Compared to the opened and closed within minutes, the Tarrytown Republicans enjoyed a very quiet and peaceful nomination meeting. The only surprise was their third candidate.
New Republican Party Chair Alison Boldyrev, taking over from longtime party leader Domenic Morabito, started the meeting by thanking him for his service.
Morabito, for his part, was pleased to pass the torch. He's worn the hats of Trustee, Deputy Mayor, and Republican Chair, but was was happy to just be a close observer from the front row of the courtroom this time around. “This little club they have now has gotta go,” he said. “They are spending beyond the taxpayer revenues coming in.”
Boldyrev, , planned to run with Eleanor Miscioscia and a third, undisclosed, candidate, who dropped out “due to personal reasons,” said Boldyrev, saying perhaps he'd try again next time.
Meanwhile, just moments before the meeting began, Christine Miscioscia, 28, was debating with her mother if she too should join the challenge against the .
“You think I'm nuts?” Christine asked Eleanor. Clearly not, since Mom was doing it too.
“I see the fights going on," Christine said. "The Board needs to listen to people, we need to be able to ask questions and be on the same page.” Christine has a BA in pyschology and works with a medical supply company. While she and her mother had talked previously about the possibility of her running, she didn't decide until this very moment to take the leap.
“She'll be watching the meetings on TV and hears something she doesn't like and scoots on down the street,” said Eleanor. “Things get stale. Hopefully people want a change.”
Mother and daughter Miscioscia live together, with their pets, on Storm Street and describe themselves as very interested in the Board and making it better. Eleanor said she's lived in Tarrytown all her life, in the house she grew up in, the very house her dad grew up in.
“I want to bring it back to the real Tarrytown,” Eleanor said. “Not the one it's been in the last two years. There's a lack of open government, a lack of transparency. I don't like the way the meetings are run.”
Timothy Hays, Chairman of the Greenburgh Republican Party, was there last night to observe the proceedings, support Boldyrev, and, secure the notary public necessary to make all the signed documents official. “The Westchester County Republican Party supports the efforts of Alison," Hays said. "She has a lot of support in Westchester in getting people involved locally the way she is.”
In the end though, as all candidates for Village Trustees have said across the board, “we try to keep things away from biting partisan politics. On the village level it's all bread and butter issues,” Hays said.
Bread and butter issues like the rebuild of the Tappan Zee Bridge, which will obviously be a matter of debate for many years to come.
“I was born in '53. The bridge came in '55. Unlike me, it's outlived it's usefulness,” Eleanor said. “I've overcome cancer and I'm still here.” Eleanor is the Director of Nursing at Maryknoll Sisters in Ossining, leading missionaries all over the world and celebrating its 100th year.
Boldyrev, a stay-at-home mother of four who runs the office of her husband's construction business, said the same issues that propelled her to run last year remain her talking points this time around. “I'm worried about the spending,” she said, citing a “$10 million debt accrued by the Village this year alone.”
Boldyrev, a member of the Women's Young Republicans Club and on the recreation department advisory council, was thrilled with her fellow female nominees and rounding out a full slate. “I've seen great energy from them so far,” she said. “It will be an exciting race. The existing trustees have put in many years of hard work and great service. But we can move forward or stay at the same pace.”
The theme on this night among the candidates seemed to be reducing spending and greater government transparency. “There's no open discussion. We need a different perspective. I'm excited to give voters another choice this year,” Boldyrev said.
The Miscioscias said they were both eager to be required now to attend the meetings they already frequent.
“My mom told me to tell my boyfriend I'd be unavailable for the next two months, but I said, how about the next two years!” Christine said.
