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Former city council candidate Tony Washington will try to replace Mayor Mary Foster and Peekskill Democratic Committee Chair Michael Kane will challenge District 1 County Legislator John Testa in this falls general election. Peekskill Republicans have also nominated three candidates to run for the three city council seats up for grabs this fall.
Washington ran an unsuccessful bid for the city council in 2009. In his acceptance speech he stated that he felt the city was going in the wrong direction due to the current administration. Its time to take back our government from the control of the current administration, all of whom bear responsibility for bringing that progress to a virtual standstill, Washington said. Its time to re-establish a government that works for all of our citizens rather than the favored few. Its time to restore confidence that our government will treat the taxpayers money responsibly, as if it were their own.
Washington also pledged to help businesses succeed in the city. To our existing business community, I say we are and will be your greatest supporters, Washington said. We will work tirelessly to see the day when our storefronts are fully occupied and our streets full of shoppers once again.
Washington is the Northeast Regional Training Coordinator in BASFs talent development and strategy segment of corporate human resources. He also serves on the board of directors of the Peekskill Education Foundation, the board of the Lincoln Society in Peekskill and the African American Advisory Board to the Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino. He is also a member of the Peekskill Rotary Club and the American Society for Training and Development. He and his wife, Leslie, reside on Riverview Avenue.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, the Peekskill Democratic Committee has nominated Michael Kane, its chairman, to run against incumbent County Legislator John Testa of Peekskill in District 1. The district, which covers most of Peekskill and parts of Yorktown and Cortlandt, was recently redrawn amid protests from the Republican minority in the Westchester County Board of Legislators, who said the changes favor Democrats.
County government can be smarter, more efficient and work harder to meet the needs of the people of Northern Westchester, Kane said. Im running to keep taxes low and bring a fresh approach to county government. Kane is a network technical specialist for AT&T. He is also a shop steward for the Communications Workers of America (CWA) 1150, and was formerly vice president of CWA Local 1153. He served on the Westchester Board of Legislators' environmental committee, as well as the Westchester County Democratic Labor Committee.
My whole life Ive worked to strengthen communities and bring people together. Im excited about hearing from the voters and working to build up our communities to solve problems, he said. Kane has served on the board of the KEON Center, a non-profit agency that serves the needs of the developmentally disabled. He is also a former associate member of the Cortlandt Hook and Ladder. He has lived in Peekskill for 14 years with his daughter.
In the City Council race, Peekskill Republicans nominated Joe Brady, Barbara Kerasiotis and Steve Woods to run for the three seats up for grabs this fall. Brady served on the Peekskill City Council from 1996 to 2000. He is a senior account executive for the Castle Oil Corporation and is a founding member of the St. Patricks Day Parade Committee. An accomplished bagpiper, Brady has been an Eastern U.S. Pipe Band Association Adjudicator since 1990. He is also an officer in the New York State Guard, Regimental Piper, 69th Regiment. Brady is a member of the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, the Knights Templar and the Ancient Order of the Hibernians and also serves on the Peekskill Republican Committee. Brady and his wife Ann have four daughters.
Kerasiotes, a lifelong Peekskill resident and graduate of Peekskill High School, is a guidance counselor at Lakeland High School. A trustee of the Lincoln Society of Peekskill, as well as a trustee of the Putnam/Northern Westchester Womens Resource Center, she is also a member of the Paramount Center for the Arts and is a past board member. Kerasiotes also serves on the Rotary Lapolla Scholarship Committee and has also been a member of the American Association of University Women and the Educational Advisory Board of St. Basils Academy.
Woods is also a lifelong resident of Peekskill and a graduate of Peekskill High School. He works at Turner Logistics, a Division of Turner Construction, as the Supply Chain Product Manager for electrical/emergency power. Prior to joining Turner, he held sales and purchasing positions at H.O. Penn Machinery and Nortrax. Woods is a member of the Peekskill Presbyterian Church, where he has been a member of the churchs corporate and business committee and is currently vice president of the Church Session, which is the governing board of the church and is the co-chair of the pastoral nominating committee. He has been an active participant as coach and manager with the Peekskill Lapolla Little League and AYSO. He currently lives with his wife, Charlene, on Ringgold Street.
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