Mount Kisco looks ahead to November election

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. - Four folks will be vying for seats on the Mount Kisco Village Board in this fall’s elections.

Seeking re-election are incumbents Mayor J. Michael Cindrich and Trustees Theresa Flora and Angie Garcia-Guerra. The three are running on both the Republican and the independent Village Inclusive Party (VIP) lines.

On the Democratic line are newcomers Tammy Brown and Heather Bryant, who are both going for trustee seats, and incumbent village justice Anthony C. Markus.

The Mount Kisco Democratic Committee is not fielding anyone for mayor.

A Bit of Background

Cindrich ran for office on the VIP line in 2023 along with Flora and Garcia-Guerra.

(Garcia-Guerra and Cindrich were registered Democrats; Flora switched her party designation earlier this year from non-affiliated to Democrat.)

In that contest, Cindrich beat out Democratic mayoral nominee and then-Deputy Mayor Lisa Abzun. Flora, now deputy mayor, and then-newbie Garcia-Guerra bested the Democrats’ trustee candidates, Jean Farber and incumbent Karine P. Patiño.

MKDC Chair Tom Luzio said he met with Cindrich in late December 2024 to discuss a “number of issues,” including whether he’d be interested in the committee’s endorsement for mayor in 2025.

Cindrich didn’t respond, said Luzio, who is also a village trustee.

Luzio also said he had approached Garcia-Guerra about joining the MKDC but she had “declined” and no one on the 13-member committee had had any further conversations with her regarding the topic, or an endorsement.

Guerra-Garcia later confirmed that she hadn’t been interested in joining the committee.

As for Flora, “no Democratic committee member had a clue that she had switched parties until petitioning began in late February when we learned they were petitioning as Democrats,” Luzio said in April.

“We’re not on the Democratic line because the MKDC would not have our team,” Flora explained.

Garcia-Guerra had echoed that assessment.

“We are a team. There’s nothing else to say,” she said, noting that she had “never gotten a phone call or email” regarding the endorsement.

“Joining the committee has nothing to do with the other (thing),” Garcia-Guerra added.

Luzio acknowledged that the MKDC had not reached out to Flora.

“There are reasons why,” he told Halston Media, citing her support of Republican Congressman Mike Lawler and Gina Arena, a Republican from Somers who’d challenged Democratic incumbent state Sen. Pete Harckham last fall.

“As recently as mid-January, she (Flora) had posted on Facebook that she wished Braille Diaz had won. Shortly thereafter, he was selected as the Republican candidate for county legislator opposing Erika Lang Pierce,” Luzio said.

(Pierce, a Democrat, is seeking re-election in District 2, which includes Mount Kisco, Bedford, Lewisboro, North Salem, Somers, and Pound Ridge. Diaz, a registered Republican, had run on the VIP line for village trustee in 2024 but lost.)

 “She (Flora) said we never reached out to her, and I’m confirming that. Why would we reach out to a person who has that kind of conservative resume?” Luzio explained then.

Some folks may question the wisdom on running on the Republican line in light of the fact that Mount Kisco is solidly Democratic – not to mention the nationwide protests aimed at the Trump administration’s policies.

Flora and Cindrich asserted that the decision to seek the Republican line was not political, but merely a reflection of their continued commitment to serving all village residents.

“At the local level, people don’t get too caught up in national politics,” said Flora. “Sure, some of it trickles down, but at least we can encourage our representatives to do the right thing.”

(Cindrich served as mayor for 14 years prior to being ousted in 2017 by Gina Picinich, who ran on the independent 4MK line. He had been endorsed by both the Republicans and Democrats.)

“I was hoping to be on all three lines: VIP, Democratic, and Republican because I felt that, in my tenure as mayor, I’ve represented all the people of Mount Kisco equally, regardless of party affiliation,” he said last week.

Flora echoed that sentiment.

“I don’t care what the letters behind my name say; I’m working for Mount Kisco,” she told Halston Media this spring, adding: “When somebody calls me for help, I don’t ask them if they’re a Democrat, Republican, or whatever. They don’t have to be a voter either.”

Saying she wants to get re-elected based “on merit,” Flora feels that residents realize that she, Cindrich, and Guerra are “very boots-on-the-ground committed.”

Republican/VIP Hopefuls

J. Michael Cindrich

Before being elected mayor – for the first time – Cindrich was a village trustee and deputy mayor.

According to his VIP profile, the 50-plus-year Mount Kisco resident is a decorated former Mamaroneck police lieutenant and a former DEA special agent for the U.S. Department of Justice.

A U.S. Marine, Cindrich was decorated and recognized for heroism, valor and exceptional contribution to law enforcement by the New York State Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, the New York Drug Enforcement Administration, the American Legion, Town of Mamaroneck, and Westchester County. 

He earned degrees from Iona College and St. John’s Military Academy in Washington, D.C.

Cindrich is a former building inspector for the Town of North Castle.

He had chaired the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals for nine years, was a member of the Mount Kisco Special Police, also for nine years; a Little League coach for 11 years, a Junior Football coach, and an active member of MKSEA and the Fox Lane Sports Club.

Cindrich is also a life member of, and volunteers with, the local ambulance corps and also volunteers for and supports Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

He is active in a number of civic organizations, include the American Legion, Knights of Columbus, the Italian-American Club of Northern Westchester, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Federation of Police.

Cindrich is a former member of the Board of the President’s Council of Northern Westchester Hospital.

He has lived in Mount Kisco for more than 50 years. He and his wife, Linda, have four children and eight grandchildren.

Theresa Flora

Flora is a 35-year resident of Mount Kisco and a retired nurse.

Flora was elected to the Mount Kisco Village Board in 2023 and appointed deputy mayor the same year. 

She was named a 2025 “Woman of Distinction” by Assemblyman Chris Burdick and, as a conservationist and nature lover, was a founding member of “Protect Leonard Park,” a group that helped fight off a cell tower project there.

Flora is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Mount Kisco Historical Society, the Italian American Club of Northern Westchester, the Mount Kisco Senior Center, St. Francis of Assisi’s Women’s Association, the Complete Streets/Pedestrian Safety Committee, Hispanic Heritage Festival Committee, Sesquicentennial Steering Committee, Wilfred Jennings Garden Committee, and the Teahouse Restoration Committee. 

Flora is the recipient of several “Nurse of Distinction” awards.

She is also the coordinator of the “Clean Streets/Parks Initiative,” a member of Westchester Disc Golf Enthusiasts, and Team RWB NYC, a community of veterans, service members, military families and supporters.

According to her VIP profile, she has been “an outspoken advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves,” has “consistently fought against injustices,” and has been working on a number of community issues, including pedestrian safety.

She has five children and one grandchild.

Her hobbies include running, hiking, and raising monarch butterflies.

Angie Garcia-Guerra

Garcia-Guerra has lived in Mount Kisco since 2019.

First elected in 2023, she sits on the village’s Complete Streets Committee, Climate Smart Committee, Steering Committee, and is the chair of the Hispanic Heritage Committee.

She was also a member of the ad hoc organization that fought off the siting of a cell tower at Leonard Park.

Garcia-Guerra last year organized the community’s first Hispanic Heritage Festival. It was a “community collaborative event” that was participated in by village staff, local houses of worship, Hotel MTK, Northern Westchester Hospital, the Boys & Girls Club, Neighbors Link, and many local businesses and restaurants.

She also started a children’s chess club at the local library.

Garcia-Guerra homeschools her son and helps organize educational and recreational activities “to enrich the homeschooling experience of her growing network while supporting local businesses,” her VIP profile said.

Garcia-Guerra, who is bilingual, earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from CUNY Brooklyn and had plans to pursue a legal career.

However, her professional experiences in legal firms and nonprofits “led her to the conclusion that she could best serve as an educator,” her profile said.

A classroom teacher for more than a decade, Garcia-Guerra received her master’s degree in elementary education from Pace University and her master’s in English from CUNY Lehman.

Democratic Hopefuls

Tammy Brown

According to her campaign flyer, longtime Mount Kisco resident Tammy Brown spent 20 years advocating for workers’ rights as a union lawyer in New York City.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Cornell University and her Juris Doctor from Rutgers University Law School.

Brown’s LinkedIn profile lists her as an attorney with District Council 37 Municipal Employees Legal Services.

Her many affiliations and titles include: NYSABPRHAL (New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislators, Inc.) Annual Legislative Conference in Albany; African American Festival Committee at Kensico Dam 2023-2024; Election chair, NAACP - Peekskill Branch, November 2024; Voter Registration Day in Peekskill, September 2024; former board vice president of International Women in Jazz; former secretary of FFR and MELSSA; former chairperson of the Mount Vernon Taxi Commission; former board president of the Mount Vernon Day Care Center; former Mount Vernon district leader, District 26; former Mount Vernon poll watcher; and former poll inspector for Westchester County Board of Elections.

Heather Bryant

Heather Bryant has lived in the village for three years. She has been on the Mount Kisco Public Library’s Board of Trustees since 2023 and is currently its president and its past vice president

She received her bachelor’s degree in music from Mississippi College in 2003, her master’s degree in vocal performance from New York University in 2006, and her master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College in 2011.

She was an instructor with Hidden Treasures, an arts and crafts organization that serves adults with mild to moderate disabilities.

She volunteered for the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry in 2022, for the Bethel Food Shelf in Bethel, Vt., in 2021, and for the American Library in Paris from 2015 to 2017.

According to her resume, Bryant worked as a researcher for a cultural data project in Philadelphia from 2012 to 2014.

She was an administrative assistant for the Altman Foundation from 2007 to 2011, a research assistant for the Center for Equality, Pluralism and Policy at Baruch College from 2010 to 2011, and a vocal instructor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education from 2004 to 2006.

Bryant is a regular vocalist with a neighborhood band and a singer at local venues, according to her resume.

Anthony C. Markus

MKDC hosted a fundraiser in March for Markus, who is not only a practicing attorney and current town justice, but a former village trustee and deputy mayor.

Notables supporting him at the event were: former Westchester county executive and current Congressman George Latimer, state Assemblyman Chris Burdick, state Sen. Pete Harckham, County Executive Ken Jenkins, County Legislator Erika Pierce, Luzio, and Mark Sheridan.

Markus was elected as town judge in 2021.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and finance at Fairleigh Dickinson University and his Juris Doctor at Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law.

He is a partner with Markus & Sheridan, LLP, which is based in Mount Kisco.

Prior to that he was an associate counsel with the Hawthorne firm of Oxman, Geiger, Natale & Tulis, P.C., and earlier, an associate counsel with the White Plains law offices of Martin Rosen.

Markus’s other elected positions/titles and involvement in civic organizations include former chair of the village/town’s finance committee; member, Mount Kisco Historical Society; former assistant regional commissioner of the Mount Kisco American Youth Soccer Organization; and a trustee with Bet Am Shalom Synagogue.

The list of his professional associations, memberships, and publications is long.

Here’s a sampling: New York State Magistrates Association (member); Yorktown Bar Association (former president); Northern Westchester Business Network (former president); published author for the Inside Journal of the New York State Bar Association; lecturer on legal and business matters; and founding member of the New York Civil Collaborative Group.