by Constancia Warren and Bruce Dollar
Editor’s Note: The following opinion piece has also been submitted to The Gazette as a letter to the editor. The Croton Chronicle, which does not endorse candidates for political office, strives to give voice to the diverse viewpoints in our community. We invite supporters of both sides in the current village election campaign to discuss possible Guest Editorials with us at TheCrotonChronicle@gmail.com
As lifelong Democrats and 30-year residents of Croton, we have thought a lot about the upcoming municipal election. In the past, we voted for Brian Pugh for Mayor and for the Democratic slate for Trustees. We were mostly satisfied and even impressed with the way Croton has been managed under Brian’s leadership. We’ve appreciated his stewardship of the Village’s finances and the environmental policies he has put in place. We proudly show our out-of-town guests the solar panel array in the train station parking lot.
We also found the mayor’s case for more housing in Croton convincing, arguing that Croton needs a broader tax base, and more affordable options for downsizing Croton retirees and young families, whether those who grew up here now moving back after college or those coming from elsewhere to start a family in Croton. We still favor increasing the supply of moderately priced housing in Croton.
However, we believe that, over time, the mayor and the village administration have taken actions that have made us think twice about continuing to support them at the ballot box. Here are some of the actions that troubled us:
The switch in financing for Maple Commons that made it almost impossible for any Croton residents to get apartments under a lottery system. This makes us wary about whether future multi-family housing would involve the same pattern of promising one type of development but changing to another along the way.
The lack of consultation with residents who will be directly affected by Village projects, such as those who recently lost parking because of the restructuring of Gottwald Circle. This includes unacceptably short notice of when the Trustees will consider issues affecting residents, often with agendas published only 48 hours prior to the meeting.
The divisive tendency to dismiss any questions raised about development as the product of obstructionism, “NIMBYism” or politically or socially incorrect motives. This is particularly disturbing when those being dismissed have quite legitimate concerns about not-inconsequential impacts of new development on their quality of life (traffic, noise, pollution) and potential loss of property value.
The unwillingness of Village leadership to stop, turn around and consider the unintended consequences of Village policies and actions, even when more than a thousand residents signed a petition asking for such a pause. Both of us spent much of our careers working in policy-related positions and we know there are always unintended consequences. Failing to examine and learn from these consequences can lead to bad policy decisions.
The Village administration’s apparently inadequate attention to the environmental impact of new development, as manifest in the months it took to respond to loud community concerns about developers clearcutting trees on a steep slope (Piney Point); the apparent lack of appropriate Village supervision of the potentially hazardous retaining wall holding back the steep sand and gravel slope at 25 South Riverside; as well as proposed plans to remove old-growth trees and to cut deeply into another sand and gravel steep slope surrounding a proposed new development at 425 South Riverside—a plot that already suffered a slope collapse during Hurricane Irene.
The administration’s decision to pass up opportunities to create space for a community center or to increase the supply of revenue-producing commercial space on the ground floor of proposed multi-family housing developments, despite the inclusion of these design elements in some of the rejected proposals.
The apparent preference for large-scale industrial style apartment buildings (as opposed to the more appropriate residential style), raising concerns not only about changing the visual character of the Village, but also about fire safety and the creation of an unhealthy we-they divide in the Village between those who live in single-family homes and those who live in new apartment buildings.
Given these concerns and the visibly growing divide in our community, we both have spent time examining the choices available to us. We have both jointly and individually talked with each the Voice of Croton candidates and we attended the League of Women Voters candidates’ forum on October 9th. We find the Voice of Croton candidates to be serious, prepared, and thoughtful about how to move Croton forward. We believe they would continue to support the economic, social and environmental priorities that we value.
We also think they have the potential to be a unifying force in a time that is marked by far too much political division, including in our own backyard. They are committed to finding ways to incorporate the views of the full range of Croton residents into the policy-making process, and to finding ways to build a stronger sense of community unity. For these reasons, we think it is time to thank Brian Pugh for his past leadership, and to vote for the Voice of Croton candidates -- Gary Eisinger, Stacy Nachtaler, and Nigel Ravelo -- for a new generation of leadership for Croton.
Constancia Warren most recently served as Director of Secondary Programs for FHI360 and Senior Program Officer and Director of Urban School Reform for the Carnegie Corporation of New York. In these positions, she worked on policy development and advocacy, program development and evaluation, and technical assistance, focused on educational equity, secondary school reform, and adolescent health and development. Connie retired in 2018.
Bruce Dollar‘s varied careers include serving as Associate Director of the National Commission on Resources for Youth, Senior Policy Aide to the Chancellor of New York City Schools, Managing Director of an international corporate investigations firm (Kroll Associates), and Realtor based in Croton-on-Hudson, where he moved with Connie (from Paris) in 1995.
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Department of Correction: In our report on the hiring of Vinny Salanitro as Croton’s new Village Engineer, we mistakenly said that he was the Assistant Engineer in Larchmont before coming to us. In fact he had been promoted to Larchmont’s Village Engineer in May 2024. We regret the error. The updated Web version of the story also includes some additional information about the hiring process from Village Manager Bryan Healy.
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Comments policy: No personal attacks, please be polite and respectful at all times.
Thank you for your fearlessness in openly sharing your perspectives as long time Croton Dems.
Interesting fact, our campaign donors/supporters are overwhelmingly local Democrats, followed by Independents with the smallest group Republican, yet only a few Dem supporters have had the courage to speak openly of their support, while thanking the current administration for their civic contributions and sacrifices.
I get it, these are very divisive and scary times and people are very skeptical of anyone looking to govern.
But what does this say about the state of Democracy in Croton, if we are driven by fear versus fearlessness? I thought Croton has a heritage of deep thinkers and courageous communicators. There’s still time.
Please look us up, talk to neighbors who know us, send us emails to learn more about us, your voice matters to us and it will be reflected in the moderate way we would govern.
For example, we will: 1) proactively consult residents who would be directly affected by Village projects to determine whether there are potential adverse impacts if so, how to mitigate them, and 2) will institute after-action reviews of Village projects to solicit post project feedback to identify any unanticipated consequences and suggest improvements for immediate & future efforts.
We will act on survey input! Survey after survey you’ve been asking and, I personally commit to solving for, a walkable community & arts space that celebrates the legendary artists who have and continue to call Croton their home.
Respectfully,
Stacey Nachtaler
Registered Democrat (VOC Candidate)
For Village Trustee
stacey@voiceofcroton.org
I am also a lifelong registered Democrat. I will also be voting for Voice of Croton for many of the reasons stated in this article.