| Thank You for Your Support North Castle Election Results Supervisor Bill Weaver 1,605 Winner Becky Kittredge 965 Frank Benish 990 Councilman John Cronin 2,265 Winner Diane Roth 1,738 Winner Bob Romano 1,437 Stacey Silpe 1,118 Tax Receiver Patricia Colombo 1,965 Winner Town Justice Robert McGoey 2,530 Winner ____________________ |
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_______________________________ Election Day November 3, 2009 |
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Sit Down With Bob Romano
By Michelle Boyle
June 25, 2009
Bob Romano was born and raised on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. Growing up in a middle class family and the son of Holocaust survivors, he attended public schools and graduated from the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. He graduated from New York University with a double major degree in management and marketing. Years later he decided to add to his academic and professional resume and received his Juris Doctorate from The New York Law School.
Prior to attending law school, as a young man out of college, he partnered with a friend to convert old factory buildings into co-ops. His experience in New York real estate included a seven-year stint with the Helmsley Spear group. His involvement with incredibly talented business people such as Harry Helmsley provided a solid base while reinforcing his appreciation of good business ethics.
Although he has a background with a solid foundation in the real estate field, he wants to build the town's character, without upsetting the bucolic setting we currently are fortunate enough to enjoy. He sees an opportunity to develop and grow revenue from the existing commercial properties in town. “I'm not looking to build new construction, but rather sustainable development that enhances the quality of life and increases revenue.” An exception is Armonk Square which Romano supports one hundred percent. Armonk Square is an existing commercial lot, that when built and leased, as is currently planned, would bring in both direct and indirect revenue for the town. "More people in town for lunch would be a bonanza for local restauranteurs and merchants."
“Every time I pass an empty building (in town) I think of it as a lost opportunity for revenue. When Schultz's closed, the town not only lost doughnuts, it lost people that came from miles away. We were a destination location. We need to become a destination place again, we need visitors to spend their dollars here. Local sales turn into tax revenues. Keeping in mind of course, that we will at all times do whatever is within reason to protect members of the community, including local businesses.”
He believes The Farmer’s Market will bring us back as a local destination and will ultimately help local businesses. “It would bring more people into the community, more money spent, more money into the coffers.”
There’s a right way of doing things and change is not always bad. With more people in town, existing retail stores would benefit. Limiting the types of products and integrating local merchants into the market would protect the members of the local retail community.
“The single most difficult issue we as a town face right now is achieving a balanced budget. There’s no need currently to increase taxes. Of course the ideal solution in getting us out of this current financial vise, will be when we can identify new sources of revenue from our existing infrastructure.”
“Our town is unique in that that there are a spectrum of residents; from those on fixed incomes that are teetering on what they can afford, to those that don’t have a problem paying $3,000 a month just on utilities .”
“The budget has to be watched and every dollar spent has to be watched closely. Everything but essential services should be gone over with a fine toothed comb.”
Romano is not going to take anything for granted, no extraneous spending will be considered without thinking long and hard. “North Castle residents are an intelligent people, and they are acutely aware of how their elected officials are allocating their hard earned dollars."
Romano says there’s much work to be done as councilman: considering the long-term plan; and taking a look at a number of the town boards, including the Planning Board and Architectural Review Board of surrounding communities. As a lawyer and solo general practitioner in Armonk, Romano specializes in commercial real estate transactions and has handled hundreds of contracts. He brings to the table the ability to read a contract, analyze it, and be able to explain it in layman’s terms.
He believes the Town Administrator is a great idea, “the size of the budget calls for proper administration and the continuity of the government as it occurred in the days of Lombardi is important. That being said, Romano feels that closer inspection of the cost estimates may indicate that the timing may not be right during this time of economic hardship.
He’s a regular guy, “guided by the principles as father and husband” and “wants to do what’s right for he community.” He has been married to his wife Penny for the past seventeen years, and they have three children in the Byram Hills schools.. The Romanos have been residents in Armonk for ten years. He has been an active board member of the Byram Hills Education Foundation, and in the past has donated his legal services with regard to town cable TV negotiations. Additionally, his involvement with the theater program at Byram Hills High School has given him the opportunity to get to know a substantial number of local families.
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Bob Romano-Candidate Interview from Lohud.com
 VIEW BOB'S FULL LOHUD PAGE HERE
1. Please tell us why you are running for office or seeking re-election?
It is readily apparent to me that our town is not being run as it should be. It needs to be run like a business, without having a "business as usual" environment. I attended my first Town Board meeting last year only to be amazed at how individual personalities seemed to get in the way of a pragmatic approach to solving issues presented to the Board. I feel I will bring a new and fresh approach to helping find ways to survive the current economic crisis that our town has found itself in. I will work diligently to see our town come out stronger and become an example of what a town can accomplish if its Board works as a cohesive, and well thought out group. 2. What in your personal, civic or professional experience recommends your election or return to office? In 1977 while enrolled as a freshman at NYU I began working for a small real estate developer which gave me the required experience to later secure a position at Helmsley Spear, Inc. It was there, working directly for the late Harry Helmsley, that I gained the knowledge necessary to oversee substantial budgets, control costs and eliminate waste. I continued to work for over twenty years in various area of the New York real estate market. I later received my law degree from The New York Law School, and have been practicing law for the past ten years. I have a broad knowledge of the legal field that will be extremely useful when approaching issues that arise before the Board. I am an active Board member of the Byram Hills Education Foundation for the past five years, and I volunteer my time on the North Castle Cable Advisory Committee as well. For the past three years my wife Penny and I volunteer for the Byram Hills High School Theater Department. 3. What would be your top three priorities if you are elected or re-elected? 1) Easing our tax burden. Every time the tax rates increase by even a small percentage we are forcing a family, or families to relocate elsewhere due to financial hardship. This is unacceptable. There are ways we can identify and receive revenues from alternative sources (e.g. Hotel Occupancy Tax - see my Letter to the Editor on www.allaboutarmonk.com ). Smart development moving forward will bring in additional revenues while benefiting our community. 2) Keeping the high of services provided for by the Town. This can be achieved even with a budget that calls for belt tightening, if we review each and every expenditure, and identify ways to get things done at less cost. As someone who gets paid to negotiate, I feel this can be achieved with a large number of items currently in our budget. I recognize that there are contracts and other items in the budget currently in place that we will have little or no power to change, but moving forward we can make sure that any deals that we agree to are in the best interest of the town and are "as close to the bone" as possible. 3)Keeping subjectivity out of the Planning Board process. Homeowners need to be assured that if they are submitting plans that conform to all existing requirements that they will be granted the applicable permits promptly. The process must be streamlined in order to expedite applications. I believe this can be done without placing our town at the risk of poor development. The delays and inconsistencies in the process are among the most common complaints I have been hearing about from residents while campaigning. _________________________ North Castle's Candidate Forum
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM ALLABOUTARMONK.COM October 22, 2009  North Castle candidates are L to R, Bob Romano, Stacey Silpe, John Cronin and Diane Roth for Town Council. Becky Kittredge, Bill Weaver and Frank Benish for Town Supervisor. Click image to enlarge. The November 3rd vote put before North Castle residents for Town Supervisor and two Town Council is a difficult one. Tonight seven candidates sat before a group of residents at the North Castle Community Center to reveal their views and voice their opinions of several issues. The candidates have been busy campaigning and this wasn't their first public forum. Over the past week many of them meet as a group to address the public. Last weekend the candidates were invited to answer questions from residents at the Middle Patent Association annual meeting, earlier this week Lohud taped an question and answer interview and earlier today Channel 12 interviewed the Supervisor candidates... The candidates mostly read their opening statements and then there followed questions taken from the audience which were passed to the moderator by the sponsoring organizations. The following seven questions were asked of all the candidates: -Regarding your vision of the town's future, how would you distinguish yourself from the other candidates? -Which candidates this evening are prepared to unite North White Plains with North Castle and how? -How do you feel about the proposed A & P plan and the additional retail space? -How do you view the two Banksville applications for special use permits? -In view of recent decrease in services and increase in taxes, how do you propose to deal with the towns' increase in department efficiencies and decrease in declining revenues? -If elected, will you accept health benefits? -What are your views on the proposed parking lot near the Westchester Airport? -And finally, what is your position on Town Administrator? These questions were answered by the panel of candidates and the forum ended with closing statements. Airing of the forum will take place on Public Access NCTV beginning at Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 6:00pm. (Cablevision Channels 18 & 75 for North White Plains and Verizon 39) The scheduled showings will be daily at 6:00am, 3:00pm, 6:00pm and 11:00pm. AllAboutArmonk.com plans to have the video available online as well. |
REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM ALLABOUTARMONK.COM
tention not to run again as Town Supervisor.
Democrats - Christopher Carthy, Becky Kittredge and Guy A. Mezzancello,
Republican - William R. Weaver,
Independence - William R. Weaver,
Conservative - William R. Weaver.
The NY State Board of Elections requires candidates running for elected office to be nominated one of two ways: either by a political party or by filing an independent nominating petition. The requirements for all petitions are contained in http://www.elections.state.ny.us.
Bill Weaver’s term as Councilman is expiring and he is giving up that seat up to run for Supervisor. Gerry Geist, who has held his position as Councilman since 1986, is not seeking reelection. The four candidates running for Town Council are Democrats Bob Romano and Stacey Silpe, and Republicans John Cronin and Diane Roth. All are new to the political arena.
