Supervisor Elect Stewart Will Be Only Democrat on Orangetown Council

Four years ago, Nancy Low-Hogan and Michael Maturo were elected to the Orangetown Council, leaving Denis Troy as the only Republican on the board four Democrats.

Tuesday night, Democrat Andy Stewart won a tight race for Orangetown Supervisor against incumbent Paul Whalen while Republicans Paul Valentine and Tom Morr were elected to join Troy and Tom Diviny on the Orangetown Town Council, creating another 4-1 party split on the board, this time with a lone Democrat according to unofficial results from the Rockland County Board of Elections.

"I think as a sitting town council member or supervisor, people have to work hard to build a concensus," Troy said. "At times, some people forget that.

"When you are supervisor, you are one vote. The other four votes count as much as your vote. You need two other votes to do anything. For a bond, you need three votes. You have to work at htat. You have to communicate with the other people on the board. I'm hoping Andy Stewart does that. For the good of the town, we will work together."

Democrats raised concerns over the board possibly becoming all Republicans, which would have happened if Whalen had won.

"Even if we had a 5-0 board, if it had been with Paul, it wasn't going to be a lovefest all the time anyway because of the personalities involved," Troy said. "In terms of the people you have on the council, we are very opinionated, including myself."

Valentine and Morr both expressed their surprise that Whalen did not retain his job as supervisor, but said they will work together with Stewart.

"It's going to be an interesting mix, but I've always been an independent thinker," Valentine said. "I don't go down the Republican line. I do what's right fo the voters. I know we will work well together.

Morr said he knows about the challenges facing any supervisor from his previous term on the council, and this board will have a different mix with Stewart in that position.

"On the one hand, you have the council people who set policy and the supervisor is the full-time administrator," Morr said. "He is dealing with a lot of things the council doesn't touch on because it is day-to-day running the town. It should be interesting. He may have a lot of different philosophies on handling things."

Stewart acknowledged the two Democrats who ran for the town council, Robert Dell and Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, but made sure to compliment Valentine and Dell as well Tuesday night.

"I have to give a lot of credit to my running mates, Elijah and Robert," Stewart said. "They're both great people, but so are Paul and Tom and I'm looking forward to serving with them."

Editor's Note: Adam Littman contributed to this report.