Former Mayor, Running Mate Oust Board Incumbents in Buchanan
Former Mayor Sean Murray and running mate Anthony Capicotti defeated incumbent trustees Duane Jackson and Cesare Pasquale in the March 16 Village of Buchanan election.
In a low voter turnout, Murray, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2014, was the leading vote getter with 217. Capicotti was a close second with 212.
Jackson, who has been a trustee since 2012, finished third with 164, while Pasquale, a seven-year board member, was fourth with 152.
Murray and Capicotti, who take office on April 1, ran on the Republican, Conservative and Buchanan United lines, while Jackson and Pasquale appeared on the Democratic and Resident’s lines.
There are approximately 1,200 registered voters in Buchanan.
“We came up short,” Jackson said.
Murray, who is chairman of the village’s Planning Board and has worked at Indian Point for the last 29 years, maintained a flier distributed by Jackson and Pasquale that addressed comments Murray had made about certain issues worked against the incumbents.
“I’m very happy that the residents of the Village of Buchanan were able to see through the very negative campaign that was selectively waged against myself and my running mate. After our opponents placed slanderous literature at the doorsteps of up to 100 residents, Anthony and I felt invigorated to go door to door and show the people the truth. Some residents were disgusted at the accusations and personnel attacks in their literature,” Murray stated.
“All of my campaigns have been run on a positive outlook on the future. Although there is no panacea for the massive revenue loss affecting our village, creative thinking and fresh ideas will help soften the impact. I look forward to serving the residents of the village again as a trustee,” Murray continued. “I will continue to be honest and straight forward with every resident on every issue as I have in the past. My decision-making process will be based on what is in the best interest of all residents not a chosen few. I will continually research all expenditures and will approve only the ones that show a clear benefit to the residents.”
Capicotti, a married father of five, has worked as a Local 137 Operating Engineer for 29 years. He is a board member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Society and has followed in the footsteps of his well-known deceased father and uncle in coordinating the spectacular fireworks display at the annual Italian Feast in Verplanck.
It was reported that fireworks were seen in Verplanck Tuesday night after the election results were tabulated.
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/
