Oddo elected SI borough prez

By ANNA SPIVAK

Republicans won the race for Staten Island borough president Tuesday and were ahead in two of the GOP-leaning borough’s three Council races.

With more than half of the votes counted, Council member James Oddo led with 71 percent of the vote in his race for borough president against Democrat Louis Liedy, a retired public school teacher.

Oddo took to Facebook to “thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of love on social media today.”

Council member Vincent Ignizio, the Republican incumbent representing the South Shore, faced a challenge from Democrat Chris Walsh, a city sanitation worker and former president of a longshoremen’s union local. Ignizio led with 74 percent of the vote, way ahead of Walsh, who had 26 percent.

Council member Deborah Rose, a Democrat, was well ahead with 73 percent of the vote in her North Shore district. She ran against attorney Mark Macron, the Republican candidate.

In the Mid-Island district, roshe run an area hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, Democrat John Mancuso and Republican Steven Matteo went head-to-head in the Island’s tightest council race, pursuing the seat that Oddo now holds. With 56 percent of the precincts reporting, Matteo pulled ahead of Mancuso with 62 percent of the vote to 38 percent.

A big part of Mancuso’s campaign called for adding cameras to all police cars. “When they [arrested persons] go to court, police will have proof as to what crime was committed,” he said, adding that the public would also benefit “if a police officer does step out of line.”

Matteo, who is chief of staff to Oddo, has focused, alongside his boss and Ignizio, on cleaning up the Island. He has said that the litter problem has become more “noticeable.”

“Litter is a black eye to our neighborhoods that diminishes our quality of life,” Matteo said. “We have to work together to fight this ugliness.”

Hot topics across all three races in Staten Island circled around deteriorating roads/traffic issues, education, transportation, and Hurricane Sandy recovery.

In a series of heated debates hosted by the Staten Island Advance, Rose and Macron sparred over issues concerning the North Shore’s New York Wheel and Empire Outlets Project, crime, stop- and-frisk in particular, and education. Macron charged that the councilwoman’s efforts to stop crime have been “soft and weak.”