44°
In 2013, Catalina defeated incumbent Mary Foster in the mayoral election. Since being sworn in, Catalina has taken aim at several of the issues he felt were plaguing the city.
"In the six years prior to me taking office, there were deficits every single year," Catalina told Daily Voice. "We doubled down on spending. We told people they have to cut down. We told departments they had to cut back 10-15 percent."
Budgetary fixes haven't been Catalina's only changes, either. His goal is to not just help Peekskill improve financially, but also to see the city grow physically.
"I looked around the city and said 'In six years, one commercial building was built, and that was a Walgreens drug store,'" Catalina said. "You're not going to grow out of it with one building in six years. Right now we have nine major projects being considered."
Catalina was recently endorsed by the City Republican Committee for re-election. While the mayor feels his hometown is moving in the right direction, he knows there is plenty of work yet to be done.
"Today, the way I feel right now, I'd do this job forever," Catalina said. "As long as the people want me."
Catalina also discussed the following on the accompanying video:
- Why he ran for mayor. (0:08 into clip)
- The condition of Peekskill today. (2:22 into clip)
- How the city helped balance the budget. (4:00 into clip)
- The future of Peekskill. (6:13 into clip)
- What projects are in place to grow Peekskill. (8:11 into clip)
- Working with a Democratic majority after being elected on the Republican party line. (10:10 into clip)
- What will drive Peekskill in the future. (11:55 into clip)
- Continuing as mayor of Peekskill. (13:59 into clip)
Click here to follow Daily Voice Peekskill and receive free news updates.
