Mt. Pleasant Republicans Shake Up Town Board Slate

A shakeup to the all-Republican Mount Pleasant Town Board appears likely, even if the Democrats fail to run a slate of candidates this year.

The Mount Pleasant Republican Committee last week opted against nominating longtime Councilman Thomas Sialiano for re-election, instead endorsing planning board member Denis McCarthy of Hawthorne and Valhalla resident Laurie Rogers-Smalley.

Another veteran councilman, Peter DeMilio, said last week he would not seek another four-year term on the board.

Meanwhile, Joan Maybury was nominated for another re-election bid as the town’s supervisor.

Mount Pleasant Republican Town Committee Chairwoman Nancy Meehan said six candidates, including Sialiano, sought the party’s nomination for two council seats last week. McCarthy and Rogers-Smalley were the top two vote-getters at the party’s May 13 meeting, which earned them the GOP endorsement.

Meehan declined to speculate why Sialiano wasn’t nominated.

“I can’t speak for the committee,” she said.

Several messages left for Sialiano last week were not returned.

McCarthy, 44, a three-year planning board member and district leader, is an engineer for the City University of New York and Bronx Community College. His candidacy is not his first run for public office. In 1996, he ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Nita Lowey for Congress.

McCarthy has also been active outside of politics. He has served as chairman of the Cedar Knolls Community Advisory Board, was a member of the Pleasantville Cottage School Community Advisory Board and was an executive board member of Citizens of Action for Mount Pleasant, a group that successfully opposed the county’s homeless drop-in shelter and Legionnaires of Christ university application. It also pressed for restrictions on the Grasslands Homeless Shelter for sex offenders.

McCarthy said he wanted to make the town’s hamlets and villages more attractive to “increase property values and our commercial tax base” through public-private partnerships. He also hopes to promote green energy initiatives.

Rogers-Smalley, 56, a supervisor of public health nurses employed by the county Department of Health, is also making her first town board run.

“I see a need to serve my community,” she said.

Rogers-Smalley, who has been active in the Valhalla School District, said she would seek appropriate development for the town, including the promotion of biotech businesses. She also wants Mount Pleasant to improve communication with Con Edison. During Hurricane Sandy and other major storms, many homeowners were left in the dark for excessively long periods, she said.

Maybury, 57, was appointed supervisor in January 2010 when she replaced Robert Meehan, who left to become county attorney. She would be the lone town board incumbent on the ballot this fall, unless Sialiano decides to launch a primary challenge.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to be the supervisor in the Town of Mount Pleasant for another two years,” Maybury said.

Maybury said she is optimistic that an improving economy will lead to greater tax revenue and help government finances. Over the past few years, difficult economic conditions have forced officials to make difficult decisions regarding the budget, including opting for employee layoffs.

Maybury, McCarthy and Rogers-Smalley are running as a team.

It is not known whether the Democrats will choose a candidate to oppose Maybury. Several telephone messages left last week for town Democratic Party Chairwoman Janet Gandolfo were not returned.

DeMilio said it was time for him to retire after serving five terms on the town board. He said he wanted to spend more time with his family, which includes grown children.

“Twenty years is enough,” DeMilio said. “I’ve had a great run.”

DeMilio said he looks back with pride at the accomplishments during his tenure on the board.

“Everything that was done was a team effort,” he said.

One of the best decisions was to reject federal community block grants, which would have forced the town to have additional affordable housing built in Mount Pleasant that the board did not want, DeMilio said. The town has generated affordable housing on its own through zoning. For example, 70 accessory apartments have been created in some homes which allow family members to move in with the primary tenants, he said.