Cheney, Bachman win village of Warwick trustee election

Incumbent Barry Cheney and newcomer Corey Bachman have won the hotly contested Village of Warwick election for two trustee seats.

Cheney, who has served 12 years on the village board, was the top vote getter with 838 in the race that had four names on the ballot.

Bachman is a newcomer to politics in the village. He took the other seat on the board with 625 votes.

Stephen Kitar and Alfonso Gonnella, who ran as a team, received 112 and 72 votes respectively.

Mary Collura, who had petitioned to be on the ballot for the original election date back in March, was disqualified by the board of elections after nearly half of her signatures were invalidated. She instead ran a write-in campaign that garnered 383 votes.

Trustee Eileen Patterson did not seek reelection to her seat on the board of trustees.

The term of office for village trustees is four years.

Contentious election

This election was postponed from March by Gov. Andrew Cuomo because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the Sept. 15 election date drew closer, the mud started to fly in letters and especially on social media groups.

This election was more combative than village elections usually are. It started back in February when the recording secretary of the town’s Democratic Party filed objections to the nominating petitions of Collura, Kitar and Gonnella, resulting in Collura’s disqualification.

Kitar is a local developer, most notably known for his pending application to build a hotel and series of cottages on the nine-acre Pulpit Rock property in the town of Warwick. Critics of Kitar posted documents, obtained through the freedom of information law (FOIL), on local social media groups alleging serious building violations against Kitar in the village and another municipality. At least one resident received a cease and desist order from Kitar’s attorney.

Bachman’s critics said he hasn’t lived in Warwick long enough – he is a three-year village resident.

Happy to move forward with voters’ support

Cheney said he is happy to have the support of village voters and intends to continue doing the essential work in the village.

“I am gratified by the tremendous turnout of voters and the support they showed,” said Cheney. “They really appreciate and care about their village. I’m looking forward to accomplishing a lot for our village over the next four years and, as always, I am available to hear your concerns and ideas.”

Bachman was equally grateful.

“I feel everyone is welcome in Warwick and everyone can contribute, especially in public service,” Bachman said the morning after the election. “I think that’s a win for Warwick. I love our community and it’s exciting to get the opportunity and trust from voters to move us into the future.”

Bachman and Cheney will be sworn in this Monday, Sept. 21, at the village board meeting. The work session begins at 7 p.m. with the regular meeting to follow at 7:30 p.m.