Eastchester REVIEW THE
January 20, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 3 | www.eastchesterreview.com
EAGLES SOAR
Village Republicans to seek re-election By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer
AT COUNTY CENTER Sean Donnellan goes up for a layup against Walter Panas at the Westchester County Center on Jan. 12. Eastchester survived a late run to top Panas 66-60. For story, see page 15. Photo/Mike Smith
In state address, Cuomo proposes legislative reform By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer Concluding a recent three-day tour across New York state to deliver State of the State addresses, Gov. Andrew Cuomo—while speaking in the state’s capital region—announced plans for ethics reforms which included aspirations to impose term limits on state lawmakers. Foregoing the traditional approach, Cuomo gave six regional addresses in three days instead of one large address in front of both houses of the Legislature. Each speech catered to regionally specific topics. In his final stop on the State of the State address trail at SUNY University at Albany, Cuomo hit some of the same points he
had spoken of during earlier addresses that week; but specific to his presentation on Jan. 11 was a 10-point ethics reform plan aimed partially at state lawmakers. “Unfortunately, in Albany, there have been a series of breaches of the trust,” Cuomo said. “It has happened in the Legislature, both houses; it has happened in the state comptroller’s office; it has happened in my own office.” Most notably, the state Capitol has been in the shadow of recent corruption scandals of former Speaker of the House Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, who both were convicted in 2016 of accepting bribes disguised as
outside income. In response, Cuomo’s proposals would seek to entirely restructure the offices of the state’s senators and assembly members by making those positions fulltime jobs and limiting outside income, restructuring legislative term lengths from two years to four years, and putting two-term limits on all such elected officials. In order to amend the state constitution to extend term lengths and impose term limits, the Legislature would have to vote on it twice: once this year and again in 2019. If approved, the decision would then go the public in a statewide referendum. State Sen. George Latimer, a Rye Democrat who discussed
term limits during his recent reelection campaign, told the Review, “The governor’s plan is the beginning of a discussion, and now we discuss all the different elements of it.” Latimer said he favored 12year limits on all lawmakers in the state, including the governor. He added that extending term lengths was taking the trust of New Yorkers for granted. “As much as the two-year term drives me crazy, I think that people want to know that you’re accountable for them on a shorter term than once every four years,” he said. But any ethics reform discussion may be handcuffed to conversations about salary increases REFORM continued on page 8
The village of Tuckahoe’s mayor and two of its trustees will seek the Republican nomination to run for re-election in March, the Review has learned. According to Mayor Steve Ecklond, a Republican, he plans on running for re-election this year alongside Deputy Mayor Tom Giordano and Trustee Greg Luisi. There are three seats up for grabs this village election cycle. The trio is seeking election to their fourth respective terms in elected office. In Tuckahoe, members of the village board are elected to two-year terms. Although all three incumbents have expressed interest in running again, the village Republican Party will not hold its nominating caucus until Jan. 30 at the Tuckahoe Community Center where the nominations of a Republican slate will become official. The village board has been entirely Republican since May 2015, when Antonio Leo, a Republican, was appointed to fill the vacant seat left by Stephen Quigley, a Democrat, who died in office weeks earlier. Leo and Trustee Steven Alfasi, a Republican, were re-elected last year in uncontested races. Village elections are often subdued compared to their town and city counterparts—which take place on Election Day in November—largely due to population size, shortened campaign seasons, and the unusual timing of a March election. But this year may be unlike any other Tuckahoe election in
recent memory, as a hot button issue seems likely to be the focal point of the campaign. As a result, the Republican incumbents, and in particularly the mayor, could be vulnerable. Anticipating a Brownfield Cleanup project planned for the site of a former industrial dumping ground and former marble quarry on Marbledale Road that is projected to be turned into a Marriott Springhill Suites hotel, hundreds of residents have mobilized since the state Department of Environmental Conservation proposed its plan to remediate the contaminated property in April, filling the village courtroom and the community center several times during public hearings. The Marbledale Road Environmental Coalition, a group of Tuckahoe-area residents demanding more comprehensive testing of the site, collected nearly 1,800 signatures on a petition by September. More than 600 of those signatures were from Tuckahoe residents who are eligible to vote in this year’s election. The village has not seen a voter turnout of more than 300 residents since 2007, when then-Trustee John Fitzpatrick, a REPUBLICANS continued on page 9
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