Cahalin to step down from Eastchester Town Board

Eastchester Councilman Michael Cahalin (R) today confirmed rumors that he will be stepping down from his Town Board seat at the board's upcoming May 17 meeting, several months before his term concludes at the year's end.

Cahalin said that his decision to resign a few months before the end of his four-year term was made because of a new professional opportunity that he feels will prevent him from doing justice to his Town Board responsibilities.

"I've been given an opportunity for me and my family I can't pass up," he said. "I'm being groomed for a very serious position in my company."

Cahalin noted that while the timing was not the best, the professional opportunity is something he's always hoped to be able to take on.

He said that his new role will require him to travel more and will give him less of the time flexibility that has allowed him to attend community meetings at different times of day and to maintain a perfect attendance record at the Town Board meetings during his tenure.

Contrary to rumors that he was pressured by the town's Republican Party to step aside before November's election, Cahalin said that his decision to leave the board was entirely based on his professional commitments. "I'm not being asked to leave," he said. "I'm not being thrown out."

Cahalin was appointed to the Town Board in the spring of 2006, to fill the seat vacated by the death of Councilman Gary DelVecchio that year. Cahalin won a contested race against Democrat Barry Kramer in November 2006 to complete DelVecchio's unexpired term and won an uncontested election in 2007 for a full four-year term.

Though Cahalin said he is stepping out of the political limelight for the immediate future, he expressed interest in someday running for a seat on the Eastchester School Board or Eastchester Fire Board or returning to the Eastchester Zoning Board of Appeals, which he served on prior to joining the Town Board.

You heard it here first! Look out for more on this Eastchester Town Board story in the May 13 printed edition of The Town Report.