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Over the past few years, the Village of Ossining has seen a Renaissance of sorts.
Commercial buildings of significance on both Main Street and Croton Avenue are currently nearing completion. AvalonBay Communities apartment complex has recently completed its construction on North Highland Ave. and renters have started moving in; and Ginsburg has finally gotten his project off the ground.
Yes, all these projects will bring some pressure into the local school systems, but they will also help revitalize the local economy adding money to the Village’s coffers.
Having lived in Ossining all my life (and my family for over 100 years before me), I am seeing the first real signs of revitalization and improvement in the Village in 40-50 years, and local business people say the local economy has shown significant improvement in the last few years.
This is no small feat! And the improvement has to do with the policies of Mayor Hanauer and his administration, which have kept their “eyes on the ball.” Is it perfect – “no.” Can there be improvement – “yes.“ But continued improvement cannot be maintained without seasoned administrators. And Mayor Hanauer should be commended for his accomplishments.
In stark contrast, Victoria Gearity is running for Mayor on a platform of “change.” Be careful what you wish for. “Change” is a widely misused word. Ms. Gearity has been a Trustee to the Village of Ossining for less than two years, and has no previous experience at a municipal level, much less as an administrator, on any level.
It is clear that her lack of experience is woefully inadequate for running the Village of Ossining, a village of approximately 25,000 plus people. During these past two years the one thing she has done is to alienate the entire Board of Trustees of the Village of Ossining. Why?
As noted in a letter to Lohud.com (8/21/14) Village of Ossining Trustees Robert Daraio and Manuel Quezada specifically point out Ms. Gearity’s limited experience and short duration of public service. Further, they point out that she consistently followed Mayor Hanauer’s lead in voting. And Ms. Gearity proposed “no significant new programs or initiatives.” So what happened - did Ms. Gearity suddenly have a revelation? Did some divine being tell her to run for Mayor, or did Sue Donnelly nominate Ms. Gearity to run for Mayor, out of spite?
With this backdrop, Ms. Gearity is running for Mayor. She offers a lack of administrative experience, a lack of business acumen, and a lack of government experience. These all weigh against her candidacy, at this time. Maybe with a few years of “seasoning” Ms. Gearity maybe up to the task, but for the time being Ms. Gearity lacks the credentials to run the Village of Ossining. One needs leadership and executive abilities to run a complex village such as Ossining, and to understand the nuance of public laws and ethics. One further needs the wherewithal and independence to run the Village of Ossining without outside interference from Town officials.
Think of the Village of Ossining as a complex business with ongoing social and economic issues to be tackled; it is not just a popularity contest as to who should run it. Ms. Gearity has offered no specifics on her platform except “openness” and “change.” The Village meetings are already open, and Ms. Gearity offers no specifics for change.
So, I urge you to vote for the Mayor on Sept. 9 in the Democratic primary, who in the past has made the tough decisions; Village of Ossining has shown a vast improvement over the past few years and under Mayor Hanauer’s leadership will continue to improve.
I urge you to vote for a leader, not a neophyte – vote for Mayor Bill Hanauer.
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