Prentice, Maasik announce campaigns
Nat Prentice and John Maasik announced last week that they plan to campaign for two open seats on the Philipstown Town Board.
The Philipstown Democratic Committee last month endorsed two other candidates, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch. The seats are held by Jason Angell and Megan Cotter, who are not running for second terms.
Prentice and Maasik are both Democrats. If at least three candidates gather the signatures needed to appear on the ballot, a primary will be held in June.
Following a career as an investment manager in New York City, Baltimore and Philadelphia, Prentice in 1999 purchased the Garrison home where he grew up. He is a commissioner for the Garrison Fire District, president of the Cold Spring Area Chamber of Commerce and the Putnam County Business Council and a board member for Stonecrop Gardens and Paramount Hudson Valley Arts. In 2018, he served as chair of the Comprehensive Plan Committee.
Maasik, a marketing executive, has served on the Philipstown Recreation Commission since 2012 and as a board member for Friends of Philipstown Recreation since 2014. A 20-year resident, he also volunteered for Scouting America and the Philipstown Soccer Club.
It seems there is some confusion about the meaning of the endorsements made by the Philipstown Democratic Committee for Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch for the Town Board and John Van Tassel for supervisor.
By a vote of 10 to 5, Philipstown Democrats declined to endorse John Maasik, primarily because he had been, by his own admission, an active Republican until late December 2024. In fact, at the time he interviewed with us in early December, he was still a Republican but neglected to tell the full committee. There were three other candidates vying for Town Board — Cheah, Rauch and Nat Prentice — who are longtime Democrats. Van Tassel was unanimously endorsed to return as supervisor.
Endorsing candidates has been a standing tradition in Philipstown, and some of the people online claiming it is “undemocratic” have benefited from that tradition. Nancy Montgomery, Judy Farrell and all Democratic members of the Town Board, dating back many years, have sought and received endorsements separately and as part of slates. The 15 members of Philipstown Dems debated the choices and each of us was given a chance to make our case. The five who wanted Mr. Maasik had the same opportunity.
Their candidate lost. Many of us have a candidate who didn’t get endorsed. But to seek an endorsement and, upon losing it, call the process undemocratic seems a bit hypocritical. I ask those supporting Mr. Maasik to please refrain from that rhetoric. As Democrats, we reject the notion of minority rule.
There will be a primary in June. Nobody on the committee is trying to prevent that. We are encouraging Democrats to sign the nominating petitions of John Van Tassel, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch.
Kennedy is the secretary of the Philipstown Democrats.
The Democratic Committee has endorsed John Van Tassel, Ben Cheah and Ned Rauch after thoughtful discussion and an extensive vetting process. Mr. Maasik’s membership in the Republican Party until just a few months ago disqualified him from my support for public office.
I work hard to get candidates into office who have a proven track record of dedication to Democratic Party values and who work hard for other Democrats. Mr. Maasik, whatever his other salient qualities, does not have a track record of working for and publicly supporting Democrats.
As Democrats, we do reject the notion of minority rule. Keeping that in mind, when there are four excellent candidates for two seats on the Philipstown board, it does not make sense that the Democratic committee decides who the next board members will be. Let the registered Democrats of Philipstown decide in a primary this June. All four candidates need to get on the primary ballot.
As the former chair of the Philipstown Democrats, I am encouraging party members to sign petitions for any two candidates. I am carrying petitions for all the candidates. I support John Maasik because of his exceptional civic service to Philipstown over many years. Nat Prentice is also an excellent candidate and one of the few people in Philipstown who regularly attend the monthly Town Board meetings. Welcome to the Democratic Party, John Maasik! We are a lively, opinionated and action-oriented bunch of people dedicated to good government and a strong democracy.
Well said Janice Hogan! I could not agree more.
I would hope the Philipstown Democratic Party would welcome and encourage everyone, especially thoughtful, proven community leaders like John Maasik, to join the big-tent Democratic Party and help build a better community for all residents. Instead, it tries to smear his good character because he was a Republican and switched parties. Or is there something else? What were the qualifications of all the candidates?
I’ve known both John and Nat Prentice for over 20 years, and have seen firsthand their caring, strong leadership, extensive service and dedication to community, regardless of party affiliation. These gentlemen of Philipstown are assets to our community and are more than qualified to serve on the Town Board.
Spot on Peter, well said!
I was happy to hear this big news. I’m proud to say my friends Nat Prentice and John Maasik are throwing their hats in the ring of democracy for public office. I cannot think of two more caring, kind, courageous and capable men for the job.
The rules around petitions are a bit confusing. When signing petitions, make sure you don’t sign for more than two candidates running for Town Board, because there are only two positions up for election this year. If you sign more than two nominating petitions for Town Board seats, all your signatures will be invalidated. However, you can still sign for John Van Tassel because he is running unopposed for a different position, supervisor.
I hope everyone will join me in signing the nominating petitions for Nat and John. They are what excellent leadership looks like.
The nomination petitions for the two open Philipstown Town Board seats this year are confusing. Combining the two board candidates and the supervisor candidate endorsed by Philipstown Democrats on one petition assumes voters are in lock step.
Philipstown Democrats need to do more training of the canvassers. I had a lovely couple ask me to sign the petition for candidates John Van Tassel, Ned Rauch and Ben Cheah. When I said I supported one candidate but not the others, they said they’d come back with individual petitions, then asked: “Which ones don’t you want?”
That’s really none of their business. It bothers me that they responded: “Well, we’ll find out anyway once you do sign.” That felt snarky coming from a party that crows about its “big tent” approach, which seems exaggerated when a candidate who consistently shows his dedication to our town is rejected because he hasn’t been a Democrat long enough. Shouldn’t we be cheering people who have come to understand and reject the divisive and racist attitudes embraced by Republicans?
I’ve been a Democratic voter all my life, welcomed by the party everywhere else I’ve lived, except for Philipstown. It’s this approach that alienates the party from middle-income and working-class voters and cements the image of Democrats as a party of elites. This is a perfect example of how and why Democrats bear a good portion of responsibility for the horror show engulfing the White House, Congress and judiciary.