Guest Editorial: Why I am running for trustee on the Voice of Croton ticket.

Today and tomorrow we feature statements by two first time candidates.

by Stacey Nachtaler

Editor’s Note: November may seem far off, but campaigning for three contested seats on the Croton Board of Trustees is getting under way. We asked the two candidates who are running for the first time—Stacey Nachtaler for Voice of Croton, and Karen Pecora for Croton Democrats—to tell the community who they are, why they are running, and what they stand for. We will publish Karen Pecora’s statement tomorrow.

Hi friends and neighbors:

Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Stacey Nachtaler, candidate for Croton-on-Hudson Village Board of Trustee. I appreciate a few minutes of your valuable time to share how I am fully dedicated to serving you, and what’s at stake in this November’s election.

My family and I fell in love with Croton three decades ago, and visited often.  Our fondest memories involve days and nights enjoying Croton’s parks, trails, restaurants, small businesses, waterfront, and strong sense of community. Living here over the past seven years, we can’t help but notice a deprioritization of those important assets, and a contraction of a transparent, inclusive localized-democracy, by the same few who have been in charge for many terms. Too often, residents' questions, ideas, and concerns are ignored in a variety of board and committee settings.

As a Democrat who has voted for Democrats my whole life, it’s been difficult watching our fellow neighbors feel unheard by the current administration. I have joined with fellow Voice of Croton candidates Gary Eisinger and Nigel Ravelo to offer our village a choice this November.  Our platform — a living, breathing menu of priorities shaped by Croton residents from all corners — stems from our unwavering vow to act transparently and include constituents from start to finish.

Here is a sampling of what Voice of Croton has to offer:

1. We maintain zero conflicts of interest and have no aspirations for personal political gain.

2. We are not party to any special political interests or influences. 

3. We will aim to put the “public” back in public meetings — agendas will be crafted with constituent input, visible through multiple channels allowing greater than 48 hours for residents to respond to public hearings, new proposals and discourses. 

4. We aim not to unilaterally rule on the fate of Village land or local services conducted by Croton’s outstanding employees. If such serious changes were to ever be on the table, we would plan to put them on the ballot for voters to make the ultimate decision. Consider that without voter approval, the current administration recently eliminated a hyper-local service: our Village tax assessor. That move, without net budget savings, increases annual Village property taxes on 1,200 residents, makes it more difficult to appeal your taxes, and provides the current mayor with a 39% annual tax cut. Another example, the current administration has given developers sweetheart land deals and PILOT (Payment In Lieu of Taxes) to developers — leaving current property taxpayers on the hook to shoulder the tax liability, service, programming and infrastructure impacts of a population increase upwards of 15% or more. While townhomes, condos and apartments all have a place here, we favor solutions that maintain the charm and small-town identity of our Village.

5. We will aim for any development, including legacy projects from the current administration, to be right-sized for the Village; and measured holistically, as part of an independent analysis of the budgetary, economic, public service, infrastructure, environmental, and tax impacts. Even though potential developments, such as recreation, small business, or mixed-use, would fit the people’s comprehensive plan in the first place, our constituents would always have a transparent, holistic accounting of potential costs and environmental impacts before any project is greenlit.

6. We aim to be fiscally responsible in requiring potential developers to pay their fair share up front and annually, and that Croton receives its fair share of state resources, including grants, to fund community priorities and needs.

7. We are guided by the fact that there is no monopoly on great ideas or expertise within our community, and will aim for advisory boards and commissions to reflect the ideological and demographic diversity of the Village, while meeting the most-pressing needs and priorities of our community.

You can count on us to actively listen and address your priorities and needs, while fiercely advocating for the highly valued hyper-local services Crotonites have grown accustomed to, including but not limited to our Police, Courts, Fire, EMS, DPW.

I look forward to seeing you all in the community, meeting you if we haven’t yet had the pleasure, learning about your thoughts and ideas, and working together to restore Croton’s local, grassroots democracy for our collective future. Please do not hesitate to reach me at stacey@voiceofcroton.org and visit www.voiceofcroton.org.  

In closing and for convenience, I invite you to review my short-hand bio and some of my directly transferable qualifications:

I have an impactful record of driving philanthropic, environmental and DEI progress at some of America's biggest brands. I created and led national sustainability, wellness, nutrition-access and pandemic-response initiatives supporting millions of people, including underserved or low-income populations. 

After 30 years working for small, medium and large employers, I started a small business focused on product innovation, omnichannel marketing and brand growth. 

Previously, I served for 16 years at PepsiCo, starting as a manager and working my way up to an executive role in better for you product innovation while serving as co-president of the DEI coalition called RISE.  Under my tenure, RISE fostered economic opportunity, grants, arts and culture initiatives, and improved quality of life for Native Americans and people from Latin America. I initiated consumer empathy studies in partnership with the largest retailers, built transformative solutions that resolve low income shopper tensions while accelerating brand growth. I managed dynamic and complex operating budgets totaling well over $100 million, including recently a $20 million multi-brand, nationwide capital and product improvement project. 

I volunteered to bolster Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg's efforts to prevent radioactive and toxic wastewater discharge from Indian Point into the Hudson River, while canvassing for the democratic ticket such as Mondaire Jones, and recently co-led activation against the 6 story population-dense 280 unit structure at 1 Half Moon Bay resulting in a temporary stoppage to that project.

In 2018, we were thrilled to move to beautiful Croton. Prior to that, we lived in the Hudson Valley, regularly frequenting Croton's parks, shops and restaurants as our go-to local destination for over 20 years.

Left and right: Voice of Croton trustee candidates Stacey Nachtaler and Nigel Ravelo. Center: Mayoral candidate Gary Eisinger.

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