Puglisi Has Continued to Push the Right Buttons in Cortlandt
Endorsement: Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi, Councilwoman Debbie Carter-Costello, James Creighton
It’s no accident that Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi has the distinction of being, along with Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner, the longest serving town supervisor in Westchester County.
No town government runs smoother or has been stabilized better than Cortlandt under Puglisi’s leadership over the last 26 years, and there’s certainly no reason for voters to even consider making a change on November 7.
Puglisi just gets it. Always governing with a steady hand, she has managed to push the right buttons and solve problems quickly, with the best interests of residents in the forefront. Early in her career, Puglisi and others stopped an emery mine from wreaking havoc in a neighborhood. She prevented Furnace Dock Lake from being drained and she and the Town Board blocked a high voltage station with a constant “buzz” noise from coming to Verplanck by purchasing the property.
No government leader is more respectful and appreciative to military veterans and she has fought for years to keep needed services at the VA Hospital in Montrose. Providing recreational facilities for youth and families has also been a top priority of her administration, and she continues to not give up on a personal passion—having an indoor ice skating rink in town, eyeing perhaps the current ShopRite land on Route 6 which will become available once the larger supermarket opens across from the Cortlandt Town Center.
She has done all this while also keeping town taxes in check with one of the best records in the state, and probably the nation. Detractors have tried to pick apart her success, but the proof is in the pudding. Cortlandt remains one of the most affordable suburban municipalities to live in Westchester.
Puglisi’s opponent this year, Liam Carroll, has an impressive background in finance and has been involved with many charitable causes, but he has no involvement at all at any level in Cortlandt government. It’s one thing to be a whiz in the financial industry. It’s quite another to be able to run a town and know how to navigate all the levels of government necessary with a municipality without any previous experience.
Well respected by her peers, Puglisi has dedicated her life for more than a quarter of a century to the town where she raised twins, a girl and a boy, who have grown up to be a successful lawyer and doctor. Her commitment has not gone unnoticed.
Town Board Race
In the Town Board race for two seats, Councilwoman Debra Carter-Costello and Planning Board member James Creighton, running with Puglisi, are squaring off with Republicans Mark Goodenow and Glen Hockley.
Hockley has served in the past as a councilman in White Plains, but White Plains is a much different ball of wax than Cortlandt. Goodenow serves on the Cortlandt Indian Point Task Force and was one of the leaders in starting up the Power in Cortlandt group in the Hendrick Hudson School District, formed to study the long-term effects of the nuclear plant shutting down.
Carter-Costello has served the last four years on the Town Board and been part of all of the town’s successful efforts. Creighton has many years of experience working on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and with the Planning Board. He should have no problem fitting in on a board that doesn’t seem to miss a beat.
With the Town Board running like a well-oiled machine, Carter-Costello and Creighton are best choices to keep things rolling.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/