McCall to Run for Unexpired Term on New Castle Town Board
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Holly McCall, last year’s defeated candidate for New Castle supervisor, was the only major party candidate to submit a petition by the Apr. 7 deadline to compete in a special town election for an unexpired term on the Town Board.
McCall, a Democrat, said the current board’s delays on appointing members to the Committee on Race and Equity and enacting the enforceable portion of the New York Stretch Code geared toward greater sustainability were two key factors in her decision to run for the board later this year.
Also, she hadn’t heard of any other candidates interested in running for the seat and whether Councilman Christian Hildenbrand, who was appointed by the board in January to fill the seat, was planning to run for the term’s three remaining years.
“Those things really prompted me to say to my family I know last year was difficult for all of us but I kind of felt an obligation to this community,” McCall said. “So we made the decision that we would do it.”
McCall lost her race against current Supervisor Lisa Katz by a little more than 300 votes in a contentious town election season that was heavily influenced by the Form-Based Code debate. All four endorsed Democrats led by McCall were defeated by the independent Unite New Castle slate of Katz, Tara Kassal, Victoria Tipp and Andrea Sanseverino Galan, also all registered Democrats.
Sanseverino Galan had announced during the campaign that she would be moving out of town and could not serve if elected. As a result, Hildendbrand began campaigning with the Unite New Castle candidates, who said that if Sanseverino Galan was elected and they had the votes, Hidenbrand would be appointed to fill the vacancy.
When reached late last month, Hildenbrand said he had not decided whether he would run for the remainder of the term, but that if he did run it would be on the Unite New Castle line and not as a Republican or Democrat. Independent candidates have until May 31 to submit their petitions to run for public office.
A message left last Friday for Hildenbrand was not returned. McCall, who served a term on the Chappaqua Board of Education before last year’s campaign, said she also wants to assist in helping bring a greater mix of housing to the town.
“We still have to find a way to address the housing crisis and bring in some housing diversity and revitalize that area of North Greeley (Avenue),” she said. “We’re kind of back at square one for that.”
Despite a bruising campaign last year, McCall said she’s ready to go through it again. “I hope that it will be a much calmer, kinder issues-based discussion this year, where we can talk about some of the things that are important in the community (rather) than just one zoning code,” McCall said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/