Yorktown Congress of Teachers Endorses Murphy, Lagonia, Paganelli

Yorktown Councilman Terrence Murphy, Judge Salvatore Lagonia and Councilman David Paganelli – who is running for highway superintendent – have been endorsed by the Yorktown Congress of Teachers (Local 1724).

"Teachers are the backbone of our community and I are humbled by the opportunity to once again have the endorsement of this wonderful group of educators who do so much for our community," Judge Lagonia said in a statement.

President of the Teachers' Union Sean Kennedy said The Yorktown Congress of Teachers was committed to electing and partnering with Murphy, Lagonia and Paganelli in order to create a better future for children.

"Electing [them] will shift the local paradigm and make Yorktown an even more attractive place for teachers and support staff to live, work and raise families of their own," he said.

The three candidates have also been endorsed by the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, which serves as a medical advisor to the Yorktown Central School District and the Lakeland Central School District. Murphy said he was instrumental in securing $50,000 in grants from Senator Greg Ball for life-saving medical carts for both districts, as well as over $75,000 in bullet aid funding and programmatic grants for desperately needed ball-fields and new playgrounds.

"As a Councilman and a father, I believe educating our kids is the most important responsibility we have,” Murphy said in a statement. “I have worked to safeguard educators by strengthening our employees’ ability to protect themselves and their well-being while making a living."

He said he will continue to work closely with the schools to make sure the students get the resources they deserve.

He said he plans on keeping them safe by passing child-safety zone legislation, improving recreation and summer job opportunities, attracting employers to create good careers and curbing the flow of illicit drugs.

Paganelli said that the highway department must have a close relationship with the school district in order to be successful.

“As the father of Yorktown School graduates it is my honor to have this endorsement,” he said. “I pledge to work together with our schools to keep our roads paved, plowed and safe for our buses and I will work toward establishing shared services between my department and the schools to create economic of scale and scope which will save taxpayer resources.”

Murphy, Paganelli and Judge Lagonia received this endorsement in 2009. They were previously endorsed by the Westchester-Putnam Central Labor Body AFL-CIO, which includes the Lakeland Federation of Teachers (NYSUT Local 1760).

The endorsement includes CSEA Unit 9249 (Yorktown School District Custodial), CSEA Unit 9181 (Town of Yorktown Employees) and CSEA Unit 9164-00/01/02 (Lakeland School District Clerical, Transportation and Food Service/Custodial).