Rigger Enters Peekskill Race
Darren Rigger said there have been many “twist and turns” in this year’s quest for the Peekskill Democrats to place a third candidate on the ballot for a seat on the common council.
Two potential candidates previously left the race and as of July 21 there was an opening. That slot was filled by Rigger himself, who chaired the Peekskill City Democratic Committee from 2007 through 2010.
On the night of July 21 he was chosen by representatives of the Democratic, Working Families and Independence parties to be on the Election Day ballot. On July 19, Reggie Johnson withdrew from the race after a legal opinion from the administration of County Executive Rob Astorino that Johnson would have had to take an unpaid leave of absence from his post as a county attorney if he entered the race. But Rigger said attorneys who work for Ken Jenkins, chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators, said Johnson could run without leaving his county job. “He (Johnson) didn’t think he had any conflict of interest,” Rigger said, adding that forcing Johnson to take a leave of absence if he had ran was “illegal.” But Johnson has a family and decided he could not run without having a salary, Rigger said. “He didn’t want to be a test case.”
Rigger was sharply critical of Astorino, saying he displayed “a heavy hand” trying to influence Johnson’s campaign. A telephone message left for the county executive’s office was not returned.
Johnson was a replacement for Lawrence Cunningham, who dropped out of the race. Cunningham decided not to run after he was told he could not do so because he is employed by the Westchester County Transportation Department, which receives federal funds. Rigger said Cunningham was told by the county if he ran he would have violated the federal Hatch Act, Rigger said.
Johnson is on vacation until July 26 and could not be reached for comment.
Though it is July, Rigger said he was able to be put on the fall ballot because of a provision that was mainly created by the state in the event of a candidate dying before an election. On a nominating petition, there is a Committee on Vacancies listed, which can choose another candidate if the person on the petition chooses not to run, Rigger said. Since Cunningham and Johnson decided to not run, the Democratic, Working Families and Independence parties were able to put another candidate on the ballot, Rigger said. “I wanted to step up and do the right thing,” he said.
Rigger’s other run for office came in 2006, when he lost the Democratic primary to John Hall, who went on to defeat Republican Congresswoman Sue Kelly. Rigger was a member of Hall’s transition team as an aide following the 2006 election.
Rigger said if elected, he wanted to continue the progress being made under Mayor Mary Foster and the rest of the all-Democratic common council despite the current difficult economic climate. “The city looks new, feels better and she did it without raising taxes,” Rigger said of Foster. If elected Rigger said he would seek to “continue to improve the city without raising taxes.”
Rigger, 41, is partner in a political consulting firm based in Harlem.
Aside from Foster and Rigger, in June the Peekskill Democrats also endorsed Deputy Mayor Donald Bennett and Kathleen Talbot for the common council.
In June, the Peekskill Republican City Committee announced its slate of candidates. The GOP nominated Tony Washington for mayor and Joe Brady, Barbara Kerasiotis and Steve Woods for the common council.
