How Fahs got into politics: Breakfast and the “Bill Hendricks effect”
By JOHN ANDERSON, pictured is Mayor Fahs
A quick walk on Main Street in Wellsville on a brisk morning is a chance to warm up with some coffee or comfort food, do some shopping and talk to residents and business owners.
For a social experiment, I asked a few, “Who is the mayor of this fine village?” A few thought it was past mayor, Randy Shayler, a few thought it was Balloon Rally Chairman Brad Thompson, one said he remembered Mayor Gardner and two incorrectly guessed Wellsville Town Supervisor Shad Alsworth.
And Ed Fahs would have it no other way.
Fahs was appointed Mayor of the Village of Wellsville on Sept. 22, 2025 and will have to run for re-election on Nov. 3 of this year.
IT STARTED WITH BREAKFAST
Mayor Fahs’ road to the top wasn’t a bumpy one, rather a quiet and interesting one — much like the man who sits in on the end seat of an unassuming table in a less than majestic government office.
Fahs had no intentions of being in politics. He enjoyed working and raising a family in Wellsville. He bragged to his friends in North Tonawanda about life in Allegany County, a place he first realized was a special place when visiting Whitesville.
As a member of the Wellsville Elks Lodge #1495, Ed serves on the scholarship breakfast committee. In 2016, he was cleaning up after another successful event when Dean Arnold, the current Village of Wellsville Director of Public Works and Republican Chairman of District IV (Wellsville and Andover), asked Fahs about an opening on the village board.
Those who know Ed would assume he would not want any part of public office and his life now an open book — literally with state transparency laws of your decisions, meetings and emails. But something else popped in his mind.
“I wanted to give something back to a community that has given back so much to me,” Fahs said during an interview with the Wellsville Sun. “It’s a great place to raise your kids. Being on the village board kind of becomes another job and then you start getting one issue or project after another.”
Arnold remembers asking Fahs to get on the board 10 years ago.
“I was the Wellsville Republican Chair for the Wellsville-Andover committee in 2016 and I knew there was an opening on the village board in Wellsville,” Arnold said. “And my duty was to find a good, level-headed person who could sit on the board and make good decisions to help the village grow. I knew Ed was that guy who could make decisions.”
Now, Arnold is working with Fahs as the mayor.
“I think he’s doing a fantastic job. I thought the previous mayor (Shayler) did an awesome job and Ed got in that seat and jumped in feet first,” Arnold said. “I don’t think they could’ve done a better job finding someone.”
THE BILL HENDRICK EFFECT
William Hendrick was a staple in Wellsville before (and after) his death in 2022 at the age of 86. The Wellsville graduate and veteran worked at Loblaws and Dresser-Rand, but took a chance on a business and bought the current Sunoco 7-11, which was then Arco. It was known as Hendrick’s A-Plus for years, or AM/PM or Sunoco.
Hendrick could tell Fahs liked Allegany County over life in Buffalo.
Fahs is a North Tonawanda native and he was working for the former Tonawanda Electric, wiring the A-Plus when he met Hendrick.
“At the time, Bill was a village trustee and there was an opening in the line crew, Bob Costello was retiring and Bill said, ‘If you like the work, this is a great place to live.’ I had been to Whitesville and I loved it here,” Fahs recalls. “I put the application in and they hired me for the electric crew.”
Fahs worked for the village for 15 years before taking a job at National Grid, a position he holds today.
BECOMING THE MAYOR
There were no deals of favors for Fahs to become mayor. Shayler was stepping down and Jeff Monroe was the deputy mayor. It was a no-brainer.
However, Monroe was moving to a new home in Willing, and bylaws would prevent him from being mayor.
Fahs was the next choice, and fortunately, he had paid attention to the training that was taking place.
“Randy was trying to get Jeff trained, and I was at a lot of those meetings,” Fahs said. “However, there is no way I could do this job on my own. Running the village is a team effort.”
GOOD COMMUNICATIONS
From his time as a trustee to his time as Mayor, Fahs said he has been impressed with the employees and the department heads. He said communication makes things work in local government.
“We have a great group of department heads, from the treasurer, Melissa Mullen to Dean Arnold (public works) to Ryan Stisser (electric superintendent) and Tim O’Grady (police chief), Fire Chief Greg Day …. we have great departments and I don’t have a complaint about any of the employees.”
WHAT ABOUT OUR TAXES?
There will always be complaints about taxes. Fahs knows it’s part of the job.
“It’s understandable. Our hands get tied a lot (by mandates from Albany). My philosophy with that is, we’ve tried for several years to keep the tax increase at zero. But if you don’t keep up with inflation, you are behind the eight ball,” Fahs said. “Some of those zero percent years hurt us with salaries and equipment. We are trying to be competitive with wages. We are looking at things five years down the road, like equipment. We are going to need to make purchases and we need to have money so there are no surprises for capital purchases.”
Fahs has also heard the call to make cuts.
“I don’t know the answer. We fight and argue over every cent we spend. There is a balancing act between giving the residents what they need and want, and paying for it,” he said. “I honestly don’t know anywhere else to cut. The purpose of the village is to protect the citizens. You cut police and fire, you are not protecting the citizens. We have a great water system, we have a good electric system, we have good roads — it costs money to do all of that.”
Speaking of money, prices have gone up without any explanation.
“The substation up on Niles Hill is a prime example,” Fahs said. “We are trying to do some upgrades. The estimate in 2019 was $6.5 million. We have not changed anything and it’s up to $7.3 million. The transformer itself for that job cost $1 million more, it went from $3 million to $4 million.”
INVESTED IN THE COMMUNITY
Wellsville operates with 40 full-time employees and a handful of part-time employees.
The employees work, shop, live and are invested in the community through various organizations and churches.
Fahs is a church council chair at Trinity Lutheran, a member of the Elks Club, and still works the scholarship breakfast the second Sunday of every month.
He also finds a way to spend time with family, something he has been able to do since his partnership sold the Wellsville Brewing Company.
As mayor, Fahs can encourage others to invest in Wellsville because he sees the rewards.
The building for the brewery was bought in 2016 and opened in 2018.
“It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. We believed in Wellsville,” Fahs said. “Tom Reuning wanted to do something specifically on Main Street. He wanted to better Main Street. It wasn’t quite as big as we wanted, but it had the best fit.”
It was a great fit. The charm and nostalgia of the past came to life, from Buckwheat’s to My Buddy’s Place to Better Days. You had the friendly face of Jim Knapp to greet you, laugh at the stories from Shawn Walsh and get a tour each visit from Reuning, learning something different each time. And quietly, like he is the mayor, Fahs was also one of the four owners.
“There was nothing cooler than locking the doors to close, and you look out the window to see a light snow, the lights of a quiet Main Street and “Eagles Live” is playing on the sound system as you clean,” Fahs said. “It was a nice partnership. You hear you shouldn’t get into a partnership. And we were in a four person partnership. But it was a lot of fun.”
Fahs added, “I think it’s the people in Wellsville. They are very supportive of the local businesses. Everyone supports local businesses, the current ones and the new ones.”
Fahs lives in Wellsville with his wife, Jess. He has three adult children, Bill, Kristin and Rachel. He said he likes his other name, “Grandpa” as he has six grandchildren, Arie, Laurynn, Jaxon, Soopia, Lincoln and Owen.
