Ossining Mayor Hanauer to Run for Re-Election

This article has been corrected to show that Hanauer was re-elected in 2008 and 2010. 

OSSINING, N.Y. – Village of Ossining Mayor William Hanauer said Tuesday he’s running for re-election.

“I am in fact running for re-election,” Hanauer said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I decided weeks and months ago. There was never any question that I was going to run for re-election.”

Hanauer is currently serving his third term as mayor, which is set to expire in December. Village of Ossining officials say no other residents have announced their candidacy for mayor. The position currently pays roughly $12,000 a year, village officials said previously. 

Hanauer, who started his career in acting and opera singing, got his start in politics in 1997 when he was elected vice president of the Sparta Association, according to previous reports. In 2005, Hanauer became an Ossining Village Trustee. In 2006, he ran for mayor and won, and he was re-elected in 2008 and 2010. 

While it’s common for elected officials to come up with a string of promises when running for re-election, Hanauer said earlier this month he has no intentions of announcing a new set of campaign goals. 

“I frankly don’t believe in doing things just for election,” Hanauer said. “That’s not why I’m here. I’m here to do this job even when I’m not running and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Hanauer did, however, speak to issues he feels are still crucial for the village, adding that his accomplishments have been “more of a team effort.” 

“I work with tremendous people here, from department heads to employees, who every year since I’ve been in office, have done more with less,” Hanauer said in early February. “The economics of the nation are really horrific and that shows up in our local economics as well as the state and county. But the village, because we’re so conservative in our budgeting, has a very healthy fund balance.” 

He added that the Village of Ossining also holds a debt rating of Aa2 from Moody’s. 

“Our rate was increased a couple of years ago when I was in office and it hasn’t gone down at all since,” Hanauer said. “That’s because of our great team and our cautious look at our budget.” 

Tuesday’s announcement is not official, but Hanauer said he’s “absolutely positive” that he’s going to run for re-election.

 “There will be an official announcement, probably even before the end of this week,” Hanauer said Tuesday.

 

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