The Bedford Town Supervisor is the most visible elected position in local government. The Supervisor chairs the five-member Town Board, serves as Bedford's chief elected executive, and is the primary public face of the town in dealings with county, state, and regional agencies. In a town where major issues including road conditions, commercial district vitality, energy policy costs, and governance transparency have generated persistent resident frustration, the 2026 race matters beyond the usual incumbency math.
Based on public petition records, two candidates have filed for the 2026 race: incumbent Ellen Z. Calves and challenger Don Scott. Both have gone through the public petition process. What each brings to the race, and what issues are likely to drive the conversation, is what this page covers.
The Candidates
Who is running
Current Town Supervisor of Bedford. Has served as the sitting supervisor through the period in which many of the issues residents raise most frequently have developed or persisted.
Has filed in public petition records for the 2026 supervisor race. Background and platform details are based on publicly available information.
The Office
What the Town Supervisor does
The Supervisor chairs the Town Board and votes on all legislation. Unlike a town manager, the Supervisor is directly elected and carries a political mandate from Bedford voters. The office has executive responsibility for day-to-day coordination with town department heads, and the Supervisor typically sets the legislative agenda that gets prioritized for Town Board action.
The Supervisor also represents Bedford in external contexts: Westchester County coordination, state agency interactions, and regional planning bodies. In a town where infrastructure issues involve multiple jurisdictions and where state and county programs have significant influence over local policy, the Supervisor's ability to advocate effectively with outside agencies is a practical part of the job description.
Term length is four years. The Supervisor is elected by Bedford voters at large, not by district.
The Issues
What this race is likely to be about
Several issues that have generated sustained resident attention over recent years are likely to shape how voters evaluate both candidates. These are not hypothetical concerns; they are documented patterns visible in Town Board proceedings, resident forums, and local coverage.
- Governance transparency and follow-through: Residents have raised consistent concerns about consultant spending and whether Town Board decisions connect to clear outcomes. The Supervisor's role in setting the governance culture is direct.
- Bedford Hills commercial district: The Bedford Hills business district has been the subject of multiple planning efforts with limited visible improvement. What either candidate proposes to do differently is a reasonable question.
- Road conditions and infrastructure: Route 22, Route 172, and town roads are a persistent frustration. The state-jurisdiction question is real, but how actively the town advocates matters.
- Energy policy and utility costs: Bedford's commitments under Sustainable Westchester and related programs have raised questions about cost burdens on households that don't benefit from the underlying policy assumptions.
- Town Board conduct and accountability: The pattern of passive governance and limited electoral competition has been visible enough that a contested supervisor race is itself a development worth noting.
Context
Why a contested race matters in Bedford
Bedford has seen limited competitive elections in recent years. When candidates run unopposed or with minimal opposition, the feedback loop between resident frustration and political accountability weakens. A contested supervisor race creates an opportunity for both candidates to articulate positions on the issues residents care about, and for voters to make a direct comparison.
This page will be updated as the race develops and as candidate positions become publicly available. The Bedford Bee's standard: report what's public, connect it to the issues Bedford residents are actually dealing with, and keep the coverage useful rather than performative.
Common Questions
Frequently asked
See Also