First-time Candidate to Run for County Legislator; Smith Bows Out

Local and county Republicans introduced Thornwood resident Margaret Cunzio as their new candidate Monday afternoon for the District 3 Board of Legislators seat replacing Michael Smith who recently withdrew from the race.

Cunzio, 40, a professor at Iona College and Western State University of Connecticut, unwaveringly pledged that she will be County Executive Rob Astorino’s ally in the fight against tax increases and a federal government that she contends is bent on remaking local zoning laws in Westchester.

She said the ongoing battles in the housing settlement was a key motivation for her to get involved.

“He has courageously fought an overreaching federal government in the implementation of the problematic and poorly worded 2009 affordable housing settlement,” Cunzio said of the county executive during the announcement for her first run for public office while surrounded by supporters, including Astorino and Smith, outside Mount Pleasant Town Hall.

“We have worked too hard to have our property rights taken away and the value of our homes destroyed by federal bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., seeking to make Westchester a test case for their social experiment around the country.”

Cunzio will face off against former North Castle Democratic co-chairman John Diaconis in November. Diaconis announced in early June that he would be contesting the seat in the district that covers Mount Pleasant, North Castle and Greenburgh.

Smith, who is completing his second two-year term, said that he has too many professional responsibilities to adequately serve his constituents effectively. He is now the president of Berkeley College, overseeing about 8,000 students and 1,500 employees in 10 locations.

He also concluded that 10 years in public service, including six years on the Valhalla Board of Education, was sufficient.

“We got in there, and there are aspects where you want to do more, but I have to practice what I preach,” Smith said. “I believe in the citizen legislator and I have 10 years in public service — six years on the school board and four years as a county legislator — and I think that’s a good run, a good term and I think it’s time to bring in some fresh blood.”

Smith added that he also felt comfortable that the party found someone in Cunzio who shared Astorino’s vision for the county to oppose a Democrat who would likely allow the federal government to impose new parameters in the housing settlement and party leaders to raise taxes.

Both candidates said they are unfamiliar with each other. Reached Monday afternoon, Diaconis said that he learned last week Smith was prepared to bow out once Cunzio’s paperwork for the seat was submitted.

“I welcome Ms. Cunzio to the race and I look forward to debating the issues,” he said.

Raised in Armonk and a graduate of Byram Hills High School, Cunzio said she will oppose tax increases as seniors and young adults are being driven out of Westchester.

“When I hear politicians say we can only increase taxes 2 percent each year, I wonder if they’re living in another reality,” she said.

Diaconis dismissed talk that he favors tax increases and the federal government running roughshod over the county to change the affordable housing settlement. He said three years ago when the Town of Yorktown was being sued in a fair and affordable housing case, he defended the town in the matter. State Sen. Terrence Murphy, who endorsed Cunzio and attended her announcement on Monday, served on that town board and voted with his colleagues to hire him, Diaconis said.

Astorino said he looks forward to working with Cunzio and believes she has the fortitude to fight for what’s important.

“She will not back down,” Astorino said. “She will fight with us, for you the taxpayers and our property owners in Westchester, and particularly in central Westchester, to make sure that we control our communities and not some faceless bureaucrat in Washington, D.C.”