Rockland County, NY – A new chapter in the history of Ramapo is about to unfold, with newly elected Supervisor Michael Specht vowing to set things right in a town that has found itself in the media spotlight all too often in recent months.
Specht, deputy attorney for the Town of Ramapo, beat former Preserve Ramapo member William Weber who headed the New Direction ticket that hoped to disassociate Town Hall from a past riddled with corruption, scandal and rampant overdevelopment.
It was a clean sweep for the Democrats, with town board candidates David Wanounou and interim supervisor Yitzchok Ullman beating out newcomers Shani Bechhofer and Grant Valentine, and Frederic Brinn besting Robert Romanowski for the position of superintendent of highways.
In his victory speech tonight Specht, who won 62.6 percent of the vote, thanked Ullman for stepping in as interim supervisor “reclaiming our credibility” and vowed to make the troubled town “a Ramapo that we’re all proud of.”
Usually unified behind a single slate of candidates, Ramapo’s Jewish community found itself split, with some hoping Weber’s unlikely coalition with Valentine and Bechhofer, an Orthodox Jewish Monsey resident, would turn the tide on development in the town.
Others found themselves distrustful of Weber’s past association with Preserve Ramapo and concerned about New Direction’s lack of written proposal’s for the town’s future as reported by The Journal News.
Specht said that tonight’s win showed “that you can run a clean, positive campaign full of ideas and vision and a platform and win and not have to stoop to name calling and insults and finger pointing.”
As reported by Vos Iz Neias