Voters Say ‘Yes’ to Proposed School Budgets, Incumbent Board Candidates
A majority of voters throughout Putnam County in the Mahopac, Carmel and Putnam Valley school Districts voted on Tuesday, May 15 to approve the school budgets put up to a vote – all of which remained under the threshold of the new state-mandated tax cap – and a majority voters in each of the three school districts all opted to return the incumbent candidates who were running for another term to their respective school boards.
In the Mahopac Central School District, 62 percent of the 3,524 voters who cast a ballot voted “yes” on the proposed $112.4 million budget and 38 percent of them voted “no.” The new school budget will come with a 2.43 increase in the tax levy next school year.
Incumbent Mahopac Board of Education trustee Larry Keane, a retired school teacher and administrator, took the top spot with 2,063 votes, incumbent school trustee Earle Bellows, a retired police officer, came in second with 1,765 votes, and first-time candidate Patricia Caputo, a senior project manager with General Electric, came in third with 1,705 votes. All three will be seated to the Board of Education this summer. The two other candidates, Lucy Massafra, who received 1,646 votes, and Bill Staviski, who received 1,494 votes, will not be seated.
A greater majority of voters cast a “yes” ballot to replace the 11-year-old turf rug at Mahopac High School that was closed down this spring because it was too dangerous for students to play on, than those who voted to approve the budget; with 2,292 voting “yes” to use $650,000 from the district’s capital fund to pay for the project and 1,231 voting “no.”
A majority of Mahopac voters, once again, more than had voted to approve the school budget, also voted “yes” to approve a measure to spend $600,000 to replace six school buses.
In the Carmel Central School District, 66 percent of voters voted “yes” on the proposed $110.3 million spending budget for next school year and 34 voters voted “no.” The new school budget will increase the tax levy next year by 1.98 percent.
East Fishkill resident James Reese, who has a long career as a school district business official, took the top spot in the Carmel Central School District Board of Education election with 1,231 votes. Incumbent school board President Richard Kreps, who is a retired NYC police detective, received 1,148 votes, coming in second. Both men will be seated to the Board of Education this summer. Candidates Cathy Alexander and Michael Plotkin came in third and fourth with 1,135 votes and 879 votes, respectively, and will not be seated.
In the Putnam Valley Central School District, 70 percent of voters voted “yes” on the proposed $45.2 million budget to operate the schools next year and 30 percent of voters voted “no.” The new school budget will come with a 1.97 percent increase in the tax levy next school year.
Incumbent school board candidates Guy Cohen, a statistician, received 801 votes and David Spittal, an entrepreneur, received 652 votes and both will be reseated to another term this summer. First-time candidate Ralph Smith came in third with 582 votes and will not be seated.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.