Peekskill Republican has eye on Village Hall
By Kevin E. Foley
A recent Cold Spring resident, Barney Molloy, has decided to run for mayor of the village. A Republican with ties to the party establishment in Peekskill, Molloy has been actively moving in local Republican and civic circles in the last several months.
Early indications are that Molloy would have the organizational support of leading Republicans in his pursuit of the office. County Legislator Barbara Scuccimarra was seen over the weekend escorting Molloy around the village seeking nominating signatures required for a place on the ballot. Candidate petitions are due for filing by close of business tomorrow, Tuesday, Feb. 12.
In addition, the Putnam County News & Recorder has run three pictures in the past few weeks of Molloy in the company of Scuccimarra, County Tourism Director Libby Pataki and Vinny Tamagna, county official and head of the local Republican committee, at various events. Pataki’s husband, George, the former New York state governor, is a former mayor of Peekskill. None of the aforementioned lives in Cold Spring.
In making his run, Molloy would oppose current trustee, and lifelong resident, J. Ralph Falloon. The election is officially non-partisan with candidates running without regular party identification.
In an email to potential supporters that has circulated around the village and was forwarded to Philipstown.info, Molloy wrote he was running because “it isn’t in anybody’s interests to have a candidate for mayor run unopposed.” Continuing he wrote: “There are [too] many unresolved issues, unmet challenges and potential opportunities here in Cold Spring for us to allow an election to come and go without at least discussing them!” He did not mention specifically to what he was referring.
Earlier in his note Molloy said he had been urged to run by others whom he has met. For himself running “is an idea I never seriously considered for a host of reasons.” He did not elaborate on those possible reasons for not running.
Is Mr. Molloy an actual resident of Cold Spring? If so, where does he live and when did he take up residence? I remember him quite well from my days in Peekskill. He was head of the Chamber of Commerce for awhile. He also served on the Planning Commission if memory serves, which position also had a residency requirement. Aside from being escorted around town by the local politicos, what does Barney actually know about Putnam County in general or Philipstown in particular?
I have been a politically active taxpayer advocate in this area for many years and I don’t recall seeing or hearing anything about Mr. Molloy that indicates he has a grasp of the problems that face us. Of course none of that matters if you rate enough to be escorted around town by the local aristocracy.
Leave it to the Club Putnam Republicans to take care of one of their own. I sincerely hope the voters of Cold Spring do some research before making any commitments.
I read this statement in the fourth paragraph: “The election is officially non-partisan with candidates running without regular party identification.” But over the course of the preceding paragraphs I read: “Peekskill Republican… Republican…party establishment… Republican… Republican… Pataki… Tamagna… local Republican committee…”
Reads an awful lot like a “dog whistle” to voters that might (unfortunately) allow national/state party affiliation to sway their choice in a non-partisan, local village, election.
I don’t recall receiving similar background on the national/state party affiliations or core supporters of the other candidates for village office, nor does it matter to me one bit in a local election.
Why must our local press (print, web or otherwise) continue to try and inject the never-ending bloodsport of Democrat vs. Republican into our local politics?
This is not an endorsement or criticism of any of the candidates – I’d rather have them all out first – but please stop with the forced injection of partisanship into our local matters.
We have become a divided community which echoes the completely destructive split in the U.S. Congress. That the PCNR is openly supporting one of theirs and is a partisan paper is no surprise. Personally I feel if this becomes a pull between Democrats and Republicans, it will be very detrimental to our community. The voice of Republicans during the last election has been an example of tunnel-visioned self-interest and dishonesty.
Mr. Malloy has lived in the village for almost a year. He has been attending many meetings for the planning board, historic review board and village trustee meetings and a host of other local meetings. He has quite a resume, from an environmentalist background to working with the promotion of the Hudson Valley. In my opinion he is actually over-qualified for the mayoral position.
He is certainly more qualified and learned then Matt Francisco was when he entered his trustee candidacy. For a non-partisan election, the Philipstown.info article certainly spends a lot of ink describing his Republican connections. In my opinion both candidates would make good mayors. I just believe Barney is more experienced in the “ways of government.”
I agree with much of what Mr. Campanile says. The thing I love about this village is that I get along with my neighbors no matter what party affiliation they have, and it would be tragic to have the blue/red animosity that currently divides the nation as a whole into our village politics.
By the same token, it’s Mr. Malloy who has been draping himself in this Republicanism, not Kevin Foley. Someone, please point out some equivalency in Seth’s or Antony’s candidacy’s to Malloy being walked around by Scuccimarra, or having Roger Ailes doing a fluff piece about him, or being photographed with the biggest local Republican operatives. They were (and still are) all about the business of the village. Barney Malloy’s business? With all the ties that Kevin Foley illuminates in this article, it’s pretty hard to tell, but something is telling me it’s bigger than the village.
It’s truly unfortunate that our little village has become a blue vs. red battleground. But let’s be perfectly clear on why this has happened, and it has everything to do with our very own version of Good Ol’ Charlie Kane bringing his yellow journalism and Tea Party politics to what was formerly the most non-political and enjoyable read of my week. The PCNR’s transparent agenda of trying to turn blue to red from the bottom up would simply be silly and sad if it weren’t for the fact that so many people appear to have fallen victim to their puppetry. So, as long as the PCNR exists in its current state as a right-wing propaganda tool, sadly, there needs to be an opposing voice in the village. Thank you to Philipstown.info for playing that thankless role. I truly hope Charles Foster Kane mutters his final “Rosebud” before the PCNR does. I really miss that formerly entertaining journal of small-town life in Western Putnam County, and it makes me very sad that things have come to this.
A moot point now that he has withdrawn from the mayoral race.
The problems that face the Putnam County and the Village of Cold Spring transcend race, creed, gender, political party affiliation and even the local news media. Here is just a partial list: out of control and unsustainable spending by our local government officials, an electorate that for the most part is apathetic and disengaged (with the bright exception of the concerned citizens who comment here), and our transformation into a two-class society of those who work for the Government and those in the private sector who support it.
If anyone thinks that local politics is not a “blood sport”, think again; all politics is local and in this case it is often not pretty. Cold Spring faces its own set of challenges not the the least of which is the economic problems of Main Street and vicinity. Mr. Guillaro, who is the only investor on the horizon who was willing to put up his millions to develop the Butterfield property, has been drummed out of town by the elites who fear a loss of “character.” I can only surmise that it is these same folks who think Main Street’s shabby chic vista and ongoing decline is a more desirable “character” inasmuch as it will discourage outsiders and potential entrepreneurs from trying to set up shop in their fair Village.
Meanwhile, the only major project in the pipeline is the proposed construction of a new firehouse on Main Street to be funded by the taxpayers, regardless of whether or not it’s really needed in the community. I know firsthand from my own experience in Put Valley that very few citizens are willing to say anything that could be perceived as even vaguely “against” the first responders; nevertheless, the cost of this debt will be borne by future generations as well and should be carefully considered.
Regardless of who is running for mayor or town board or county legislator, the issues remain.
Just what the Village needs, three outsiders running their candidate for Mayor. Shaping from the outside, maybe for the bike race. Barbara would be better devoting her efforts to get Mary Ellen to commit to some Western Putnam services at Butterfield and they both can explain why we need some type of Transportation Czar, Vinny, for one of the smallest counties in New York.