The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Stronger New Castle: Browde, Markels, & Pool

by

(L-R): Stronger New Castle’s Gail Markels, Kristen Browde, and Ivy Pool

For a Town You Love to Call Home

Your vote for Stronger New Castle will bring experienced, detail-oriented managers to Town Hall, positioning our town for a resurgence and improved quality-of-life.

We are running for Town Board because we love New Castle and know we can improve our future! We want to live in a community that is resilient in the face of change, welcoming of newcomers and diverse opinions, culturally exciting and safe for our citizens–young and old. After the 2016 elections, sitting back was not an option for us. Collectively, we feel a strong sense of responsibility to step up and do our part to ensure open, honest and transparent governance in our hometown. We bring the skills that are needed and the passion this town deserves. We are Stronger New Castle…for a town you love to call home!

Kristen Browde is a Family Law attorney working in Chappaqua, a trustee of a $2.4 billion dollar pension fund and a director of two Bar Associations. She served on the Town Board of Ethics and helped draft the revised Town Code of Ethics. Kristen sits on the Chappaqua School Board’s Financial Advisory Committee and the Town Diversity Committee. She has two children, including an eighth grader at Seven Bridges.

Gail Markels began her legal career as an Assistant DA. She has served as General Counsel and managed nationwide state and local government affairs programs for several industry trade associations, representing video games and motion pictures. She currently works as a consultant providing government affairs and legal services to trade associations and businesses. She is a co-chair of the Chappaqua Garden Club. Her two children graduated from Horace Greeley High School.

Ivy Pool is a public sector consultant whose clients include Bloomberg Associates and the Obama Foundation. Ivy has managed multi-million dollar projects for the State and City of New York. She earned a Master’s in Public Administration and is an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Ivy is Vice President and Treasurer of the Greeley Hills Neighborhood Association and a Girl Scout Troop Leader. She has two children at Grafflin, where she is active in the PTA.

This is a critical election for New Castle. There are shovels in the ground all over town and there is a new and ambiguous Comprehensive Plan. You have a clear choice: the incumbents favor large-scale development in residential areas. We’ll put your interests over those of developers.

We have the ability and the temperament necessary to work together to bring about the improvements and reforms New Castle desperately needs, and to work cooperatively with the two Town Board members you elected in 2015, Jeremy Saland and Hala Makowska.

Stronger New Castle is endorsed by the Democratic Party, the Working Families Party, the Women’s Equality Party, and Up2Us, the former Chappaqua Friends of Hillary.

Our Platform

The following platform is a practical and financially-sound vision for a town you love to call home:

1. Stronger New Castle Will Bring New Energy, Enthusiasm and Solutions to Our Hamlets

  • Revitalize Downtown Chappaqua.
  • Rezone downtown to allow for expanded and creative uses of existing spaces.
  • Solve structural challenges like traffic and parking.
  • Build a Stronger Millwood.
  • Address top concerns, such as the DOT facility, the restoration of the train station, and the bike lane on Route 100.
  • Install sewers and finish sidewalks.

2. Stronger New Castle Will Enhance Safety and Improve Infrastructure

  • Establish a Truck Safety Unit within the New Castle Police Department.
  • Conduct a full review of speed limits; invest in traffic calming measures.
  • Build sidewalks on Route 117 from downtown to Horace Greeley High School and Chappaqua Crossing.
  • Fix failing sewers in Random Farms, Riverwoods, and Yeshiva.

3. Stronger New Castle Will Protect Your Investment and Keep Taxes in Check

  • Minimize town taxes and maximize efficiency.
  • Actively pursue Federal, State, and Regional grant funding opportunities–no more missed deadlines.
  • Employ project management best practices: eliminate “no bid” contracts and multi-million dollar cost overruns.

4. Stronger New Castle Will Put Residents and our Environment First

  • Ensure a full review of environmental impacts as a precondition to any development outside of existing zoning regulations.
  • Work closely with neighboring towns on projects that impact our shared resources.

5. Stronger New Castle Commits to Open and Transparent Governance

  • Bring respect and civility to Town Hall and our meetings.
  • Honor and encourage the active participation in local government by all citizens.
  • Provide adequate notice of all town meetings, and full transparency on all board votes.
  • Improve access to information by streamlining the town website and indexing Town Board videos by topic.
  • Provide clarity on the priority, sequencing, and measurement of the actions identified in the recently adopted comprehensive plan.

For more information, please visit StrongerNewCastle.org.