Gashi, Covill Win County Legislator Races; Mt. Kisco Firehouse Bond Passes
Democrat Vedat Gashi comfortably defeated former Yorktown supervisor Michael Grace Tuesday night in the race to represent District 4 on the Board of Legislators.
With 84 percent of the vote counted, Gashi led Grace 5,858 to 4,645, according to the Board of Elections. That does not include the early voting results, which showed Gashi leading that tally by just over a 2-1 margin.
Gashi, also a Yorktown resident, will succeed longtime County Legislator Michael Kaplowitz, who decided not to run again for re-election after representing the district for the past 22 years.
District 4 includes parts of Yorktown and Somers and the Town of New Castle.
In another local race, Democrat Kitley Covill easily defeated Republican challenger Gina Arena 6,005-3,948 to win a second term representing District 2 on the board. The totals include 92 percent of the vote. Covill was also comfortably ahead in the early voting results.
If the results in the District 1 race hold between Democratic Peekskill City Councilman Colin Smith and former Peekskill Mayor Frank Catalina, the Democrats will increase their Board of Legislators super-majority to 14-3. Smith was ahead by nearly 500 votes with 83 percent of the precincts reporting late Tuesday night.
Mount Kisco Passes Firehouse Referendum
Voters in Mount Kisco supported an additional $4 million bond to help pay for the upgrade and expansion of the village’s three firehouses. Mayor Gina Picinich said the unofficial tally was 883-408 in favor of the village borrowing the extra money.
Earlier this year, officials learned that the $10.25 million that voters approved two years ago would not be sufficient to cover the scope of work at the firehouses after a miscalculation by the project’s architectural and engineering firm. There were also larger-than-expected construction cost escalations. The originally planned project would have required about $18 million.
While the most important upgrades and improvements can now be done, fire commissioners and the Village Board still needed to trim the project.
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/