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Dobbs Ferry Election Nov. 3 - Vote Democratic
Paul Sterne
Dear Friends and Neighbors
Election Day is on Tuesday. Please come out and vote for David Koenigsberg for Mayor and Re-Elect Fred Broda, Paula Dambroff and Teresa Walsh for Trustee.
During the campaign, our opponents have made some claims about our record. Don't believe what they say.
Village-School District Relations
The Dobbs Ferry-Republican Party candidates have made some noises about minor discretionary item budget cuts that may have an impact on the Dobbs Ferry School District’s budget. What they don’t want you to know, is that the Board of Trustees has cooperated with the School District in two significant ways: the Village Board provided support and assistance to the Dobbs Ferry School District in obtaining the “Safe Streets to Schools” Grant that will pay for the reconstruction of the staircase connecting Beacon Hill Drive to Springhurst School. In addition, the Village helped facilitate an agreement between the School District and the Masters School that is mutually beneficial. When the School District voiced objections to the Masters School proposal to build additional faculty housing on the basis that it would increase the number of students using our public schools, the Village Officials were responsive to the concerns of the School District. They proactively encouraged discussions between the two which resulted in the creation of a nursing position at Masters School. When the private school students use this nursing service, their home district reimburses the Dobbs Ferry School District generating several hundreds of thousands dollars of additional revenue.
Police Shared Services Study
The Dobbs Ferry-Republican Party candidates have criticized the current Village Board for joining with the Town of Greenburgh to obtain a grant to study potential areas for shared police services between the two municipalities. What they don’t want you to know is that former Mayor Joe Bova initiated this study after the recommendations of a similar study involving the Irvington and Dobbs Ferry police departments was published then buried in Irvington. That study, commissioned by the Board of Trustees in 2006 when Joe Bova was Mayor and Hartley Connett and Kathy Kay were Trustees, identified areas of cooperation between the Irvington and Dobbs Ferry Police Departments that could save money, including the costs and benefits of merging the two departments. Mayor Bova is on record as stating that while the Irvington study went nowhere, perhaps something positive could be gained by doing a similar study with Greenburgh. We don’t disagree with Mr. Bova.
The recent press release about the status of the still pending Greenburgh study makes clear that neither Dobbs Ferry nor Greenburgh is seeking a merger of the two departments; that option has never been a goal of ours and is officially off the table.
The DPW
Dobbs Ferry needed a new DPW building, preferably on a flat multi-acre piece of land. The Dobbs Ferry Party proceeded with an eminent domain land seizure on a steep slope sight requiring extensive excavation work. They undervalued the benefits of the central location of the existing facility and the lower cost of a replacement building there.
The DFP failed to agree to a purchase price for the underlying land before the start of construction. This failure left the Village in a very difficult and expensive negotiating position with the owners while costing residents hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest expenses while a Land Purchase resolution is worked out in the courts.
The rock wall at the site was cut improperly and resulted in a finished building that could not be occupied for safety and insurance reasons. Our Board corrected the problem with substantial NYS-approved fencing. We then received the insurance sign off, allowing for the building to finally be utilized.
Costs over-runs have contributed further to the problems. The original plan failed to include employee lockers, a lunch room and propane heating. These features had to be added at the last minute, taking a $5 million budget up to an $8 million budget.
Thank you for your support.
David Koenigsberg for Mayor
Fred Broda for Trustee
Paula Dambroff for Trustee
Teresa Walsh for Trustee
