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
Peter Spano (no relationship to Mayor Mike Spano) thinks he’s the right person to be elected Yonkers City Council President because he loves the city and will bring a new positive voice to city government. He sees Yonkers “at a pivotal moment – a city of energy, momentum, and undeniable growth,” but cautions that the city must “grow together or not at all.” It’s all about community and inclusiveness. He sees himself as a regular person who tells it like it is. He asserts that his lack of prior government experience is actually a strength, not a weakness.
Spano believes that Mayor Mike Spano has done a fairly good job during his years in office, but there is also a need for new leadership. As City Council President, he wants to influence the Mayor’s decisions and bring new people and ideas into government. He thinks that the current Council President hasn’t done enough to bring people together.
Spano prides himself on his grassroots, volunteer activism for organizations including the Yonkers YMCA, Rotary Club, and Feeding Westchester. Through his work with the Rotary, he was instrumental in refurbishing a basketball court in John Barton Park, as part of the Rotary’s Hoops on the Hudson program.
A lifelong resident of Yonkers, Mr. Spano calls himself a philanthropic entrepreneur. He is an artist/actor and member of the Screen Actors Guild. He is self-employed and works as a freelance actor, basketball coach and security guard. He has been active in the Yonkers Democratic Party for 20 years serving as a district leader and secretary of the city’s 12th Ward.
This is Spano’s second run for City Council President. In 2021, he ran in a three-way primary with Lakisha Collins-Bellamy and Mike Khader and finished in third place with approximately 1,300 out of 9,000 ballots.
On the Issues: Development and Affordable Housing
Spano sees the recent growth in the city as a positive, but thinks it is the responsibility of city leadership to hold developers accountable to the community. Tax breaks should not only benefit high income people. Spano supports increasing the required percentage of affordable apartments from 10% to 20% for new construction under the city’s Affordable Housing Ordinance.
Spano also supports the approval of the MGM casino’s application for a full casino license, but worries about the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. He believes the local businesses owners should be protected from adverse impacts and possibly be given preference for casino related jobs. He also believes it would be appropriate for MGM to underwrite the construction of parking lots to alleviate parking problems on Bronx River Road and other areas in the city.
Budget Priorities
Education is a top priority for Spano, who believes the schools must be fully funded. However, he believes the 2.68% proposed property tax increase is too steep, and would like it reduced to 1.5%. Although he does not want to cut services, he believes that there are too many artificially created “do nothing” jobs in city government that should be cut. (After the Yonkers Ledger’s interview with Mr. Spano, the City Council passed the 2025-2026 budget with a 2.85% property tax increase.)
Questions of Ethics and Integrity in Government
Spano is aware of the ethical allegations that some of his fellow candidates have leveled against each other, but he refuses to go negative. He stated that he is not a negative person, and sees the mudslinging as an embarrassment. He wants to elevate the discussion to matters that impact people’s lives.
He sees the Yonkers Board of Ethics and the Inspector General as being part of the team that sets the example for ethical government and ensures checks and balances on the power of the executive branch.
Conclusion
Given that he garnered almost 1,300 votes four years ago in the Democratic Party primary, Spano believes that he has a realistic shot at winning in a very low turnout election. Between 2,500 and 3,000 votes may be enough. Thus, he doesn’t believe he is a spoiler. Despite the Democratic Party’s endorsement of the incumbent, he believes that there are still many Democrats whose votes are up for grabs.
In this crowded field, he will only succeed if his upbeat message convinces the voters that he is the right leader to move the city forward, and he can get his supporters to the polls. Yonkers political campaigns are often slugfests. It will be interesting to see if this relatively unknown candidate, with no government experience, and a simple upbeat message can resonate with the voters and carry the day.
Voter Information
To learn more about the candidates, watch the League of Women Voters 2025 City Council President Democratic Debate here and the League of Women Voters 2025 City Council President Republican Debate hereil President Democratic 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
