The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

New Castle Election 2017

Stronger New Castle: Browde, Markels, & Pool

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(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.

Team New Castle: Greenstein, Brodsky & Katz

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(L-R): Team New Castle’s Adam Brodsky, Robert Greenstein, and Lisa Katz

Getting Things Done!

We are a nonpartisan ticket. Supervisor Rob Greenstein and Councilwoman Lisa Katz are registered Democrats. Deputy Supervisor Adam Brodsky is unaffiliated. The New Castle Republican Party is endorsing us because they believe we are the best candidates for the town regardless of party. They are putting the interests of the residents and our community above all. We do the same! We are also endorsed by the Independence Party.

Four years ago, we ran for office because we wanted to change the status quo in Town government. We were frustrated by what we saw: ever-increasing property taxes, unresponsive leadership, lack of vision and little community involvement. There was absolutely no communication from our elected officials. Nothing actually got done and the Town Board made some colossal blunders with the Chappaqua Crossing and Conifer projects.

We all share a core value–we think that local government is about delivering results that residents can feel and appreciate. We are not motivated by political ambitions or ideologies, and believe in nonpartisan leadership.

Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein started the Chappaqua-Millwood Chamber of Commerce. He started the New Castle eNewsletter and the Town’s Distracted Driving campaign. No one works harder than Rob.

Deputy Town Supervisor Adam Brodsky is leading our Chappaqua Infrastructure and Streetscape Project. This is the biggest public works projects in recent Town history.

Councilwoman Lisa Katz led the effort to save the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center from demolition. Lisa has been working tirelessly to make the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center a fabulous amenity for our community.

We promised a new approach, and we delivered! We think the results speak for themselves …

  • Resolved Chappaqua Crossing, the most controversial land use application in our Town’s history
  • Planned and launched a massive infrastructure and streetscape project in downtown Chappaqua–all critical steps towards revitalization
  • Helped recruit DeCicco’s to Millwood
  • Saved over $3,000,000 over the course of the seven-year contract with new garbage contract
  • Saved close to $1,000,000 over the past four years with Workers Compensation premiums
  • Tripled our paving budget without raising taxes.
  • Saved the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center from demolition and turned it into an exciting new venue for music and arts performances
  • Started eNewsletter–a new communication staple in the community
  • Started the Distracted Driving initiative–currently being duplicated in other communities throughout country
  • Adopted a new Ethics Code (last amended in 1989)
  • Implemented numerous sustainability initiatives, including:
    • Reusable Bag Initiative
    • Single Stream Recycling
    • Energize NY Finance
    • Solarize Westchester
    • Westchester Power
    • Adopted new Comprehensive Plan (last revised in 1989)

Created numerous new citizen advisory committees to boost community involvement, including…

  • Mandate Relief Committee
  • Streetscape Committee
  • New Castle Arts & Culture Committee
  • Exceptional People of New Castle
  • Task Force on Health and Wellness
  • Community Inclusion and Diversity Committee
  • Community Preparedness Committee
  • The New Castle Youth Civics Action Committee
  • Downtown Business Development Committee
  • Coyote Management Task Force
  • Coyote Awareness and Safety Advisory Committee
  • Adopted new administrative policies for land use escrows, non-union employee payouts, vehicle use, anti-harassment and discrimination, and equal employment opportunity
  • Revamped Town’s website.

We continue to believe that local government should be nonpartisan. Our public service as local officials should focus squarely on the best interests of New Castle residents, and not politics and political labels. The local issues facing our Town are neither Republican nor Democrat issues.

We will continue to deliver results for our community by …

  • Restoring our infrastructure and revitalizing our business hamlets
  • Saving money and keeping taxes flat
  • Improving services and amenities for residents
  • Continuing to communicate with residents and engage the community
  • Exploring new ways to be a Green Community, such as with solar power and electric vehicles
  • Making our Town a destination for arts & cultural events
  • Paving and repairing our roads
  • Improving safety throughout our community
  • Being tireless, responsive, accessible and proactive

Once again, our nonpartisan, results-driven vision and philosophy is unique. We continue to believe that local elections should not be about politics and voting along party lines. Experience, sound judgment, work ethic and the ability to produce results matter most. The last thing we need here is more divisive partisan politics. We will continue to focus on the local issues that were ignored for so long. New Castle residents deserve nothing less. We are proud of our record of having done more in four years than in the past 25. We have dealt with the challenges we inherited and deliver results. We have the experience and drive to continue our work.

Please support Greenstein, Brodsky & Katz on Tues, Nov. 7th. Read more about our record: teamnewcastle.org