Borgia, Hanauer, DeBar show
interest in mayor's seat
Perillo eyes return to Ossining Village
Board
by Adam Stone
Seeking an endorsement in an effort to reclaim his old job, former
Ossining Mayor John Perillo interviewed with the Republican committee
earlier this month, but party officials greeted him with a frosty
reception.
On the heels of Eugene Napolitano's surprise resignation as mayor
last Tuesday night, Perillo also issued the board with a verbal application:
he told the four remaining Democratic trustees he would accept an
appointment to the panel.
"You need to have a balance, you need different points of view,"
Perillo, a Republican, said during an interview yesterday (Tuesday).
Perillo said he is seeking the Republican, Democratic, Conservative
and Independence party lines. If not endorsed and provided with nominated
running mates, Perillo said he would be willing to run without campaign
partners.
"I want to offer the community a choice," said Perillo,
who has primaried members of his own party in the past. "It's
not good to have one party in power."
Donald Chadeayne, vice chairman of the Ossining Town Republican Committee,
acknowledged party leaders are worried Perillo is too divisive a figure
to nominate.
"Hopefully other people will step forward," said Chadeayne,
who was one of three Republican executive committee members to interview
Perillo at the Trinity Church on May 8.
"There is bad blood there," added the vice chairman. "He's
already lost twice. Some are tired of the same people."
Perillo, along with then-running mates Anthony Parise and Marcia MacNeill,
were the GOP-endorsed candidates in the 2002 election.
The Republican trio was swept into office, but only lasted one term,
picked off in the 2004 race, with Napolitano winning the mayor's seat
and trustees Catherine Borgia and Marlene Cheatham defeating Parise
and MacNeill.
On June 6, the board is expected to appoint Trustee Miguel Hernandez
as mayor. Cheatham, appointed deputy mayor at the start of the year,
is serving in the role for now.
Perillo's verbal application, it appears, is not being granted serious
consideration by the board.
"As you recall, he was soundly rejected by the voters in the
last two elections," Hernandez said. "I believe that in
(the) trustee election of 2005 I beat him by 545 votes. I don't think
it's a good idea to appoint a rejectee to a position that he was unable
to obtain through the normal electoral process as it thwarts the will
of the people."
William Hanauer, appointed to fill Napolitano's unexpired trustee
term last spring, is said to have expressed interest in the mayor's
job, as has Borgia, according to Hernandez.
"I am not seeking an endorsement for a mayoral run," Hernandez
stated in an e-mail. "The (Ossining Democratic Committee) is
fortunate to have Bill Hanauer and Catherine Borgia who have expressed
a desire to be mayor and a decision will be made on a candidate in
the very near future. In the unlikely event that either of those two
excellent choices are not chosen, I will step up to the plate if that
is the desire of the ODC."
Napolitano, who challenged Perillo two years ago from a safe trustee
seat, is moving to Georgia.
Hanauer and Borgia did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Meanwhile, Don DeBar, an outspoken activist, announced his plans to
run for mayor yesterday. Former receiver of taxes Maria Gagliardi
and labor attorney Steven Kern will be DeBar's running mates.
All three have waged unsuccessful campaigns in past years.
DeBar is seeking the Working Families Party line, as well as an independent
party designation.
Gagliardi and Kern are both seeking the Working Families and Democratic
party nominations, as well as an independent line.
"It was revealed yesterday by sources who attended (Monday's)
Democratic committee pre-election meeting that the board does not
intend to replace Napolitano, preferring to avoid another vacant seat
by terming Hernandez 'acting mayor' while he maintains his (trustee)
seat," a press release announcing the trio's candidacy states.
As for the open seat on the Village Board, Hernandez said, "I
hope we can settle on (making) an appointment by the end of this month."
All formal endorsements will most likely be announced before the June
10 village fair.
