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Harter, Blaha Win in Ossining Town Board Elections

OSSINING, N.Y. -- Candidates Geoffrey Harter and Eric Blaha declared victory Tuesday night against opponents Stephen Dewey and Kim Izzarelli in the race for Ossining Town Board.

Incumbent Harter received 2,563 votes with 93 percent reporting, according to unofficial results from the county Board of Elections. Newcomer Blaha received 2,468 votes.

“This is re-enforcement that Ossining is a great place, people love Ossining and Ossining isn't broken,” Blaha said. “We don't need to fix it. We need to make it better.”

Harter ran on the Democratic, Independence and Working Families lines. Blaha ran on the Democratic and Working Families lines. Harter, a 20-year veteran on the board, said it felt great to win another term.

“I certainly would rather lose than win, and I've had my share of both,” he said.

Izzarellia took 2,216 votes while Dewey had 2,275 votes with 93 percent reporting.

Stephen Dewey, Chair of the local Republican committee who ran on the Republican and Conservative lines, said he was excited to see that Ossining got Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

“I think it's important that we look for the best candidate, not the party,” he said.

Dewey said he was not disappointed by the election results.

“It gives me more time to do my own work,” he said.

Blaha didn't point to one specific issue in the race, which he said lead to his victory. He said  he thought it was “the full spectrum of issues.”

“The point was we kept saying facts and figures and we had support to back it up,” he said. “Every issue that they touched on was not backed up. It was substance versus non-substance.”

Saving money was a key issue among candidates for town council. Harter said he wanted another term in office so he could see to conclusion various studies on alternative municipal structures that could lead to greater efficiency. Dewey said he sees a lot of wasteful spending in government that is made without people’s input and Blaha said he sees opportunities for consolidating more services, including the town and village’s Department of Public Works and Highway departments.

Izzarelli, a resident of Briarcliff, said representation of Briarcliff on the town board has been lacking and she feels that the consolidation of Ossining courts and contracting out-of-town police services to county police might have worked out differently had there been someone from Briarcliff on the board.

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