Putnam County Leg. District 1: Scuccimarra vs. Rosario

Both Garrison residents and former members of the Philiptown Town Board, Democrat Steve Rosario and Republican Barbara Scuccimarra are running to be the next county legislator to represent District No. 1, encompassing the Town of Philipstown and a small portion of Putnam Valley, that is being vacated by Legislator Vincent Tamagna at the end of year.

Scuccimarra also will appear on the Conservative and Independence Party lines on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Scuccimarra is a lifelong Putnam County resident, who grew up in Putnam Valley and raised her family in Garrison.

A florist by trade, Scuccimarra worked at a Cold Spring shope for 12 years and is an active volunteer with the Therapeutic Equestrian Center.

Scuccimarra served one term on the town board and was unsuccessful in her bid for reelection last year. Her deep connection to the community, and having a vision of where she would like it to go, inspired her to enter the legislative race, she said.

Asked what she accomplished while on the town board that might illustrate to voters why she would make a good legislator, Scuccimarra said it was her involvement in updating the town’s zoning codes that had not been done in 25 years and involved much discussion and input from the community.

“There was some opposition to it…it was about the Route 9 corridor. We worked together and came up with solutions and, in the end, adopted something the whole town could be proud of,” Scuccimarra said.

Scuccimarra said this was the kind of coalition-building she wanted to bring to the legislature, if elected.

Rosario is a 23-year resident of Garrison. After serving one term on the town board, Rosario opted not to run for reelection and instead entered into the race for the District No. 1 legislative seat, which he lost.

An attorney by training, Rosario is the senior director for the American Chemistry Council that represents chemical and plastics companies, where he has worked for 22 years.

Rosario said he was inspired to run again for the legislative seat because the county that he moved to with his wife more than two decades ago was no longer the same – having become the 12^th most taxed county in the country.

“I felt it was time for me to get involved again,” he said.

Asked what he accomplished while on the town board that might illustrate to voters why he would make a good legislator, Rosario said he pushed to have the town board meetings televised, co-authored the town’s steep slopes law; was a lead advocate on creating town park; and developed a policy to preserve and maintain the town’s dirt roads.

Appointed to the Putnam County Commission for Fiscal Vision and Accountability five years ago, Scuccimarra said continuing the group’s mission to find cost-savings and to cut excess spending would be a top priority for her.

Scuccimarra said heading into the future, the legislature would have to work with town and state officials to push for relief from unfunded state mandates that eat up a large portion of the county’s budget, as well as find new ways to generate revenues – potentially by fostering tourism that would benefit the county as a whole.

“I want to unite east and west,” Scuccimarra said bringing the two sides of the county together.

If elected, Rosario said his top priorities would be to trim the budget by combing through it line by line; to examine county programs in order to identify potential savings; and to push for the county to establish a “long-deserved senior center” in Philipstown.

The two candidates differed on the recent discussion over the residency requirement for the county planning commissioner and the possibility of the county sharing sales tax revenues with the towns.

Scuccimarra said if an applicant went through the vetting process and was found to be the best candidate, then she saw no problem with hiring an out-of-county resident.

Rosario said he supported the residency requirement for top county posts.

“When you live in the county…you are exposed to everything that makes up Putnam County,” he said. “If you are not a resident, you go home at night and you shut it all out.”

Scuccimarra said sales tax revenues made up a large portion of the county’s budget needed to pay for essential services and that given the current economic climate, now was not the time to consider sharing.

“Sure, I would like Philipstown get a share of that…but at what cost? If you take from one pocket….are our county taxes going to go up to make up for what we give the municipalities in sales tax?,” she said.

Rosario said he favored the idea, with a small start; such as taking $1 million in sales tax and splitting it up among the towns.

“[Other] counties manage to do it. If they can do it, we can do it,” Rosario said.

When it came to borrowing versus budgeting for big ticket items, such as for vehicle replacement, Rosario said his preference was against bonding.

“Pay as you go in the budget, then, when you reach a limit, you borrow,” he said. “The issue is you are paying back $2.50 or $3 for every dollar borrowed.”

Scuccimarra said the new administration was doing a good job of amending the lack of long term planning in the past. She said while interest rates were low, the county also might consider doing some incremental annual budgeting, too, for items like vehicle replacement.

Scuccimarra said she hoped voters would remember her motto: people before politics.

“You have to put your political party aside and do what is the best,” she said. “I have always been able to bring parties together and to communicate with all of the citizens of Philipstown and I’d like to bring that to the county.”

Rosario said, if elected, he would be a voice on the legislature that had been lacking for many years.

“I have raised a lot of issues. There are going to be some very, very strong forces that are going to be opposing all of this,” he said. “County government has lost its mission which is to serve the people. It, today, serves itself.”