I am a proud 23-year resident of Tarrytown who will always strive to make our Village a great place to live, enjoy, and, foremost, to be safe, and affordable.
My priorities as Trustee include, but are not limited to, the following:
Transparency: To help facilitate a way for our constituents to review the status of the Village’s budget, in March 2023, we as a board voted to incorporate ClearGov – a budget software platform to improve transparency and enhance public information and the public’s understanding of our annual budget, as well as our capital budget and debt management. Please view Tarrytown’s ClearGov platform.
Financial / Budget: I am in favor of continuing to adopt all Village budgets under the NYS 2% tax cap limits, as represented in the budgets for the past two years:
2023-2024 – Tax levy increase was 2.88% (a 5.86% levy increase was allowed).
2024-2025 – Tax Levy increase was 2.86% (a 6.62% levy increase was allowed).
I also remain committed to maintaining the Village’s Municipal Bond Credit Rating of “Aa” with Moody’s Bond Rating Service.
Local businesses need the Village's support in many ways for their business to be successful and thrive. This includes onboarding newly established businesses and sustaining all local businesses by reviewing the permit process and finding ways to ensure business owners feel supported while applying for the Village’s permits. In February 2024, we as a board, voted to implement SmartGov – a new web-based license and permit management software platform from SmartGov to improve the ease with which residents and businesses apply for permits and licenses. I now serve as a Trustee liaison for the Tarrytown Merchants and the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow Chamber of Commerce. I will continue to be that listening ear to help actualize change and facilitate open conversations to help our small businesses in Tarrytown prosper and succeed.
Affordable Housing: I support affordable housing opportunities that make sense for Tarrytown. As a village, this initiative will bring added value to many residents who cannot afford a competitive mortgage rate but need an affordable housing unit within their means. For me, the challenges are in identifying and attracting viable, affordable housing projects to Tarrytown while keeping in mind the village’s traffic patterns and parking challenges as we pursue these amicable affordable housing projects.
Pedestrian Safety: I will continue to advocate for safe streets and ways to make our events secure, and seamless for all. Currently, we as a village are collaborating with the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) on the Route 9 Complete Streets study and are planning to work with the state and four other Rivertown villages to develop a plan that will enhance pedestrian and biker safety in Tarrytown.
As a village, we were awarded a $340,000 “Safe Streets for All” grant to collaborate with the Tarrytown Schools and the Village of Sleepy Hollow to evaluate major intersections of concern in the villages and develop plans that can be applied to similar situations elsewhere in the village.
As a board, we are always identifying safe ways to host our Halloween and July 4th celebrations. This year we hired traffic consultants to devise approaches to draft the best ways to conduct traffic in and out of Tarrytown during these events. We also purchased over 400 pedestrian barriers to maintain the events’ crowd. I will continue to advocate for these safety precautions for our events and celebrations.
Beautification: In April 2012, Forbes magazine acknowledged Tarrytown as one of the prettiest towns in the United States. As a village, this type of listing still helps motivate us to sustain and go beyond this type of recognition. The Village’s Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council (TEAC) has a landscaping committee focusing on pollinator gardens throughout the Village and Main Street. Other volunteer committees participate in clean-up day efforts and vine removal throughout the Village. Volunteer efforts are appreciated and bring community spirit and pride to the Village. I will continue to support these types of efforts, alongside working with the Village’s Administrator to increase our efforts to keep our Village clean, landscaped, and festive for holiday events.
Celebrations/Events: As a village, we will continue celebrating and adding to our rich diversity (St. Patrick’s Parade, Juneteenth, Pride, Hispanic Heritage Month, Halloween parade, Turkey Trot, and Holiday tree lighting), honoring our veterans and first responders.
Parks and Recreation: As one of the board’s liaisons of the Parks and Recreation Committee, our committee agreed to obtain a Friends of Parks and Recreation 501c3 status. Once acquired, as a committee, we can enhance our Parks and Recreation events through fundraising efforts or donations.
In the fall of 2023, the Village obtained a $500,000 grant from New York State to fund a complete rehabilitation of Lagana Park, including a new playground, a recrowned ballfield, resurfaced tennis and pickleball courts, and a resurfaced basketball court. I will continue following up to ensure that these initiatives are executed well, and are completed on time, as well as help identify additional livability grant opportunities, particularly for seniors, children, and young people.
