Bedford Republican to Challenge Harckham
Bedford resident Peter Michaelis plans to reprise his candidacy from four years ago for the District 2 seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators in November.
Michaelis officially declared his second run for office on Monday morning in front of the Bedford Court House pledging to help the county get serious about cutting spending and taxes.
He lost to current Democratic Majority Leader Peter Harckham in 2007, who he would face again this year, by 365 votes. Two years ago he campaigned for Rob Astorino for County Executive while Harckham won re-election to the seat unopposed.
“This district, in particular, was really sincere about cutting taxes and consolidating county government, lowering the tax rate and that’s not happening with Harckham,” Michaelis told The Examiner last week in explaining his reason for running. “I think Peter is sort of out of touch with this district and I think it’s partly because of his role as majority leader.”
Michaelis, 54, founder and president of WINDTech International, a company that produces low-wind water pumping windmills, and Bedford Zoning Board of Appeals member since 2005, is the first Republican to announce his run for the district’s seat, which also covers Mount Kisco. There have been rumors of other GOP challengers but so far no one else has stepped forward. The county nominating convention is slated for later this month.
At Monday’s event, Michaelis received support from the Republican committees in his hometown, Lewisboro and Pound Ridge.
Michaelis said his priority is to help the Republicans end the Democrats’ supermajority on the board of legislators and he is optimistic the GOP can pick up the four seats needed to win back a majority. With two longtime Democrats, Bill Burton (D-Ossining) and Martin Rogowsky (D-Harrison) retiring from the board, and Astorino’s success in 2009, the task may not be as daunting as it once was, he said.
He criticized Harckham for legislating in lockstep with fellow Democrats, such as restoring $43 million to the budget, by likely exaggerating revenues and taking $10 million from reserve funds. During the past budget deliberations, county lawmakers eliminated mostly “the low-hanging fruit,” making next year’s budget more difficult.
“Until you start cutting expenses you haven’t made any savings,” Michaelis said. “The cuts are hard but next year the cuts are going to be even harder.”
To help combat rising expenses, Michaelis said the county must have its union employees start to pay a portion of their health insurance coverage, similar to the private sector, and aggressively lobby its state representatives for relief from unfunded mandates.
Contacted on Monday, Harckham responded that Michaelis’ criticisms of him blindly following Democrats were off base. He said all five Republicans supported the Democrats budget proposal last December carrying a 2.2 percent tax reduction rather than
Astorino’s 1 percent decrease while the county workforce has been reduced by 11 percent.
Westchester still has a Triple A bond rating from Fitch, Harckham said, something that wouldn’t be maintained if the county was being run irresponsibly.
“I’m really proud of my record that reduces spending and reduces the tax levy,” Harckham said.
He also lauded his environmental record, including a septic law, which Putnam County used to write a similar measure, as well as legislation that encourages recycling and fight DWIs on county roads.
But Bedford Republican Chairman Don Scott said times have changed and a new approach is needed.
“We are in different times now, and we want to work hard to get this fiscal taxpayer train wreck moving in the right direction,” Scott said. “I am confident that Peter (Michaelis) is the right person to get us moving in the right direction.”
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/