After a hard-fought election cycle that saw six different candidates competing for only three open trustee seats, two new faces, and one familiar one, were sworn into their positions on the village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees on Monday.
New on the Board of Trustees dais will be Democrats Keith Waitt and Victor Tafur, both of whom will serve their first-ever terms on the village board after winning convincing victories against their Republican counterparts.
After Village Justice Dan Gallagher, a Democrat, who would swear in the rest of Election Day’s victors, was sworn into office by town of Mamaroneck Supervisor Nancy Seligson, a Democrat, Waitt, thanking village voters and peers for their confidence, chose to frame his first term through the lens of a famous quote from American theologian and political commentator, Reinhold Niebuhr.
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference,” Waitt said.
Tafur, who has been involved with village environmental issues for several years, however, reflected on his first-ever term as village trustee with an anecdote.
“I stood at that podium about five years ago, not knowing anybody in this village. I read the comprehensive plan and came to suggest a few things,” Tafur said, referring to a document updated in 2012 that serves as the framework for the future development of the village. “I suggested they do a generic environmental impact statement for the plan; I was dismissed. No hard feelings. Five years later, I get a chance to sit here. Who would have imagined that?”
The only incumbent running in this year’s election, Leon Potok, a Democrat, was also among the three victors in the race, and after being sworn in, offered those in attendance yet another perspective.
“We will have disagreements from time to time,” said Potok, who will now serve his third term as trustee. “But I hope to solve them in a civil manner, with dialogue and conversation, and an exchange of ideas, and ultimately let the majority determine where we go; and determine based on what’s best for the village.”
The first official meeting for the new Board of Trustees is scheduled to take place on Dec. 19.
