Claxton Reflects on 16 Years in Office, Cancer Battle

During her 16 years on the Peekskill Common Council, Drew Claxton encountered many political hurdles, particularly in her first two years when she was the “lone Democrat” on the seven-member board.

However, nothing she faced in the political circle, including hurtful personal attacks, can compare to the struggles she faced over the last four years in her battle with cancer.

“I can say, why me? But why not me?” Claxton said last week at the BeanRunner Café in Peekskill that she has owned for the last 10 years with her husband/partner Ted Bitter. “This is life. It’s there and I try not to dwell on it. I would rather be happy in whatever amount of time there is then be miserable and suffering. I can’t tell you the support I have gotten from the community. The amount of support that I have gotten is awesome.”

Claxton, 62, currently has Stage 4 cancer. Her health problems first surfaced four years ago after she felt something was wrong and went for a checkup. Her instincts were right as she was diagnosed with Stage 1 colon and rectal cancer. A year later, when it advanced to Stage 2, she underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatment. She had major surgery last February. She later found spots on her lungs, which were removed. She’s now dealing with two spots on her liver.

“I keep catching things very early,” she said, noting she has made changes to her diet and walks two miles every day. “The course of action (with liver spots) is you wait and watch. Chemo just controls it. The spots on the liver haven’t changed, which is good. I feel really good. I feel better than I have in years.”

Her cancer fight is one reason why Claxton chose not to run for a fifth four-year term in November, when the Democrats won all four seats up for grabs, including mayor, and now hold all six elected positions, with a seventh Democrat coming on board soon to fill mayor-elect Andre Rainey’s unexpired two-year council term.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Claxton said of the Democrats’ sweep. “The Democrats ran a very strong ticket. I also believe people are tired of the negative campaigning, tired of the divisiveness, tired of the bashing. Frank (Catalina) became very known for that. His campaign was dirty. My last four years were hell with him. I think he tried to be nice in public. I think Andre has unlimited potential. He loves this city. He has a good heart. He’s incredibly intuitive and incredibly smart.”

Claxton, who was born in Libya, moved to Peekskill in the 1960s when she was eight with her mom and five siblings. She went into the Air Force when she was 18 and later earned a Master’s degree in economics.

She said she first got involved in city affairs when there was a proposal to cover McGregor Brook with landfill and she penned a letter to the editor. She was then appointed to Peekskill’s Historical Preservation Advisory Board.

Her first bid for elected office was a losing effort in 1999. “Initially I said no. I said no three times,” Claxton said about running for council. “I never imagined myself as someone that would be on the council. There was an old boys’ network. I was never part of that. I didn’t see people like me getting  elected to boards like that. That has really changed. Anybody who really loves the city can run regardless of who their family is, or where they grew up, or what their social status is in the city.”

Claxton ran again for council in 2001 and was victorious, but soon found herself “shut out” as the only Democrat under then-mayor John Testa. “It was an eye opener,” she said. “I thought it was more about showmanship than getting things done.”

It wasn’t until Democrat Mary Foster was elected mayor in 2007 and the Democrats held a 6-1 advantage that Claxton felt “we went into hyper speed and we got a tremendous amount done in a very short time.”

“We should have taken before and after pictures. People have very short memories,” Claxton said. “He (Catalina) cut ribbons on a lot of projects that were started under Mary Foster.”

Claxton refuted Catalina’s claims that Peekskill was financially hemorrhaging when he took office, saying the council made a decision to dip into fund balance instead of raising taxes and cutting jobs, until the well ran dry after the economy failed to rebound as hoped.

“In the end the economy caught up with us. We were not in financial despair,” she said.

Claxton said she never had aspirations to be at the top of the ticket and enjoyed her role as one of seven decision-makers on the council.

“I like to do the work. We set the policies. We don’t do the hirings and the firings,” she said. “My role was one vote, one seat. There is nothing that can move forward in this city without the council. I feel that my battle won.”

During her last council meeting, Claxton was praised by several Democratic leaders, including Linda Wildman, who presented Claxton with 16 roses for each year she served on the council and mentioned Claxton had attended 736 work sessions and 368 council meetings during her tenure.

“You clearly have left the city better than it was before,” said former Councilwoman Marybeth McGowan.

Claxton said she plans on getting involved in the city “in a different way,” perhaps with artists in Peekskill.

“I’ll start getting involved in stuff that I like,” she said. “It’s going to be good. I have been honored to serve this city. It has been a pleasure. It’s time for me to step aside and let the young folks move in.”