Developer Fareri Weighs GOP Primary Challenge in No. Castle
Armonk developer Michael Fareri will decide this week whether he will force a September primary against incumbent North Castle supervisor Michael Schiliro in hopes of snagging the Republican nomination.
Fareri said last Friday he has been weighing whether to jump into the political fray because he believes recent town boards have failed on several critical issues, particularly the inability to increase assessable property, which has caused taxes to continually increase and services to suffer.
He stressed that if he decides to challenge Schiliro for the GOP nod, his critiques will be based strictly on job performance.
“The town has been run very poorly in the last few years,” said Fareri, who indicated he will likely have to make up his mind by tomorrow (Wednesday) in order to have enough time to collect signatures for his petition. “I think they are very nice people (on the board), I like every one of them, but the bottom line is they’re not getting the job done.”
Schiliro, a registered Democrat, was endorsed by both the Republican and Democratic committees in the past several weeks.
Fareri said he is reluctantly considering a run because he would have to devote all of his energies to the supervisor’s job. He put his chances of running at “50-50” last week.
“I’d have to put all my other stuff aside and I’m not sure that I’m willing to do that,” Fareri said of the delay in his decision.
Saying “the town deserves better than it’s getting,” he pointed to the gravity of the issues facing North Castle that has him seriously considering a campaign. He said the poor condition of many of the town’s roads is one of the most glaring examples of deteriorating town services, which also affects property values.
Smaller tasks such as the inability to quickly replace blown out streetlights near Town Hall have also not been addressed.
Meanwhile, the lack of new development has forced taxes to consistently increase. Fareri cited the recent sale of the MBIA property, which may result in a major tax certiorari. Assessed at about $70 million by the town, the property sold for close to $23 million.
“It just seems like things are going backward and not going forward,” he said.
Fareri mentioned that the failure to attract new assessables significantly impacts the school districts in town since more than two-thirds of a homeowner’s property tax bill goes toward education.
He said another contributing factor in entertaining a run is that with the town’s two major parties’ cross-endorsement of Schiliro, it deprives voters of a choice in this year’s election.
Messages left ford Schiliro and North Castle Republican Committee Chairwoman Anita Cozza were not returned on Monday. Following the announcements of the Republican and Democratic slates, both acknowledged the possibility of someone stepping up and forcing a primary.
Over the years, Fareri has often appeared before the town’s various town boards, both as an applicant and as a resident and frequent critic. He has built a number of projects in town. Most recently, he received zoning approvals to build multifamily housing at the old lumberyard in downtown Armonk,
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
