Rising Media Group and Yonkerstimes.com endorse Tony Colavita for reelection as Supervisor in the Town of Eastchester.
Colavita is the only elected official in Westchester who has not taken a raise in 23 YEARS! We start with this because it symbolizes the way in which Colavita has served the people of Eastchester, by putting the people and taxpayers first.
Why has Colavita been elected and reelected 11 times? By focusing on the fundamentals of local government: keeping taxes and spending under control, maintaining strong public services, protecting public safety, investing in parks, recreation facilities, infrastructure, and preserving the quality of life that has made Eastchester a desirable place to live and raise a family.
- Eastchester has never exceeded NY State’s 2% property tax cap. For the past 5 years, tax increases have been at or below 1.25 %.
- The Town has earned Moody’s highest municipal bond rating—AAA—and has received a 0% fiscal-stress designation from the New York State Comptroller’s Office, which also ranks Eastchester in the top 1% for stable, well-managed finances.
- Colavita has also made public safety a priority. Eastchester has a fully staffed and accredited police department. The Town has also partnered with the Eastchester and Tuckahoe school districts to place uniformed School Resource Officers on local school campuses. In addition, the Town has maintained a DARE program in Eastchester schools.
- During his tenure, parks, recreational facilities, and community institutions have been improved, including Lake Isle, the Library, Town Hall, and every park and recreation facility in the Town.
- How has Colavita kept property taxes in check? By making the tough decisions, Governments tend to grow. Thanks to Colavita, Eastchester’s government has become leaner. The town’s full-time workforce has been reduced by 25%, while maintaining exceptional services. Departments have been consolidated to save taxpayers’ money. To reduce costs, the town shares services and buys jointly with the schools and villages. The savings have helped Eastchester maintain a fully staffed, accredited police force and some of Westchester County’s finest parks and recreation facilities.
- Tony Colavita Made Eastchester a Safer Place to Live. Eastchester is the 16th safest town in America, according to SafeWise. Solar speed signs rotate through every neighborhood. An anti-vaping law has been adopted, as well as new laws regulating E-bikes and gas-powered scooters. And Eastchester was the first town to opt out of marijuana sales and public use.
Democrat Cat Sayles is challenging Colavita. During this campaign, Colavita has asked, “When they tell you all they’re going to do, ask them what they have done.”
Sayles has never held elected office. Her major professional experience is serving as the Chief Operating Officer at Sustainable Westchester. But last year, Sustainable Westchester officially shut down the Westchester Power Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program, which automatically enrolled over 100,000 households across 30 municipalities into green energy plans unless they opted out. Critics and ratepayers frequently complained about higher electricity prices and the confusion surrounding the automatic opt-in structure, and State regulators and the PSC countered that Sustainable Westchester voluntarily terminated the program after submitting deficient municipal filings that failed basic transparency and ratepayer-protection standards, such as providing inaccurate price comparisons.
In our view, Sayles has been unable to articulate a rationale why voters should vote out Colavita. We believe that the reason for this is that the people of Eastchester are satisfied with the leadership that Colavita has provided over the past three decades on every issue.
We endorse Tony Colavita for reelection as Eastchester Supervisor.