Gearity 2016 Message

2016 Message

Fellow proud Ossining residents, my call to you is this, help Ossining lead the way. When we disagree, let us learn from each other. We will do great things today that will impact Ossining residents for generations to come.
 
Leadership means not fearing a diversity of opinion. I am confident that my colleagues and I on the Board of Trustees have the ability to listen, consider, and debate ideas and then ultimately discern the wisest path for Ossining. 
 
This board is united in our desire to improve how we communicate. We are committed to a more open government. We have already taken a step in that direction by voting at our first public meeting to keep the cameras rolling throughout the public comments. Further actions will be making our website more user-friendly and establishing a social media policy. A village government that is able to be more accessible and responsive, is essential for empowering residents to actively participate in Ossining's future success.
 
Ossining will lead the way in making better use of your tax dollars through efficiency initiatives like LED street lights, energy efficiency upgrades, the municipal solar buying program, and municipal energy aggregation. Some of those improvements are already underway, and there is much more to come.
 
Most of the issues we face in our village are complex—none more so than development. I have three priorities to address on this front. First, Ossining will lead the way on establishing green building codes among municipalities of our size. We will begin by exploring what is working in other communities, and craft a policy that will encourage construction that is more profitable and sustainable for the developer, attracts high quality retail and residential tenants, and has a lower burden on municipal services. 
 
Second, it is time we implement a Complete Streets Policy, which will make our roadways safer for all users. This policy will encourage practices that impact residents' health and safety, as well as Ossining's economic vitality. 
 
In December, I met over brunch with three-dozen local business and community leaders. This group of talented and highly engaged people is emblematic of the dedication that Ossining residents have toward strengthening our community. While many of the ideas expressed were not unique to Ossining or to this generation, right now we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as we decide the future for our downtown.
 
Ossining will lead the way in determining what will be built in the Market Square properties in the heart of our downtown. After 40+ years of parking lots, we must craft a Request for Proposal that invites developers to build what will become the cornerstone of a vibrant and thriving downtown that is uniquely Ossining.
 
If you were to ask ten residents what they love most about Ossining, you'd get some variations, but nine of those ten people would include on their list "diversity". And we mean it. Diversity is absolutely one of our greatest strengths. But sometimes it feels like one of our challenges. Ossining is as racially, culturally and socioeconomically diverse as any big city, but we are small enough to feel we all know each other.
 
Imagine, if community members from every cultural background and every income level, every faith and every neighborhood, people who have lived here for generations and people who have lived here for weeks, are truly participating in public discussion, we will most certainly have lots and lots of different opinions and conflicting ideas. And that would be marvelous.
 
I believe it is a leader's job to create a process and a culture that allows people to speak freely, and encourages people to exercise their right to participate in our local government. A leader must learn to recognize conflict as thinking—as an opportunity to consider a new perspective.
 
If we have the benefit of the diversity of knowledge, experience, and talent that is core to who Ossining is, then the future we create will be vastly better as a result of embracing and learning from our diversity of ideas.
 
Even as we explore new ways to communicate with Ossining residents, please sign-up to receive email notifications of upcoming meetings. Members of the Board of Trustees may be emailed directly at BOT@villageofossining.org.