Wright Challenges DiCarlo for Putnam Legislative Seat
Former Legislator Kevin Wright wants his job back. Wright has thrown his hat into the Putnam County legislative race for District 9 against incumbent Leg. Anthony DiCarlo.
Wright, who represented District 9 in the legislature from 1980- 1987 then as the county’s district attorney from 1998- 2007, said it was the public that made him consider a return to politics.
“I’m running for the District 9 Legislative Seat, after encouragement from many citizens upset because the incumbent is out of touch with Putnam’s needs and fights instead for the needs of his full-time public employer, the City of New Rochelle School District,” said Wright. “Unlike the incumbent, if elected I will devote myself to serving only one public employer and I’ll have no conflicting employment loyalties in a different county.”
DiCarlo, who is finishing his first term in the legislature, has been in politics for the past ten years. He served two terms as a councilman on the Carmel Town Board, during which he was also appointed deputy supervisor. DiCarlo is currently the legislature’s deputy chairman and the head of the personnel committee.
During his entire time as a politician, DiCarlo has been upfront about his occupation. He is an educator. He is an administrator. He has worked for the Lakeland School District, Tuckahoe School District and now as a principal in
the New Rochelle School District.
“During my career, being an administrator as well as an elected official, never have the two intertwined or been an
issue,” said DiCarlo.
In fact, DiCarlo thinks that it is the skills he has learned while being an administrator that have helped him as an elected official.
“I have learned the importance of listening and building a consensus,” said DiCarlo. “When there is an issue I know how important it is to get all of the parties involved to the table. They may not get their way, but at least they can feel like they were part of the conversation.”
Wright, who served as the chairman of the legislature from 1984-1986, is an advocate of the state mandate tax-cap. He claims that DiCarlo is against it.
“The incumbent wants that law thrown out and mocks the law as being ‘ridiculous,’ arguing that it ‘is impossible for schools and government to operate within such tight confines’ of the tax cap,” said Wright.
“He even lobbies our community to ‘march on Albany’ to overthrow the tax cap, saying ‘This is a crossroads. The two percent cap is going to cripple our entire region.’”
DiCarlo said that he is not against the two percent tax cap, it is the lack of mandate relief that he and other officials from school districts and local government alike have been complaining about.
Both candidates have been interviewed by the Carmel Republican Committee. The committee will endorse a candidate later in the month at its annual convention.
Both candidates vow to run whether they get the nod from the party or not.
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.