Autumn News From City Hall

I am delighted to join in welcoming Patch.com to New Rochelle.  Our entire community benefits when residents are engaged and informed, and Patch's unbiased hyper-local coverage will help keep all of us in better touch with civic news and events.   I look forward to making regular contributions to Patch, beginning with today's general overview and continuing with columns that delve into specific subjects in greater detail.  Thank you for reading, and I welcome your feedback.

As New Rochelle enters the fall season, our primary and immediate challenge is obvious: a weak economy that places tremendous pressure on both household and municipal budgets.

With an eye to holding down property taxes, the city has already reduced spending significantly by reducing the size of our public workforce, freezing salaries, cutting worthwhile but non-essential programs, and scaling back capital expenditures.

On an ongoing basis, we seize every practical opportunity for savings.  For example, the Council has just approved a retirement incentive likely to cut our payroll costs by roughly $800,000 during the next five years.

We have also worked to take maximum advantage of federal, state and county grants.  Outside funding has enabled us to invest in local priorities, such as the North Avenue streetscape and the City Park reconstruction, without further burdening New Rochelle taxpayers. And earlier this year, our new website was launched at no cost to the City thanks to a private grant from a  nationally-recognized firm.

Nonetheless, as revenues continuing to stagnate, additional hard choices may be required to balance the 2011 budget.  During the weeks ahead, the city manager and his team will be assembling financial data and analyzing options for presentation to the council and community in mid-November.  More to come.

At the same time, we must seize opportunities for positive progress – and even in a difficult economic climate, these opportunities are real and significant.

First, we must continue pursuing investment and well-planned development, especially in and around New Rochelle's downtown and transit district.  Past efforts have already produced positive change, but we have a long way to go before New Rochelle achieves its potential.  The city will soon select a developer for the Church-Division and Prospect lots, just a stone's throw from Main Street.  And later this fall, we will review revised plans from Forest City Residential, our partners in the redevelopment of the Echo Bay waterfront.  Success at these sites will not only enhance our tax base, but will also strengthen the physical fabric and vitality of our city as a whole.

Second, we should move the concept of sustainability to the center of our policy-making.  The city council is currently reviewing a draft sustainability plan, GreeNR, It was written during the past year by a team of professionals and volunteers, with extensive public input.  GreeNR contains detailed recommendations for cutting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing civic planning standards, protecting open spaces and waterways, and building diversified infrastructure that can support a greener, healthier lifestyle.  It is difficult to summarize such a multi-faceted program, so I invite you to read the entire draft on-line at www.newrochelleny.com/greenrdraft.  Approving the plan is only a first step, but it would signal the council's determination to shape our own future for the better.

I cannot close without noting in great sadness the sudden passing of Council Member Jim Stowe on August 4.  Jim leaves behind a legacy of dedicated service that will continue to shape and guide municipal action.  Among many other things, he was a champion of affordable housing, an advocate for job training, and an eloquent spokesperson for social justice and individual opportunity.  Jim understood that New Rochelle succeeds only when all people have a full and equal voice in decision-making, and he always acted accordingly.  The next council member from district three will have big shoes to fill – and all of us privileged to serve New Rochelle will now be measured in part against Jim's enduring example.