As New Board Takes Over, Residents Remain Skeptical

With Port Chester's new board just a few days away from taking over the reigns, residents are still divided on whether cumulative voting was the right solution -- and whether the new board will be any improvement over the old one.

On July 6, the new board members will be sworn in, putting the final exclamation point on a months-long effort that involved education, TV commercials, exit polls and a historic vote.

Some voters say they're optimistic, some are wary but interested, and some remain apathetic -- only about a third of the village's more than 10,000 registered voters bothered to cast ballots, despite a public relations blitz and educational effort that cost the village upwards of $350,000.

One Port Chester resident, Nibal Cardozo, 62, remained skeptical.

"What they say the Spanish people want doesn't have anything to do with the election," he said. "They only look out for select peoples' interest, not the entire sector."

Cordozo said he viewed the six-vote-per-person system as a way to "rig the elections," and said it's difficult to gauge the intentions of the Hispanic community when the majority cannot cast votes.

Zehra Arat, a Port Chester resident who teaches political science at SUNY Purchase, said she supported the new cumulative voting system.

"I'm not Hispanic," Arat said, "but I cast all six of my votes for the Hispanic candidate [Luis Marino]."

"Proper representation comes in many forms," Arat added. 'What Port Chester has done isn't anything new."

Others don't see it that way -- they say cumulative voting reduces ballots to fractions, which changes the dynamic and the potential strategies employed by voting blocs. For instance, if all voters in a minority choose to cast all six individual votes for one person, they risk ballooning the vote tally of one candidate at the expense of another preferred candidate.

"I don't agree with the new voting process," said Ken Grey, a longtime Port Chester resident who lives in the village with his family. "It should be 'one person, one vote.' I don't know why you'd give each person six; it's not the most democratic method."

Some residents claimed ignorance. While village streets were still plastered with signs and fliers advertising candidate names and issue platforms, they said didn't know who the candidates were, or what they stood for.

Johnny Vargas, 70, said the outreach efforts -- which included TV commercials, radio spots, voter education forums and mailers -- didn't make a dent in his awareness. Standing on a street peppered with campaign signs, Vargas said he didn't have enough information to make an informed choice.

"I didn't vote because I did not know who the candidates were," he said.

Vargas said he's never met the candidates in person, and he doesn't trust campaign promises.

"I want someone who would be able to fight for my interests, but I simply don't know who would've done that," he said.

Bernabe Duarte, 20, who works six days a week at a restaurant, said he didn't make it to the polls, and won't expect much when the new board takes office on July 6.

"I don't think this town will change," he said.