Yorktown Town Clerk Roker Not Seeking Reelection
Yorktown Town Clerk Alice Roker announced Wednesday afternoon she will not be seeking reelection to the post she has held for a quarter of a century.
Roker, a former television news producer for NBC, said she had no immediate plans once she leaves office at the end of the year, but stressed she was not retiring.
“I don’t know what God has in store for me. I’m open to everything,” she told two members of the local media in an otherwise empty meeting room at Yorktown Town Hall. “It’s been a long 25 years. It is a humbling experience working with the public. I’ve had a great life here. I love being a cheerleader for Yorktown.”
Roker, who began her career in Yorktown with Supervisor Nancy Elliot, repeatedly said she would not be running on the Democratic line this year and also ruled out running for any elected office in 2015, but she did not close the door on throwing her hat back in the political ring in the future.
“This is a story that’s bigger than politics. I have been a Democrat my whole life and I will probably die a Democrat,” she said on the eve of the town’s Democratic Committee caucus. “The clerk position suited my personality because a clerk gets to talk a lot. I love this community. The people in Yorktown don’t know how lucky they are to have a lot of people working for them who are the best at what they do.”
At the Democratic caucus Thursday night, Roker said she would nominate Bob Giordano as one of the two Town Board hopefuls and would recommend that her longtime deputy clerk, Diana Quast, get the nod to be her successor. She added that she hoped the Republican Committee would not put up a candidate to challenge Quast.
“She’s paid her dues and she has the best credentials,” Roker said of Quast, who has worked for Yorktown for the last 12 years after doing the same job for New Castle for three years. “The success of my office is more than just me. Nobody can say we didn’t try hard to do what we do.”
An emotional Quast said she was not shocked when Roker informed her of her decision since they had discussed the possibility in the past.
“She has always trained me to follow her. I didn’t think it would be now,” Quast said. “Alice and I have a very close relationship. We’re friends. It’s very hard for me.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/