‘Souper Saturdays’

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

RAVENA — What a difference a day makes.

On Monday, Republican Mayor Bill Misuraca lost the GOP nomination for the March village elections to Dominic Ruggeri. Twenty-four hours later, he was nominated unanimously by Democratic voters and will represent that party on the ballot.

The Democrats also nominated Republican Caitlyn Appleby, who won the GOP nod the day before and will be on both tickets, along with incumbent Village Trustee Linda Muller, a Democrat running for her second term in office.

Incumbent Democratic Village Trustee Mary Ellen Rosato decided not to run for re-election this time around.

Forty-two Democratic voters gathered at the Ravena firehouse for the caucus Tuesday evening and unanimously nominated all three candidates.

When Misuraca rose to thank the crowd, he was greeted with cheers and scattered chants of “Moose! Moose!”, his nickname.

“If you had asked me seven-and-a-half years ago where I would be tonight, I would have had a radically different answer,” Misuraca told the crowd. “But you almost made me cry — you are too kind and I really feel like this outpouring of support tells me that I am doing my job the way I am supposed to do my job. I appreciate it so much.”

Misuraca said after the caucus that he was “humbled and honored” to receive support from the community.

“It has certainly been a ‘curious’ past few days,” Misuraca said. “I gladly accept the Democrat nomination and I promise to continue to do everything I can to serve everyone equally and fairly. I have all the confidence in the world that Caitlin, Linda and myself will work effectively for the good of our entire community.”

Appleby will be on the ticket for both parties after getting cross endorsement from the Republicans and the Democrats. This is her first time running for office and she said the process is very new to her.

“I will be transparent in saying that I am not a politician,” Appleby said. “This is all very foreign and new to me and I appreciate everyone’s support in this room. I am a social worker — that is what I do — and I care very deeply about where I am from.”

She has worked on various community events and programs, including organizing the village’s Friendship Festival at Mosher Park and the Apple-A-Day Program.

“It wasn’t a networking opportunity for me, it was a chance for kids to build their resistance skills to risky behavior,” she said. “And the Friendship Festival isn’t just a ‘Friendship Festival.’ I look at that as a family engagement opportunity for parents who are working constantly and don’t have a lot of money, and want to enjoy time with their family and not have to break the bank.”

“With your support, I am going to be able to do more for this town and for this community,” she told the crowd. “I will try my hardest to make you proud.”

Muller, a retired physical education teacher, said she, too, was not “a politician” when she was first elected and learned to love the job.

“We have been so successful as a board working these past four years and I am so excited to work with them, plus Caitlyn, for the next four years,” Muller said.

Election Day will be Tuesday, March 15.

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — High school principal Dr. Lisa Patierne will retire at the end of October.

The district has established a committee to set priorities for hiring her replacement and expects to begin interviewing candidates in late August, District Superintendent Dr. Brian Bailey said at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting.

Patierne submitted a letter of resignation to the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Board of Education, which the board accepted at a special virtual meeting July 27.

Her resignation will be effective Oct. 28.

“I want to congratulate Dr. Patierne on her retirement and congratulate her for the great success we have had with her at RCS,” Board of Education President Edward Reville said. “Congratulations to her on her retirement.”

Bailey, who was principal of the high school from 2010 to 2013, said Patierne’s six years as principal was the longest term in many years at the school.

“I broke the record for the longest sitting high school principal in 2013 at three years,” Bailey said. “I was the longest seated principal since 1996 when Andy DeFeo retired. Andy DeFeo was principal of the high school for five years, so Lisa [Patierne] has shattered my record of three years — she is the longest seated principal since 1996.”

A hiring committee has been set up with stakeholders from across the district to come up with a list of priorities for what the district is seeking in a new high school principal. The goal is to interview candidates on Aug. 26 and hire someone soon after that to make sure the new principal will be in the building during Patierne’s final days with the district so she can show them the ropes.

“We do expect that Dr. Patierne and the new successful candidate will have some layover time where they will both be in the high school for at least a week, so we will have some good transition and preparation for the next five to 10 years of high school principal,” Bailey said.

Continuity in staff and leadership is an important factor in reaching the district’s goals, he added.

The hiring committee held its first meeting Aug. 4 in a virtual format to discuss priorities for the high school and what they are looking for in a new principal.

“The last time we hired a high school principal was six years ago,” Bailey said at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting. “Obviously, things have changed in our community and we want to make sure that we are looking for the right person, for the right reasons.”

Board of education member William McFerran asked if there would be overlap between the new principal and Patierne.

“If we stay on schedule and we have candidates that are viable and we do interviews on the 26th, that means they would be hired in the first board meeting in September and they would be able to give their 30 days [notice], which gives us ample time,” Bailey responded.