The Village of Johnson City is welcoming a new mayor. Greg Deemie has taken over the position following the retirement of former mayor Dennis Hannon. Our Melissa Kakareka spoke with the new mayor to find out his vision for the village in the future.

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JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. -- There's a new leader in the village of Johnson City. Greg Deemie was appointed as mayor at the end of April following Dennis Hannon's retirement and was sworn into office at the village board meeting Tuesday night.

"I always told them if you want me to do it, you vote me in, I will do the job. I did want to do it, but it's whoever you feel is the best position for the job and I do appreciate them putting their faith in me to do it," said Deemie.

Deemie takes over the position until the end of 2012. While working in his new office Wednesday, he said right now his goal is keep the village moving in a positive direction.

"I'm not going to make any big changes from what was already in place. I'm going to look at it, see if it's really working for us, if we're really saving money. It's what I was doing as a trustee, just keep moving forward," said Deemie.

Deemie saID the village does need to work toward stronger code enforcement. He also plans to work toward the revitalization of the village.

"We need to revitalize the village, work on marketing the village, getting more interest in the village to bring business back, getting the SUNY students over here to the places we have here," said Deemie.

The new mayor also plans to be more open with the board of trustees and the public.

"I just want to be more open with the people, with the public, keep everybody appraised of what's going on and just do the best job for the village I can," said Deemie.

Steps that can help Johnson City move away from the financial and legal problems of the past and toward a better future.

There will be a special election for a one-year term in November, followed by a regular election in 2013 for a four-year term. Deemie said he plans to run for mayor in both elections.