On Tuesday night at the Tarrytown Senior Center, incumbent Mayor Drew Fixell and Karl Hagstrom, the challenger, met at a forum hosted by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.

The Trustee races include incumbents Becky McGovern, Doug Zollo, Tom Butler, up against challengers, Dawn Brehony, Alison Boldyrev, and Steve Wilgermein.

Here is a list of the questions and subjects discussed, along with candidates' responses.

What do you think of consolidations of services and what is the low hanging fruit left to trim?

Karl Hagstrom replied that there is room to trim in every budget and that he wanted to go "line by line" through the budget, with clear expectations of finding savings.
"Regardless of what department heads tell you or managers tell you, there is always fat to be found, sometimes you have to pry it out of people."

Drew Fixell said that the village has already begun the process of consolidation regarding the recreation departments of Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and the school district.
He noted that the village hasn't hired new employees and has reduced its manpower through attrition. He said Tarrytown is already working with other villages in Greenburgh to contract out for services such as road paving.
"We're continuing to work on that for ways to save money," he said.

Alison Boldyrev said she agreed with Hagstrom about going line by line through the budget.
She said she couldn't get specific, but that there were savings to be found through looking at "betters way to run our services."
She said that shared services are vital, but she wanted to look more closely at all the options and that savings were realized in the long-term for the Village.

Becky McGovern said it was time to "get creative" with ways to save money and find new revenues. She said the village is great at securing grants to fill the funding gap.
She said she has been on the committee looking at consolidating the recreation departments. She said that project would be developed further, but that there were potentially a lot of savings to be found by combining work forces and operational budgets.

Doug Zollo also mentioned the Village's ability to secure grants through the village grant writer. He noted the recent Tarrytown Fire Department grant for $413,000, $100,000 for trail improvements and other grants for playgrounds.
He noted that the village has maintained a positive fund balance of roughly $4 million while keeping personnel costs low.
"We have not hired anyone in a few years," he said.
He said that he is "not the biggest fan" of shared services, and that he found contradictory statements in the report on recreation consolidation.

Dawn Brehony said she agreed that you need to go "line by line" through the budget.
Brehony also said the village should find a way to encourage more residents to volunteer their professional skills for things like construction projects.
"It would be great to get construction attorneys to do pro-bono work for the village," she said.
She stated that the village shouldn't be getting hit with cost increases on construction projects. She also said the village needed to find innovative ways to increase revenues, possibly by doing some sort of fund raising.

Steve Wilgermein said that shared services are a "touchy topic." He said he was for it, if it brought down what the village was paying.
He said the village should bid out contracts with penalty clauses for going over budget.
He said he would like to go through the budget line by line to find savings, but that he was not privy to what the numbers look like. He also stated that it was wiser to hold out on undertaking some capital projects.
"Sometimes we're better off saving instead of spending and doing something we might not really need," he said. ""If we can put it off a year, let's go for that."

What about the continued reliance on fossil fuels, the damage it causes to the environment and increasing energy costs. What would you do to lower energy costs and reduce emissions?

Drew Fixell started the segment by saying the Village is already in the process of installing solar panels on Village Hall – paid for mostly through a grant. He said the payback on the investment would be quick. He also said the Village is participating in a program through the New York Power Authority to install electric controls in Village Hall that will reduce energy use.
He said the village received two grants for electric vehicles and a hybrid bus which replaced the old senior bus.
He said it was tough to implement environmentally-friendly initiatives in a budget sensitive time, but that the Village is working with the Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Committee to find out ways to do it.

Karl Hagstrom said that people needed to look closer at the new technologies and their cost benefits. He said, right now, there wasn't enough of a return on investment for putting money forward to deploy green technologies.
"It looks very attractive up front," he said. "Willingness to participate in Green America or Green World type of programs is not working out at this point."
He said the technologies needed to be worked on more to make them attractive to municipalities.

Dawn Brehony said she wanted to commend the current board on solar panel installation, but had her own ideas for cutting green-house gases and going green.
"Planting more trees around the village and making a paperless environment in Village government," she said.

Doug Zollo said he would like to investigate whether there were any oil-burners that could be changed over to natural gas, "because it is much cheaper than oil currently."
He said the village was working on switching out light-bulbs and measures that would make electricity turn off automatically in Village Hall. He said a lot of what needs to be done is the same stuff that people do in their own homes.

Alison Boldyrev said she wanted to focus on putting more information on the website to reduce the amount of paper. She also said she wanted to consult with Con Edison to see if they could bring in any alternative electricity that is "more green and more friendly."
However, she cautioned about using grants to make energy-saving moves.
"It sounds like free money, but I want to know what strings are attached," she said.

Steve Wilgermein said that, at his job, they are already using solar panels after getting them from a grant many years ago. He said they are now selling energy back to Con Edison.
He also said he wanted to look into using biofuels, noting that there is a process to convert old cooking oil into usable fuel for a diesel engine.
"These are things I see on a day-to-day basis, and it would be nice to carry over to the Village," he said.

Becky McGovern admitted that it wasn't an area of expertise for her. She said she relies on other board members who know more than her on issues like this.
She did say that the basis of greening up the village was in education.
"Many people are glad to do what they can, they just know how to do it," McGovern said.

Summarize your experience in municipal or private sector finance

Drew Fixell said that he had worked for 12 years in the New York State Comptroller's Office overseeing the finances of New York City in the 80s and 90s. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of a financial investment firm. He went to grad school and mastered in economics with a focus on energy conservation. 

Karl Hagstrom said that Fixell obviously had the most financial experience in the room. However, Hagstrom noted that he worked for a real estate investment trust that owned shopping centers. He specifically worked on a project at the Cross County shopping center where he was in charge of a $2.5 million annual budget to install fiber optics and CCTV.
He said the experience allowed him to work with budgets and organized labor.

Becky McGovern said she has served on the library budget board and that she works closely with the treasurer, and the former treasurer, to piece together how the budget operates.

Dawn Brehony said she is in charge of providing budgets for each of her cases as an attorney. She said she plans her budgets for what legal expenses will cost.
"I generally have to stay within that," she said.
She said her work also allows her to focus on settlement negotiations and a range of financial issues. She said her grasp on financial concepts was sound.

Steve Wilgermein said on a professional basis he really didn't have much experience. However, he said that he is a father with two sons, one of whom went through college. He compared this experience to working on village finances.
"It's tough balancing the checkbook," he said. "You have to be creative to stay one step ahead."

Doug Zollo said he's been involved in developing the village's budget for the past  eight years. He said the board had controlled costs so the village didn't go over budget.
He said that he owns two companies that make sales of roughly $30 million annually.

Tom Butler said that previously co-owning an Architectural Design firm meant that he was keenly aware of budgeting issues. He said he had to deal with financing projects and sticking to budgets when dealing with clients and corporations. He said his work in the building industry meant he was aware of ways to "save money and be cost effective."

Alison Boldyrev said her background is in science, but noted as well that she has a family and had to insure that money was in the accounts to pay the bills. She said she also helps to manage her husband's profitable business.

A question to the Republican/Tarrytown First candidates centered on a promise to find new and sustainable ideas to raise revenues. The questioner wanted to know specifics

Karl Hagstrom said it was important to develop and identify new revenue sources. He said there might be ways to save money in the Village by getting pro-bono work on project management from village residents. He also said there needed to be ongoing research including looking at things like the commuter parking lot and the amount of people coming from Rockland County to use the Tarrytown Metro North station. He said it was important to understand those numbers better.

Drew Fixell said the Village was already engaging in the search for more revenues.  He noted that revenues had gotten worse since 2008.
Of the items the Village had successfully raised money, he noted the parking fees for Yankee games which raised between $15,000 and $25,000. He also said there were still talks to see if Tarrytown could get a slice of the 3 percent hotel tax that can be charged by municipalities. Fixell said if the state gave the village the right to collect that money, there could be an additional $300,000 in revenues.
"That would be a significant increase in non-tax revenues," he said.

Alison Boldyrev said she would have to agree with what everyone was saying and that the village should continue to look at shared services.

Dawn Brehony echoed the shared services line but also proposed that the village open its lots to commercial parking overnight as a way to raise revenues. She also suggested that the village begin a volunteer service for "things that we would otherwise be paying for."

Doug Zollo said the village had already looked at charging for commercial parking. He said the current board had "sliced it and diced it" every way to find new revenues.
"There are only a couple ways to do it, either raise taxes or fees," he said. "We've raised it to the point where it's almost turned people off."
He said there was no magic bullet, but that the current board was leaving no stone unturned.

Tom Butler highlighted the work of the Village grant-writer who he said had raised over $12 million for the Village. He said if the Village could keep getting those grants, Tarrytown could become a destination for people who want to come for the weekend and to live. He said the use of grants for revitalization and capital projects would bring more revenues in terms of new residents in places like Hudson Harbor.

Steve Wilgermein agreed with the idea of looking into a hotel tax levied against hotels in the area. He also said the village should re-look at its fee structure and possible charge more to out-of-town residents.
"I believe facilities should be for Tarrytown residents first," he said. 

How many Tappan Zee Bridge meetings have you attended and what is your position?

Drew Fixell said he had been to too many meetings to count. He said he began going in 2002 when the topic first started gaining traction. Since then, he has been appointed to the Bi-County Executives Task Force, which oversees the project with an eye on how it impacts local residents.
He said the village has been watching the plans evolve and made note that he "objected tremendously" to a tunnel cutting through a portion of Tarrytown.
"We've been on top of it continually," Fixell said.

Karl Hagstrom said, to his understanding, building a new bridge is "a foregone conclusion."
"The bridge is of a certain age, it’s overused and there’s a certain threshold that the state will cross that it’s no longer worth continuing re-construction of the bridge” he said.
He said that Tarrytown can impact the state’s decisions in these matters and that the village should be sure to communicate its input into the process "as best we can and be part of the process throughout."

Dawn Brehony also said replacing the bridge is a foregone conclusion. However, said said she still had some concerns about the environmental impacts.
"It's already affecting Tarrytown," she said.
She noted that she had not attended any meetings.

Doug Zollo said he had gone to a number of meetings, the most recent at the Marriott in Tarrytown. He said the Village needed to see how the build would impact Tarrytown neighborhoods, but noted his opinion that a new bridge might be better for the environment as a whole.
"There is more pollution when cars are idling on the bridge," he said.

Alison Boldyrev said she had not attended any meetings, but that she would be strongly involved if she were on the board. She said she would make sure everyone in the village knew about the meetings so that residents could get informed on the issue.

Tom Butler said he had gone to four or five meetings. He said the current makeup of the board was important because they could ask specific questions that could hit on finances, engineering concerns and village residents' concerns. He said his own engineering experience allowed him to do a lot of oversight and ask questions about what the Tappan Zee project team is really thinking is possible for the bridge. He noted that he didn't think the project would go forward any time soon.
"Right now, I don't think they have the money to do it," he said.

Becky McGovern said she grew up in Nyack and had great concern for how the project would impact communities. She said she had been to about six or seven meetings. She said her biggest concern was that the current bridge wouldn't last forever. She said she didn't want to sit by and have them put the project on the shelf because the consequences could be too great.

Steve Wilgermein said he took a boat ride under the bridge and was shocked at the state of the structure. He said there was only a certain amount of money the state could dedicate to continuing to repair the bridge before a full overhaul was needed.
"It's going to take ten or 12 years to get this done," he said. "It needs to be taken care of."

A question was raised on the purchase of open space on Wilson Park Drive

Drew Fixell first stated that the question (which assumed the Wilson Park Drive property cost $2 million) was incorrect. He said the village paid $625,00o for the land, and that the money came from a voter-approved bond.
"There was strong public support for that," he said.
He noted that the Village was able to negotiate the price down on the 14-acre parcel and that the land was "irreplaceable" and would be open to the public for all time.

Karl Hagstrom said he would look at any option to get out of discretionary spending that isn't necessary.
"If there was a way to opt out, that is what I would do," he said.

Tom Butler said it was a purchase that people voted for. He said the land had the potential to become a Central Park for the village.

Steve Wilgermein said that a bond was passed last month to purchase the land (and the Mason's lot for downtown parking), but he said he wouldn't have approved it in this economic time if possible.
"I support open space, but times are tough," he said. "Is it something we can put off until next year?"

Becky McGovern said that people had to look at the purchase as a long-term investment in the future.
"It's a piece of land to connect to the Tarrytown Lakes," she said. "If we didn't buy it we'd have a developer take it over and put whatever he wants there."

Alison Boldyrev said that the question on the purchase the property was more directed to the people already in office. She said she would provide a fresh look at the numbers and provide an outsider's view on purchases like open space.
"I want to make sure we aren't doing the same things as usual," she said.

Dawn Brehony said that back in 2004, the village was only $15 million in debt and now the village was over $40 million in debt. She said she wanted to get the residents out there voting on things like the open space purchase again.
"I think it needs to come back to the residents," she said.

Doug Zollo said that he had not voted on the deal, because he lived near the property. He did say that, when he came into office, the previous administration was $20 million in debt. He said the additional $20 million came from necessary projects like building two fire houses, a Village Hall and overhauling the village's water infrastructure.
"They were built, sure we could have done like other people and did nothing," he said.

Where do you stand on the issue of affordable housing

Karl Hagstrom said he would have to look further into that from a compliance perspective. He said the Village needs to be in compliance with state and federal mandates on affordable housing.

Drew Fixell said the Village had agreed with Hudson Harbor to turn the old Village Hall into affordable housing. He also said that Tarrytown had some of the most affordable housing units in the county. He noted that a county settlement on affordable housing was still in process.

Steve Wilgermein said he was aware of the lawsuit requiring Westchester County to building affordable housing in places like Tarrytown. However, he said he is only a regular citizen and he wasn't privy to the inside information on the subject.

Alison Boldyrev said she was aware of affordable housing going on the old Village Hall site. She said, as far as she was aware, the Village was up to date with its affordable housing requirements.
"I would have to be on the board to make an educated decision about this," she said.

Tom Butler said that the creation of a Comprehensive Master Plan already identified some areas in the Village where affordable housing should be encouraged. He said the plan was in place to support the creation of housing for low income earners, seniors and people of moderate means.

Doug Zollo said if the recession didn't occur that the affordable housing at the old Village Hall would have been completed.  He said it was no secret that not many units in Hudson Harbor have sold. But he said the board made the decision to have the developer create affordable housing out of their interest in seeing it get done.

Dawn Brehony said the current board has been in talks with Hudson Harbor and that she wasn't aware of what those talks included. She said she couldn't speak specifically on the issue because of that, but that she wanted to see compliance to state laws.

Becky McGovern said it was an issue dear to her heart. She said she helped turn a church on Depeyster Street in Sleepy Hollow into a six-unit affordable apartment building.
"The key was collaboration," she said, "not only from village government, we also brought in a pro-bono developer and a pro-bono architect. Collaboration is going to be a key in this area."
She said the Village needed to keep an open eye out for opportunities to develop low-income and senior housing.

How will you involve local citizens in Village Government

Karl Hagstrom said he didn't believe that the Board of Trustees should sit behind a dais.
"Village Hall is the people's house," he said. "I think there should be a more informal format to make people feel comfortable."
He said bringing the board out from behind the dais would encourage more people to come down and talk. He said he wanted to start up a monthly coffee session where village residents could talk to trustees.

Drew Fixell also said he disliked the dais, but noted that the room in Village Hall was primarily made for the Justice Court.
He said that the current board had done a lot of work getting people involved in the committee structure and that people were giving their input all the time.
"We have probably 100 people working on committees," he said, "no one is denied, but there are some limits on certain committees."

Alison Boldyrev said that the board needed to show respect for those who come to board meetings. She said the board needed to be better about giving answers to residents in a timely fashion.
She said a key outreach organization to get residents involved in would be the recreation department.
"I think that is a great resource, it can only get stronger," she said.

Becky McGovern also said she disliked the dais-structure of board meetings.
She said if anyone wanted to get involved with something the board was more than willing to "take you by the hand and lead you to the place."
She also encouraged people to come to board meetings and work sessions. She said if residents ever had questions they could always email trustees or the Village Administrator.

Doug Zollo said he didn't mind the dais, noting that almost every government entity "does it that way."
He said that the village has more people on committees now than ever before. He also highlighted the creation of an ethics committee to advise the government on ethical decisions.

Dawn Brehony said she agreed with Karl and Alison that board members needed to get out from behind the dais. She also approved of an informal coffee function for meeting residents. She also wanted to set up a volunteer section on the village website to get more people involved in the community. 

Tom Butler noted the original question wasn't about a dais. He said when you bring people together who want to do great things for the Village, it usually happens. He singled out the work of the Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Committee and the Tarrytown Lakes Committee for their "outstanding work."
He said committee members bring outstanding talent and new ideas and that it was important to have village residents making decisions.

Steve Wilgermein said he wanted to see the board get out from behind that dais and get rid of the railing in Village Hall that he said resembled a barricade.
He said he wanted to get closer to people and really hear what they were saying.
"By them speaking they are becoming involved," he said. "We need to tap into that and utilize that.

Original Story by Matthew Falkenbury

As Election Day gets closer for the Tarrytown Mayoral and Trustee race, the candidates engaged in a spirited and informed debate on the issues concerning the people of Tarrytown.

On Tuesday night at the Tarrytown Senior Center, incumbent Mayor Drew Fixell and Karl Hagstrom, the challenger, met at a forum hosted by the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.

The Trustee races include incumbents Becky McGovern, Doug Zollo, Tom Butler, up against challengers, Dawn Brehony, Alison Boldyrev, and Steve Wilgermein.

With a crowd of about 50 residents in attendance, the candidates touched upon a number of topics brought up by both members of the audience and by the League of Women Voters.

Some of the topics that were discussed included the impacts of a new Tappen Zee Bridge on Tarrytown, the use of alternative energy sources, the sharing of civil services with other towns and finding new ways to raise revenue for Tarrytown.

In the most talked about exchange during the forum by the candidates was about the $41 million in debt that Tarrytown has. The most specific point came when a member of the audience questioned the use of a reported $2 million dollars to buy recreation space on Wilson Park Drive.

Mayor Fixell explained that it was only $625,000 dollars to buy the space and money being used actually from a vote given before he took office.

“It was from monies approved by the voters in 2002, prior to me being mayor, when the Open Space referendum was passed by an overwhelming margin,” he said. “And one of the projects that was part of that referendum was the open space at Wilson Park Drive, so there was a very strong public support for that.”

Trustee Challenger Dawn Brehony explained how in the last seven years, the debt in Tarrytown had grown and that voters today should have a chance to turn down their vote from 2002.

“As far back as 2004, the village debt was only 15 million dollars, right now it’s over 41 million” she said. “I think maybe we need to get the residents back out and voting on this again and seeing if this is what they want.”

Another issue that came up was the knowledge that each candidate had with the talks about replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Mayoral candidate Karl Hagstrom talked about how the bridge is most likely to be replaced and that Tarrytown could have a say in when and how it is replaced.

“My understanding is that it’s a foregone conclusion that the bridge is of a certain age, it’s overused and there’s a certain threshold that the state will cross that it’s no longer worth continuing re-construction of the bridge” he said.

“Tarrytown can impact the state’s decisions in these matters and there is a Federal Government component I believe as well, and we should moderate as closely as possible, make sure we communicate our input, into the process as best we can and be part of the process throughout.”