Putnam County Leg. District 7 Race: Castellano vs.Morini

Both residents of the Town of Southeast and newcomers to running for elective office, Republican Joseph Castellano and Democrat Paul Morini hope to be the one to replace Legislator Dan Birmingham who is vacating the seat representing District No. 7 at the end of the year.

Legislative District No. 7 is comprised of the eastern portions of Carmel and Mahopac, the Village of Brewster and the southwestern portion of Southeast.

Although Castellano received the official endorsement from the Independence Party for the September primary, Morini launched a successful write-in campaign and will appear on the Independence line on the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Castellano also will appear on the Conservative Party line.

Morini is a lifelong resident of Putnam County, growing up in Mahopac and living in Southeast for the past 19 years with his family.

An electrical engineer, Morini worked in the telecommunications industry for 15 years, owned and operated his own contracting business for six years, and currently is working for a renewable energy start-up company; a position he has held for the past four years.

Morini served for three years on the Putnam County Energy Commission that was established to identify ways the county could save on operating costs.

Morini said that while the commission offered myriad recommendations, including some that could be accomplished at no cost, none of them were implemented. Morini said he was disappointed by this outcome – one that partially inspired his run for the legislature so that he could see the implementation of the cost-saving measures followed through.

“Nobody is steering that ship,” Morini said. “I think I can help to spearhead it.”

In addition, Morini said he also was inspired to run to balance what he described as “one party rule” on the legislature, which currently includes one Democrat.

Castellano has lived in Southeast with his family since 1998.

He has worked at the Westchester County Clerk’s Office since 1996 and currently is the program coordinator for the legal division, overseeing a staff of 25.

Since 2004, Castellano has been a member of the Town of Southeast Zoning Board of Appeals.

“I have always had an interest in law and government,” he said of his inspiration to run for the open seat on the legislature.

In addition, Castellano said he has a deep understanding of how county government works and wanted to use his professional experience to help reduce the cost of conducting county business, while maintaining the services needed by residents.

As an example, Castellano said, in his professional capacity, he was part of Westchester becoming one of the leaders of the electronic filing of court documents in New York State.

“It radically changed how our court documents are filed,” he said, adding that Westchester has already realized a $1 million savings on storage and other costs. “There are ways of saving a tremendous amount of money.”

Castellano said he would like to see Putnam County implement the electronic filing, and other technological upgrades, to reduce spending.

Morini also said finding ways to reduce the cost of government, leading to a reduction of how much residents are taxed, would be the top priority for the county legislature heading into the future that would entail fighting for unfunded mandate relief.

Regarding a recent discussion on the legislature of whether or not to remove a residency requirement for the county planning commissioner post, Morini said he did not favor the strict requirement, but believed every effort should be made to employ Putnam County residents before looking outside.

He also wanted to see the county make a bigger effort to use Putnam County businesses when  contractors were needed to complete county projects, potentially by emails to a list acquired when licenses were issued.

Castellano said he did not support the residency requirement, as he, himself, had been hired by Westchester while residing in Putnam, and believed the best candidate should be hired to fill the post, regardless of residency.

“Certainly it could be the tie breaker if you had two equally qualified candidates,” he said.

On the possibility of the county sharing sales tax with the towns, Castellano wondered if it was the right thing to do with any surpluses that might be generated.

“There shouldn’t be an overflow on sales tax anyway,” he said. “I’m all about bringing down taxes, if you are sharing it with the towns it sounds like you are collecting too much revenue.”

On the other hand, Castellano said a historic review of sales tax revenues could lead the legislature to consider sharing with towns that foster commercial development.

Morini said that he liked the concept of sharing sales tax with the towns, but the first priority would be to keep the county’s budget whole; potentially divvying up any surplus with the six towns and three villages.

Both candidates agreed, with interest rates at historic lows, that the county was doing a decent job of managing the bonding for big ticket items, such as the replacement of some highway vehicles, which they both said, going forward, needed a long term plan.

Morini said he received the endorsements of former County Executive Robert Bondi and former Deputy County Executive Frank Del Campo, both Republicans; and from the first County Executive David Bruen, a Democrat.

“I really want to emphasize that I plan on being bipartisan and bringing everyone together,” Morini said. “I have been involved in the community my entire life and I have a good sense for what is important to people.”

If elected, Castellano said he would strive to make county government as transparent as possible.

“Government is for the people.  You should know everything that is going on in the government. And it should be easily accessible,” Castellano said.