Scarsdale Elects Village Trustees

The results are in for the March 20th election for Scarsdale Village Trustees and Village Justice. Polls closed at the Scarsdale Library at 9 pm Tuesday and the numbers show that the three candidates who were nominated by the Scarsdale Citizen’s Party were the victors. According to Village Clerk Donna Conkling, Jon Mark had 390 votes, David Lee, 384 votes and Kay Eisenman received 351 votes. Mark and Eisenman were elected to serve second two-year terms while Lee is a new addition to the Scarsdale Board of Trustees. For Village Justice, John H. Galloway received 421 votes and ran unopposed.

Harry Reynolds, the independent candidate fro Village Trustee, received 140 votes. Reynolds objected to the secrecy of the Non-Partisan selection process and ran to protest the system. He favors traditional elections with open debate. Reynolds filed his petition to run before the deadline and therefore his name was on the official ballot.  Those who voted for Reynolds may have been registering their discontent with the Non-Partisan system.

Commenting on his election as Village Trustee, David Lee said, "I'm truly looking forward to the work. I know from having observed board and committee meetings over these past two months that I'm joining a dedicated and bright group of trustees with a strong professional staff supporting them. It's also been evident that the issues can be challenging. But that will be part of what makes the work so interesting. I feel lucky to be given this opportunity."

Eisenman also conveyed her enthusiasm for another two years on the job, saying, "I am very pleased to have been re-elected to fulfill a second two year term on the Board of Trustees and thank the voters of Scarsdale who came out to reaffirm their faith in the non-partisan system. I know that the three of us will work hard to keep Scarsdale government open, fair and functioning smoothly and thank the voters for their trust in us."

Trustee Jon Mark added, ""I am pleased to have an opportunity to serve as a Village Trustee for a second term. These are challenging economic times for all of us. Making the expected levels of Village services available with less will continue to require making difficult choices and doing the best we can to balance competing interests. I look forward to working with the Mayor, my fellow Board members, Village staff and residents as we address these challenges."

This is the second year in a row that challengers have come forth in opposition to the Citizen’s Party Slate. In 2011, Sharon Lindsay and Robert

Selvaggio emerged as write-in candidates for the positions of Mayor and Village Trustee after questions arose about the Citizen’s Nominating Committee’s selection process. Since they had not filed petitions in time to appear on the official ballot, residents who wanted to vote for them had to write-in their names in the voting booth. In a very tense election, 1,028 voters participated, more than double the 2012 count. The contest galvanized the community as supporters of both the Citizen’s Party and the independent candidates urged their neighbors to vote.

This year, the situation was far more peaceful and the vote count returned to traditional norms.  However, Reynold's relatively strong showing may indicate that doubts about the Non-Partisan system persist.

(Pictured at top, left to right: David Lee, John Galloway, Kay Eisenman, Jon Mark)