With History Behind Them, New Trustees Are Sworn In

Before the new board members took their oaths and settled down to business Tuesday, Port Chester hadn't elected a new trustee since 2006.

In the same legal battle that brought cumulative voting to Port Chester, trustee elections were halted, a seat was left vacant, and two of the five remaining representatives were appointed, not elected.

On Tuesday, that hodgepodge board was put to an official end, and Mayor Dennis Pilla says he's relieved.

"It's great to be with a fully-constituted and duly elected board," he said after congratulating the six men who joined him behind the oak bench.

For Saverio "Sam" Terenzi, it'll be his second time serving on the board, and a lot has changed since his last stint two decades ago. Terenzi said his wife didn't seemed thrilled when he starting talking about another run, but she eventually came around along with the couple's now-grown children.

"Now, they're older, and they gave me the same look my wife gave me, which is, 'Do what you've gotta do,'" said the conservative, who ran on the Republican party line.

Former Mayor John Branca, who ran as a conservative, addressed voters who had earlier given the board an earful on taxes and spending.

"I'm a senior on a fixed income, so I'm not going to waste your dollars," he told the packed courthouse Tuesday night. "If I waste your dollars, I'm wasting mine."

Luis Marino, who made headlines and history by becoming the first Hispanic candidate elected to the village board, said he'd make decisions that are "equal for everybody."

"Like I've been saying since my campaign ... the purpose of me getting elected is to serve this village," said Marino, whose election was anything but a foregone conclusion.

Marino took a hands-off approach to campaigning, preferring to chat with voters in public settings and rely on word-of-mouth in favor of canvassing neighborhoods and knocking on doors. Marino appeared passionate about the issues, but nonchalant about his chances. Early last month, he told the New York Times: "I just call all my friends and ask them if they'll vote for me."

If the results are any indication, Marino has lots of friends. And his presence on the board has been one measure of the election's success, residents say, even if the federal consent decree avoided absolutes in its language.

"It didn't say anywhere, 'If a Hispanic candidate was not elected, we'll have failed,' " said Amy Ngai of FairVote, the Washington-based organization contracted by Port Chester to help implement cumulative voting.

"This is about democracy in its purest form," Ngai said. "It's about who the voters really believed were the most competent and capable."

Though he made fewer headlines, Republican Joseph Kenner also made history as the first African-American elected to the board. Kenner was appointed to the board in 2007, while the future of village elections were still up in the air, and ballots cast in the historic vote put him back in office.

Kenner echoed some of his colleagues, calling for fiscal responsibility and greater oversight of the village's finances.

"Nothing has really changed for me," Kenner said. "I'm going to be just as vigilant with the finances ... I'm just going to be a hawk on that."

For the new board, Tuesday was the culmination of months -- or years -- of effort, and the trustees say they're eager to put the election behind them and start focusing on the day-to-day affairs of the village.

Bart Didden earned the most votes of any candidate in last month's election, receiving 13 percent in a field crowded with candidates. Didden said he "knocked on 400-plus doors" and had hundreds of conversations with people from all walks of life in Port Chester. He said he was especially struck by discussions with residents who are unemployed, particularly those who have been on the job hunt for the past two years.

Didden said he expects to make some mistakes ("I may trip, but I will get back up"), and said his tenure as a trustee will be a learning experience. But after a campaign that saw him touring village neighborhoods on foot, Didden said he's glad to finally take his seat on the board.

"Now that the campaigning is over," he said, "my ankles are back to loving me again."