2 In GOP Primary For Harrison Town Judge Seat

HARRISON, NY — Patricia A. O’Callaghan is challenging Pasquale Gizzo for the position of Town Justice in Harrison. The Republican, Conservative and Independence party primaries are June 25.

Town Justices serve four-year terms and are part-time.

An experienced trial lawyer, O'Callaghan was a longtime County Attorney in the Family Court Bureau. For the past 10 years she has been at the Westchester County Solid Waste Commission, where she has been Acting Executive Director since 2018. Previously she headed the county's Ethics Commission.

"Our combined goal as citizens of our town should be to find the best candidate without compromising," she said in a letter to Republican voters.

Gizzo has other problems in addition to a challenger from his own party.

The IRS has liens on Gizzo's house, 11 Park Lane in West Harrison, since 2017, according to The Journal News. Wells Fargo Bank has foreclosed on the property, which is being challenged in court. A spokesman for the bank told TJN that they had been working with the Gizzos for nine years. The foreclosure process began in 2015, the paper reported.

Gizzo, who was first elected town judge in 2015, has a salary of $69,500 in 2019, according to the town budget.

The IRS website says:

A federal tax lien is the government’s legal claim against your property when you neglect or fail to pay a tax debt. The lien protects the government’s interest in all your property, including real estate, personal property and financial assets. A federal tax lien exists after:
The IRS:

• Puts your balance due on the books (assesses your liability);
• Sends you a bill that explains how much you owe (Notice and Demand for Payment); and

You:

• Neglect or refuse to fully pay the debt in time.

The IRS files a public document, the Notice of Federal Tax Lien, to alert creditors that the government has a legal right to your property. For more information, refer to Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process (PDF) .

In 2015, Gizzo and Joseph L. Cannella, neither of whom were judges, defeated sitting justices Marc J. Lust and Nelson E. Canter in the Republican primary. Cannella died in 2017 and Daniel Angiolillo was elected to the job that November. His term runs through 2021.

It was the second time Gizzo had run.