Oneonta Mayor Vows To Be ‘Unremitting’ in Swearing-in Speech

By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
ONEONTA

New Oneonta Mayor Daniel Buttermann, a Democrat, was sworn in at City Hall on January 1. Fellow Democrat Carolyn Marks was also sworn in as councilmember for the 7th Ward by Oneonta City Court Judge Robert Gouldin.

Buttermann’s brief speech reflected on two quotes from President Abraham Lincoln.

“I hope in doing so, you can see a little bit of how I think, and how I feel about the position that I now hold,” Buttermann said.

Saying he shared what Lincoln described as his “peculiar ambition” to “have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow-men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem,” Buttermann said that that esteem did not come from his election night win.

“It started when someone said to me that they thought I might be able to do this job.” He added that his confidence comes from his wife, Ana Laura Gonzalez, who has supported his journey.

The second Lincoln quote referenced by Buttermann, from Lincoln’s 1832 Illinois legislature race, was that “if elected, they [the voters] will have conferred a favor upon me, for which I shall be unremitting in my labors to compensate.”

Buttermann said, “I, too, will be unremitting in my labors to compensate the favors you have all conferred upon me.

“In doing so, I hope that the condition of Oneonta will be such that the qualities of this community we all hold dear will be evermore evident for future generations to enjoy.”