Politics on the Hudson

Westchester County Legislator Jose Alvarado, D-Yonkers, will not actively campaign for a sixth term representing Yonkers, the city’s Democratic party chair said today.

Alvarado, who has represented the 17th District in southwest Yonkers on the county legislature for almost 10 years, lost the September Democratic primary to Virginia Perez, leaving Alvarado with minor party ballot lines; he also faced a challenge from Republican candidate Carmen Gomez Goldberg.

“Alvarado thanked the members of the Yonkers Democratic Executive committee for their support and stated he is not actively campaigning. He wants to preserve the Democratic super majority on the Board and wants all our Yonkers Democrats to win,” Democratic party chairwoman Symra Brandon wrote in an email this morning.

Perez could not be reached this morning for comment about Alvarado, who also did not answer his cell phone; Gomez Goldberg said she was unaware of Alvarado’s statement to his party’s leaders.

“His name still remains on the ballot,” Gomez Goldberg said this morning. “As far as I’m concerned my campaign continues forward. It doesn’t affect me one way or the other. I think my message is clear and I think my reputation speaks for itself and I think I have the ability to bridge people together.”

Republican Carmen Gomez Goldberg, a candidate for the Westchester County Legislature’s 17th District in southwest Yonkers, objected to renewed proposals to pump sewage from New Castle to the county’s plant in Yonkers.

In a statement she issued today, Gomez Goldberg said that the county plant in Yonkers is already operating beyond its capacity.

“The neighborhoods surrounding the facility have endured the stench from this overused plant for months now. Piping in more raw sewage from the New Castle communities of Random Farms, Riverwoods, the Yeshiva, and the planned community of Chappaqua Crossing is not only a poor idea but an irresponsible one,” she said in her statement. “It is time to upgrade the Riverwoods Sewage Treatment plant to accommodate the sewage from those communities. Yonkers can no longer be the dumping ground for the rest of the county’s sewage.”

In other campaign developments, Gomez Goldberg announced on Thursday that she received an endorsement from the Asian American Republican Committee.

Goldberg is challenging Democrat Virginia Perez and incumbent Legislator Jose Alvarado, who lost the Democratic primary to Perez.

Westchester County Legislature candidate Carmen Gomez Goldberg got endorsements this past weekend from two of her fellow Republicans — Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone and former Gov. George Pataki.

Gomez Goldberg is running for the legislature’s 17th District in southwest Yonkers, which is currently held by county Legislator Jose Alvarado, a Democrat who lost his party’s primary election to Virginia Perez.

Pataki called her a friend who he got to know when he was governor.

“She has a unique ability to handle problems diplomatically and effectively — one person at a time — one issue at a time. She is a consensus builder whose only objective is to get what her community needs resolved. With Carmen’s experience I have no doubt that she can and will persuade her colleagues to stop out of control spending, find a better way to streamline government and make it more efficient and accountable to the people,” Pataki said in a statement.

Amicone said Gomez Goldberg has been a friend and supporter.

“Carmen is passionate, honest and has the experience needed to serve the people of all Westchester County,” Amicone said in the statement. “What District 17 of Yonkers and Westchester County needs is an experienced professional who has lived, worked and is invested in this community.”

Virginia Perez declared victory today in her Democratic primary contest against County Legislator Jose Alvarado, who represents the 17th District on the Westchester County Legislature.

“It is a terrific victory for the people of our district,” Perez said in a press release issued earlier today.  “When we started several months ago few people gave us a chance against a long time incumbent supported by the party machine. But we had a message, and that message was that I would listen to the people of the district. That their concerns would be my concerns.  That their voices would be my voice in White Plains. I told them that I would be there for them. In return they came to the polls for me, and I am very grateful for the support of each and every person who voted for me.”

The race was too close to call Tuesday night because of an incomplete count, which was updated late yesterday.

Unofficial returns last night showed Perez with 932 votes and Alvarado with 800.

Perez will face Alvarado again in November because Alvarado has two minor party lines. Republican Carmen Gomez Goldberg will also be on the November ballot.

Symra Brandon, chair of the Yonkers Democratic Committee, said today that last night’s returns showing three of the party’s four endorsed candidates behind the top vote-getters is not a reversal for the committee.

Party-endorsed candidates Christopher Johnson and Dennis Robertson for the City Council’s First and Third Districts and county Legislator Jose Alvarado in the 17th legislative district were all in second place in last night’s initial returns, which varied from 62 to 79 percent of election districts reporting.

“I wouldn’t use the word embarrassing. We have one strong candidate and the numbers are still out,” said Brandon, noting party-endorsed Assemblyman Mike Spano’s clear numerical advantage in the Democratic mayoral primary.

Brandon said that even if her committee’s endorsed candidates don’t pull ahead, the party will welcome the candidates that prevail.

“You challenge the establishment, you win it and the establishment works with you,” said Brandon, adding that voter turnout in her party’s races was very low. “We coalesce around those people who come out of the primary. We’ll just move ahead and continue our job to win. It’s part of the democratic process.”

Assemblyman Mike Spano, D-Yonkers, announced today that he will receive a mayoral endorsement at 12:30 p.m. from the Black Democrats of Westchester and the Hispanic Democrats of Westchester at the steps of Yonkers City Hall.

Spano, the Democratic-backed candidate, faces a challenge in the Sept. 13 primary election from Robert Flower and City Council President Chuck Lesnick.

“We are excited to join Mike Spano here today to endorse his candidacy for mayor,” said David Ford, Chairman of the Black Democrats of Westchester. “Mike’s commitment to protecting and improving our communities is exactly what is needed in Yonkers.”

Jose Roman, Vice Chair of the Hispanic Democrats of Westchester said, “Mike represents a new way of addressing the issues facing Yonkers. We believe his approach to providing for quality education, fiscal stability and local job creation will lay a new foundation for growth in Yonkers.”

In addition to their endorsement of Mike Spano for Mayor, the two organizations also announced their endorsement of Jose Alvarado for County Legislator in the 17th Legislative District. Both the Black and Hispanic Democrats of Westchester expressed their support for Alvarado’s continued advocacy on behalf of the residents in his district, Spano’s press release stated.

Yonkers resident Virginia Perez, who two years ago unsuccessfully ran for the Yonkers City Council, is expected to launch her campaign on Thursday for the Democratic nomination to the Westchester County Legislature’s 17th District, now held by Democrat Jose Alvarado.

Perez, 31, a hotel management professional, will hold her noon event in front of 279 S. Broadway, the building where former Yonkers City Councilman Wilson Soto claimed he lived when he voted in the 2009 Democratic primary in which Alvarado beat former Councilwoman Sandy Annabi by less than 10 votes.

Alvarado has served on the board almost 10 years representing a district located in Yonkers’ southwest quadrant.

Soto, who lives on the city’s east side, pleaded guilty to lying about his residence and falsifying a primary ballot on March 14 and he is awating sentencing in that case. Annabi is facing a federal public corruption trial for an unrelated matter involving allegations that she took bribes for votes she cast on the City Council.

In her announcement about her press conference tomorrow, Perez said she will call for Alvarado’s resignation due to Soto’s voting fraud.

“In light of the recent guilty plea of Alvarado campaign attorney Wilson Soto on charges of voting fraud, Alvarado has forfeited his moral right to represent the district,” Perez stated in her email.

In 2009 Alvarado denied that Soto was his campaign attorney, though they did work together on the campaign.

Perez is the second woman to announce a challenge to Alvarado this week. On Wednesday Republican Carmen Gomez Goldberg announced her campaign for the seat.

Yonkers Republican party activist Carmen Gomez Goldberg will launch her campaign tonight for the Republican nomination to challenge Westchester County Legislator Jose Alvarado, D-Yonkers.

Alvarado represents the County Legislature’s 17th District, an area mostly representing Yonkers’ southwest quadrant.

Gomez Goldberg is the latest Republican to challenge Alvarado, who did not have a Republican challenger in the last election two years ago.

Instead, Alvarado narrowly defeated former Yonkers Councilwoman Sandy Annabi in the Democratic primary by less than 10 votes.

Gomez Goldberg is well known in local and state Hispanic Republican circles. Her politicking includes work on Hispanos y Spano Unidos and Amigos de Pataki.

Gomez Goldberg’s announcement is at 6 p.m. tonight at Dolphin Restaurant, 1 Van der Donck St., Yonkers.

Westchester County Legislature candidate Sandy Annabi, a Yonkers councilwoman, is asking her supporters to contact the Justice Department’s voting rights hotline at 800-253-3931 if they encounter unfair treatment at the polls on Election Day.

Annabi is running on minor party lines in the 17th Legislative District against Democratic incumbent Jose Alvarado, who beat her in the primary by five votes.

Annabi has claimed voter fraud in the primary and she has sent her allegations to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and federal officials, though none have made any public conclusions about her claims.

In a press release this week, she claimed that the Justice Department set up the 800 number to take calls about election fraud in response to her allegations, but a Justice Department spokesman explained to The Journal News that the hotline has previously been available for anyone in the U.S. to call about voting irregularities.

Another interesting item in her release was a reference to Jose Alvarado supporter Wilson Soto, who Annabi claims broke the law by voting in Alvarado’s district.

Soto says he lives in the district but has owned property outside the district.

Alvarado’s campaign disclosure form from July 2009 indicates that Soto made an in-kind contribution of $1,000 and the listed address is well outside the 17th district. Soto said that the home belongs to his fiancee.

Yonkers Councilwoman Sandy Annabi, D-2nd District, is proposing a county tax break for Yonkers residents who live near the county’s waste treatment plant in southwest Yonkers.

The proposal is made as part of her race against incumbent county Legislator Jose Alvarado, D-Yonkers, who she will challenge in the Nov. 3 election from minor party lines.

Here is her proposal: (more…)