Budget Approved, Seiden to Take Blatt's Seat

The official tally was announced shortly after 9:45 p.m. last night, and the school budget was approved, with 1,887 voters saying "Yes" and 733 saying "No."

And Scarsdale obviously came out to express strong feelings about this year's election at the polls, thanks in no small part to the outsider campaign waged by Bob Harrison, a 30-year resident who voiced his opposition to higher taxes and not enough givebacks from teachers' salaries.

The voters have spoken, and in Scarsdale, a heavy investment in education will continue to rule the land.

Suzanne Seiden, the School Board Nominating Committee's pick for outgoing board member Jeffrey Blatt, was selected by an overwhelming majority - 67 percent - of voters, sweeping the win with 1,773 votes, to Bob Harrison's 941 votes.

In total, 2,620 ballots were cast, among them 47 absentee voters.

Seiden, who was relatively quiet in her campaigning (aside from a full-sized ad taken out in the Scarsdale Inquirer and a visit to the train station this afternoon) was embraced by her family and friends shortly after the announcement was made around 9:50 p.m.

"I didn't expect to have to campaign, but I'm very happy with the results, and I'm thrilled to serve on the Scarsdale school board, and am grateful to have all the community support," said Seiden.

Her term doesn't begin until July, but as district clerk Lois Rehm noted, she'd be starting training and orientation for the new role in the coming weeks.

"I certainly am very appreciative of the community support, so it was great to have all of that from everyone," Seiden added.

The candidates congratulated each other following the announcement.

Seiden's eldest son, Sam, who helped her campaign online with a Facebook page, hugged his mother, and offered to pick her up some ice cream or coffee on his way home.

Meanwhile, Harrison went from voting machine to voting machine with polling officers after the vote was announced by former Village trustee Dan Hochvert, in order to verify the number of votes was an accurate count.

Reached afterwards for comment, he said, "The victory is that we came out to educate the Scarsdale voters about the budget , and the future is the key; the long-term, sustainable future is at stake," he said.

"Voters have to realize that teachers' pay has to be bent downwards, or we are going to have taxes go up another 87 percent in the next ten years," he said, alluding to the upward trajectory in the growth of teacher salaries over the past decade.

"In the Mamaroneck Strip that was an increase of 106 percent," he added.

While he searched for his next thought, a Seiden supporter, Valarie Abrahams, approached him.

"I really admire your efforts," she said, and flashed him a warm smile, shaking his hand. "I really admire what you've done."

Harrison thanked her, humbly, adding he'd hoped to get more votes, and had actually been aiming for 1,000. 

Posted at 10:17 p.m. May 18, 2010