New Rochelle GOP model may go countywide
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- November
- 7
Now that the Republicans having gained at least one seat on the New Rochelle City Council — and with another seat very much in play — GOP chief Doug Colety says he’s got a model to bring to the rest of the county.
The current New Rochelle council is 6-1 Democratic, but according to the unofficial results from Tuesday’s election, the GOP will hold at least two seats in January.
Colety, who was head of the New Rochelle GOP until becoming Westchester Republican Chairman in June, said the New Rochelle arm of the party set up an issues committee that helped the candidates.
â€Å“The model of running on issues is working. We started an issues committee back in 2001 and when our candidates run on issues they do very well,â€? he said. â€Å“I’m very optimistic about the future….I intend to bring this model to the county and putting an issues committee countywide and running on local issues.â€?
Arnold Klugman, the longtime New Rochelle Democratic City Committee chairman, had a different take. He said there is some anger among voters in the south end of the city, but that the results — particularly the loss in District 1 — were also caused by low voter turnout.
â€Å“It was a heavy Republican district,â€? Kuglman said. â€Å“We needed a better turnout and we didn’t get it.â€?
There, Republican Louis Trangucci came out ahead of Democrat Susan Kettner. He will replace Councilman Michael Boyle, the only Republican now on the council. Republican Albert Tarantino beat Democrat Reggie Johnson in the neighboring District 2, and District 4 remains an essentially even contest between Democratic Councilman Roberto Lopez and Republican challenger Richard St. Paul.
With a city voter registration that is heavily Democratic, the seven-member New Rochelle council still remains in that party’s hands. Mayor Noam Bramson and council members Marianne Sussman and James Stowe beat off challenges by Republican opponents, and the GOP didn’t run anyone against Councilman Barry Fertel in District 5.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 at 2:17 pm by Ken Valenti.
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I live in the South End, and Kettner ran a h—- of a good race…but Trangucci was the Republican candidate in a Republican district, so he pulled his vote and won.
Kettner took a lot of positions independent of the Dems who run the show – but most people felt they could better express their opposition to what’s been going on in City Hall with a Republican in the seat. I don’t fault Kettner – she’s just in the wrong party. Too bad, because NR needs more Democrats like her, and less of the smug, rich North Enders that have led us to where we are.
Colety is making like he had a big success. Here’s the reality: Dems beat Reps all over Westchester County last night, with only a few exceptions. The Dems picked up 2 Republican seats on the County Board – for a record 13-4 margin. They won in places like Peekskill, Yorktown, Bedford and Somers while maintaining their iron grip on White Plains, Mt. Vernon and Greenburgh. Some success.
What NR model?
Citywide totals:
Bramson (D) – 7,045 vs. Brown® – 3,754
Aggregated Council votes:
Democrats – 5,785 vs. Republicans – 3,816
The voice of the people was loud and clear and Democratic, as a whole. But because there is a Republican minority in the South and West ends of the City that won seats, Colety would have you believe Reps won the city.
Every day, there’s the constant chirping of a dozen or so WVOX call-in regulars, who are conservative. On Election Night, the airwaves were filled voices that are anti-Democrat: Bialo, Verni, Mayo or people with gripes against the Dems, like Killoran and Spady. Not one balanced voice. Not one honest, actual Democrat. The weekly paper always has twice the number of letter-writers from the aggrieved, angry army of Republicans. You would think they’re a majority. But they’re not.
They try to trivialize the majority Democratic voter population by saying they’re nothing but North Enders. Well, the Republicans are an even smaller group of nothing but South Enders, who don’t have a majority that agrees with them. For all their “voice of the people” rhetoric, a large majority of NR voters rejected them and their ideas. One vote on Lord Kitchener Rd = one vote in Sycamore Park. One person is not “better” than the other because they grew up here, or because they pay taxes. We all pay taxes, North and South.
By the way, where were those boo birds when years and years and years of Republican rule left downtown deader than a doornail? How quickly we gloss over the 1980s, when Republicans ruled all, and post-Macy’s and Arnold Constables, there was NOTHING going on downtown.
Wanta see how much raw property tax dollars come out of the North End residences? Care to fund your NR City budget if the North End incorporated itself as the Town of Wykagyl, and left the South and West End to pay for all their own services? Hah!
Once upon a time NR was different – and so was the world. You may have nostalgia for the 1940s and 1950s of your youth, but your youth, and those decades ain’t coming back. All the anger in the world directed at tall buildings doesn’t result in a better NR. The Republicans and conservatives need to come up with a real vision to turn NR around, and not just gripe and criticize. They’ve made an industry out of being negative. Now they won a couple of more Council seats, and they can really complain big-time.
I’m tired of the complainers and whiners. Offer me something to vote FOR, not vote AGAINST. Colety has nothing to offer Westchester – he won a couple of seats (Boyle and Fosina) that they should never lose anyway.
Who speaks for the 6,000 – 7,000 people who voted FOR the Democrats? Not these guys. But The People spoke loudly enuff last night – you just don’t want to admit that NR voters, wherever they live, are majority Democrats, not part of the angry army of Republicans…
Steve can say what he wants, but the truth is that the south, east and west end voters are much more knowledgeable than the north end voters (who don’t subscribe to local papers, only the TIMES for them!). South, east and west enders will cross over party lines and vote for good PEOPLE, not parties—I’m sure if you looked at the voting pattern in those north end districts, it’s a straight line vote. One can’t even say the word REPUBLICAN in the north end w/o being subject to ridicule.
The fact the people like Steve are constantly threatening to “secede from the unionâ€? and become Wykagyl, only demonstrates that this is NOT one city – we’re not all in this together – who is the bully when the “wealthyâ€? are threatening to leave the “poorâ€? on their own? How is THAT a Democratic value?? Aren’t the Democrats all about helping the less fortunate and disadvantaged? Why the threats? And clearly, by throwing that out there, Steve and his friends ARE saying that they matter more because they are rich. It is disgusting!! If this were a man threatening to leave a woman, one would consider that abuse: “Do what I say or I will leave you with NO MONEY!”
And let’s not get carried away w/ the mayor vote. Michael Brown did not appeal to Republicans because he is NOT a Republican. There was no choice in that election.
Let’s tell the truth about the South, East and West End voters: they don’t show up to the polls. Your turnout in those areas is atrocious! That’s why you haven’t had much sway in citywide races. And those that do show up are hardly ticket-splitters.
They are hard-core Republicans, period. They vote out of their anger, not because they have some superior information. They aren’t very selective – they find fault with EVERYTHING Democrats do, and praise every Republican. I saw letters in the weekly paper that systematically trashed every single Democrat…but I didn’t see letters from the North Enders that did the same to the Republicans. They work the same old gripes and complaints – and now, they have 3 Council members. So we’ll see if they can turn their wins into something positive.
The Politics of Resentment is so strong (look at the New Rochelle GOP website that highlights A Tale of Two Cities) that it doesn’t permit them the ability to see anything positive, such as the North Avenue streetscape near Iona.
It’s just jealousy and resentment.
Steve: To enlighten you, I will pull voter registration numbers by district and post them. You are right that the voter turn out is less than anyone would want in the s/e/w parts of the city.
However, your Democratic pals carved up the south end of the city so much in the last redistricting; they dumped an overwhelming percentage of the Republicans into District One. They cut the east end in half (some going to Fertel and some going to Stowe) so that those seats would be almost unwinable for a Republican.
Regardless, you fail to address what I find to be the most disturbing part of your rambling: your threats to create your own city of Wykagyl. Please explain how that is an “all for one” attitude or helpful to those who don’t live in multi-million dollar homes?? Why do you say such a thing? Is it a fear of diversity? Is it an arrogance of the rich?? What IS it? I find it absolutely fascinating that someone who claims to be looking out for the best of the city would make such threats. And if your views are shared by others (I should hope not by anyone on the council and I would call on them to condem this) why would those who DON’T live in the north end feel they matter??
For the record, I think Iona College could be a wonderful part of the revitalization of New Rochelle—and I, too, feel that Iona is put in a bad spot by the neighborhoods and the City. However, a little retail in the downtown wouldn’t hurt anyone either!
Steve…please secede…good riddance…you will finally prove how truly selfish all those north enders truly are…just like the north end’s push for reassessment, which would be a blatant tax shift form the rich in north onto the backs or the poor and working class. What kind of compassionate Democrat supports cutting taxes on the wealthy and raising them on the poor & working class – the answer is – the phoney Democrats in the north end of New Rochelle.
By the way, you don’t even know what you are talking about. The voters in Districts 1, 2 & 4 are predominately Democratic (by like 20%), and yet, they voted to elect 3 Republicans to City Council on Tuesday. They utterly rejected the Democratic candidates because of their absolute failure to address the issues of concern to the voters in the southern half of city.
Have fun in the Town of Wykagyl. Go fund your own police fire, sanitation and other services. By the way, you are wrong about where taxes comes from, the southern half of the city pays more than half of the property taxes paid to city. It is south half the pays the greater share of New Rochelle’s tax bill…you need to do some research before posting dumb statements on the interent.
The recent New Rochelle City Council election demonstrated beyond a doubt, that the people of the South End are frustrated with North-Enders’ insensitivity to the issues that affect the South End.
In particular, the City Council frightened South End property owners with the mysterious, unseen Report on the first Reassessment since the mid 1950’s. Without the Reassessment Report being distributed to the public, Reassessment was seen by the South-Enders as is likely to raise property taxes in the poorer South End while lowering property taxes in the wealthier North End.
Rightly or wrongly, this mysterious Reassessment Report was seen by the South End as coming from the Democratic Party. This is ironic, as it usually the Republican Party who is seen as wanting to raise poorer people’s taxes to lower wealthier people’s taxes. The Democratic Party should never have allowed itself to be put into this paradox, but the fault actually lies with the governmental City Hall of Public Officials, and not with the political Democratic Party.
It would have been politically wise, if prior to the Election, the Democrats on the City Council publicly stated that they would not consider Reassessment until after 2012, which would have cleared the air for the 2007 Election, while delaying the possibilities of Reassessment until after the next Census and associated City Council District Reapportionment.
Alternately, or additionally, if the Reassessment Report was actually fair to the South End, it should have been distributed to the Public at least several months prior to the Election. To deliberately withhold the Property Reassessment Report could only guarantee suspicion and rumor of unfairness, which could only be detrimental to the election hopes of the Democratic Party which has a majority on the City Council.
This was despite the fact that South End Democratic City Council Candidates Susan Kettner and Reggie Johnson were publicly on the record as being against Reassessment. Kettner and Johnson were right on many issues, but were undercut by the actions of the New Rochelle City Council.
The North End members of the City Council, hopefully have learned that their insensitivity to South End, while being popular among North End constituents, greatly reduces the chances of election of South End Democratic City Council Candidates.
This is what the election was all about in Council Districts 1, 2, and 4; not so much as the Democratic vs. Republican Parties, but rather as an attempt by the South End to protect itself from mysterious, seemingly unfair policies associated with the Status Quo.