Battle for Westchester's 9th District

The Democrat's supermajority is at stake in this November's 9th District battle for Bill Burton's Westchester County Legislator seat. Democratic Town of Ossining Supervisor Catherine Borgia will go up against Republican Susan Konig. Two years ago Konig lost to Burton by 12 votes.

Patch spoke with both Konig and Borgia about their aspirations to fill Burton's seat. On Friday we brought you our interview with Susan Konig. Today we focus on Catherine Borgia.

Borgia says the biggest problem facing the county is scarce resources. "The decision needs to be made in a way, to do more with less, and to make sure that all of our basic needs… are covered," said Borgia. "Since we have fewer resources we need to be smarter about how we allocate them."

When asked about specific ways that county government could cut spending, Borgia pointed to the sharing of services. "I think that the county should encourage more people to have the county handle their [police] dispatch. That would be a moneysaving opportunity—and it's having the people who have technical skills do it at a countywide level."

Borgia believes that the top issues people in the 9th District (which includes Ossining, Croton, Cortlandt and Briarcliff Manor) are concerned about include property taxes and loss of government services. "People are looking at ways to make government more efficient and to do consolidation of services. But then on the flipside of that, people are also concerned about the loss of services that we need to maintain the quality of life that we do have."

We asked Supervisor Borgia what she would do if she could have changed anything the Astorino administration had done previously. "There is a little bit of an ideological difference, which is that they're—I think that they are—and this is not intended as a criticism—they're very focused on the immediate short term. They're very focused in the immediate resource deficit—the crisis of the economy. And that's understandable. But I also think in times of crisis, there's an opportunity to look for what's going to be good 20 years down the road."

Borgia says that Bill Burton retiring isn't the only reason that she decided to run for the 9th. "I think that I have had a lot of success in the Town of Ossining by viewing government differently—by creating smarter and better ways of doing things and in a very collaborate way."

When asked if she had any thoughts on her opponent, Borgia said that she admires anyone who runs for office. "I don't have too many thoughts on her specifically, but I do think that my success in this role as town supervisor makes me a natural fit for this job. I think that I can solve very, very challenging problems in an effective way that is beneficial to all parties involved," said Borgia. The Town of Ossining supervisor also points out her experience includes working for New York State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef for seven years.

The Town of Ossining supervisor says she loves Westchester County for numerous reasons. "It's very beautiful, it's historic—the quality of life is really outstanding. I love that my children have the opportunity to meet so many different types of people… I think that it is a very special place. And I look forward to serving all the residents of Westchester."