Jason West is the mayor of the village of New Paltz, New York, having resumed the duties of office on June 1, 2011. He served previously as the village's mayor from January 1, 2003 to May 31, 2007. A graduate of the State University of New York at New Paltz, West made headlines by solemnizing same-sex marriages in New York. After running as a protest candidate for the New York State Assembly in 2000 and 2002 on the Green Party ticket, West was elected mayor of New Paltz in 2003. He lost his re-election bid on May 1, 2007, to Village Trustee Terry Dungan. 

March 26th, 1977 in Latham (Age 47)