It's Final: Savolt Win Confirmed in Mamaroneck Village

by Judy Silberstein

(November 20, 2007) A final tally from Westchester County's Board of Elections released Friday, November 16, confirms the victory of Kathy Savolt, the Democratic candidate for mayor in the Village of Mamaroneck, over Phil Trifiletti, the incumbent. Mr. Trifiletti has conceded, and Ms. Savolt is continuing to prepare for her swearing in on December 3.

VOM Mayor-Elect: Kathy Savolt celebrated victory on the basis of unofficial results on Election Night. Photo by Dan Gallagher.

Ms. Savolt had already declared victory on election night, November 6, when numbers from Democratic poll watchers showed her 112 votes ahead. (See: In Village of Mamaroneck, Savolt & Robinowitz Unseat Trifiletti & Fava.) However, with the unofficial County numbers showing her ahead by only 49 votes, Mr. Trifiletti said he would wait for official results.

The revised numbers include votes from a review of the voting machine results plus those from absentee and affidavit ballots. This total showed Ms. Savolt with 1,873 to Mr. Trifiletti's 1,746 - a margin of 137 votes. Certification of the results will occur, probably, by early December.

"The election is over now," said John DeCrescenzo, chair of the Mamaroneck Village Republican Party, "And now everyone has to get back to the business of making the VIllage a wondeful place to live. I want to thank Phil for his many years of service as a trustee and the past six years as mayor."

The transition to a new administration is ongoing.

Not that there is much of a transition process, said the incoming mayor. “There is no official transition in the Village of Mamaroneck,” said Ms. Savolt. “Historically, one mayor leaves and another comes in. The staff helps and the trustees are helping, but as far as the outgoing mayor, I haven’t heard from him and I don’t expect to.” She has been using the interim period to meet with Village employees and officials from neighboring communities. She is also reviewing her own archives. “I still have my files from the last time on the board, [as a trustee from 2000 to 2001],” she said, “and some are still relevant to issues that remain open five years later.”

Tom Murphy is Deputy Mayor

On Tuesday, November 20, Ms. Savolt announced her first appointment: Trustee Tom Murphy as deputy mayor. He will be the longest serving trustee on what will become an all-Democratic Village Board. He served one term (2001-2003) and then returned to the board in 2004, when he was the only Democrat.

Other changes in personnel have begun: there is a new building inspector as of October 29, and the board is searching for a Village attorney, a position approved just before the election. “Lennie (Verrastro, the Village manager) has told us he is going to retire sometime in 2008,” said Ms. Savolt.

The mayor-elect is also soliciting volunteers from throughout the community (and regardless of party) to fill vacancies on many boards and commissions, including one on the Planning Board, one on the Zoning Board and three on the Harbor and Coastal Zone Management Commission. (To volunteer, send resumes to the mayor elect at Village Hall, 123 Mamaroneck Avenue, Mamaroneck, NY 10543 by November 30.)

Descriptions of the boards and committees can be found on the Village website at www.village.mamaroneck.ny.us. – Updating that website, said Ms. Savolt, is another item on a long list of Village operations she plans to address.

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