Piermont Mayoral Debate 2025
BARBARA
SCHEULEN
Hi
everyone… Can you hear me?... [Yes]… good! Hi! [Hi!] All right. Thank you for
being here tonight. I’m Barbara Scheulen, and I chair the Piermont Democratic
Committee... And we’re really happy to host this. I’d like to introduce you to
our committee members. Some may be still outside, but if they would please
raise their hand: Margaret Grace, Don Guyton, Susan Sloan Whiting, Bruce
Tucker, Peter Metzler, Nathan Mitchell, and Marthe Schulwolf. OK.
So
this uh… this building has recently been renovated, and I want to thank Trustee
Michael Wright over here… and his committee for all the work they’ve done on
this building, on the new park, and also on Half Moon Park. Many of you walked
up through Half Moon Park today. I also want to thank Talaad. Talaad is a very
important committee member. But for those of you who use the Community Ccenter,
know Talaad. He’s… uh… videotaping tonight’s debate, so we’re going to share it
for those who can’t attend. The link will be available tomorrow on social
media. And we want to thank Talaad also for helping to get the space in order
for us today.
Tonight’s
debate focuses on our two candidates for [Mayor], Nate Mitchell and Kevin
Timoney.
But
I do also want to acknowledge that there are two Trustees candidates on the
ballot that are running unopposed: Kate McCabe… and Michael Wright. Most
importantly, the committee wants to thank Doria Hillsman. Doria is co-president
of the Rockland County League … there she is… the Rockland County League of
Women Voters, and we appreciate her agreeing to moderate this debate.
With
her this evening are Myrna and Ted Aron, who have served as a time… as a timekeeping
team for Rockland League debates for over ten years.
At
Doria’s request, we also have three people who are vetting questions for her so
that they are not redundant and are [o]n line with the League rules: Chris
Sanders former Mayor of Piermont, Joan Chiaramonte, who has extensive
experience moderating debates, and Jamie Ross. Jamie is a member. of the
Executive Committee of the Orangetown Democratic Committee. So now I’m going to
turn it over to Doria. If you have any questions along the way, please raise
your hand, and we’ll coll.. collect them and get them over to the table for
you. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Okay,
good evening, again. Thank you all for coming. Once again, my name is Doria Hillsman,
and I’m very happy to be here tonight. Uh… The League of Women Voters is a
grassroots organization that was founded in Chicago in 1920. We’re nationwide,
with over 750 leagues throughout the country. We do not endorse or promote
political parties or candidates. The Rockland League has been here for over 80
years, started in Nyack by a group of women, including the late actress Helen
Hayes, and has played an in… integral part in shaping and promoting the
Rockland County polit… political arena. The League of Women Voters was hosted
and moderated… has hosted and moderated debates for many years, and as such, we’ve
developed protocol[sic] to ensure a smooth and productive debate.
So
I’m going to just go over a few ground rules. I know um… uh… that, uh… that
Barbara and Margaret Grace have been posting them, but just as a reminder. I
don’t ask the questions. The questions come from you all and are vetted by the
panel here. Our intention is, in good faith, to select questions that represent
your interests. This entire event was produced for your benefit. Questions
should be legibly written uh… and must be addressed to both candidates. I don’t
choose the questions, as I said, and they will not be asked if they involve
personal matters, are inappropriately hostile or gratuitous, address
responsibilities outside of the mayoral office, or appear to be designed to
make a statement rather than gaining information. Um… we decided the order of…
um… debate earlier by a.. by a… toin coss[sic], and, um… Mr. Timoney
will begin. Um…
Candidates
will be allowed opening statements… two minutes. Each question will get one-and-a-half
minutes. They will have a minute for rebuttal, one rebuttal for each question, and
their closing statements will consist of [a] one-and-a-half minutes. Time-limits
on responses will be strictly-observed. Our timekeeper will hold up a card to
indicate when you all have one minute and then 30 seconds remaining, and then
you must stop. In addition to the candidates’ positions, you will also have the
opportunity tonight to make some inferences about their character, poise, and demeanor.
How well a candidate respects rules and protocols can give insight into his or
her fitness to govern with integrity and fairness. Finally, there are no
campaigning… there is no campaigning here, no signs or parafamilia[sic]…
paraphernalia isn’t permitted here in the debate hall.
Personal
recording is not allowed, so…um… if I see it and I don’t have on my glasses,
you might get away with it. But if I see it, we’re going to shut it down. So
please don’t do that. It’s going to be… it’s being recorded, and the recording
will be made available to all of you. Um… So please, no personal… it says “no
photography”, but you can take pictures, just no recording. We ask that you
show courtesy and abide by this policy.
Alright,
let’s get started. Our candidates tonight are Nate Mitchell and Kevin Timoney.
Nate
Mitchell has served in a variety of mun… municipal positions in the Village of
Piermont, including the Piermont Board of Trustees and the Planning Board. He’s
been a member of the Fire Department for over 15 years and serves as Director
and was previously the Dive Lieutenant. In his tenure as Trustee, he served as
liaison to the Planning Board, Zoning Board, Building Department, Fire
Department, Department of Public… Public Works, and the Parks Commission. He organized
the COVID Food Pantry Program, and manages operations for the Piermont Summer
Concert Series. He has chaired and served on [the] Piermont Comprehensive Plan
Committee and the Waterfront Resiliency Commission and provides fractionalized
IT management services. He believes that his experience gives him strategic
insight and uniquely qualifies him as an asset to the Village and positions him
to overcome the challenges that Piermont faces today. Please welcome Mr. Nate
Mitchell.
Kevin
Timoney holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies from Fordham University. He’s
held positions in public service in New York City and the State of New York for
over 22 years. He is currently the Executive Director of Citywide Contracts at
the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation, where he oversees
contracts representing over 177 million dollars. He has led negotiations that
ensured fair and competitive rates for New York City. He has developed best
practices and secured 130 million dollars worth of contracts from vendors of
minority and women-owned business enterprises. In Piermont, he’s served on the
Zoning Board of Appeals and founded the BTND (“Better the Next Day Run Club”)
to provide accessible fitness to all. He pledges that if elected, he will bring
Piermont the same level of professionalism, fiscal responsibility, and
collaborative spirit that he has cultivated throughout his career.
Please
welcome Mr. Kevin Timoney… Okay, we’ll begin with opening statements. Okay, Mr.
Timoney.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Great!
Thank you all for attending tonight. It really means a lot. My name is Kevin Timoney
and I’m running for Mayor because I believe Piermont needs leadership that
unites us instead of divides us. I was born here in Rockland County and public
service runs deep in my family. My father served on the NYPD and my mother was
a teacher in New City. I’ve dedicated 22 years to serving the people of New
York City and New York State. In that time, I’ve managed large budgets, complex
contracts, and delivered major technology and infrastructure projects. I built
consensus among people with very different viewpoints. My family and I chose to
move to Piermont because we love this village.
I’m
running for Mayor because I want Piermont to remain a place where families
thrive, neighbors can talk openly… and decisions are made thoughtfully and with
the future in mind. That means smart scale[d] development that respects our
village charm, protecting taxpayers by finding creative ways to grow revenue
and ensuring our government is accountable and accessible to everyone. My
opponent has done a lot of work for Piermont, and for that I am grateful, but
that does not make him a leader. And unfortunately, much of the conversation
this election season has been overshadowed by divisive rhetoric and
misinformation. As you read the way Nate communicates, there’s almost always a
conspiracy or a dark overtone. Piermont doesn’t need that. As I’ve said from
the beginning, we don’t always have to agree, but we can respect each other’s
opinions without turning every disagreement into a battle or treating our
neighbors like enemies. I bring fresh perspective backed by relevant
professional experience, and I am beholden to no political group or
organization. I’m running to lead with integrity, listen to every resident, and
to ensure that our decisions are rooted in facts, fairness, and a shared vision
for Piermont’s future. That’s the kind of mayor I intend to be.
NATE
MITCHELL
Shall
I?... OK, so thank you everybody for coming. We have a great turnout tonight.
It’s really fantastic. I hope our turnout is this good for the actual
elections. That’ll be important also. My name is Nate Mitchell and I’m running
for Mayor because Piermont needs a real new perspective in Village Hall. We
need leadership that values quality of life, public safety, and our
environment, both natural and built. We need a village government that operates
with transparency and complies with open government laws in good faith. We need
government that operates with fiscal responsibility and compliance with all
laws and regulations governing municipal finance. We need leadership that
engages with our residents to understand the challenges we face today and chart
a sustainable path into an uncertain future.
My
Administration will work with residents and businesses to identify economic
development opportunities that are compatible with our infrastructure
constraints and enhance our quality of life. We will seek to balance
development with preservation of our community character as a charming,
walkable collection of neighborhoods with a vibrant downtown commercial
district. We will pursue funding to increase our infrastructure capacity and
resiliency with urgency and agency. We’ll work to address the challenges of
affordability and access to housing, to keep older residents here in Piermont
and welcome young families to join our community. I believe my extensive
experience, proven record of leadership, and deep connection with our community
uniquely position me to achieve these goals, and with your support in the
November 4th election, I look forward to working with all of you to
ensure Piermont is a special place to live for generations to come. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
OK
Mr. Mitchell. This first question goes to you. Please list your top three… the
top three challenges you see with this Village, and I’d like you to focus on
one which you feel is most important and why.
NATE
MITCHELL
Thank
you. Top three challenges I would categorize into three separate categories:
the first being environmental, the second being economic, and the third being
social. And the environmental challenges that we face involve things like
climate change and the increasing intensity, duration, and frequency of
flooding events that we’re experiencing. There is work that we can do in terms
of infrastructure to help manage that.
In
terms of economic challenges, we’ve just lived through a period of intense
inflation. All of our Village expenses have gone up and are continuing to go
up, and it’s always a challenge to try to balance a budget without making
things more difficult for families that are experiencing affordability issues
already.
And
then the third one is social. And I have to echo some of what my opponent said
in his opening statement: that over the course of the last two years, there
have been some very challenging social times in Piermont, with lots of folks that
don’t agree about issues regarding development and the impacts that they might
have, and have gotten to be quite harsh at times. And I just want everybody to
know that that’s not what I’m about. And I’m happy to have a conversation with
anyone at any time in this Village about any issue and not make it something
about being right or wrong. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Timoney, same question… The top three challenges you see facing the vigg[sic]…
the Village and concentrate on one and how you would address it.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Sure.
Thank you. I see the top three priorities as zoning, fiscal responsibility, and
infrastructure and safety. Regarding cella[sic]… zoning, I think
that’s a topic on everyone’s mind, and I think we need to create a new process
that is transparent and also community-en[sic]… community-engaged.
We need to make sure that it favors no specific development. Also, we need to
ensure that our future development in our business zone matches the architectural
character of the existing downtown.
For
fiscal responsibility, we need to look at… we need to do an internal audit at[sic]
our spending. See what we can cut down as waste and what is redundancy to save
us some money. We need to look at the infrastructure and safety[sic]…
um[sic]… We need to… I would like to use some of my contracts[sic]
from New York City and from the State where I have… um[sic]… with the Emergenc[sic]…
Office of Emergency Management that Housing Preservation and Recovery[sic].
These are things that have already been done that we can use in Piermont and use
to our advantage these studies[sic].
DORIA
HILLSMAN [disappointed
in his garbled answer above]
Okay,
thank you… Mr. Timoney, what would you do to address the parking issues in the
building?
KEVIN
TIMONEY [laughs,
nervously].
That
is the million dollar question I think we all want to know… um[sic]…
and that’s a great question. Uh[sic]… as I alluded to with… uh[sic]…
my expertise in the City and the State I’ve done s[sic]… the New York
City Department of Transportation has done traffic studies. Obviously, we… I do
know New York City is a bigger place than Piermont, but these hav[sic]…
they’ve done traffic studies where we can kind of borrow this information and…
see what… they’ve done, what works in different neighborhoods, and see if we
can kind of bring that in here. Um[sic]… we do have a parking lot
in the back that is owned. We need to start reaching out to the owner and try
to see if we can build on top of that.
We
need to have fresh, creative ideas… uh[sic]… but parking is a… very big
issue right now that we have to address.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Thank
you, Mr. Mitchell, same question.
NATE
MITCHELL
Sure...
Well, so the best tool that a municipality has to deal with parking issues is
our zoning laws, and in my mind, the issues that we’re facing currently are
essentially a self-imposed hardship. So what we’ve done over the course of the
last eight or so years is to find ways around the limitations on seating in
restaurants that are in our zoning, requiring off-street parking. And we’ve
expanded a program called the Fee in Lieu of Parking program that I
think was good legislation when it was introduced some 10, 15 years ago that
allows restaurants to operate without having any off-street parking by paying
the Village a fee in lieu of the off-street parking that is required.
The issue is that when we first instituted this legislation, we limited it to
an inventory of about 20 or 25 parking spots total. And that was based on going
around on a Saturday night and looking at how many spots were actually open in
our parking lots. Over the course of the last eight years, basically every year
we have increased our fee in lieu of parking inventory without actually
increasing our real physical inventory of parking. And as a result of it, now
we have sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 to 90 parking spots that
simply don’t exist. So that enforcement is going to be critical to fixing our
parking issues. Thank you.
Mr.
Mitchell, this question goes to you first - in your fiscal vision, how will you
handle the village budget?
NATE
MITCHELL
In
my fiscal vision, how will I handle the village budget? I mean, I’ve been
through a budget process six or seven times as a Trustee over the course of the
last few years serving as a Trustee. And we have a process in place. It’s
actually kind of embarrassingly simple. It’s kind of just an Excel spreadsheet.
But we go through each year, and we look at what our revenue is going to be
from taxes, and we look at what all of our expenses are. And one thing I think
we haven’t done well enough, in the last few years, it is to plan beyond a
single year’s budget.
So,
what I would like to do is get back to looking at a 10-year capital plan and
planning on what increases in Village expenses we know are coming down the
line, two years, three years down the line, and be prepared for that. Thank
you.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you very much… Uh[sic] … So, I would adapt[sic]… a…
spend review plan where I would make every Board of Trustee[sic] who’s
in charge of any division fill out the form for… all their yearly expensive[sic]…
expenses. If it’s a renewal, if it’s an annual, if it’s a monthly payment, they
put all their… costs within this… program. We then review it line-by-line. We
would go over this to ensure that everything that they have aligned to their
budget is accounted for. We then determine the payments through this… it’s also
an Excel spreadsheet. We’re all very advanced here… Um[sic]… but you
would go through that and you would see if this is [of ]occurring costs that we
would need to do every month or every year. And you would just kind of go
through that with each department, and then you put that together with the
budget, similar to what I’m doing right now in the City.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
OK,
thank you very much... Mr. Timoney. What is your vision for acceptable
development for the Village?
KEVIN
TIMONEY
That’s
a great question. And I alluded to that before in one of my questions regarding
zoning. I think we need to… have… we need to get our zoning[sic] in
place because we need to have a transparent and a community-engaged
process. Um[sic]… as I mentioned… the spot across Bunbury’s is a very
hot topic, as we all do know.
But…
we’ve got to make a zoning[sic] where it doesn’t favor any
specific development. And we’ve got to get an Architectural Review Board. If
that means a brand new board or… having that as part of our Planning Board, we
need to have som[sic]… we need to have the Village have a say in
what our character of downtown looks like. Um[sic]… it is
important that we start working on that zoning right away. Uh[sic]… as
we do know, uh[sic]… many of the buildings that we do have in our
downtown aren’t in compliance. So… it’s very important that we start working on
a zoning[sic] that protects the buildings that are currently there, but
we don’t get oversized buildings in our current downtown. So we need to start
literally on Day One. Thank you,
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell, same question.
NATE
MITCHELL
So
as Mayor, one of the first things that I would do on Day One is to follow the
recommendations from… County Planning to establish a panel to review our Comprehensive
Plan. So over the last couple of years we worked on developing a Comprehensive
Plan. However, by the time we adopted the Comprehensive Plan, we did not
address the issues about the fact that a large majority of our downtown is not
in compliance with our existing zoning. And so, I would like that Committee to
go back and review those issues and make recommendations about what zoning we
could adopt that would both accommodate our existing architecture and also make
limitations on what new developments impacts could be. So, an example of that
would be requiring sidewalks of a certain width if the building were to be
right up to the sidewalk.
Having
a 24-inch sidewalk and then a massive building right there would change our
character terribly. We do actually have an Architectural Review Board on the
books in Piermont. It hasn’t been active in a few years because there are
challenges about finding what architecture is appropriate in a built
environment that has such eclectic architecture. I think it’s something that we
need to look at, but I’m not sure that it is the cure-all for our issues. Thank
you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Thank
you. Going back to the building questions, um… Mr. Mitchell… um… how would you
protect the Village from the sea level rise? Apparently, that’s a thing here.
NATE
MITCHELL
That
is very much a thing here, and I’m honored to be asked that question as if I
had the power to do that.
So
we face a lot of issues in terms of flooding. There are some that we can
address with infrastructure. There are others that we need to simply accept and
learn how to deal with. And not to change hats too quickly, but I have to say I’ve
been watching the forecast all week, and we’ve got a nasty Nor’easter coming in
this weekend that we may have flooding Sunday night, Monday morning, and Monday
evening. So one of the most important things that we can do as a municipality
is to make sure that we are informing and educating our residents about… the
risks that they face and ways that they can deal with getting through it
without undue damage to their property or finding themselves and their family
in an unsafe situation.
So
the one thing that we can do something about is stormwater management. We have
plans. We’ve received funding that we haven’t yet been able to capitalize on to
do improvements in our stormwater management system, bringing water down from
the Erie Path to the river along Ritie Street where we’ve had some severe
problems. And I will look to continue developing funding for all different
types of stormwater management improvements. I just can’t hold back the
Atlantic, I’m sorry to say.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Yes,
thank you. Um[sic]… my opponent has great expertise in the water resiliency[sic],
and… if elected Mayor, I would love to work with him on some of these behalfs[sic].
I’ve read it[sic] and there is a lot of great document[sic]…
There’s a lot of great stuff in there. Uh[sic]… One is to-go bags
that I see. I think everyone should have those… Um[sic]… I don’t
know if they’re being utilized, but let’s get donations from people[sic]…
from companies to donate, and we can hand these out to the people who are living
in those affected areas to make sure in the case of a flooding or an emergency,
they can get that. I also have, as I mentioned… um[sic]… contracts[sic]
where we did with housing recovery where after Sandy, they had to rebuild in
Far Rockaway. I would like to use some of those techniques that they used for
the storm surges and for building of the… houses to bring that here and see that…
what we can use to help us… um[sic]… as well as for the Office of
Emergency Management, they have a lot of tools that we may not even know about but
I have these contacts there that I would love to bring here and try to get us
more informed as well.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Timoney, do you support the Rockland County proposed plans for the trail? And
if so, why? And if not, why not?
KEVIN
TIMONEY [laughs
nervously]
Very
good question, and I know that there was a meeting on September 17th that I was
not able to attend, and I’ve heard varying… information about it… Um[sic]…
I do not believe in paving the Erie Path. I will tell you that 100 percent… Uh[sic]…
I think it… would be detrimental to the environment…Um[sic]… It
can cause landslides, erosion… Um[sic]… It’s just unsafe for the
people who would live below there… Um[sic]… So, no, I’m not for
the Erie Path… uh[sic]… the reconstruction. If it is for paving
the streets that connect the path and putting up more signage to help, I think
that’s okay.
I
think the people running that are being a bit… not trustful[sic],
where they’re saying that they’ve reached out to people who live along the Erie
Path… um[sic]… to see if they want… have them build gardens on their
behalf or make it more private. I know that that has not happened, so… I’m not
taking with what they’re saying[sic]… um… with much accuracy[sic].
But no, I don’t believe in the… construction of the… changing Erie Path[sic].
NATE
MITCHELL
Well,
unfortunately, I’m not sure that it’s up to us to make that determination. And
I did attend that meeting on the 17th, and there were some excellent
questions that were... My opponent is completely right that adding impervious
surface up there would be disastrous for some of the residents downhill.
They
claim at this point that there will be no paving done on the Erie Path. But
they do not deny that it will in fact encourage people from outside our community
to visit our community and pass through our community on their travels on the
path. And there are some privacy concerns, and there are some safety concerns
that are valid from residents that live along the Erie Path. Many homes back
right up to it and don’t have fences or don’t have any kind of security or
protection from people. Right now, when you go up there and walk around with
your dog or ride your bicycle, because it doesn’t get a lot of traffic, it’s
not really a big deal. But I’m a little bit concerned that if we have a massive
amount of traffic coming through there, it’ll change the character of all of
those backyards and make people feel like they do need fences.
The
committee did offer to give privacy screens to any resident that wanted to have
a privacy screen set up. But what I’m hearing from residents is, I don’t want a
privacy screen, I want privacy. And those are two very different things.
So
the other thing I’ll mention about that is just that there is this new trend of
people with e-bikes that go 40 miles an hour and that’s actually a dangerous
situation if you’re up there with your dog or if you’re up there with your kid
and somebody cruises by 40 miles an hour. It’s a very narrow path. So whatever
happens with it, I think we’re going to have to find some way. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell. Discuss your vision for Piermont’s downtown zone.
NATE
MITCHELL
Vision
for Piermont’s downtown?
Well,
so I think that the character and charm of our downtown, which is really only a
couple of blocks long, is an important part of what brings people to Piermont
to go to our restaurants and our businesses, and for people to want to move
here. So people come and visit, and they fall in love with this little
downtown. And what we need to do is to make sure that we don’t lose that charm
and that character that has brought so many people and kept so many people
here. So any changes to the downtown have to be treated with the level of
concern and respect for what we have now that is required in order to make sure
we don’t lose that in the future. Thank you.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you. Um[sic]… agreed with Nate on his… stance on the downtown. It
is charming, and we cannot lose that charm. It’s very important. I do think we
need, as I mentioned before… we need to get zoning in place[sic].
We need to keep that architecture and character of our existing downtown. Um[sic]…
we all heard about Otto’s getting re-sold… uh[sic]… or getting
sold. We need to ensure that Otto’s stays there with something that fits within
that[sic], and it doesn’t get oversized and box-cuttery[sic].
We need something that we can… the Village ourselves, control. So we need to
make sure that it fits within our scope and it’s not overdeveloped and it is
low-density. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Along
with that, Mr. Timoney, specifically, what would you do to protect green space?
KEVIN
TIMONEY [in
space, a la Admiral Stockdale]]
Oh,
is that for me?... Sorry… What was the… I didn’t… [unintelligible]…
DORIA
HILLSMAN
What
would you do to protect green space?
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Oh…
Thank you.
Uh…
So, green stace[sic]… green space is obviously very important… um[sic]…
I have a five-year-old daughter who goes to the parks all the time. I think one
way is talking with the developers who want to build on these spaces and try to
work something out. I think when you go in on 100… um[sic]… you
don’t get anything. If you actually have an open conversation with them and a
dialogue and see what they’re trying to propose, and you work with them, you
can get a little bit more. I’ve actually had conversations with one of the
owners who… across the street from Bunbury’s, and they’ve even said that they
will contact the developer if I’m elected, prob[sic]… and we can have
discussions about getting that fence out. Because… I want to have there… obviously
we c[an’t][sic]… it’s not… part of green space, but it is part of
having our downtown not be fenced-in… um[sic]… we need to protect
our green space. We need to, as we mentioned with the Erie Trail, these are
places that we want to… enjoy… um[sic]… and we’ve got to protect
it. Thank you.
NATE
MITCHELL
Well,
so fortunately, a lot of our green spaces are actually Village-owned property,
and so one of the important things to remember is that we should not be selling
off any of our Village property in order to facilitate anything if it comes at
the cost of losing some of our important green spaces. And, also, our zoning
laws are another important tool in the toolbox for controlling what amount of
green space is available. For example, when a subdivision is proposed, the
subdivision is required to set aside a certain amount of green space and
dedicate it to the Village as parkland. But we have an alternative. We have two
FILOPs in Piermont just to be confusing. We have fee in lieu of parking,
and fee in lieu of parkland.
And
that fee in lieu of parkland comes into play in the situation where someone
comes in with an application for a subdivision. They have the option of either
setting aside some green space for us as parkland, or paying us in lieu
of it. And one of the things that I was a little bit bummed about was there is
a proposal going on right now for the so-called Village Green to build three
houses behind our Kennedy Memorial Monument, and we chose to take the money
instead of the parkland, in that case. I would prefer that we took the parkland
and do that in all subdivision applications. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell, what are your views on shared services, that is, police, fire, and uh…
DPW?
NATE
MITCHELL
Sure.
So shared services, it’s one of these issues that looks great from 10,000 feet
and then turns into a mess when you get down into the weeds. So we do actually
have some kind of shared services right now because the Village of Grandview
has its police and fire and EMS services provided by our Fire Department and Police
Department for an annual fee. There’s been discussion in the past about, couldn’t
we just use Orangetown instead of having our own police force? Our police force
is a very significant part of our Village budget, but from everything that I’ve
looked at and talking to people in Nyack, when Nyack decided to get rid of
their police force, it ended up that the increase in their Orangetown tax bill
was more than the savings in their Nyack tax bill. And I think there’s also a
great value in having local community policing, where we have officers that
people know and recognize and can talk to about whatever their concerns are,
what their safety is. And that’s something we would lose out on if we were to
get rid of having our own Village of Piermont police department. So I’m not in
favor of that unless the economics change.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Is
your… is your… is your view the same for the Department of Public Works and…?
NATE
MITCHELL
Yes,
absolutely. The Department of Public Works Grandview asked if we could do their
garbage pickup, but they require that someone walks up the driveway to the back
of the house to take the garbage can. And we simply couldn’t do that without
adding a bunch of staff and expense that would make it not worthwhile.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
All
right, Mr. Timoney, same question.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Great,
thank you. Uh[sic]… yeah, I agree. I think that you know… we… my
husband and I, we moved to Piermont knowing that there was… a police department
and a DPW here. It gives you a sense of comfort and… um[sic]… nostalgia
that you know everyone. You know the garbage man, you know what[sic]
the pickups are, they work with you, you know the times they come.
So
I think… we… I enjoy having the police and the DPW and the Fire Department.
But I think… um[sic] … as I mentioned, we need to be creative, ‘cause
these are expensives[sic]… expenses that we need to account for. So
that’s why we need to… start… doing… creative[sic]… we have to start
promoting our small businesses and everything so we can pay for this tax
revenue[sic]…um[sic] … It is a… luxury that we do have these,
but it’s a luxury that we are paying for. So we need to be creative… so we can
afford these. But… um[sic]… I support having them all in the
town[sic]… the Village for us.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
OK,
Mr. Timoney. This question is for you first. Would you repeal the CBM Zone, and
why or why not?
KEVIN
TIMONEY
So,
Yes… and the CBM Zone… does… [laughs nervously]… not exist… It’s… um[sic]
… We need to… and as I’ve been mentioning… [laughs nervously]… quite
often here, we need to create a new zoning[sic] that is more
in line with what the community feels and what the community wants… um[sic]…
it has to be a transparent process... um[sic]… I understood what
the C[unintelligible]… CBM was doing, but I think that the community
engagement was lacking there and the communit[unintelligible]… going
out there[sic]… so I want to make sure… I want to use… um[sic]…
[pause] retirees in the… like that are… asking to do work. I want to m[ake]…
get them to get the message out. I want to make sure that people are
knowing[sic] that we’re going to have meetings on zoning.
I
wanna…
make sure that everyone knows that we’re not doing this just for one specific
development. We’re doing this for all of the zoning of downtown Piermont… um[sic]…
It’s important because it is the future. We want to make sure that we’re… our
architectural character is staying in place[sic] that our
existing downtown isn’t getting messed with[sic], but we’re
protecting the future for new development. So… ye… yes… um… we need n[unintelligible]...
I’m not for the CBM. I don’t… it does not exist [sic]… um[sic]…
I know there is an appeal right now… um[sic]… but right now we need to concentrate
on a new zoning[sic] that fits Piermont.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell?
NATE
MITCHELL
This
is an issue we will absolutely be in agreement on. As Mayor, I would
immediately ask the Board to repeal Local Law #4 of 2023, which is a law that
created the CBM Zoning District. I know that it’s been thrown out by a judge at
this point, but we’ve never officially repealed it. And I attempted last summer
to make a motion to the Board to do just that off of the floor of the Village
Board meeting and I did not receive the second or any other votes in favor. So
hopefully, between then and January, our Board has come around in their
thinking about why we should keep this on the books, even though it’s been
invalidated by the Supreme Court judge. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Timoney, you asked for a rebuttal?
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Yeah…
I appreciate that, and I think that is great… um[sic]… but you
did approve the CBM the first time and brought the motion for the Local Law as
well. So I think… I would like to know more about that.
NATE
MITCHELL
I’d
like to speak to that if that’s acceptable.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
We’ll
give him a minute.
NATE
MITCHELL
Okay,
great. So when we first were looking at passing the CBM Zoning District, one of
the things that the members of the Board weren’t aware of until a year later
was that we were deprived of hearing from the County Planning Board on what
recommendations they had about this zoning. We were advised that there was no
problem with it and that this was something that we should move forward with.
And I raised the objection at that time that several of the properties that
would be included were within the 100-foot buffer of the 100-year floodplain.
And our LWRP recommended that we discourage development in flood-prone areas.
So I made the argument at that Board meeting that we should edit the map to
reduce the impact of the CBM Zoning District. And I was able to get a map-edit
in compromise for me trading the one possible “No” vote which would have not
had any impact whatsoever, for a map-edit. Once I became aware that we had not
actually seen all of the information relevant to that question, I immediately
brought up, prior to any lawsuits getting filed, “Why don’t we just repeal the
law?”.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
OK.
NATE
MITCHELL
Thank
you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Um…
okay, Mr. Mitchell, beyond architecture and environmental issues, is there
anything else you feel threatens the character of the village? Beyond
architecture and environmental issues.
NATE
MITCHELL
Threatens
the character… I mean, one of the things that I’ve seen over the course of my
lifetime here in Piermont is that our population has changed in my lifetime,
and that does alter the character. I wouldn’t characterize it as a threat
though. I think that’s actually proper evolution, and I think it’s great after
a couple of decades of not having a lot of families in Piermont, we’ve got a
bunch of new people that have moved in with young families and are… having a
whole new generation of kids get to experience what it’s like growing up here
in Piermont. So, I wouldn’t call it a “threat”, but it is a change, and those
changes will continue and are appropriate.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you. I think… the threat… I would say is that we aren’t really promoting our
small businesses as much as I… as I would like... um[sic]… We do have a
downtown that does have… a lot of restaurants that we all know, but it does
have a beautiful number of shops, and there are also spaces… um[sic]…
This is a destination for people to come to. We need to make sure that our
stores are getting…um[sic]… [pause]… a social presence. If that
is getting… you know, one of my ideas that I’ve had is trying to get interns… um[sic]…
from STAQ or Dominican here to help with um[sic]… the Village Hall staff
with the burden of work, or having them do social media presence for us, so…
people realize that, you know, there’s Valentina’s Hair Salon, there’s Presence
of Piermont, there’s women’s closing[sic] stores, we have ice
cream. I want people to know that this is a thriving community, and we have a
lot of character, so I think helping these local businesses… is very important.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Just
to shift gears a little here… um… what in your career experience…um… uniquely
qualifies you for… um… candidate for Mayor? And… um… Mr. Timoney, we’ll start
with you.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Sure…
So as I’ve mentioned and you probably are getting bored, I have 20 years public
service experience, um… but with that, it[sic] comes knowledge of
how government works. I know how long procurements take, I know how long to get
a contract[sic], I know how long it takes to negotiate with vendors and
to… [pause]… work the system. I know… what[sic]… when
you’re filing stuff with the Comp Troller[sic], the ins and outs and
how to get something done. It’s… something… that takes over time a process to learn[sic]..um…
No one ever said government is quick, but at least when you know the ins and
outs, you know how to make it a quicker process for everyone and we’re not
getting stalled and we’re not getting… pressured that we’re not meeting a
deadline.
Um…
and as I have… I have mentioned… I do have a lot of contacts with state and…
city agencies. If we needs[sic] help with something, I know
people from the MTA that I would love to talk about the Coast Butt[sic]…
the Coach Bus, the Rockland Coach, and why it’s not coming at some… certain
times or… you know… it’s… we’re… it’s getting grants, why is it not…um[sic]…
[pause]… being productive?[sic]. So these are things that I think being
20 years in government could help Piermont thrive[sic].
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell.
NATE
MITCHELL
That’s
okay. So what I do for a living is I’m an IT consultant, and what I specialize
in is working with businesses, large and small, to develop both processes and
programs that bring together different islands of data and allow the
organization to function more effectively and more efficiently. And the thing
that I think is really helpful about that, in kind of any position, but as Mayor
of the Village of Piermont, is that I have experience seeing how a bunch of
different organizations approach challenges that we face as a village, whether
they be challenges in our Clerk’s Office dealing with information, or
challenges. in terms of process in getting revenue in and sending revenue out.
And so, that breadth of different type of experience - I mean, I gotta say,
somebody smart said one time, the day you stop learning is the day you start
dying. And one of the things that I enjoy most about what I do is that I don’t
do the same thing every day. I do something different every day, and I learn
something new every day. And I bring all of that lifelong learning to this
position. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell, what are the elements that affect the quality of life for residents
of a tourist destination?
NATE
MITCHELL
Ah…
Yeah, that’s a challenging one. So, one of the most significant things that we’ve
touched on already in our conversation is traffic and parking. So, public
safety is very important to me. And one of the things that I feel like people
love about Piermont is we’re a very walkable community. And a lot of people,
rather than get in their car and drive somewhere, would just like to walk down
the street. However, we don’t have sidewalks on every street, and a lot of our
sidewalks are kind of undersized, and we have a lot of intersections that don’t
have terrific lines of sight, and it can be quite dangerous.
So,
one of the toughest questions to answer that this isn’t exactly that question,
but I’ve posed it to myself, in a number of ways, is, how do you get tourists
and visitors to be respectful and safe in our community? And I don’t have a
single answer for how to do that, but I think that’s what we need to try to
focus on. And we’ve had traffic studies done, we’ve had conversations, we have
a traffic committee. A lot of the recommendations have been about signage and
ways that we can improve that to help people understand where they should be
going to and coming from. But I think that’s also a two-way street, and we also
need to educate our residents about things like the Ferry Road - doesn’t have a
sidewalk, don’t walk in the middle of the street, it’s dangerous. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Timoney, same question.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
So…
I think parking, as Nate mentioned, is the most obvious… um[sic]…
we need to come up with creative ways to get parking… done[sic]…um[sic]…
As I mentioned, we do have the Parking Lot D. I know it is owned by a private…
owner… um[sic]… but working with him to see if we could build… a…
garage on top of that to alleviate some of the stress that is on our streets is
one option… um[sic]… and also having the police presence for
these crowded restaurants or whatnot, I think if people see the police out
there walking about, riding on a bike, it deters them from… speeding or from
acting recklessly walking around. So I think… having more of a police presence
while they’re around there, not just driving around in a cop car but actually
being physically outside and sh[unintelligible]… w[unintelligible]… walking
the beat… um[sic]… I think would help Piermont with our elements[sic].
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Do
you feel that the police presence, as it is now, is… adequate, or…?
KEVIN
TIMONEY
No,
it’s great. But I think… to do a creative way[sic] and to get
them more in a presence[sic], so… you know… when they’re out and about
and you see the car, but you don’t actually see them when you’re eating, I
think people would see them actually walk around[sic]. I think it would
help them[sic].
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Okay.
Thank you... Um… Do we have another question? [Is there any more questions? No,
sorry]. All right, this’ll be our last question. [One more. We’re over here].
Please explain your professional commitments… um… and how… will this change or
affect your availability as Mayor?... I’m sorry, this question goes to Mr. Timoney.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Oh…
So yes… I… that’s a great question… um[sic]… And it was one I thought,
as I mentioned before, I do have a five-year-old daughter… uh[sic]…
Determining to run for Mayor, obviously, is a big… step and it’s a big
thought-process[sic]. That is why I decided to run as an Independent…
um[sic]… because I missed the Democratic primary and it was something
that needed thoughtful consideration… um[sic]… But the more I thought
about it, the more if you didn’t like something, you have to go out and change…
and I’ve realized… um[sic]… I am fortunate enough to work from home two
days a week, and I commute into the city where… um[sic]… on those other
days. But… it’s a commute on the bus. As I mentioned, I get a laptop. I would
love to answer questions, work on spreadsheets, do that… like… do things[sic]…
I’m a very good multitasker… um[sic]… as my husband knows, I wake up early.
I’ll go for a run… um[sic]… my day starts sometimes at 4:30 in the morning...
um… Time is… wasted if you’re not doing something, so… um[sic]… I’m up for a
challenge and I love it.
NATE
MITCHELL
So
yes, one of the flexibility things that I enjoy about what I do, providing
fractionalized IT services, is that I’m basically on call 24 hours a day and
not necessarily having to do anything any one of those hours. So that gives me
the flexibility to do things like respond to our Fire Department right now as a
member of the Fire Department. And a lot of the work that I do also has to
happen when offices are closed because of the fact that I’m taking down a
system that people are using during a regular business day. So I’m available to
be able to respond to whatever happens in the Village and requires my attention
just like for my clients and just like for the Fire Department 24/7, 365. Thank
you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
So
you’ve all talked about transparency… um… each talked about it this evening…
um… and how would you navigate the challenges of social media while still
managing to get your message out effectively… and correctly… and precisely. OK,
And this question is… uh… first for you, Mr. Mitchell.
NATE
MITCHELL
Sure.
Well, so I think social media is not necessarily the solution to our
transparency issues. There are open government laws in New York State that
require the Village government to publish a lot of information. All the work
that the Village government does is paid for by taxpayer dollars and is the
people’s work. So, outside of social media, there [are] a lot of improvements
that we can do, and some that we have already undertaken to start doing, in
terms of our Village website, but also in terms of our internal policies about
who’s responsible for making sure the information is available, whether it be
on our website or whether it be in a bulletin board or an email or on social
media.
I
think one of the things we need to do in terms of social media that I see other
communities doing a better job of, is we need to make a policy that some Village
staff is responsible for putting out announcements about things that are
happening in the Village. We had a bike race a week or so ago and the Village
of Grandview. Put up a post - “Watch out tomorrow, it’s going to be hard
getting in and out of your house, there [are] going to be bikes going by all
day”. We had nothing, and it was embarrassing to me as somebody on the Board
right now, that we weren’t able [of] that simple level of communication. So
there [are] improvements that can be made, but it’s also kind of a jungle out
there.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you... um[sic]… I don’t… I believe social media can be used as a tool,
and for this campaign, I’ve used it where I’ve just put out my own information.
I don’t believe in attacking or putting anyone down. I just use it as a tool of
getting my message out there. I think when you use it… in a method… to… be
divisive, it’s dangerous… um[sic]… and it just creates more hasteria[sic]
in a small village that we don’t need… um[sic]… we are small. We should
be able to talk independently, and… as I said in my opening statement, agree to
disagree… um[sic]… It gets pretty intense, and when you
p[unintelligible]… peel back the onion, you realize we’re probably on the
same page. But people get so… the vitriol is… intense, and it does need to stop
and… you know, we even have outside sources that don’t even live here or have
a vested business in[sic] here that want to attack every one of us,
and unfortunately, Nate, you were part of that, and I think that needs to be
brought up. You were a part of bringing someone[sic]… who is trying
to divide this community, and th[unintelligible]… that is really one of the
reasons why I’ve decided to run, where I’ve been a victim of him[sic]
for no reason other than trying to make this Village a better place.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell.
NATE
MITCHELL
So
first of all, as I understood the question it was what the Village government
or the Mayor could do about managing social media, and as much as I appreciate
we’re all trying to be nice here, I don’t think it’s very nice to try to
redirect a question about what the Village government could do, into an attack
on me based on some kind of false concept…
DORIA
HILLSMAN
I
think you misread his answer.
NATE
MITCHELL
Pardon?
DORIA
HILLSMAN
The
question was how do you navigate the challenges of soc[unintelligible]… social
media while still malag[unintellgibile]… managing to get your message out
effectively?
NATE
MITCHELL
That
wasn’t intended to be the Village’s message... My personal message?...
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Well,
I… I… I would imagine it would be in your capacity… [excuse me… excuse me… I’m…
uh… I’m…] I would imagine this is in
your capacity as Mayor.
NATE
MITCHELL
Okay,
so I did understand the question. So right, the reason I raised my card to
rebut was just that I feel like my opponent, rather than answering the
question, tried to turn his answer into a negative statement about me. And I’ve
gone out of my way to avoid doing that, and I don’t appreciate that. That’s
all.
KEVIN
TIMONEY [laughing
nervously]
It
wasn’t a negative statement, but that is a statement, as Mayor, as a leader,
that is something that should be addressed. Social media, as I mentioned, is a
tool that should just be for information. It shouldn’t be for causing
divisiveness, and that is a cause of what has happened. That was my example.
[CITIZEN,
OFF-STAGE]
You
just made it divisive!
KEVIN
TIMONEY [defensively]
I
didn’t make it divisive. I’m providing information.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
So,
this will be the last question, and it comes at a very good time. The question
is… and uh… um… Mr. Timoney, we’ll start with you. Please indicate something
that you find admirable in your opponent.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Yeah…
No, and I have mentioned before I think his commitment on the water
resiliency[sic] is amazing. I read the document… I think it has a
lot of… insightful knowledge. I would love to implement some of these things. I
think what Nate does for Piermont, he loves it. I… think… ev… everything
what[sic] he stands for is great, and the first time we actually met
and talked, it was at the… Piermont Democratic Committee, and I said we
probably agree on… a lot of things. We just have a different way of going about
it, and I stand by that. I think… he cares for Piermont. We just have different
ways of going about it.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Mitchell, same question.
NATE
MITCHELL
Well,
as someone who has run for Mayor in the past, I must admire my opponent’s
ambition and energy to devote into getting as far as he has in the campaign
thusfar, and it is admirable, and I commend you on that.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Let’s
give them both a round of applause.
And
please, give yourselves a round of applause.
Before
we close, we’re going to have a closing statement by both candidates. And… um…
Mr. Timoney, since you began, you will, Mr. Mitchell, you’ll make your closing
statement first.
NATE
MITCHELL
Thank
you, and I’ll keep this brief. I should mention that on the 29th of October at
Village Hall, we’re having a PWRC town hall meeting. We’ve been unable to do
that for the last couple of years, and we have a lot of new residents. So I
think it’s really important that everyone turns up and learns as much as they
can - The Piermont Waterfront Resiliency Commission. And what we do in that
meeting is we go over all the most current information about what types of
flooding and storm risks we face, what people can do to protect their homes,
and what people can do in an emergency situation to keep themselves and their
families safe. And I would encourage everyone to participate in that because it’s
been a couple of years, and there is new information coming out every year.
Other than that, I’d just like to thank everyone for showing up. As I said
previously this is a great turnout. I hope our voter turnout is as good as this
on November 4th.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
I
agree.
NATE
MITCHELL
So
please just make sure to use your vote as your voice. This is how we determine
the future of Piermont. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Mr.
Timoney, you get the last word.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Thank
you. And I also want to thank you all for being here tonight… uh[sic]… I’m
sure those seats aren’t too comfortable, so we applaud you. Also, Nate, thank
you very much for… uh[sic]… sharing your perspective… um… And tonight
you all heard from two people who care deeply about Piermont, as I mentioned.
But caring isn’t enough. This is… this election is about who has the
experience, relationships, and… vision to lead Piermont forward. As I mentioned,
I’ve spent 22 years delivering results for government. I’ve… managed hundreds
of millions in public contracts and bringing agencies together to solve complex
problems and making government… work better for people. I’ve served on the Piermont
Zoning Board, built partnerships across every level of government, and I’ve
worked hard to listen to this community. And… because… um[sic]… leadership
starts with listening… [cough, cough]… it’s about direction.
We
can’t… we can choose to be thoughtful… we [eeyah!… excuse me…] we can choose
thoughtful development… that pro[unintelligible]… that… projects that… protects
Piermont’s charm while straightening its future. We can grow
responsibly and manage our finances wisely and make decisions based on facts,
not fear. My focus is on results of safer streets, smarter zoning, and
responsible budgets, and a government that works for you… not against you. We
deserve leaderships[sic]… that’s not a jo[unintelligible]… that… that’s
not just president[sic] for the fights but prepared to fix them. And
that’s me. On Election Day, I hope I’ve earned your trust, your vote, and
to lead Piermont into the next chapter. Thank you.
DORIA
HILLSMAN
Thank
you again for coming tonight. You were actually a wonderful audience, amazing.
I hope we can all go home tonight having learned something useful. If your
question didn’t get answered, you can feel free to reach out to the candidates
individually. Just want to remind you Election Day is Tuesday, November 4th,
and early voting begins on Saturday, October 25th. So vote. Thank you again.
KEVIN
TIMONEY
Good
job, Nate.
NATE
MITCHELL
You too.
