By Dan Murphy
Two important elections are taking place in the towns of Harrison and Eastchester on Nov. 5. Both towns are governed by a long-serving republican supervisor and have republican-led town boards.
Harrison Mayor-Supervisor Ron Belmont is running for a fourth term. He previously served 36 years in the Harrison Recreation Department, 25 of those years as recreation supervisor. Belmont is the epitome of a true public servant, now entering his 43rd year of service to Harrison. His knowledge of Harrison is unmatched, and his love for the town in unconditional.
This election, Belmont is facing a serious challenge from a Democratic slate of candidates led by mayor-supervisor candidate Frank Gordon, and Lauren Leader and Michael Romita for town board. The three democrats are running on a slogan of “Moving Harrison Forward – Making Harrison Better.”
Gordon is a retired certified public accountant and attorney who worked for two of the biggest names in accounting: Deloitte & Touche, and New York City law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Leader is an author and advocate for women’s equality. She is co-founder and CEO of All In Together, the only non-partisan organization training women on civics and civic leadership.
Romita is a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice who ran the family business Castle Oil, and now works as a partner at Mercury Strategies, a small public policy firm.
Belmont is proud of his record and accomplishments in town government over the past seven years. “We have redeveloped and repurposed Westchester Avenue,” he said. “We now have Memorial Sloan Kettering, Lifetime Fitness, Wegman’s and Montifiore is coming. We also have 400 luxury apartments on the way.”
“The Avalon project downtown is finally coming to fruition, and after 30 years of talk we got it done. This project will give us more parking, for the residents and for commuters, plus more residential units and retail space.
“We have made $30 million in capital improvements all over town and have stayed under the tax cap for seven years. I have never gone over the tax cap because we have smart government and management. We got rid of fat and have presented smart, conservative budgeting. Some of our initiatives, including automated sanitation, have helped us with our fiscal management. If you don’t believe me, just ask the bond rating agencies, who took a look at our finances and have given us a AAA bond rating for the past three years and we have kept it.”
Harrison Democrats have sent out several mailings, paid for by the New York State Democratic Committee, accusing Belmont of corruption and financial mismanagement. “Their accusations are incorrect and fake news,” he said. “There is no corruption in my administration.”
One of the personnel matters that has received news in Harrison is the removal of Police Chief Anthony Marraccini. “Once I knew about the things he did, I took away the chief’s badge,” said Belmont. “And now he is suing me, not for the money but to get me to lose this election. He’s trying to get even with me.”
The rest of the incidents in the Harrison Police Department are “personnel matters that I cannot discuss,” he said.
But there is no missing money and no corruption in Harrison Town Hall, said Belmont. “I went after corruption and did not have a blind eye to it,” he said. “It didn’t happen under my watch.”
Belmont has asked the Democrats running against him: “How are they going to lower taxes? We stayed under the tax cap and we are trying to expand our tax base. The mailers that they have sent out are more rhetoric with no specifics. And why is the state Democratic Party so interested in this race? Is there a secret agenda to take over Harrison?”
Another claim from the democrats in some of their mailings is that Belmont and the town board have overtaxed the residents because of a large fund balance/surplus.
“We do have plans to spend the money, which we have earmarked for a new recreation center ($10 million), and new garage ($3 million), and improvement to the Brentwood Pool ($1 million),” he said. “And on the horizon is a new courthouse and police station. All of these projects need to be done and now we have the resources to do it. We have also spent $40 million on other improvements in the town during my leadership, and every year we stayed under the tax cap. Those are the facts.”
Finally, Belmont added that under his leadership, he has led the effort to get school resource officers in the Harrison schools. “Last year, we had SROs in the high school and middle school and this year we now have SROs in all four elementary schools,” he said.
In Eastchester, Supervisor Tony Colavita is running on his record of controlling spending and tax increases while delivering the quality of town services that the residents of Eastchester, Bronxville and Tuckahoe expect. Colavita has served as Eastchester supervisor since 2004, and prior to that, served on the Eastchester Town Board for six years, giving him more than 20 years of public service experience.
Politics in the Town of Eastchester remains relative calm, and civil. The reason may be that the residents and taxpayers are satisfied with the leadership of Colavita and the other members of the town board. Eastchester is the only town board made up of republicans; on Nov. 5, Colavita is running with town board members Glen Bellito and Joe Dooley, who are both seeking re-election and running unopposed.
Colavita and the republican ticket are running on the themes of keeping taxes down, keeping spending in check, and keeping the town’s AAA bond rating.
The Eastchester Town Board has approved SROs in the Eastchester schools, and property taxes have been kept below the property tax cap. This year’s budget tax increase was less than 1 percent. Dooley commented on the example Colavita sets for the town board and the entire town government, to keep spending down. “He has not taken a raise in 16 years,” said Dooley. “He pays for his own health insurance contribution. He drives his own car. He asks no sacrifice of anyone that he has not first made himself.”
Under Colavita’s watch, the NYS Comptroller’s Office said the Town of Eastchester is ranked in the top 10 percent of all towns for its stable and well-managed finances, having reduced the workforce overall by 25 percent, reduced payroll and benefits, privatized Lake Isle Golf Course maintenance, reformed the town’s health insurance system and forced health insurance companies to compete for business, restructured the recycling and sanitation schedules to reduce overtime and collection backlogs, and negotiated CSEA and police union contracts, all while staying below the tax cap. Colavita does have a challenger – Democrat Michael Denning, who ran against Colavita in 2013 and 2017.
Denning, a retired Eastchester police officer, got 40 percent of the vote in 2013, and 45 percent of the vote in 2017. One of Denning’s campaign themes is to vote democratic if you want to make Eastchester/Bronxville and Tuckahoe a better place. Denning’s theme is the opposite of Colavita’s theme, “The reason people move to Eastchester is the reason they stay in Eastchester.”
The election is Nov. 5 and early voting starts Oct. 26. In Harrison, residents can vote early at the Harrison Veterans Memorial Building, 210 Halstead Ave.; and in Eastchester, residents can vote early at the Eastchester Public Library, 11 Oakridge Place, during the following hours: Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26 and 27 from noon to 5 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 29 from noon to 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 30 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursday, Oct. 31 from noon to 8 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2 from noon to 5 p.m
