Harrison REVIEW THE
November 11, 2016 | Vol. 4, Number 46 | www.harrisonreview.com
Fallen soldier
After Harrison’s original Doughboy statue toppled over in Ma Riis Park last June, the town purchased a sturdier replacement, which was installed this week, for the 80-year-old memorial in honor of its World War I veterans. For more, see page 10. Photo/Andrew Dapolite
Latimer bests Killian to hold onto state Senate seat 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 education, special needs responsiveness and economic growth will continue,” she said. “I hope that LATIMER continued on page 9
Dionisio narrowly wins Town Council seat By COREY STOCKTON Staff Writer In a close race to fill one Harrison Town Council seat, Republican Rich Dionisio edged out Democrat Chris Rodier by approximately 167 votes, meaning the board will once again become all Republican. According to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections, Dionisio won 49 percent of more than 9,700 total votes cast to Rodier’s 47 percent, as of press time. Final results were not released until early Wednesday morning, as a machine in one of the districts malfunctioned around 6 p.m. on Election Day, causing vote counts to be delayed. Town Republicans gathered at the G. Caboto Italian Club on Purdy Street until after 11 p.m. on election night hoping for a victory, but the results were not released until around 2 a.m. the following morning. Before the final district released its results, Dionisio had a narrow lead, but his supporters at the club—which included councilmen Steve Malfatano and Fred Sciliano, Councilwoman Marlane Amelio, Mayor Ron Belmont, all Republicans, as well as Harrison attorneys Jonathan Kraut and Frank Allegretti and town Republican Chairman Bob Amelio—were not overtly celebratory and were tentative to accept the results until the final district was counted.“If the official count maintains the lead that I have, I am so happy to serve this great community, and I thank everyone for their hard work and support,” Dioni-
INSIDE Scarpino takes DA race Story on page 8.
sio told the Review, adding that he would remain open to suggestions from residents in order to better serve the community. Dionisio’s campaign focused on improving the downtown district, maintaining a high quality of public services in town, and relocating the proposed site for the Brightview Senior Living Center which is planned for site of the former Lake Street Quarry, pending Planning Board approval. Rodier ran on similar issues, but also criticized the town’s budgeting practices, most notably suggesting that the town should reduce its staffing count. Rodier’s campaign became contentious when he said that he had been contacted by the Police Department after requesting public budget information from the town, claiming that the Town Council was using the police to harass him. Rodier told the Review that he did not regret making those claims, regardless of the effect it may have had on the election. In the days leading up to the vote, Rodier was hoping to capture votes from the recent uproar in town related to a gun store opening less than 1,000 feet from Parsons Memorial COUNCIL continued on page 10