The Yonkers Ledger Candidates Series
The Republican and Democratic Primaries will be held on June 24, 2025, with races for City Council President and certain City Council Districts on the ballot. The Yonkers Ledger sent a five point questionnaire to all seven candidates for City Council President 2025-Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, Tasha Diaz, Mike Khader, Chuck Lesnick, Dean Politopolous, Ron Schutte and Pete Spano. Once the candidates answered the questionnaire (read their responses here), our reporters followed up with an interview. One candidate, Tasha Diaz, did not respond.
Disclaimer Our reporter, Phil Zisman, conducted four of the six candidate interviews. Phil is a former Inspector General of the City of Yonkers and served in office during Chuck Lesnick’s first term in office. Zisman in his capacity as IG regularly gave formal and informal ethics advice to all city officials — including Mr. Lesnick – and employees who requested it, and when appropriate rendered opinions on specific questions of government ethics. Copies of Zisman’s published opinions are still available on the Yonkers Inspector General webpage on Yonkersny.gov.
Introduction
Former Yonkers Police Lieutenant Dean Politopoulos firmly believes he deserves to be elected as City Council President. As the endorsed Republican candidate, he must first overcome a primary challenge from Ron Schutté. He confidently looks ahead to the general election, where he has to overcome a 3:1 party registration disadvantage in the heavily Democratic city. However, he feels this won’t serve as a barrier. He sees it as an opportunity to provide a much-needed Republican voice, ensuring that all voices are heard and considered in our local government.
Politopoulos believes that the city of Yonkers is in a good state and that Mayor Mike Spano is doing a good job. However, he also sees great potential for improvement. He believes that a Republican or Conservative in the position of City Council President could challenge state mandates. An example of this is his disagreement with the state-level legalization of marijuana, which he believes Yonkers should have opted out of.
Dean Politopoulos strongly believes that in local politics, it’s more about how candidates can help strengthen the community than party affiliation. He is a strong advocate for public safety, quality of life, maintaining low taxes, and pushing towards beneficial infrastructure projects. He plans to overcome the 3:1 ratio barrier by focusing on local issues that matter to the people of Yonkers.
On the Issues: Development
Politopoulos supports smart development, which means any development that benefits the City of Yonkers. Smart development would improve traffic patterns, parking, and optimize city resources. He believes that new development is vital for a thriving community, as it increases the housing stock and attracts new businesses.
He advocates for leveraging large projects, such as the MGM casino, as it will improve local traffic patterns, enhance infrastructure, and increase the city’s annual revenue. He noted that the casino project has increased home values and allowed the second police district to add a new sector car. He believes that casino revenue can also generate new funding for schools.
Politopoulos believes that 10% affordable housing is satisfactory, as his research suggests the actual number is around 22%. Taking this into consideration, he is open to revisiting the current law if necessary to ensure that the city’s housing policies are fair for all residents.
Budget Priorities
Politopoulos emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology to manage the city’s budget and resources. He would expand the tax base by increasing the housing stock and promoting business development. He notes that Yonkers’ location makes it a desirable place to live and ideal for new businesses to thrive. The need for an efficient and lean budget would ensure that new spending benefits the community.
Politopoulos also spoke about the city budget in relation to the Board of Education. He discussed the comparable wage index for teachers and noted that a switch to this different model would increase funding for schools.
We really need to push the state and advocate for the state to change the formula for giving state aid –Politopoulos
Term Limits
Politopoulos believes in term limits, with shorter terms for the mayor than for the city council. He claims that term limits can interfere with the people’s ability to choose effective leaders. If necessary, Politopoulos would leave it to a referendum to decide whether term limits should be extended or reduced.
“I think at this point the best thing to do with regards to term limits is if the issue ever came up again I would go to a general vote and i would just put it out to the people and either do a plebiscite or make it as a proposition on one of the election years and let people decide what they want to do,” said Politopoulous.
Transparency and Integrity
Politopoulos believes people should hold themselves accountable. He spoke about his training as a police officer and how the responsibility that comes with that role is similar to those in elected office. He believes it is the role of the Inspector General to investigate and that the Ethics Board should evaluate the rules to ensure that professional standards are being met and maintained. However, he also notes that it is the responsibility of elected officials to hold themselves accountable as members of higher office.
“If there’s the perception of wrongdoing it’s better to shine a bright light on it and make sure everything is being done correctly, not for political purpose, and not for any maneuvering, but to legitimately ensure that the people who work for government are doing the right thing and making the right choices for the right reasons,” said Politopoulous.
Conclusion
Politopoulos notes that he cares about the community, having lived and worked in Yonkers, primarily in the public sector, for many years. He hopes that he will have the ability to help people solve problems and to continue his career in public service, while establishing checks and balances in local government. “Having worked for the city, I have a lot of informational and operational knowledge about how the city works, and I want to put it to good use,” said Politopoulos.
For more information on Dean Politopoulos and his campaign, visit https://dean4yonkers.com/.
Voter Information
Watch the League of Women Voters Republican Debate here
Early Voting Begins June 14, 2025 and Primary Day is June 24, 2025. Click here for more information on where and how to vote: https://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/voting/early-voting-2025
