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Eastchester REVIEW THE

November 11, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 46 | www.eastchesterreview.com

Latimer bests Killian to hold onto Senate seat Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced a potential 40-year, public-private partnership with the investment firm Oaktree Management to operate Westchester Airport. The deal is expected tobring in $140 million in additional revenue for the county. For story, see page 6. File photo

Scarpino prevails in Westchester district attorney race By ANDREW DAPOLITE Contributor Democrat Anthony Scarpino will be taking over the office of Westchester County district attorney after a decisive victory against Republican Bruce Bendish on Tuesday. As polling results flowed into election headquarters at The Coliseum in White Plains, Scarpino held an impressive early lead, ultimately capturing 70 percent of the nearly 345,000 votes that were cast. “I was caught a little bit off guard,” Scarpino told the Review on Wednesday morning. “I was cautiously optimistic that I was going to win because of the enrollment, but the numbers were

overwhelming.” According to Westchester County’s voter rolls, there are roughly 152,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the county. At the center of this year’s race for the county’s top law enforcement position was the question of qualifications. Scarpino, currently a partner at the law firm of DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise and Wiederkehr, began his 37-year career in public service as an FBI agent before serving as a judge in the city of Mount Vernon as well as a justice at the county and state Supreme Court levels. In contrast, Bendish served as an assistant district attorney in

Westchester County for 14 years before opening a private practice for criminal defense. Throughout the campaign, Scarpino was often attacked by his opponent for not having tried cases in a courtroom, which he calls a mischaracterization of his record. “It’s one thing to say, ‘You were not a prosecutor in a case,’ because I was not a DA,” Scarpino said, “but being a trial judge, you try cases.” Scarpino also countered that Bendish had not served as a real law enforcement officer. “I had a baseball coach when I was growing up, that used to say that everybody has a hole in their swing,” Scarpino said. “Everybody’s resume is short. Bruce

Bendish was never a trial judge. Jeanine Pirro was a DA, but she was a judge first. Janet DiFiore was also a judge before she became DA. Judicial experience counts.” According to Scarpino, the issues that he plans to address in his new role include Westchester’s heroin and illegal drug epidemic—a situation he described as “a scourge that is destroying our youth”—as well as Internet predators, phone scams, child and elder abuse, domestic violence, and injustices against immigrants who he believes are preyed upon by people who take advantage of their fear of deportation. Bendish, while disappointed SCARPINO continued on page 8

By SIBYLLA CHIPAZIWA Assistant Editor In a battle of neighbors, New York state Sen. George Latimer held on to his 37th District seat after a contentious campaign against Republican Julie Killian. As polls closed at 9 p.m. on Nov. 8, some Latimer supporters started to trickle into Rosa’s La Scarbitta Ristorante on Halstead Avenue in the village of Mamaroneck, two doors down from Latimer’s campaign headquarters. According to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections as of press time, Latimer, a Rye Democrat, won with 66,751 or 55 percent of votes to Killian’s 53,975 or 45 percent with 99 percent of districts reporting. For Latimer, the win continues a streak of 17 consecutive election victories without tasting defeat. But the wins have not always been easy. “We’ve turned politics into a blood sport; we’ve turned it into a demolition derby, and that’s not what politics is,” he said. At his headquarters as the first numbers came in, Meg Cameron, chairwoman of the Rye City Democratic Committee, said that she was not surprised at the results. “George’s achievements and long record of service are much greater than Julie’s, even though they’re both well-known and respected in the community,” she said. However, much of the talk among Democrats on election night was of a Killian television ad accusing Latimer of turning a blind eye to sexual assault in Albany. Cameron added that she was

“very disappointed” at how the campaign played out. “Given this is a ‘hometown’ race, and Rye is kind of a small town, [Killian] ran such an ugly campaign,” Cameron said. Surrounded by other prominent elected officials representing Westchester, Latimer celebrated another win. “I had a good feeling, but I know that it was going to be a competitive race,” Latimer, 62, told the Review after declaring victory. “I have great respect for my opponent, and whatever we disagreed on, I never did not respect her skill set as an advocate.” In Port Chester, Killian, a Rye City councilwoman, held camp at Saltaire Oyster Bar amid a contingent of supporters that remained hopeful well into the night as the numbers started to climb in her opponent’s favor. Overall Killian said she was pleased with the way her campaign was run and learned a lot over the last eight months. Her advocates stressed the need to bring reform issues to the forefront, most notably a push for term limits on elected officials in Albany. “The fight for term limits, tax and mandate relief, fair school funding, drug abuse LATIMER continued on page 8