Republican Challengers in Buchanan Election

Former Mayor Al Donohue will challenge incumbent Mayor Sean Murray in the March 20 election this year. Donohue is running on a slate with current zoning board member Angelo Iacomini and first-time candidate Edward Delmonte, a retired railroad worker. Their Republican slate will face incumbents Murray and his running mates Richard Funchion and Nick Zachary, who are both seeking second terms as village trustees.

Donohue, 76, said he is running because he thinks “spending is out of control.” Donohue lost to Murray in the 2010 election, and served six two-year terms as Mayor prior to that election.

“They want to raise taxes and pass a utility tax. They are spending money ridiculously,” Donohue said.

Donohue said he is dedicated to a 0 percent tax increase. He was critical of the current administration’s vote to override the state’s mandated 2 percent tax cap on annual budgets and of the Village’s hiring of a village prosecutor and planner. He said he would definitely “do away with the prosecutor and planner,” if elected to help lower taxes.

Murray, 45, served as a board member from 2008-2010 and then mayor from 2010-2012.

Murray said that the Board of Trustees voted to override the tax cap because “we needed to have that mechanism in place.” Murray said the Board has not decided they will definite raise taxes more than two percent, but that they need to keep the option open. Public hearings on the budget take place in April and the budget is voted on in May, after the election.

Murray said that he and the trustees have made decisions that have cut costs, opened up community dialogue and brought the Village into compliance with state comptroller regulations. He also touted his administration’s work on a replacement vehicle program, where they set aside money to rehabilitate vehicles rather than let them die and have to buy new ones; technological upgrades to digitise records and become more efficient, which were paid for by old grants from the mid-2000s that had not been used; putting change order clauses in its contracts and holding more public hearings.

“I just want to keep the team together you know, we started a lot of good policies, moved a lot of people around, came into compliance…We have a lot of policies we just got off the ground last year we want to finish,” Murray said.

Murray said he feels confident about this re-election but will campaign just as hard as he did in 2010 because, “overconfidence is the biggest failure mechanism.”

Donohue said he thinks he and his team’s “chances are good because people are tired of getting hit with taxes” 

Democrats hold four of the five board seats. Trustee Theresa Knickerbocker is an independent.

Trustees are paid $5,000 a year and serve two-year terms; the mayor makes $6,500 annually and serves two years. The election is March 20.