Village of Tuckahoe, NY
65 Main Street Tuckahoe, NY 10707914-961-3100 — fax:914-961-3114
Hours: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday – Friday
Tuckahoe TV Stations: Channels 26 and 75
March 18th brings elections not only to Tuckahoe, but also many villages across New York State. Interestingly, villages have an opportunity to opt out of this March election by a referendum. Some Westchester Villages have taken this course citing cost-saving necessity. (November elections are run by the County and don’t cost Villages anything. However, a March election costs Tuckahoe $7,000). More may choose the option of switching when communities are obligated to use the new voting machines in 2009, since they will be required to hire only those who have been specially trained. The County Board of Elections is currently lobbying to have all Villages switch. Many believe the most compelling data to move to November may be the significant increase of those who vote. I personally don’t think elections should ever be based merely on volume of voters. I think those that exercise their right to vote in March are clearly in tune with Village issues. I always felt the New York law called for March elections, with the thinking that villages shouldn’t be caught up in national politics such as war, healthcare or immigration. On a national level, positions on issues of this magnitude have seen entire political parties swept out of office; the law hopes to insulate villages from these types of ramifications. While I believe Village government has enough to do controlling development and taxes, I am not convinced that the larger “national” issues don’t impact Villages. Allow me to offer a couple of examples of what I am referring to.
The President, Congress and state Governors may believe all Village Mayors are running Mayberry R.F.D., but that would be naïve. In fact, while various national debates remain unresolved, Tuckahoe villagers live with the consequences. Take for example the immigration debate that continues to rage in our nation’s capital. Many villages suffer the side effects of the present unresolved illegal immigration dilemma. Numerous Village Mayors in America have found themselves in constitutional battles attempting to protect their communities. Some local communities have had to deal with undocumented workers “shaping up” on street corners and using the streets as public toilets. We have thus far escaped this nightmare, but Tuckahoe has been fighting a battle that has connection to this debate. Often new arrivals to America find themselves in overcrowded apartments or houses. In some cases the immigrants themselves choose this path; other times it is landlords who have unlawfully subdivided their properties. In either case it is unacceptable because it occurs without any regard to our schools, services and laws. I have shut down several of these places in Tuckahoe and there may well be more out there. I will close them down as well. I realize that some residents have fallen into this same net, even some of my own neighbors. Most of these homeowners are not housing illegal aliens but they, too, have unlawfully increased the use of their home. It places the rest of the Village at an unfair disadvantage and increases our density. My position remains unwavering on this issue - - single-family homes and two-family homes are just that; they are not two- family and three-family homes.
Healthcare costs are another unresolved national quagmire that affects our Village government. Our annual cost to provide healthcare to our many Village employees is well over one and a quarter million dollars. This accounts for nearly 13% of our annual operating costs and increases annually by about 12%. This year during contract negotiations with our municipal workers I added language designed to protect us from these ever rising costs and offered increased incentives to get more workers to opt out of Tuckahoe paying their healthcare. These are measures necessary to ensure our fiscal survival, but ultimately the costs may overburden small villages. In the meantime, it is obvious that Village governments had better have answers to these and other problems, because no one has the luxury of waiting for the big-time politicians to make decisions.
While some of the national debates, such as abortion, death penalty and war may not necessarily impact Village election, that is not to say these issues do not personally touch us and some even vote locally with all these in mind. A village government must always pay attention to the national implications to properly serve its community. Thankfully, one thing Tuckahoe is no longer burdened with is one party representation, which can lead to stagnation. Our current Village board is a mix of political parties and independent thinkers. This dynamic requires working together for the best interests of Tuckahoe. In the last year we have passed several significant laws and resolutions on matters such as sex offender residency restrictions and health care cost saving measures. In addition, constantly cognizant of quality of life issues, we passed many measures that make Tuckahoe the place we want to live. I urge you to exercise your right to vote on March 18.