extension board, the Wyoming County Soil and Water board, the county Fire Advisory Board, the county Fair Board, and the Town of Perry Republican Committee.
State Route 246 through Perry Center, home of the fire department Brick served for 50 years. (Photo: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
TOWN SUPERVISOR AND BOARD MEMBER, 2006 TO 2025
Brick became Perry town supervisor in 2006, which also gave him a seat on the county Board of Supervisors. In Perry he prepares the town budget, handles payroll and accounts payable, and oversees the highway, clerk, cemetery, zoning, and assessor offices, according to his resume.
On the county board he chaired the Agriculture Committee from 2012 to 2016. In 2013 his family farm opened Pa’s Produce, a fresh greens business with a roadside stand. He began chairing the Finance Committee in 2017, the same year he was president-elect of the Perry Rotary Club, the resume says.
Main Street in the village of Perry, inside the town Brick has led as supervisor since 2006. (Photo: Sol Hauser, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
He also served on the Planning, Public Safety, and Public Works committees, on the county Farmland Protection Board, and on agriculture and public safety committees of the New York State Association of Counties. The resume, which is undated, appears to have been prepared around 2016 or 2017.
In July 2019 supervisors debated whether the county should help pay for school resource officers. The committee minutes record Brick saying “we can bring the School Superintendents back in and ask how we are going to make this thing work.” Supervisors from Java and Covington said schools should fund the officers themselves.
At the same meeting, Brick reported that the Compensation Committee had recommended $82,154 in market increases, covering 25 raises for 26 employees, effective Jan. 1, 2020. The minutes record that he said it was too late in the year for further adjustments. The officer question was carried over to budget talks.
In January 2023 Brick “spoke in opposition” to a salary schedule resolution “as it circumvented the established process for increase in salaries,” according to the board’s 2023 proceedings. A year later, on Jan. 2, 2024, the board elected him vice chairman by a 201 to 0 weighted vote under Chairwoman Rebecca Ryan of Warsaw.
THE 2025 RACE
In November 2025 Brick sought another four-year term as Perry supervisor against Democrat Heather Cruz. He won 372 votes, or 67.76 percent, to 177 for Cruz, according to the county’s unofficial election results. PagPol could not find a certified county results file.
The Perry Town Hall in the Perry Downtown Historic District. (Photo: Doug Kerr, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
The results list the seat as a four-year term, which would run through 2029. The Town of Perry’s staff directory lists the term as ending in 2028. PagPol could not find any campaign statements from Brick or Cruz. Only four of the county’s 12 supervisor races had a named opponent.
On Nov. 24, 2025, the board adopted a $202,954,638 budget for 2026, up 4.83 percent. The general county levy rose 2.78 percent to $28,786,334, while the average tax rate fell from $8.54 to $8.18 per $1,000, according to the budget document, presented under Chairwoman Ryan.
THE CHAIRMANSHIP, 2026
At the organizational meeting on Jan. 2, 2026, Castile’s Stanley Klein nominated Brick for chairman. Attica’s Bryan Kehl was also nominated, and Brick won 113 weighted votes to 88, according to the meeting minutes. Orangeville’s Susan May was elected vice chair without opposition.
The chairman’s State of the County address, printed in those minutes, wished “retiring Chairwoman Becky Ryan” well. “As we strive to keep taxes at a minimum, we rely on grants we receive to offset costs to county residents,” it said. On broadband: “Broadband throughout the County has been discussed for many years. Now it appears to be a reality.”
The Wyoming County Courthouse on Monument Circle in Warsaw, the county seat. (Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
The address also said “The jail expansion will add space to the jail to meet State regulations.” The Daily News of Batavia called him a veteran supervisor and longtime farmer. At his first regular session on Jan. 13 the board reappointed him county purchasing agent for a one-year term.
In February the board took up a local law raising the income limits for the county’s senior citizen property tax exemption, with a public hearing on Feb. 24, according to the hearing agenda. The sliding scale runs from a 50 percent break up to $20,200 to 10 percent for incomes of $26,800 to $27,699.99.
In March, Brick sponsored Resolution 26-190, which put $275,000 into the county broadband capital project, according to March minutes. The board also approved tower agreements in Java and Gainesville and a general fund advance of up to $15 million to the broadband fund, all unanimously.
Twice in the summer the board rejected leasing space from the Sheldon Volunteer Fire Company to stage the county ambulance. A June 9 version failed after Kehl spoke against it. On July 14 a second version lost 188 to 13, after Arcade’s supervisor offered town space at no charge, according to July minutes.
Budget pressure arrived by late summer. On Sept. 1 the budget office told the Finance Committee that department requests implied a 45.69 percent levy increase and that “The county WILL need to override the Tax Cap in 2027,” according to Finance minutes. Health insurance alone added $2.3 million.
The budget office warned that “we will need to cut roughly $7M to get under that cap.” County Administrator Schrader advocated self-funding employee health insurance, and supervisors questioned the lack of a bid for 2027 coverage. Middlebury’s Daniel Leuer proposed a steering committee on insurance costs, and May asked about central purchasing.
On Sept. 8 the board approved $100,000 “To pay retained outside counsel on ongoing litigation expenses,” according to September minutes. The vote was 134 to 22, with Arcade voting no and five towns abstaining. PagPol could not identify the lawsuit, and the minutes record no explanation of Arcade’s vote.
The same day the board adopted an animal abuser registry, named Ziggy’s Law, with no votes against. In committee, supervisors agreed by show of hands to seek bids for 2027 employee health insurance, with Kehl and Java’s Vanessa McCormick opposed, according to the Committee of the Whole minutes.
By Oct. 6 the working figure for the 2027 general fund levy was about $35.5 million, a 23.44 percent increase that included $2.4 million from fund balance, according to October minutes. Budget staff said highway figures were still under review and could change the total.
The same minutes describe an average tax rate “decrease of 6.04%,” a figure PagPol could not reconcile with a levy increase of that size and the roughly 7.5 percent growth in taxable assessments the budget office reported in July. PagPol is not reporting a 2027 rate change until the county publishes one.
On Oct. 13 the board introduced a local law setting 2027 salaries for county officers, with a hearing set for Nov. 10. On Oct. 27 a Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield contract for 2027 went before the board, with active plan rates up 12.6 percent on average, according to Finance Committee minutes.
THE COUNTY AND THE PARTY MATH
Wyoming County had 12,563 active enrolled Republicans and 4,554 Democrats out of 24,949 active voters in February 2026, according to state enrollment figures in PagPol’s Data Spine. More than 6,300 voters belong to no party. Republicans hold 13 of the board’s 16 seats, according to the county roster.
Democrats Mike Roche of Eagle and David Granger of Gainesville hold two seats, and Pike’s Eric Smith is listed as an independent. Each supervisor casts a weighted vote tied to town size, and the votes total 201. Perry casts 26, second only to Warsaw’s 27, according to June minutes.
Winning share in 2025 Wyoming County town supervisor races
James BrickOther town supervisors
Unofficial results. Source: Wyoming County Board of Elections.
Among the four contested supervisor races PagPol compared, Brick’s 195-vote margin trailed Stephen Perkins in Warsaw at 299 and Mark Prior in Bennington at 221, but topped Granger’s 54 in Gainesville. Republicans won three of those four races, and Granger, a Democrat, won the fourth.
For other county board leaders, see PagPol’s profile of Kevin Geraghty, the Warren County board chairman. Like Brick, Geraghty leads a county Board of Supervisors made up of town supervisors, a form of government still found in parts of upstate New York.
LEADERSHIP ROLES
As chairman, Brick calls meetings to order, presides over debate, and is authorized by resolution to sign county contracts. He also remains Perry’s supervisor. Kehl, his rival for the chair, heads the Finance Committee, the post Brick once held, and sponsored the 2026 budget resolution, according to the budget document.
The board chooses its chairman at its organizational meeting each January. For a comparison with a legislature-run county, see PagPol’s profile of Mike Hill, who chairs the Niagara County Legislature, or of neighboring Genesee County’s chair, Christian Yunker.
WHY HE RAN AND WHAT HE BELIEVES
PagPol could not find a public statement from Brick on why he sought the chairmanship or reelection. His record points to agriculture, fire service, and county finance. He chaired the board’s Agriculture and Finance committees and has served on the county Farmland Protection Board, according to his resume.
His State of the County address praised the budget office: “Our Budget Department led by Budget Officer Cook, continues to do an exceptional job as we approved the 2026 budget without having to override the tax cap.” It also said “I am proud to serve with a Board of Supervisors that are committed to serving the residents of Wyoming County.”
On farming, the address said “Supporting agriculture, the dairy industry appears to be growing in the county with addition of milking cows driven by the demand from milk processors like Great Lakes Cheese in Franklinville and Fairlife in Penfield.” On solar, it noted the projects remain a local town issue.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
PagPol could not find a campaign committee for Brick in state Board of Elections contribution data, and town races receive no public matching funds. The county’s money story is its budget, which the board will adopt for 2027 under his chairmanship, after a 2026 plan drawn up before he took the gavel.
Wyoming County general county property tax levy
First budget under Brick, working figure as of Oct. 6Adopted levies
The 2027 figure is a working estimate and may change before adoption. Source: Wyoming County budget documents and Finance Committee minutes.
The 2026 budget used $3.7 million in reserves to hold down the levy and landed $164,838 under the state tax cap, according to the budget document. The Hospital Fund, at $90.4 million, made up 44.55 percent of spending, and health insurance premiums rose 27.09 percent.
CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICISM
PagPol found no ethics complaints, lawsuits, or personal controversies involving Brick, and no named critic who has publicly faulted him. PagPol also found no public critic of the 2027 levy increase. No budget hearing has been held, and the Arcade no vote on litigation money came without recorded remarks.
The sharpest recorded dissent came on Jan. 13, when Genesee Falls Supervisor LuAnne Roberts said she “would be voting no” because a Water Resource Agency resolution “would make 3 of the members from the Town of Warsaw,” according to the January minutes. She added that “we need to have some diversity with members from around the county.”
Other splits were narrow. Kehl drew 88 weighted votes against Brick for chairman. Kehl and McCormick opposed seeking health insurance bids. Smith and Roberts voted against the broadband tower deals in committee before agreeing their concerns had been satisfied, and Arcade’s supervisor opposed the Sheldon ambulance lease.
CLAIMS VERSUS THE RECORD
Brick’s address in January said the county relies on grants “to offset costs to county residents” as it strives “to keep taxes at a minimum.” As of October, the county’s own Finance minutes put the 2027 levy about 23 percent higher and said the county would need to override the tax cap.
Silver Lake from the public beach in the village of Perry. (Photo: Andre Carrotflower, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
The address credited the 2026 budget for staying under the cap. That budget, adopted before he became chairman, raised the levy 2.78 percent while cutting the rate. The county scored 3.3 on the comptroller’s 2024 fiscal stress scale, earning no stress designation, according to the comptroller’s fiscal stress report.
STATE COMPTROLLER AUDITS IN THE COUNTY
A January 2025 comptroller audit found the Middlebury tax collector did not remit about $912,000 to the town supervisor at least weekly, and made one payment of about $1.1 million to the county in April 2024 instead of three. The town board also had not audited the records.
A second January 2025 audit found the Warsaw town clerk did not remit about $1.3 million weekly and made one county payment of about $3.1 million. PagPol found no recent comptroller audit of Wyoming County government or the Town of Perry.
LOOKING AHEAD
Brick is not on the ballot this November. The board’s next big decisions include the 2027 budget, a likely tax cap override, and the salary law hearing on Nov. 10. Last year’s budget was adopted on Nov. 24. For more, visit PagPol’s Wyoming County page or subscribe to the Wyoming County newsletter.
