WHITE PLAINS - City Democrats last night gave state Assemblyman Adam Bradley their unanimous nomination for mayor and launched a campaign they hope will give the party all seven seats on the council for the first time in the history of this once solidly Republican city.

Bradley was in Albany and did not attend the session. Reached afterward, he said the Democratic slate - which also will include Common Council candidates Tom Roach, a two-term incumbent, and newcomers David Buchwald and Beth Smayda - has "high-caliber people" to guide the city "through some very difficult times."

"The fiscal condition of the city is not great," Bradley said. "We're having an economic downturn. Tie those two together and you have some difficult decisions to make."

A new mayor will be confronted with them immediately. The $161 million budget Mayor Joseph Delfino recently proposed includes a $12.4 million deficit, a spending plan the new mayor will inherit midway through the fiscal year on Jan. 1.

The Democratic committee's nominating body last month chose Roach, Buchwald and Smayda from among 14 people it interviewed, but only one went on to challenge the nominations before the full city committee last night.

The challenger, Don Hughes, president of the North Broadway Citizens Association, received only five or six votes from among the 70 or so district leaders.

If there was no suspense last night, there was a moment of personal drama, which occurred when Roach walked to the front of the overflow crowd of district leaders at the North Street YWCA to ask for a third four-year term.

"I'm very happy to receive the support of the nominating committee, but mostly I'm very happy to be here - most of you know I've had a rough year," Roach said, then briefly described his battle against a rare and virulent form of throat cancer for the past 13 months.

Treatments left him looking gaunt and ashen at council meetings.

Appearing healthy and robust, Roach said he received a final treatment for the cancer last week and suggested it was just in time.

"It's never a good time to have cancer, but if you look at the election calendar ..." he said, sparking laughter and applause that drowned out the rest of his sentence.

Hockley, who lost his seat on the Democratic City Committee last year when he mounted an unsuccessful effort to take over the committee with his own slate of district leaders, did not attend the session and could not be reached afterward.

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, a former Republican, attended to ask for the Democrats' support, but the committee did not make an endorsement in that race. She is being challenged by Tony Castro, a former assistant district attorney in the Bronx.

County Legislator Bill Ryan also attended the session, but the committee did not make an endorsement in that race, either.

Republicans have not nominated their slate for city offices.

Among potential candidates, Tim Sheehan, a lawyer and the vice chairman of the Republican City Committee, said he might seek the nomination for mayor.

Delfino, a Republican, and Councilwoman Rita Malmud, a Democrat, are not running for re-election.

The Journal News - White Plains, N.Y.
Author: Keith Eddings
Date: Apr 21, 2009