The Westchester Conservative Tea Party Has Begun

 

Rob Astorino — 95 percent of Westchester Conservatives think he’s the real choice for county executive

 

Westchester Conservative Party Chair Gail Burns attempt to deliver the Conservative Party line to County Executive Andy Spano has backfired, and in the end, will cause Andy more harm than good. In addition to the outrage from rank and file conservatives, Andy has ticked off some of his fellow Democrats, who don’t want any Democrat, especially the top Democrat in the county, seeking or taking the Conservative line, which stands for so many things that are diametrically opposed to what  most Westchester Democrats believe.

The offical revolt in the Conservative Party has begun, which we dub The Westchester Conservative Tea Party.

The Westchester County Conservative Party is in full revolt, with more and more local chairmen and party members announcing each day their refusal to carry Conservative Party nominating petitions with incumbent County Executive Andy Spano’s name on them, according to Conservative Party leaders supporting Republican Rob Astorino’s (R-I) campaign for county executive.

Below is the release from the rank and file Conservative leaders:

“As of Monday more than a dozen Westchester Conservative Party leaders are refusing to carrying Andy Spano petitions. They include:  

Steven Winkelmann – Cortlandt Conservative Chairman
 
Bob Fois- Eastchester Conservative Chairman
 
Tabatha Marraccini- Harrison Conservative Chairwoman
 
Irving Scharf- Mamaroneck Conservative Chairman
 
Sue Swanson- Mount Pleasant Conservative Chairwoman
 
Vincent Masi- North Castle Conservative Chairman
 
Rosemarie Jarosz- Mount Vernon Conservative Vice-Chairwoman
 
Joe Rossini – New Rochelle Chairman  
 
Eleanore McDonald- White Plains Conservative Chairwoman
 
Hugh Fox- Yonkers Conservative Vice-Chairman
 
Richard Russo- Yorktown Conservative Chairman
 
Conservative leaders held a news conference on Friday blasting “back room shenanigans” that “hijacked” the Conservative Party nominating process Thursday night. The vote among Party leaders Thursday was 42-3 in favor of Mr. Astorino’s candidacy, but Party chairman Gail Burns used, among other things, year-old proxy ballots to nominate Mr. Spano for the position.

The highly questionable maneuver shocked Party members and leaders, many of whom have since called for Ms. Burns’s resignation as Party chairman. The Conservative Party strongly endorsed Mr. Astorino for county executive in 2005 and was widely expected to do so again this year.

“This nominating process was stolen with classic back-room dealing,” said Eastchester Conservative Party chairman Bob Fois. “But those of us fighting to save Westchester from corrupt politics and unbearable taxes are not going to take it lying down. No one I know in the Conservative Party will carry or sign a petition with tax-and-spend Andy Spano’s name on it.”

 ”This nominating process was hijacked, plain and simple,” said Yonkers Conservative Party First Vice Chairman Hugh Fox. “Virtually every Conservative leader in Westchester County supports Rob Astorino for County Executive. Andy Spano is destroying Westchester County with taxes and runaway spending. He is the last person any fiscal conservative would support.”

“Like so many others, I will not carry a petition with Andy Spano’s name on it,” Harrison Conservative Party Chairman Tabatha Marraccini said. “Westchester families are paying the highest taxes in America because of Mr. Spano. Real conservatives are supporting Rob Astorino for county executive because he will streamline Westchester government and cut taxes.”

The Insanity of Minor Parties Reaches Into Yonkers Council Races

 

  Mario Degiorgio Gets Conservative Line

I’ve been railing against the two major, minor parties’ involvement in this year’s elections for the past two months. On the county side, the Westchester Conservative Party’s endorsement of Andy Spano for County Executive has lit a firestorm over this issue, and while its glad to see people are taking a good look at the Conservative party, it’s shameful how County Conservative Chairwoman Gail Burns handed the line to Andy Spano, against the wishes of her rank and file Conservative — 95 percent of whom wanted Rob Astorino to get their line.

The minor parties have now reached Yonkers and the chaos has just begun. First the Conservatives in Yonkers nominated Jim Castro-Blanco to be their nominee for City Council President — no surprise there.

Democrat Mario Degiorgio, running in the Fourth Council District race, received the Conservative party endorsement, along with Republican John Larkin in the Sixth District, and Virginia Perez in the Second District.

The two surprises here were Degiorgio and Perez getting the Conservative line. Degiorgio is running against Republicans Dennis Shepard and John Rubbo, with Shepard and Degiorgio the two front runners. Shepard has the support of Mayor Phil Amicone, and the nomination of Degiorgio is a minor slight to him.

Similar for Virginia Perez, who continues to build momentum in her campaign to replace Sandy Annabi. Annabi has all but endorsed Perez to replace her on the council, and the two are running as a dangerous duo — with Perez running for the Second Council District and Annabi running for County Legislator against Jose Alvarado. Both races are to represent Southwest Yonkers so look for a knock on the door from Perez and Annabi soon.

The Independence Party is even more of a mess — see the next Rising Times post.

Conservatives Revolt Against Spano Endorsement!

Rob Astorino-leading conservative revolt

 

 

Rank and file Westchester Conservatives held a press conference this weekend to protest their Chairwoman Gail Burns and her decision to give the Conservative line to Andy Spano.

Many of the Conservative District leaders, and local town,village and city chairs, are refusing to collect signatures on Cons petitions with Andy’s name on it.

This means that Burns and her supporters will have to get the signatures themselves.

County Execuitve candidate Rob Astorino, who has the Republican and Independence Party lines issue the following statement:

 

“The Westchester County Conservative Party was hijacked by those who would put personal interest above fiscal reform.  Every person with knowledge of this race knows I am the fiscal conservative.

 ”Andy Spano’s spending policies are antithetical to those who care about responsible fiscal policy.  Mr. Spano raised property taxes almost 60% in the last seven years alone, and he doubled county spending during his 12-year tenure.  His budget is larger than the budgets of 87 nations.  Thousands of struggling taxpayers and small businesses have voted with their feet by moving to Connecticut to avoid the Spano taxes,” said Astorino.

Political Conspiracy Gives Andy Spano Conservative Line

Andy Spano-Conservative?

This ain’t 2001 folks — the times they are a changin’.

On Thursday,  the Westchester Conservative Party met secretly, and in a scene reminiscent of the prior Westchester political escapades, endorsed Andy Spano for re-election as County Executive.

The Conservative’s endorsement for county exec was hijacked by its own chair, Gail Burns, who held the proxies of district leaders necessary to hand the Liberal Democrat Andy Spano the Conservative Party’s nomination.

Although warned about this possibility for weeks (and we shared our warnings with our readers), the fact that it actual happened is still shocking. While we are embarrassed that this is happening again in Westchester, we are overjoyed with the response from rank and file Conservatives, and also from believers in fair government in general.  This ain’t 2001 folks, and the times they are a changing.

Let’s break this endorsement down three ways: Why it was made, Who were the real dealmakers and what happens next.

Why would Gail Burns, a lifelong Conservative, whose father Anthony Aurrichio served as County Conservative Chairman before her, give the endorsement to Andy Spano, a lifelong Democrat, who fired Aurrichio from his county job years ago. Why would she go against her party’s ideology, her fellow district leaders and local chairs, and go against her conscience?

It’s clear that Gail wouldn’t make this rash decision on her own, although that’s what she will probably tell you. Gail worked in the office of former State Senator Nick Spano before landing her current job a few years ago after Nick’s loss to Sen.  Andrea-Stewart Cousins, at Yonkers City Hall in Mayor Phil Amicone’s office.  

Somebody whispered in Gail’s ear to give the Consservative line to Andy.  Who was it? Nick Spano and Mayor Amicone are the two likely culprits because of Burns’ employment situation and loyalties.

Mayor Amicone had nothing to do with Burns’ decision, and wanted the exact opposite to happen, and is feeling the heat to fire Burns (more on this later). Which leaves Nick Spano  as suspect #1.

Why would Nick Spano want Andy to get the Conservative line?  Because Nick is seeking Andy’s support for Nick’s brother Mike Spano, and his quest to become the next Mayor of Yonkers.  Assemblyman Mike switched to a Democrat two years ago, and Andy’s support, and Andy’s ability to get others out of the race, would be a good help to Mike and Nick.

So Nick gives Andy the Conservative Party line, in return for Andy’s support of Mike Spano in two years.  So Nick reaches  long-time political ally Gail Burns, who endorses Andy.

Some bloggers, like Bob Fois, have this conspiracy reaching up to Albany, with former Deputy County Exec Larry Schwartz, who now works for Governor David Paterson, getting the governor to intervene and make a phone call or two.  This also makes sense and could be a result of Nick Spano, with 25 years of experience in the capital and his new role as lobbyist, getting Albany involved.

Burns’ benefit will be a county or state job if she is fired from Yonkers City Hall. This endorsement puts Mayor Amicone is a position he didn’t want to be in and had nothing to do with. Amicone is under pressure from Republicans, furious at Burns for endorsing Andy and not Rob Astorino for county exec and want Burns fired yesterday.

The mayor doesn’t want to start a fight with the Spano by firing Burns, and has his own slate of Republican council candidates this November that he wants elected. If the Mayor ticks off the Spano, they may either not help the GOP candidates or actively work against them.

 

Dealmakers: Nick Spano, Andy Spano, Gail Burns and Larry Schwartz

What Happens Next: 

It appears from the initial backlash that this plan will backfire on Andy Spano and negate any benefit he gets from the Conservative line. Real Democrats are upset that Andy took the line, Independents may be swayed by the appearance of another “fixed election” and vote Astorino.  Republicans and Conservatives may be fired up to make sure Andy doesn’t win and rally to Astornio. This is best case for Astorino.

Another option is that Andy rides out this storm like the others over the years, and this is forgotten about over the summer. He rides the wave of a 100,000 Dem enrollment edge to re-election.

Although these actions are not criminal, we wonder what impact if any, this has on the US Attorney’s probe of political corruption in Westchester, long overdue to pop.

This endorsement not only hurts Astorino, but his supporters, or the anti-Andy crowd. County Independence Party Chairman Dr. Giulio Cavallo stuck out his neck and supported Astorino.  The Rethinking County Government crowd, led by Sam Zherka, cannot be pleased with this result.

One closing thought: can we all agree to this rule about minor party elections — the same candidate should not have both the Conservative Party and Working Families Party line for any election. Their political ideologies are at complete opposites, with both trying to rub out the others existence.

Yet, Andy Spano will have both lines this November.

Andy Spano Campaign Manager Says “We Did Not Seek the Independence Party Line”

We recently spoke with Paul Bader, campaign manager for Andy Spano’s re-election for county executive. Bader challenged our coverage of the Independence Party’s role in the county executive’s race.

Recently, the Independence Party endorsed Rob Astorino for county executive, and numerous sources have told us that the Spano campaign was actively seeking the nomination, including using the $100,000 county DSS job of Dhyalma Vazquez, Yonkers Independence Chair, as a bargaining chip.

Bader called our coverage “totally erroneous.” “We were not interested in the Independence Party this year. It wasn’t a question of a choice being made we were never interested, and no effort was made.”

Possible reasons why the Spano campaign wasn’t interested in the Independence Party include the relationship betwee West Ind Chair Dr. Guilio Cavallo and Sam Zherka, publisher of the Westchester Guardian and an admitted target of a Manhattan DA criminal probe.

Zherka is the driving force behind Rethinking County Government, which aims to ablolish county government and the office of County Executive. Zherka also pulled out of obscurity Dave Spano, son of Andy, who railed against county government and tried to run for his dad’s job, clearly irritating Andy and Co.  “We didn’t want the line because of the relationship with strip club owner Sam Zherka. It’s not an association that Andy wanted to have,” said Bader.

“The Independence party endorsed Astorino, and there appears to be a relationship between the Independence Party, Astorino, and Sam Zherka-he’s supporting him,” said Bader.  

This is a clear indication of how the Andy Spano campaign, and others, will run this fall’s campaign-They intent to highlight the link between Zherka and any candidate he endorses.

This strategy was used in the race for Yonkers mayor two years ago, with Democrat Dennis Robertson gettting the support of Zherka, but having it backfire and used against him by Mayor Phil Amicone.

While all of Spano’s reasons are rational, we remind our fellow bloggers about the stories we have all heard about Dr. Cavallo looking for a job for Dhyamla around Westchester. Why would Cavallo do it if Dhyamla’s county job was safe?

Regarding the Conservative Party nomination for county executive, to be held on Thursday, Bader said “there is an interest and a willingness from us and is a line that we would welcome.”

“Andy has had the Conservative line in the past, and one of their biggest issues is fiscal constraint and under Andy Spano Westchester has a AAA bond rating. I hope we do get the line,” said Bader.

Bader’s comments on Andy’s conservative record may be seen as a stretch to some, but point to a real possibility that Andy gets the Conservative Party line tomorrow night, which is a big problem for Astornio, who needs every line he can get in his challenge to Andy.

Spano vs. Spano — Father vs. Son for County Executive?

 

The recent turn of events in the race for county executive should make all of us disgusted to live, and vote, in Westchester County, one of the most affluent and well-educated counties in the country.

For the better part of nine years, candidates for MAJOR county office have been influenced far to greatly by minor parties in Westchester, most notably the Westchester Independence Party and Chairman Dr. Giulio Cavallo, and we are headed towards the same thing happening again this year.

As County Executive Andy Spano begins his campaign for a fourth term, he now faces the embarassing likelihood of running against his own son, David Spano, who has appeared in TV commercials against county government and recently announced his candidacy for county executive recently at a Rethinking County Government rally.

While David Spano’s involvement was originally designed to upset Andy (which it clearly has), it has now progessed to a possible and legitimate father/son matchup. What has to occur for this to happen?

Dave Spano and his supporters must collect thousands of signatures county-wide to crate a new political party, and ensure he is on the ballot in November.

Or Dave can use an existing party line to run on, with the only possibility being the Independence line, which requires the approval of Cavallo.

If it happens, and its Spano vs. Spano, this race could confuse the voters as to who is the current county executive (CE) and who isn’t, possibly resulting in the election of anyone, including Rob Astorino, the Republican candidate for CE.

If this is the result, all of us in Westchester should be ashamed of allowing another scarred Westchester election to pass by.