Schmitt Looking to Force GOP Primary for Carmel Supervisor
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Former Carmel Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt’s 14-year reign came to a halt in 2021 when he lost a Republican primary that June to Mike Cazzari. Two years removed from office, Schmitt is itching to return, and to do so, he’ll have to turn the tables on Schmitt in another GOP battle. Last week, Schmitt announced on his Facebook page that he was planning to go head-to-head with Cazzari on June 27.
“For the next 21 weeks I will be out in the community working hard to earn your support,” Schmitt stated to residents.
Cazzari, who was once Schmitt’s superior in the Police Department, retired in July 2020 after 34 years with the force. One of the main messages of his 2021 campaign was Schmitt had become too complacent after 14 years in the position.
Schmitt was born and raised in Mahopac and began his police career in New York City at age 22. Cazzari has lived in Mahopac for 29 years.
Cazzari said Saturday the knowledge and leadership he gained from being a police officer has proven valuable in his current role running Carmel.
“I have brought energy and new ideas to town government that had been stagnant for too long,” Cazzari said. “In the past year I have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of the residents of Carmel. My efforts in securing grants have benefited our community through water quality testing of several town lakes and additionally, I was able to obtain a grant for some of our youth sports programming.”
“I will continue to fight for funding to help lower our taxes,” he added. “I am making progress towards my plans of increasing our tax base with expansion of our water and sewer infrastructure and acquiring municipal parking which will ultimately grow our business community.”
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/