White Plains and Valhalla region

Trustee Terry Williams, Sonja Brown and Eric Bitterman were elected to the Greenburgh Board of Education, unseating two popular incumbents, according to unofficial vote totals.

Trustee Cora Carey, who was seeking her third term, lost by one vote to Brown, according to the results. Trustee Charles Bronz, first elected to the board in 1980, also lost his bid for another term.

Abe Abdallah voted for Brown, Bitterman and Susan Penchansky, a former trustee who ran unsuccessfully.

“We need fresh blood,” Abdallah said.

Ten candidates were running for a seat on the school board, the largest slate in the region, signaling growing dissatisfaction with district leadership.

The challengers – Amy Huang, Jacqueline Hoeger, Min Hong and Milena Din are the others – were not critical of the current board but promised more parental involvement, a stronger curriculum and reviews of district spending.

Trustees were mindful of their budget defeat last year and spent months making cuts to stay within the tax cap.

Opposition to the budget and incumbents didn’t seem particularly strong this year; board meetings and special budget meetings were sparsely attended.

However someresidents have criticized spending choices and the district’s priorities, including newly appointed Superintendent Ronald Ross’ recent decision to spend $45,000 to hire an advanced mathematics tutor.

Voters in the Greenburgh school district are turning out in larger numbers than last year, the district clerk said.

By 4 p.m. more than 588 residents had cast their votes compared to just 383 at the same time last year, said Ivy Kraus, the district clerk.

Voters are deciding on a $58.6 million budget and a slate of 10 Board of Education candidates, including three incumbents and seven challengers.

“I hope it means people came out to support the budget,” said Trustee Charles Bronz, who is seeking re-election.

Robert DeRight did, voting “yes” on the budget.

“I think too many people vote their own pocketbooks instead of supporting education,” the 73-year-old district resident said.

But Abe Abdallah voted “no,” saying students are not performing better despite escalating costs. He also voted for three challengers over the incumbents.

“They need to really look at cutting or improving,” the nine-year resident said.

Photo: Trustees Charles Bronz, left, and Terry Williams, board president, greet voters outside Woodlands High School Tuesday. (Dwight R. Worley / The Journal News)

Thomas Johnson of White Plains competes in the triple-jump during the final day of the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track and Field Games at White Plains High School on May 12, 2012. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track and Field Games at White Plains High School in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com for the story.

Hazel Dukes, center, president of the New York Conference of NAACP Branches, speaks during a press conference held by state and local chapters of the NAACP in support of the Chamberlain family in front of the Thomas Slater Center in White Plains on May 12, 2012. Kenneth Chamberlain Sr. of White Plains was shot at home by White Plains police responding to his medical alert device Nov. 19, 2011. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the NAACP press conference at the Thomas Slater Center in White Plains in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com for the story.

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to vote on budgets and select new Board of Education members. In today’s The Journal News, the 10 candidates running for three open seats in the Greenburgh school district – the largest slate in the region – share their thoughts on education, state mandates, taxes and other issues.

Read the full story here.

Winners from the 4×400 meter Tri State Relay are awarded during the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track and Field Games at White Plains High School on May 11, 2012. ( Xavier Mascareñas / The Journal News )

See more photos from the Glenn D. Loucks Memorial Track and Field Games at White Plains High School in a photo gallery, and go to LoHud.com for the story.

Children of all ages are invited to the White Plains Fire Department Open House
from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 19 at the 219 Mamaroneck Ave. fire house.

Visitors will learn about home fire protection and firefighters will teach kids how to be safe
and what to do if there’s a fire. There will be fire truck and equipment
displays and lots more.

The event is free and open to the public.

Four residents of Greenburgh’s Edgemont area are suing the town for not properly maintaining and correcting its zoning maps — errors that may allow a multi-family housing complex to be built on a lot the town said is zoned for single-family use.

But a lawyer for a second defendant in the lawsuit called it a “desperate” move by the residents to keep a proposed affordable housing development out of their well-to-do neighborhood.

In a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in White Plains, the residents Andrew Ross, Lynn Weingarten, Edward Feig and Chun In Su — represented by attorney and civic activist Bob Bernstein — seek to force the town to properly correct an error on zoning maps that shows a 2.3-acre parcel at 1 Dromore Road to be in a multi-family area.

If successful, the move could potentially nullify a court ruling in January that allows construction of SR Development Estates’ proposed 40-unit complex at the site.

Read the rest of the story here.

Steven Belasco, the head of Greenburgh’s zoning board, passed away this morning from organ failure due to an acute respiratory infection, his family said. He was 65.

Belasco was the chairman of the Greenburgh Zoning Board of Appeals for 12 years and also served on the town’s Comprehensive Planning Committee for 17 years.

Belasco had just returned from a three-week trip to China with his wife, Fran, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, which was May 3.

Judith Belasco, his 34-year-old daughter, said her father was dedicated to improving his community.

“It was the right thing to do, to help his community be a strong place for the family he was raising,” she said this afternoon from the family’s home in Greenburgh.

Before retiring, Belasco was the vice president of taxation and global real estate at Colgate Palmolive. A lifelong stamp collector, he served as executive director of the Philatelic Foundation, a not-for-profit that promoted the study of stamps and postal history.

“Steve was a very dedicated public servant,” Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner said this afternoon. “He’s going to be greatly missed.”

Belasco is survived by his wife, Fran, his children, Judith, Daniel and Sara, and three grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at Temple Israel, 280 Old Mamaroneck Rd. in White Plains.

Who’s running in your school district in the Tuesday, May 15, election? Find out on LoHud.com’s School Board Elections, 2012 voter guide. It’s got candidate info, news coverage and more.

Go to the school elections guide at http://LoHud.com/schoolelections.