For the first time in at least eight years, Harrison’s Democratic Committee will not run a full slate of Town Council candidates in the upcoming November election. This year, they will run only one candidate for councilman, Frank Gordon, and instead look across the aisle to fill out the ticket.
The Democrats, failing to put forward any other candidates, have gone the cross-endorsement route, choosing to back the candidacies of Councilman Richard Dionisio and Mayor/Supervisor Ron Belmont, both Republicans, who are up for re-election this year.
Frank Corvino, the town Democratic Committee chairman, said the overall plan in cross-endorsing Republican candidates was to promote a bipartisan approach in governing the town. “It is understandable that Democrats may not agree with cross endorsing candidates of other parties, but I believe that this action will help to get parts of the Democratic agenda implemented,” he said. “Clearly, Democrats can find common ground for putting the town ahead of politics and moving forward.”
Gordon, an attorney and certified accountant who has lived in the town for six years, told the Review regarding his candidacy as the lone Democrat, “There’s a need for new perspectives in the town government; and after a successful 25 years in business and law, I hope to give something back to my community.”
Gordon, 56, has been vocal about the controversy surrounding the Halstead Avenue gun store near Parsons Memorial Elementary School and the recently amended secondhand dealers law which was correlated to the gun shop. But he said those were not the only issues in the town which he is concerned about. He also highlighted reasonable commercial development and government transparency as key issues, adding that he planned to bring an outreach program to the town to react to input from residents.
“Harrison is beloved by me and the vast majority of its residents,” he said. “But some residents are concerned with the direction that the town is taking in some of its approaches.”
However, that did not stop Democratic Party leaders from cross-endorsing Belmont, Dionisio, Town Clerk Jackie Greer, a Republican, and recently appointed Judge Daniel Angiolillo, a Republican.
Town Council candidates in Harrison run at large, meaning that Gordon will have to face off against Dionisio as well as incumbent Councilwoman Marlane Amelio, a Republican, with the top two vote-getters claiming victory.
Corvino, 28, who took over the party late last year, declined to comment on why the Democrats decided to endorse Dionisio, the vice chairman of the town Republican Party, rather than Amelio, whose father is the chairman of the party, but added, “From what we’ve seen in the short term he’s been councilman, we’ve seen that he shares the same beliefs and views that our party has.”
Corvino further refused to comment on why the Democrats would endorse a Republican who is running against his Democratic nominee.
Dionisio, a first-term councilman who was elected in November 2016 to fill the one-year unexpired term vacated by former Town Justice Joe Cannella in January of that year, said he was honored to receive the endorsement of the opposing party. “It’s a pleasant surprise,” he told the Review. “It’s a privilege. I’m so glad that the community sees what my intentions are,” adding that his goal was to put residents before politics.
Amelio, who was the lone Republican up for re-election to be passed over by Democrats, said she would also rely on her record of nonpartisanship. “Hopefully my record speaks for itself and crosses party lines,” she told the Review after learning of the Democrats’ endorsement of her running mates.
The Democrats’ decision to cross-endorse Belmont means that he will run unopposed in seeking his fifth term as mayor/supervisor. Belmont was first elected in 2011, beating out then-Mayor Joan Walsh, a Democrat. No Democrat has been elected to the Town Council since.
When asked why the Democrats decided to cross-endorse Belmont, Corvino said, “From speaking to residents in town as well as members of our party, Ron Belmont has proven to be an extremely nice man who helps out the citizens.”
Belmont said it was an honor and a privilege to be cross-endorsed by the Democrats. “Hopefully, that signifies that we are doing a great job,” he said.
The mayor/supervisor is elected to a two-year term with an annual salary of $155,376. Each council member is elected to a four-year term and receives $17,171 per year. Election Day is Nov. 7.
