2019 Candidate Profile: Ruth Walter For County Legislature

BRONXVILLE, NY — Westchester County will have several contested races in this fall's election, including the County Legislative District 15, which is comprised of Bronxville and Yonkers. Bronxville-Eastchester Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Ruth Walter, 53, is running to represent District 15. Her opponent is Republican incumbent Gordon A. Burrows.

Walter, a Democrat, is a resident of Bronxville and is currently the president of the Bronxville Public Library board of trustees. She was previously the court clerk for the Village of Bronxville. Walter is married with two children. She and her husband, Kevin, own Dobbs and Bishop Fine Cheese.

The single most pressing issue facing our community, and what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is the increasing pressure that our local businesses are currently experiencing. Local government needs to be doing all it can to make the lives of local business owners easier, not harder, to help alleviate the pressure caused by the rise of online retail.

About a third of our county budget is collected from sales taxes. When we shop local, our sales tax dollars stay local. When we shop online, we lose those sales tax dollars to Albany. When that happens, it puts more pressure on our property taxes.

I am calling for the creation of a business improvement district along Central Park Avenue. Yonkers has already experienced the revitalization effects of a business improvement district on South Broadway and the Waterfront area. The business improvement district helps deliver services such as capitol improvement projects, public safety, beautification, visitor services, sanitation, maintenance, and marketing programs.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidate seeking this post?

The biggest difference between myself and my opponent is that my opponent is very comfortable with the status quo of our district, while I see real areas of need and am determined to be proactive about them.

Gordon Burrows is also comfortable with the status quo of our district's flood problem. Meanwhile, the supposed "100 year flood" is happening now every five years. I know we need to focus our attention on flood and storm mitigation, specifically flash flood mitigation.

Gordon Burrows is comfortable with the status quo of gun safety in our district. He even voted against banning gun shows at the county center, twice. I believe that we should not wait around until the next awful gun violence tragedy occurs in our community to get proactive about gun safety. That is why I am proposing a mandatory red flag notification program to help protect victims of domestic violence from gun violence by their abusers.

These are just two examples, but you can go down the line on the issues. Infrastructure, the environment, business improvement — I want to tackle these problems, Gordon is having trouble even recognizing these problems at all.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

Gordon Burrows' failure as a county legislator is spelled out in his attendance record. He has missed over a third of his committee meetings. I do not know of any other job where one can miss a third of one's work days and not be fired. Surely public servants must be held to a higher standard than this.

It is evident that he is either too busy or too burnt out to continue to be District 15's representative.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

A lot of the volunteers on my campaign are college and high school students. When I talk to them, one of the issues that is most important to them is the environment. Some people question how much the county board can actually do to help the environment, but I would argue that the county can make a big difference. From protecting the quality of our drinking water to cutting down on the amount of plastics we put into landfills, I want to be on the county board collaborating about how to make Westchester County more climate resilient.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I would cite my 10 years as a small business owner, as well as my commitment to public service as the president of my local library and village court clerk.

I would specifically cite the time I worked with Assemblywoman Amy Paulin to get a promise of a $250,000 grant for the Bronxville Library, as well as when I fixed a reporting error as the court clerk to improve the court's efficiency and transparency.

The best advice ever shared with me was …

When you have to climb a high mountain, take it five feet at a time. Thats how I have been running my campaign.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am the mother of two, wife of 25 years and a breast cancer survivor. I am deeply involved with improving my community. I can't wait to work as hard for my district as I have for my local community.