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EASTCHESTER, N.Y. Challenger Jerry Napolitano won a seat on the Eastchester Board of Fire Commissioners by a landslide Tuesday night. Napolitano bested his opponents with a total of 1,096 votes. Incumbent Commissioner Keith Fennelly garnered 318 votes and challenger David Levy had a total of 39 votes.
Napolitano got the highest number of votes in all 10 of the voting districts including those in Bronxville and Tuckahoe.
Napolitano said his message all along has been to raise awareness about the board that recently passed a $14.9 million dollar budget and raised taxes by 4 percent.
"The turnout was almost triple the amount of voters who came out last year," Napolitano said. "It sends a clear message that the public wants to be involved."
Last year, 675 residents went out to vote. This year, a total of 1,453 voters went to the polls.
Commissioner Dennis Winter, who was returned to a second five-year term on the board last year, said that Napolitano clearly had support throughout the town.
"This is the highest vote count that I can remember and the highest number of votes for a single candidate that I have ever seen," Winter, a resident of Bronxville.
Longtime Commissioner Ray Albanese, who has been on the board for 30 years, told Napolitano that he loves being on the board.
"I still love being a part of the board," Albanese said. "I find it very rewarding."
Napolitano has said that one of his priorities will be to create a fire district website, including email addresses for all five members of the board .
Eastchester Fire Chief Michael Grogan said he agreed with residents in that the board of fire commissioners needed change.
"The system we had in place has not been working effectively or efficiently," Grogan said. "We all need to sit down at a table and discuss the needs of the department.
Napolitano will take office in January.
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