This year in Yonkers the hottest local election is for Yonkers City Court. Three seats are up this year, and five candidates are seeking your vote on Nov. 3. They are -Brendan McGrath, Verris Shako, Tom Daly, Dan Romano and Karen Best.
McGrath is currently a City Court Judge but lost the democratic primary and is only on the conservative party line and is not actively campaigning. That leaves Shako, Romano, Daly and Best for the voters to realistically choose from.
Yonkers Rising endorses Verris Shako, Dan Romano and Tom Daly to serve as Judges in the Yonkers City Court. Verris Shako is highly qualified and an active member of the Yonkers community. In her campaign for City Court, she has submitted stories and ideas on how to improve the community and has not sunk into the mud with some other candidates for Yonkers judge. We are looking forward to Shako becoming the first female, African American Judge in Yonkers history.
Dan Romano has also conducted himself above the fray and the accusations and negative attacks that have been flying around in this race. Romano, who won the democratic primary and who has decades of experience as an attorney in the Yonkers courts representing a wide ranging, diverse group of clients, comes from a family of well respected attorneys who has put the Yonkers community first in their lives. Serving on the City Court would be a natural progression for Romano, and we endorse his candidacy for Yonkers Judge.
The last seat on the Yonkers City Court from a political view is between Karen Best and Judge Tom Daly. Best won the democratic primary for Judge, while Daly lost the primary by a few hundred votes. Daly is still running on the Republican and Conservative lines.
In a Presidential year in Yonkers, usually the democratic nominee for any office is heavily favored to win, because of the large voter enrollment edge that democrats have in the City. But the way in which Karen Best has run her campaign, and the way in which, according to residents in the city, “lied and bullied,” does not fit the demeanor of a City Court Judge.
After winning the democratic primary, Best inconceivably attacked Yonkers Democratic Chair Tom Meier, in essence, biting the hand of someone who can help you become a judge. Information revealed from the Yonkers Insider and Delfim Heusler show that Best has not voted in Yonkers, or anywhere, on a regular basis.
Now fellow democrats are worried about Best’s demeanor to sit on the City Court. A number of Yonkers democrats and former elected officials, including City Council President Chuck Lesnick and Councilmembers Pat McDow, Sandi Annabi, Wilson Soto, and Joe Farmer, joined in a letter supporting Tom Daly for Judge.
There are many reasons to vote for Tom Daly on November 3. Daly has served on the City Court for 20 years without controversy or incident. A good judge should be seen and not heard nor remembered, but serve by adjudicating the proceedings before him or her fairly, so that both parties at the end of the hearing believe that they got a fair review.
Judge Tom Daly has delivered that fairness and that is the primary reason we endorse his re-election. Daly will also serve as the Chief Judge of the Yonkers Court if elected and we want his experience serving as Chief Judge, especially when new judges are coming onto the court.
In their letter, former democratic councilmembers wrote, “Unfortunately, there are those who are behind an overt politicization of this 50 year tradition of removing partisan politics out of campaigns for the bench, in a possible violation of judicial ethics.”
The person alluded to is Karen Best. After a story that ran in Yonkers Rising last week about Best’s behavior towards Tom Meier and Jeni Wallace, Best did what she does best—lash out at anyone who she perceives has slighted her.
In her public comments to Meier, Best wrote- “The establishment did not expect me to win the primary because, as usual, Democratic Party Leader Tom Meier was arrogant. Like many Department of Public Works (DPW) employees know, Tom Meier is a bully, coward, and a liar. The week before the start of early voting he is finally choosing to show you his lack of support for my campaign.”
As we wrote in our story last week, Meier, acting as Democratic Chair, was supporting all the party’s candidates, including Best. That is until Best attacked Meier, and did it again this week.
What really resulted in a number of democrats supporting Daly and opposing Best was an incident concerning the Wallace Foundation and longtime Yonkers resident Jeni Wallace. Wallace lost her son in a tragedy and has continued to serve her community in his memory.
Karen Best tried to use a Halloween Giveaway to claim that Jeni Wallace and Verris Shako should quarantine because of fears over COVID. Both were contacted traced and tested negative for COVID.
Best’s post on the Yonkers Tribune, which included her name and then didn’t include her name and then included her name again, is evidence in our view that this is not what the people of Yonkers want or deserve in their City Court Judge. Honesty, integrity and the assurance that your case will be heard by an impartial judge should be the number 1 concern of the Yonkers voter. Karen Best has not proven that she will sit on the bench with those important attributes.
For these reasons, we endorse Verris Shako, Dan Romano and Tom Daly for Yonkers City Court on Nov. 3
