Setting the Record Straight

We hope that moving forward our opponents will abandon this negative, false rhetoric, and focus instead on positive, future-focused proposals for how to improve outcomes for this community that we all love. 

In politics there are no referees. No umpires calling balls and strikes. If your opponents attack you or misrepresent your record or your positions, you have to call them out. No one else is going to do it. 

We are setting the record straight about the Town's Rezoning Project. The images to the left/above are from our opponents recent "news"-letter, along with our responses. 

"A strong community requires diverse housing options. To that end, we support our Town’s revisit of the hamlet rezoning laws so we can consider the feasibility of adding residential units above commercial spaces.”

We agree that diverse housing options are critical, and that is why the current Town Board – Rob, Lisa, Hala, Ivy, and Jeremy – hired a consultant to draft a Form Based Code for the Chappaqua Hamlet. We are well-underway in our consideration of the feasibility of allowing residential units above commercial spaces. We are glad you stand with us! 

“Team New Castle will…review these plans to make sure they can achieve the above goals but also to ensure that we do not overcrowd our charming downtown Chappaqua, change it to be something our residents do not want, or throw downtown into many more years of disruptive construction.”

Rest assured that the entire Town Board, including Council Members Saland and Pool, are doing their homework, attending meetings, engaging colleagues on the Planning Board, and speaking with residents to make sure that the rezoning project meets the goals in the 2017 Comprehensive Plan.

Before you started campaigning for office, to what extent, if any, were each of you involved in Town Board and/or community meetings? As a resident, Jason Lichtenthal attended several such meetings, as did many of our neighbors who took time out of their schedules to participate in the process. Regardless of whether you were involved at the time, please understand that the Town Board and Planning Board are guided by the goals set forth in the Comprehensive Plan, a master plan created with and for residents to guide our municipality going forward. Protecting the bucolic nature of the surrounding community and preserving the character of the hamlet – not overcrowding it – are central to this plan. It is good to know you agree with those who took part in the process!

The downtown construction has been quite disruptive. You are absolutely correct. As you may not recall, prior to and during the November 2015 election, Team New Castle promoted the streetscape project as coming in 2016. During the 2017 election we were told the project would be completed in fall 2018, a date that shifted soon after Election Day.  Whether the hype and the billboards were mere politicking, the project did not start or end anywhere near as advertised.

Putting the above aside, titles – Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor – come with responsibility. More than merely determining agendas, these leaders are the face and chief executives our town. Have you confronted, challenged or questioned Supervisor Rob Greenstein, Deputy Supervisor Lisa Katz and/or former Deputy Supervisor Adam Brodsky as to the disruption and delays caused by their signature project? Or do they merely get a pass since you are running on the same Republican ticket and using their Team New Castle brand?

For that matter, if failure and responsibility come from the top down, would you have run against Supervisor Greenstein or Deputy Supervisor Katz due to these problems or would you have given a Republican-endorsed Town Board members a pass? This is an important question. Do only the Democratic councilmembers – Jeremy and Ivy – bear the burden of failings while the Republican Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor – Rob and Lisa – receive your accolades? 

 We believe that Town government functions most effectively when we collaborate to create forward-focused policy solutions. The Board cannot make progress with an "us vs. them" mindset. Going forward, we hope that our opponents will shift away from divisive campaign rhetoric. After all, we all love this community and want what is best for our residents!