GOP Mayoral Hopeful: Peekskill in ‘Sad State of Affairs’

Frank Catalina, a local attorney, hopes to be named the GOP’s candidate for mayor when the Peekskill Republican Committee endorsed its candidates for the November’s general election.

“I haven’t been endorsed, but I expect to be happy tomorrow” Catalina said. “I don’t know who else wants to run, but they have a list of strong candidates from I’ve been told.”

Catalina said he planned to continue the city’s strong history of Republican candidates, which includes former Governor George Pataki and current Westchester Legislator John Testa. His experience includes stints on the Peekskill’s school board, Housing Authority and Corporation Counsel.

A copy of Catalina’s resume is attached to this story.

The city’s current mayor is Democrat Mary Foster.

“My main reason for running is Peekskill’s budgetary problems,” Catalina said. “When I look at back at Mary Foster, who’s in her third term now, it’s just been promise after promise and look what’s happened—the city is almost bankrupt. Rick Finn, the former city manager warned that the city was on the verge of bankruptcy and now it’s happened.”

Catalina pointed to last year’s budget process, in which a number of employees were laid off, as an example of the city’s financial situation.

He said the city has wasted money on projects like central firehouse proposal and the Cartalemi property on South Street, while services like garbage collection have decreased over the years.

“There are basic services like water that aren’t being delivered,” Catalina said. “What good is a central firehouse when the firefighters can’t get enough water to fight the fire?”

Catalina said he blamed the current administration for failing to attract businesses and making it difficult for developers to come in.

He said Foster derailed plans to bring a Target department store to the city, which would have brought more money to the tax rolls.

“Foster can try to make Peekskill a small village like Cold Spring, but it’s not,” Catalina said. “It’s a city with an industrial history—we have a defined industrial zone that should be developed as an industrial zone.”