For those who have been away this summer on an island, or simply taken a vacation from following local politics, there have been some further developments in the race to succeed Mayor Doug French, who announced his intention not to seek a second term.

 

By Tom McDermott

 

For those who have been away this summer on an island, or simply taken a vacation from following local politics, there have been some further developments in the race to succeed Mayor Doug French, who announced his intention not to seek a second term.

 

In early June, City Councilman Joe Sack became the first candidate for mayor of Rye, having been picked by Rye Republican leader Anthony Piscionere and other district Republicans. Rounding out that “Rye United” ticket, seeking the three open Council seats in addition to the mayor’s were: City Councilwoman Julie Killian, joined by registered Democrat Kristin Bucci, and former Marine Terry McCartney.

 

After that, everyone waited for the Democrats to act. And waited some more, well into July, before they put forth two candidates for the three City Council seats, Meg Cameron and Shari Punyon, and, in an unintended gift to Sack, no candidate for mayor.

 

But, what might have seemed like a slam-dunk election at that time may have turned into more of a challenge. Two independent mayoral candidates emerged as a direct result of the Democrats’ pass. Both current City Councilman and Deputy Mayor Peter Jovanovich and Greenhaven resident and Archie Comics executive Nancy Silberkleit filed far more than the required 377 signatures with the County Board of Elections before the August 20 deadline.

 

And, so, it looks like Rye will have a real mayoral campaign after all.