Dems Choose Wiegman, Murtaugh & Raskob

Leo Wiegman, Ian Murtaugh and Casey Raskob get the nod from Democrats for Croton’s Village Mayor and Village Trustee nominations. On Tuesday evening, January 18, over thirty Villagers braved the weather and convened at the Croton Free Library’s Ottinger Room in the local Democratic Committee’s Nomination Caucus to select candidates for the upcoming Village elections.

The Mayor’s position, currently held by leo Wiegman and two Trustee seats held currently by Democrats Ian Murtaugh and Rick Olver will be on the ballot on March 15, 2011.

The caucus, chaired by John McBride, nominated Leo Wiegman and Village Trustee Ian Murtaugh to run for reelection to their current poisitions. Casey Raskob of Lounsbury Road, was also tapped to fill the seat to be vacated by current Trustee, Rick Olver.

Ann Gallelli, current Trustee of Briggs Lane placed Wiegman’s name in nomination for Village Mayor. “Leo is the best mayor Croton has had in a long time and is the mayor we need to keep going forward,” Ms. Gallelli asserted. She said that Mr. Wiegman is a great leader because he has shown the ability to take bold steps forward while exercising caution when making decisions.

“The biggest change under my administration is that we replaced 4 years of ‘go it alone’ with 2 years now of ‘let’s work together,’” stated Wiegman. “We accomplished a lot. We finished the Croton Landing walk and the parking lot upgrade, with huge inherited cost overruns and still managed to cut village taxes in both years. We listened to residents and numerous volunteer committees, resulting in cost savings and great new quality of life improvements in the Farmer’s Market and Community Garden. Local merchants now have new ways to tap into the tens of thousands of visitors to the Toughman competition, the Blaze and the Clearwater Festival. Day to day problem solving is important, but it does not move the Village ahead very much. To make meaningful cuts in your taxes, that are sustainable over time, a long-term vision is needed.”

Ty West nominated Mr. Murtaugh saying, “Ian is my oldest friend in Croton. in the two years Ian has been Trustee, he has learned to use his great ability to listen to people to the great advantage of our Village.” Mr. Murtaugh’s nomination was seconded by Andy Levitt of Cedar Lane who claimed to be one of Ian’s newest friends in Croton, having moved to Croton not long before Mr. Murtaugh’s first election.

Nance Shatzkin, of Old Post Road North, placed Casey Raskob’s name in nomination. “Casey’s energy is positive and infectious. he seems to be devouring material about current issues in the Village and I have no doubt that he is going to be a fantastic addition to the village Board,” stated Ms. Shatzkin. Mr. Raskob promised to “work toward an economically run Croton, one which faces the future, not one which lives in the past or is frozen in the moment.”

CHILL OUT WITH THE CROTON DEMS A HUGE SUCCESS!

Over 70 people, old and young, residents of every political persuasion packed the porch at Umami on Tuesday night, August 31st for our 1st Annual “Chill Out With the Croton Dems”  Fundraiser/Friendraiser.  That it was about 100 degrees in the shade didn’t seem to phase anyone as the crowd feasted on appetizers and applied cold glasses of Sangria and beer to sweaty foreheads.

We thank you for your support and patience. We knew it would be well attended and most definitely fun, but we didn’t know it would be SO well attended! We’re working out the kinks for the next time, which we hope will be in the near future.

Stay tuned for more fun in the future!

On April 26, 2010, the Board of Trustees approved the budget for the Village.  it gives us a tax cut for the second year in a row.  The board was presented with a budget calling for a 5% tax increase. Thankfully, the Democratic trustees continued to work with Village staff to CUT VILLAGE TAXES, with no loss of personnel and no cuts in services.

Last year the Democrats, realizing tough times were ahead, looked at more than just the numbers.  They began an in-depth analysis of how the Village operates to see what needed to be updated and what should be eliminated. This kind of thorough analysis had NEVER before been done and last year resulted in Croton’s VERY FIRST TAX CUT for resident taxpayers.

But they didn’t stop there.  Realizing fiscal year 2010-2011 would be no picnic either, they instituted a “mid-year budget review” to keep an eye on last year’s budget and lay the groundwork for this current budget process.  In addition, Village department heads, cognizant of today’s economic realities, declined raises in pay and benefits for themselves and recommended what was needed to bring tax relief.  The trustees’ planning, helped by this staff action, made it possible to deliver a second tax cut to Vilalge residents.

The hard work to address inefficiencies in government operation had not been done before. In the prior administration, spending went up $4 million in four years.  Across the county, state and nation, “business as usual” is emerging as a major roadblock to governments getting costs under control.  Cutting your Village taxes two years in a row is a clear message from the Democratic majority that “business as usual” is not acceptable in Croton.  Thanks to these trustees, Croton is changing, bringing improved services at a reduced cost.

Everyone knows it’s tough making ends meet these days.  We thank Mayor Wiegman, and Trustees Gallelli, Murtaugh and Olver for their hard work, ingenuity and perseverance during the budget process so that for the second year in a row, we are all paying less in Village taxes than the previous year. They do the hard work and we reap the results.

DEMOCRATS KEEP TAXES IN CHECK

Annual budget well below stated mandate cap

April 30, 2012, Croton-On-Hudson, NY – The Democratic-led Village Board has once again slashed the tax increase called for in the Village’s proposed budget, from 6.76% down to 1.5%.   This is well under the state property tax cap and was achieved with no loss of personnel or cuts in services.

“All staff and department heads were responsible for helping us achieve this result,” Croton Mayor Leo Wiegman reports. “Trustee Ann Gallelli was instrumental in identifying almost half a million dollars in additional cuts to the budget.  She engaged in conversations with key staff who offered further suggestions for identifying potential savings.”

A significant portion of the new budget is due to a federal mandate requiring the village to change all radios used by police, fire, EMS and DPW.  The increase could have been less than 1% had the budget not been subjected to these federal mandates.

Under Democratic leadership, the Board has curbed spending and ended the rampant tax rate increases we saw before.  The pre-recession GOP years (2005-2009) gave us an increase in the village tax rate of 33.74%.  During Democratic Mayor Wiegman’s administration, the tax rate increase has been kept to 3.65%, over a 4-year period, even with the collapse of revenues due to the recession.

Who is more careful with your money?  The answer is clearly the Democrats.

Here we are just a few days after the first in memory Democratic Party primary election for Village Trustee in the village of Croton.  Some of you are elated with the results, others are disappointed.  Whichever way you lean, the work of the Croton Democratic Committee goes on.  There are several very important races which matter greatly to Democrats.  Onward to more victories in November!  To reach these goals, we always need to engage new people and encourage them to be involved in one way or another in the community.The other political event that happened last Thursday is that a new slate of district leaders a.k.a. Westchester County Democratic Committee members, was “elected.”  This requires that the committee elect new officers.  On Thursday September 20, from 7:30 to 9:00, we will hold our re-organizational meeting, to elect a new Chairperson, Vice-chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

After that portion of the meeting is concluded we will discuss the many opportunities to be involved in electoral politics this fall, leading up to the November election.  There is much to do, from working for Obama to the state assembly and state senate races here in Croton.  Phone banks for Nita Lowey and Justin Wagner will be starting in Croton next week!

If there is time we will have reports about what is happening at the Village Board and/or from some other of our elected officials.

Please join us to begin anew the efforts for a successful November 2012 election and to start to get ready for 2013.