Wray Leads Unite Sleepy Hollow Ticket to Election Sweep

Published 10 years ago10y ago • Bookmarks: 135

Victorious Unite Sleepy Hollow Ticket (L-R:) Mayor Ken Wray and trustees John Leavy, Denise Scaglione and Glenn Rosenbloom. (photo: Sunny McLean)

April 1, 2015

| by Rick Pezzullo |

Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray was reelected to a fourth term last month with a convincing win over Trustee Karin Wompa.

The three trustee candidates on Wray’s Unite Sleepy Hollow ticket also won handily, giving the mayor a 5-2 edge on the village board.

Support our Sponsors

“The voters listened to what our positions were in general and agreed with what we were saying,” Wray said March 18 from J.P. Doyle’s. “I don’t think we will agree on everything, but we’ll be able to move forward in a way that the village will be best represented.”

According to unofficial results from the Westchester Board of Elections, Wray received 882 votes to 418 for Wompa.

“I think we ran an honest and above board campaign,” said Wompa at Santorini Restaurant. “It’s unfortunate most of the residents accepted what his campaign claimed as facts. I hope this campaign has humbled him (Wray), and he lives up to the responsibilities of his mayor duties.”

The results of the trustee race for three available seats were equally dominating for the Unite Sleepy Hollow team. Trustee Glenn Rosenbloom was elected to a second term as the leading vote getter with 873 votes (23%). Finishing close behind were running mates John Leavy (826 votes) and Denise Scaglione (814 votes).

The top vote getter for the unsuccessful Democratic and Responsive Government Party team was former trustee Jose Chevere with 460 votes. Trustee Bruce Campbell, who was seeking a fourth term, picked up 442 votes, while Mary Linder had 431 votes.

“I’m disappointed in the results,” Campbell said. “I think our team had the best solutions for the future of the village but I wish them luck and good judgment for the benefit of all of us who live in Sleepy Hollow.”

“During my time as a trustee I’ve met an untold number of residents that I wouldn’t have met otherwise, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve,” he added.

Wray, who lives in Webber Park, first joined the board in 2007 as a trustee. He is executive director of the Parodneck Foundation, a New York City non-profit that provides affordable housing and services for people of low and moderate income. He has also worked on programs for disabled veterans, seniors, victims of domestic violence and populations in need.

Wompa, a trustee for the last seven years who has one year left on her current term, has lived in the village since 1996 and has been president of the Sleepy Hollow Downtown Revitalization Committee since 2009. She previously worked in project management at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

During the contentious campaign, Wray and Wompa differed over the direction of the village and the way it was being led. Wray pointed proudly to his role in getting the former General Motors site back on the tax rolls after 29 years and helping to finalize the last minute negotiations with developer Lighthouse Landing.

“Not since Washington Irving penned the legend has there been such a singular event in our history,” Wray declared during the election. “The village has truly shed a huge weight from its industrial past.”

He said construction on the mixed-use project should begin in 2016.

Wompa maintained Wray had failed to address traffic issues in the village that will likely worsen from the project and neglected to appoint a design committee for the site as required. She also blamed Wray for the friction that had split the village board.

“He dismisses the opinions of half of the board,” she said during the campaign. “He tends to make unilateral decisions, or indecisions actually. There are projects, decisions and initiatives that have languished and come to a halt on my opponent’s desk, under his charge.”

Besides Campbell, Trustee Evelyn Stupel, who opted not to seek reelection, will also be leaving the board.

Read or leave a comment on this story...

Support our Sponsors