The weather may be saying otherwise, but Spring has come to Peekskill and in an election year for local offices that means politics becomes a major focus. This will be the first local election since we launched InsidePEEK so we are looking forward to bringing the tidbits and facts not covered by the media – and we will do so right up until Election Day.

Let’s begin by looking at the local offices up for election in 2017. On the Republican side, Mayor Catalina is in his second 2-year term and has already announced he is running for a third. Councilmen Joe Torres and Vincent “Boo” Vesce are completing their first 4-year terms. So far, Torres has expressed he is running for re-election while Vesce has remained non-committal on his plans. Drew Claxton is the only Democrat whose term is ending this year and she has also remained non-committal on her plans but we have received numerous messages that she will not be seeking re-election. This is significant since that would mean that the entire Democratic slate would consist of new candidates. We use the word ‘new’ very loosely, as you will soon understand.

Through multiple sources InsidePEEK has learned that the Peekskill Democrats are having a tough time finding candidates. It seems their illegal and unethical ways have made many people wary of getting involved. That leaves them with having to look back at past failed candidates and office holders.

Let’s look at what we have discovered so far:

Conventional political wisdom is to have a sitting council person (whose term is not up for election) to run for mayor. That way, if they lose, they don’t lose their council seat – we have been told it is considered “a safe seat.” That leaves the Dems three choices for a mayoral candidate; McKenzie, Rainey or Talbot – all bad candidates for various reasons. Early on, the choice by both the party and herself was McKenzie but she has realized too many unethical moves and with the probability of sensitive information becoming public during a campaign, she has backed out. Because of Talbot’s cluelessness and lack of knowledge of everyday issues, the party never considered her. For example, a recent council meeting was cancelled because she was going to have to preside over it due to Claxton and Catalina’s absence. The Democrats were petrified she would screw things up so they had the meeting cancelled. Safe politics for them, bad government for Peekskill citizens.

That leaves only one option – Andre Noodle Noo Rainey. It looks like he will be the Democratic Party nominee for mayor. Be prepared to see and hear a lot from him soon. He spends most of his time in the Kiley Center with children but sooner or later he will have to address adult issues if he wants to run for mayor. He is also going to have to answer for his questionable actions. A number of readers have reached out to us claiming they will be coming forward with information, photos and even legal documents (such as Restraining Orders) if he decides to run. InsidePEEK will bring any and all credible and factual evidence forward at the appropriate time.

Well, if the prospects for mayor aren’t bad enough for the Peekskill Democrats just look at who will be running this year for common council! At the top of the list is former failed council member Marybeth McGowan. Multiple sources have made it clear she is running and she has been showing up to meetings and events for the last month or two as she attempts to get herself known to the public again. She lost her election four years ago and wants revenge. Plus, as with most of the Democrats in office, she needs her position back to help circumvent the city laws and codes for her trolley business. She was able to pull some strings as a councilwoman to get a new home for herself and the trolley but she needs more. So, being in office will give her the leverage to get the trolley hired for more city-related events. More on that soon.

The Dems are also looking to rehash another failed former council member – Andy Torres. They feel, as with McGowan, that Andy was caught up in the anti-Mary Foster wave four years ago. They need a Latino candidate and like that Andy doesn’t ask questions and just votes the way they tell him to. Like McGowan, he will have to defend the votes he took in the past that devastated the financial stability of the city and wasted $11 million in reserves.

Let’s also look at the latest debacle caused by the all-Democratic Foster Administration (which includes Claxton, McGowan and Andy Torres) – THE NEW WATER METERS!

In their infinite wisdom, the Foster Administration decided to make every homeowner replace their water meters with new technology. Fair enough, but they failed to do the research required to do it properly to the BENEFIT of the homeowner instead of to their DETRIMENT. Now, as the Foster-Claxton-McGowan-McKenzie-Torres plan is being implemented, homeowner’s water bills are blowing up into the thousands of dollars! Why? Because while replacing existing meters the city is discovering that the remote electronic read-out connected to the meter is inaccurate. They claim the interior meter reads correctly but the attached remote outdoor meter (the one the city reads to determine billing) is inaccurate. Many if not most of these meters (which were installed by the city) have been in place for decades. The Democrats solution? Make every homeowner pay the difference! That’s right – go back as many years as possible to calculate the discrepancy and unfairly bill the homeowner – which in some cases runs into the thousands of dollars! They are also making condo owners pay for the meter itself!

Mayor Catalina and the two Republican Councilman, Joe Torres and Vincent Vesce think it is unfair and unacceptable to bill homeowners for a mistake made by the city – especially to go back decades. It is not the homeowners fault that the city installed supposedly inaccurate remote meters. Catalina, Joe Torres and Vesce are demanding that the council vote to prevent the unfair back-billing and move forward with the new meters with more accurate readings for the future. InsidePEEK agrees with this approach and urges the Democratic Council members to support Catalina’s proposal.

The water meter issue is just one of many failed and unvetted ideas that the Democratic Council Majority have put in place over their years in power. It is hard to believe that bringing back the same failed candidates will help them in the election. They already have a huge challenge proposing Peekskill have a Mayor Noodle.

Is it possible they even bring back Mary Foster? We have been told she can be seen daily in every coffee house from Croton to the new Kurzhal’s in Peekskill. She makes the rounds, with her usual coffee cup in hand, going as unrecognized by the average resident as she was while in office. Nah, they couldn’t be THAT desperate.