NEWS

Westmore

As appeared inFriday, October 30, 2015

From Our Editor

Elect Zuckerman for Rye Town supervisor,

Baxter and Jackson for two council seats
I

ts been four years since we have

elected a new Rye Town supervisor and eight years since current
Supervisor Joe Carvin was elected
by a wide margin over his longtime
predecessor Bob Morabito. Carvin has
done a fantastic job in office, restoring
integrity to town government, cutting
$1 million in expenses from the first
budget he was in charge of and introducing best business practices. His
administration has sold the towns
building at 10 Pearl St., which had
gotten to the point where it could no
longer be repaired in a cost-effective
manner, and negotiated a lease agreement with the Village of Port Chester
to move the towns administrative
offices to 222 Grace Church St. and
court to 350 North Main St. It also
embarked on a campaign to dissolve
the town following a thorough study
of the pros and cons. While dissolution
was in the end unsuccessful because
of its complexity and the need for
so many parties to agree to move
forward, it was a valiant effort that
politicians had talked about in the
past but Carvin believed in and did
his utmost to foster.
Having largely accomplished what
he set out to do, Carvin chose to step
down rather than seek a third term.
Now voters will be charged with
choosing his successor on Tuesday,
Nov. 3. Fortunately two intelligent
gentlemen, both lawyers with extensive experience in government, have
stepped forward to seek the position.
Theres no question that either Gary
Zuckerman or Aldo Vitagliano could
effectively do the job, but Zuckerman
clearly wants it while Vitagliano
comes across as the more reluctant
candidate.
Zuckerman, 70, a real estate
attorney and developer, has had a
more well-thought-out five-point
action plan from the beginning. The
eight-year Rye Brook trustee, who
has served for the past 10 years as a
member of the Rye Brook Planning
Board and chaired that group for the
last seven, is as passionate about
running the Town of Rye as he was
about becoming mayor of Rye Brook
when he ran unsuccessfully to lead
the village back in 2000. While
Vitagliano, a Republican, has delved
into the campaign and rounded out his
platform as the days have gone by, at
first he couldnt articulate why he was
running. It was nonetheless admirable
that he joined the race to give voters

Gary Zuckerman

Anthony Baxter

Lindsay Jackson

a choice and not allow backers of

Zuckermans fusion ticket to just
railroad it through. We would not
have wanted to see a no-contest race
where the issues were not discussed,
as has so often been the case in Rye
Brook mayoral and trustee races in
recent years. Even if Zuckerman wins,
Vitaglianos contribution will have
been valuable.
Zuckerman, a registered Democrat, is running a proactive campaign
laying out what he and his running
mates want to accomplish rather than a
negative one attacking his opponents.
Even if Zuckerman got into the campaign at the behest of Sam Terenzi
and Paul Noto, who are seeking to
keep their jobs as town attorney and
town accountant, Zuckerman is not a
weak personality who can be easily
controlled. We will put our faith in
him to decide if these two are the best
people for the job. Given the state of
the towns finances as pointed out in
its auditors recommendations the
past two years, it looks like there
should be some changes made on the
financial side and that outsourcing,
which has been suggested by Carvin,
may actually be a good idea. That
being said, Zuckerman is only one
vote on the five-member board to
make those decisions. Vitaglianos
campaign is dwelling on Zuckerman
allegedly promising Terenzi and Noto
they will keep their jobs as a major
reason residents should not vote for
his opponent.
With this issue such a large part
of his campaign, we were surprised
that Vitagliano didnt answer yes
to the question on our Pinned down

on the issues survey published in

last weeks paper asking if he would
put both Terenzis and Notos job out
for bid but instead went along with
his opponent and refused to answer
that question.
The Town of Rye performs limited
functions, and, once the negativity has
been swept aside, both candidates and
their running mates have focused on
improving its parks, tax collection,
assessment, administration and finances, with only nuanced differences
between their platforms.
Continuing the tradition of volunteer government service as a village
trustee and Planning Board member
in Rye Brook, Zuckerman says he
will not take the $17,400 salary as
Rye Town supervisor, following
in the footsteps of his predecessor,
something we find admirable while
at the same time understanding those
who may not be of the same means
and said they need the money to pay
for expenses that may be required of
them as a Rye Town elected official.
The three candidates seeking the
two council seats up for grabs are
all newcomers, giving none of them
an advantage. Always backing individuals rather than a party, or in this
case a ticket, it is only coincidental
that we are supporting Anthony
Baxter and Lindsay Jackson who,
with Zuckerman, are billed as The
Rye Town Coalition ticket because
they represent three different parties
and three different villages. Jackson,
a Republican, is actually running
on both tickets since she is being
endorsed by the Republicans as well
as the Democrats and Conservatives

on the fusion ticket.

Both Baxter, 47, an assistant principal at Sleepy Hollow High School
and former principal at Blind Brook
High School, and Jackson, 28, who
serves on the staff of the Westchester
County executive and previously was
district administrator for the New York
State Assembly, have a good grasp
of the issues. We were impressed
with Baxters straightforward manner and ease in dealing with people
gained from handling the delicate
and sometimes controversial issues a
principal confronts on a daily basis.
As a member of the Port Chester
Planning Commission and a volunteer
basketball and baseball coach with
four children in the Port Chester public
schools, Baxter, a registered Conservative, has already proven that he is
committed to serving his community.
He, too, said he would not take the
$4,000 salary for the council position.
There has not been a candidate
from Rye Neck running for supervisor
or councilperson in at least the last 30
years, so its about time that portion
of the town had some representation.
Thats not the only reason we are
supporting Jackson, however. Her
maturity and confidence at her young
age and obvious enthusiasm for good
government shined through in our
office debate as well as the League
of Women Voters forum. And she had
done her homework, going as far as
reading the town dissolution study
over the summer.
The other candidate, Republican
Alex Leonzi, gained confidence as
the campaign progressed but did not
stand out like the others.