Full House Present for Yorktown Inauguration
Close to 150 people crammed into Yorktown Town Hall on Sunday as the town rang in the New Year with the inauguration of six elected officials, three of which are serving their first terms at their new positions.
“Today is a special day for the Town of Yorktown,” said Councilman Terrance Murphy, who gave the ceremony’s opening remarks and presided over the inauguration with fellow Councilman Vishnu Patel and Town Justice Salvatore Lagonia.
Jan. 1 marked the first day of the terms of Town Justice Gary J. Raniolo (R), Councilman David Paganelli (R), and Town Supervisor Michael Grace (R). Michael Kaplowitz (D) and John Testa (R) were re-elected as county legislators, as was Nicholas J. Bianco (R) as councilman.
Following the official entrance of the six officials with bagpipes, the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilman Patel, a rousing rendition of “God Bless America” and a few opening words from Councilman Murphy, the series of inaugurations began with Michael Kaplowitz, who defeated Councilman Murphy by just 346 votes to re-secure his role as representative of Westchester County’s 4th District.
“Our obligation is to the people. You are our bosses, if you will,” said Kaplowitz after being sworn in, who spoke of his desire to solve critical problems in a bipartisan manor.
Testa was sworn in next and vowed to continue to cut county spending with the intent of reducing the burden of taxes, which he claimed was forcing people out of Westchester.
“The focus on the first term was to change the course of county government to one that is looking to cut spending, cut the bloating size of county government and bring it a more appropriate level of the tax payer,” said Testa following the ceremony.
“I think the overall tax burden of Westchester County has significantly changed the future plans of many families who in the past may have planned to stay, but now are looking to get out of the county. We want to make it so people can plan their futures as residents of Westchester,” he continued.
After Testa, Town Justice Raniolo was inaugurated, thanking his family for their support and the people of Yorktown for “putting their trust in me and electing me to this position, which I take very seriously,” followed by Councilmen Bianco and Paganelli, who touted that “actions speak louder than words” and looked forward to “accomplishing a lot of great things” with the Yorktown government.
Capping off the inaugurations was Supervisor Michael Grace, who joked that he would implement the same rules of his house during board meetings before outlining the principals he will use to guide his term and the Yorktown government and embracing the challenges of his new position.
“I welcome embarking on this endeavor to bring Yorktown to greatness again,” he said.
After all of the elected officials were sworn in, each earning their own bursts of thunderous applause, Councilman Patel delivered closing remarks, in which he advised the politicians, “The caliber of a person is not how he prepares for everything to go right, but how he stands when everything goes wrong,” and, “It’s easy to make a buck, but it’s a lot harder to make a difference.”
Serafina Mastro, chairwoman of the Yorktown Republican Town Committee, believes that the newly installed politicians from her party can indeed make a difference.
“I think [Yorktown] can expect a lot of great changes, changes that will keep the residents of Yorktown in mind,” she said. “We’re the ones that live here, we’re the ones that want to continue to live here, and we want to work with them also.”
However, Ed Ciffone, a Republican tax watchdog who ran for councilman as a write-in after allegedly being “forced off” of his party’s ticket, is not as optimistic.
“If they do like everyone else, not a penny will be reduced,” he said. “I’m just hoping they reduce the spending.”
By Sylvan Lane
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.