SOMERS, N.Y. - Somers Councilman Tom Garrity’s pending departure has spurred a call for potential appointees to the Town Board.
Citing increasing work obligations, he announced last spring that he’d be stepping down by the end of September from the post he’s held for 18 years.
That left the board to ponder what to do about the remaining one year in the Republican’s current four-year term.
It had three options: Leave the seat open until the 2026 general elections, hold a special election in January or February, or appoint someone in the interim.
It has decided to go for the last one, Supervisor Robert Scorrano confirmed recently.
There have been a few informal conversations with interested parties already, but all “serious” candidates need to reach out to Scorrano -- he announced at the Town Board’s Aug. 14 meeting -- directly via email at supervisor@somersny.gov.
Formal interviews will take place next month and the board’s pick will officially take over Garrity’s seat on Oct. 1, just in time for budget season.
Council members serve for four years; supervisors for two.
Scorrano and Councilmen Anthony Cirieco and Bill Faulkner, all Republicans, are running for re-election this year. Scorrano is unopposed. Democrats Thomas E. Lamb II and Donald L. Frum are challenging Cirieco and Faulkner for spots on the board.
Election Cycle Changes
Complicating matters is a new state law changing most town elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years starting with the November 2025 election cycle.
It aims to bolster voter participation by aligning local elections with higher turnout state and federal races.
The law was challenged in court and a trial level court judge found that it was unconstitutional.
The state fought back and the case was sent, not to the Court of Appeals but to the Fourth Department Appellate Division which found last May that it was constitutional and should be implemented in the 2025 election cycle.
The anti-change folks jumped back in with an appeal. Oral arguments are reportedly set in the Court of Appeals on Sept. 8.
If the law stands, this means that Scorrano will have to run again in 2026.
Candidates such as Cirieco, Faulkner, Frum, and Lamb running this year for offices with a four-year term would have to run again in 2028 and offices that are up for re-election in 2027 will be on the ballot again in 2030 for a four-year term. (Incumbent receiver of taxes Michele McKearney, who is seeking re-election, has been endorsed by both the Democrats, Republicans, and Conservatives.)
Exempt from the change are city offices, village offices, county clerks, district attorneys, and any judges.
Explaining the Process
Having had to field numerous questions from the public, Garrity himself felt obliged to say a few words about the “process” at the board’s Aug. 14 meeting.
It started on a jovial note with fellow councilmember and friend Richard Clinchy, who’s the sole Democrat on the board, quipping: “I make the motion not to accept his resignation.”
Town Attorney Roland A. Baroni reminded the board Thursday that no one can be appointed until a seat is actually “vacated.”
“You’ll have my letter this week,” Garrity promised.
(His last regular board meeting is Thursday, Sept. 11. His last official day as councilman is Sept. 30.)
Garrity pointed out that this wasn’t the board’s first rodeo, appointee-wise.
In May 2012, under then-Supervisor Mary Beth Murphy, the board had installed Richard Benedict, who was president of the Heritage Hills Society Board at the time, as a member to temporarily replace Councilman Harry Bolton who’d resigned that March due to health problems.
Bolton’s four-year term had been set to expire on Dec. 31, 2013.
That had left two years to fill.
Benedict only agreed to serve for one. A special election was held in November 2012 for the remainder of the term.
Anthony Cirieco, then a school board trustee, bested George Dieter, who had served on the Town Board from 2006 to 2009.
The following four-year election cycle, Cirieco won re-election and has been on the board ever since.
Benedict, a former police officer and teacher of disabled students, died unexpectedly in 2021 at the age of 73.
Back to the Present
Plodding along for a year with only four members on the board didn’t seem like a good idea to anyone, so Garrity suggested either going the special elections route which, he allowed, “does cost a bit of money,” or reaching out to the public and asking if anyone was willing to step up.
In the best-case scenario, that would be an appointee who’s active in the town, knows its history, and wasn’t necessarily interested in running again.
Benedict had let it be known in 2012 that he wouldn’t be throwing his hat in the ring that fall, or ever.
“That takes the politics out of it,” Garrity said, adding that that particular solution had, in his opinion, “worked out very well.”
Clinchy agreed, saying in the best of worlds, the person picked will have enough experience to be able to “hit the ground running.”
That doesn’t have to include having previously been an elected public official.
“No matter who it is, or what their plans are, they’ve got to get up to speed really quick. They have to kind of know what’s going on. A lot of the things we talk about here are based on what the history of the town is, what the town does, what the town has been, and what it wants to be,” he explained, adding that it would definitely be a plus if the person has “a connection and history with the town.”
Not only had the town been lucky to find Benedict, the appointee benefited as well because, Garrity explained, not having to worry about being re-elected can give folks “the luxury of basically saying whatever they want.”
“And Rich Benedict said whatever he wanted,” he added cheekily.
Garrity emphasized that he didn’t have a say about who’s appointed because “the vote will happen after I’m gone.”
However, as someone who’s been through this all before he just wanted to let “people know what they’re getting into.”
“It’s a big commitment. Believe me, I’ve done it for 18 years,” Garrity said.
Gesturing at Clinchy and other board colleagues, he graciously pointed out that “these gentlemen are close behind.”
Well, not Scorrano, who was first elected in November 2021.
“You’ll catch up,” Garrity joshed.
The town can’t legally compel the chosen one -- whoever he or she winds up being -- not to run again if they want to.
“I can’t do that; it’s unconstitutional,” asserted Scorrano, assuring folks that the board will be thoughtful and deliberate about appointing someone.
“We are taking our time with this. We are not rushing,” he promised.
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