Election Write-In Blitz Could Indicate a Challenge to Scarsdale's Non-Partisan System

In a rare contested village election on March 15, two write-in candidates received 27 percent of the total votes cast.

Usually, mayoral and Village trustee candidates are vetted by the Scarsdale Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) and are rarely opposed by independent or write-in candidates. Potential candidates are interviewed by the CNC, which is comprised of six voting members from each of Scarsdale's five neighborhoods, as well as four non-voting members.

But this year, some residents and even members of the CNC, were displeased with the nominations of Miriam Flisser for mayor and Bob Harrison for a trustee position. The CNC also nominated Robert Steves and Stacy Brodsky for trustees, but no write-in candidates opposed them.

Out of a total of 934 votes for mayor, Flisser received 85 percent. Write-in mayoral candidate Sharon Lindsay received 136 votes. Bob Harrison received 83 percent of votes for the trustee position to which he was nominated by the CNC. Write-in candidate Robert Selvaggio received 17 percent of votes.

The controversy surrounding the write-in candidates involves the possibility of some CNC members, whose identities have not been confirmed, who may have breached their oath of confidentiality by leaking information about the CNC's candidate interviews to press outlets like the Scarsdale Inquirer and Scarsdale10583.com.

James Pullman, who served this year as a Scarsdale Neighborhood Association Presidents (SNAP) representative to the CNC, said that the write-in blitz seemed to have arisen spontaneously.

"An opposition party did not spring up in this election," Pullman said. "It was more or less a last-minute stealth campaign. Scarsdale10583.com announced to the world [on March 11] that there was a write-in campaign."

Pullman noted that many senior citizens in the community who may not be as tech-savvy as younger residents weren't aware that the write-in campaign existed. But when they found out, Pullman explained, many showed up at the polls simply to defend Scarsdale's long-standing non-partisan system.

"The older folks in Scarsdale who were proud of the process wanted to show their support for the non-partisan system," Pullman said.

But for other members of the community, Harrison was a less-than-ideal candidate for Village trustee, even if he was nominated by the CNC.

On Scarsdale10583.com, some candidates expressed their concerns by commenting on an article about the write-in campaign.

Jeff Blatt was one such commenter. A former school board trustee, his expired seat was vied for in another rare contested election between Harrison and SBNC candidate Suzanne Seiden in 2010.

Blatt wrote on Scarsdale10583.com, "For the record, I have never met the Robert Selvaggio, and I could not even tell you what he looks like. I am simply voting for him because as I have written, anyone is preferred, by me, to Bob Harrison."

Selvaggio did not return requests for comment from Patch.

"Quaker Ridge Mom" was another commenter who said that during his school board run last year, Harrison maintained a "single-minded devotion to narrow issues regardless of actual facts." She also said, "I feared that if he secured a position [on the school board], his very presence would discourage good people from volunteering."
 
Pullman said, however, that "when Harrison was nominated, everyone figured there would be some issues with him. But there was also a feeling that he was nominated fair and square. Nobody could claim that the process was tainted."

"Everyone had a feeling that they'd have to do some campaigning for Harrison because he was a controversial character," Pullman added. 

Pullman noted that Harrison acknowledged that he would need to shift his attitude from a local government critic to a part of the establishment during his campaign.

"Harrison was first campaigning on himself," Pullman said. "He was going from being an outsider and a gadfly who could say whatever he pleased to being a part of the establishment. What works as a gadfly doesn't work when you're a part of the establishment and on the Board."

A sign of this change, Pullman said, was when Harrison went to a Village Board meeting during his campaign and didn't say a one word.

CNC Chair Bruce Wells said, "I don't think everyone in Scarsdale shares the same opinion of Bob Harrison. Over two-thirds of voters voted for him. I think that shows a lot of support."

Noting that the CNC is governed by a non-partisan resolution that includes complete confidentiality about the candidate nomination process, Pullman said that "the CNC had a group of members who thought things went so far wrong that they could break confidentiality and run this write-in campaign."

"There's reason to believe that someone is leaking info from these confidential meetings, but how would you punish them if you have no idea who they are?" Pullman said. 

In a March 18 article in the Scarsdale Inquirer, previously leaked information included that Sharon Lindsay and Robert Selvaggio had been interviewed by the CNC, but did not acquire the majority vote.

Wells noted, though, that CNC candidates are not bound to confidentiality about their interviews.

While Lindsay declined to speak with Patch, she told the Inquirer that she was "disappointed that I wasn't chosen by the committee."

B. Kathleen Munguia, who represented Heathcote on this year's CNC and is Vice-President of the Scarsdale Forum, said that the write-in blitz "could be an indication that some people were unhappy with the slate, but it could also be a larger message that for those who seem to be aware of the process in general, they may have been unhappy with how the CNC proceeded this year."

Munguia said she supports the non-partisan nominating process because it "focuses on candidates that can bring a variety of skills to the board without a concern about where they stand on particular issues."

Pullman echoed Munguia: "You don't have a lot of money, effort, and energy wasted on partisan politics," he explained. "In communities that have a conventional two-party system, you might spend $50,000 to get elected. [In the non-party system], you choose people based on basis of talent rather than political considerations."

Munguia noted that the Village's election laws have "safeguards from preventing the [nominating process] from becoming a monopoly."

"The law allows a petition for independent candidates and write-in campaigns," she said. "It's a check and balance that's provided to help people express their opinion."

"I know many people are questioning whether or not [the CNC's] goals are really happening," Munguia added. "My answer is that people need to get involved so we can assure that that happens."

Munguia said that the leak of details surrounding the nominating process "may very well have affected the way people perceived the process this year. We're asked to preserve the confidentiality of the people who speak to us and what they say."

"I personally was upset about this," Munguia continued. "Breeching confidentiality does not encourage candidates to come forward, nor does it encourage our citizens to be forthright in viewing the candidates that we interviewed."

"I am disappointed in members of the CNC that divulged confidential info. Unfortunately, this will impair the CNC from functioning at an optimal level going forward for the next two years," Wells said. "If candidates and other sources can not trust the CNC to keep information confidential, then people will be less forthcoming in submitting their name for consideration and for offering insight on the candidates before the CNC."

"People felt perfectly free this year to say that the system is no good and totally trash it," Pullman said. "The non-partisan system is the only system of government that there is in Scarsdale. There's a real problem in getting people to understand it and support it. This is going to be an issue next year."