100 Turn Out for Port Chester Trustee Race Candidates Forum

About 100 people went to Port Chester High School on Tuesday night to watch as 10 candidates for the six trustee seats on the Port Chester Village Board of Trustees were quizzed on hot local issues in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters.

The forum was the second one in this campaign season leading up to Port Chester's March 19 election. Last week, the Rye, Rye Brook and Port Chester League of Women Voters hosted a forum for the the two-man race for mayor between incumbent Democrat Dennis Pilla and Republican challenger Neil Pagano.

League of Women Voters President Deborah A. Reisner said Tuesday's forum was a challenge for the group because of the large number of candidates, requiring a session that last 2 1/2 hours. Reisner said her organization decided to use a combination of questions that it developed along with questions submitted by the live audience for the forum.

She said the League's questions were developed after a community outreach effort in check the pulse of Port Chester on its hot topics. Most of those hot topics were not a surprise to the candidates:

- That fate of the former United Hospital site in Port Chester, where owner Starwood Capitol is seeking to redevelop the site. It's most recent proposal called for development of 820 residential units on the property along Boston Post Road.

- The Port Chester building amnesty program, which was launched in late 2012 to help village property owners clear up old violations and open building permits.

- Development of the Port Chester waterfront along the Byram River.

- Taxes and village revenue

However, Reisner said one question did come as a surprise to League members as they were researching issues to bring up at the forum - a proposal for a dog park in Port Chester. Reisner said the issue was raised by many people during the League's outreach effort.

A group of Port Chester residents recently approached the village Board of Trustees seeking its support for a proposal to create a specific location at a local park where local dog owners could let their dogs off leash to play. The advocates of a dog park say they want to lead an effort to find a location for the park and raise the necessary funds to build it — without cost to Port Chester taxpayers.

While the 10 candidates in the trustee race have differing stands on key issues, they all agreed a dog park would be a good thing for Port Chester.

Running for trustee seats are:

Gregory Adams

Incumbent Daniel Brakewood

Gene Ceccarelli

Incumbent Bart Didden

Rico Dos Anos

Frank Ferrara

Incumbent Joseph Kenner

Incumbent Luis Marino

John Reavis

Incumbent Saverio Terenzi 

In the Port Chester election, voters will have seven ballots to cast: one for mayor and six for trustee. However, with Port Chester's cumulative form of voting, the voters are allowed to cast their six ballots for trustee seats any way they wish. For example, voters may cast all six ballots for one candidate, or spread them out.

The election also includes advance voting for both the mayoral race and the trustee race. Advance balloting begins at Port Chester Village Hall on March 12.

For more information on the Port Chester election, check out http://www.portchestervotes.org