Herrera's 1st Priority: Development Moratorium

OSSINING, NY — Omar Herrera, who lost to Mayor Victoria Gearity in the Democratic Primary last month, is running for Mayor the Working Families Party Line in November.

Accordingto his bio:

In his nearly thirty years in Ossining, Omar Herrera (28) has become a local fixture and a tireless advocate for Ossining’s residents. He was born in a Cuban and Nicaraguan Ossining household filled with love, rich food, and joy. Omar is a product of the Ossining school system, and has always lived right here in the village. He has experienced Ossining from many different perspectives: as a resident, small business owner, activist, volunteer, and a member of both the Village Board of Trustees and the Police Commission. In addition, Omar has more than 10 years experience working in government at the local, county and state levels.

Omar is a proud graduate of Ossining High School, where his impressive record of community and civic service began. At the age of 14 he joined the Ossining Volunteer Fire Department Venturing Crew, and is now a member of Cataract Hose Company, No 1., now a 10 year member. Omar grew up understanding the struggles of the working poor in an immigrant family. Omar was the first in his family to graduate from college with a B.A in Communications & Media from Pace University in 2012. His commitment to faith and service are the cornerstone of Omar’s values.

As a young professional, Omar strives to be part of building a flourishing community. To this end Omar brings people together and turns visions into realities. In 2010 Omar founded OJH Productions and Events by Omar, a full scale event management consulting firm servicing Westchester colleges, non-profits, and private clients. OJHP offered event planning, management, design, rentals, lighting services and consulting. He founded Ossining’s highly anticipated annual Summerfest, an outdoor professional summer music and arts festival in historic downtown Ossining. Meanwhile he also served at the Public Relations & Events Director for the Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce from 2010-2015 and took the leadership role as the Fair Coordinator of the annual Ossining Village Fair (which attracts over 15,000 attendees from across the county and state), as part of his work with the Greater Ossining Chamber of Commerce

Omar’s political advocacy work began as a Democratic District Leader in 2008. Omar utilized his role to manage projects for various election campaigns and grassroots progressive movements throughout Ossining and Westchester County. Omar was appointed as the Community Coordinator for Westchester County Legislator Catherine Borgia in 2012 and later as her full-time Legislative Assistant, managing the 9th legislative district in 2013.

At the age of 24 Omar ran for Trustee in the Village of Ossining and was named Deputy Mayor at his first organizational meeting, in January 2015, making him the youngest elected official in Westchester County. During that time, Omar voted on a successful resolution in 2015 supporting Governor Cuomo’s “Raise the Age” & “Raise the Wage.” Advocated publicly for almost a year in 2014 to stop the censorship of the public sessions of the Legislative Sessions of the Board. As a Trustee, Omar working together with all members of the Board, led the effort to “turn the cameras back on” during the public sessions of Legislative Meetings, Omar launched in-person bi-lingual office hours and first trustee to launch Mobile Office hours via governmental Facebook account and Skype platforms, participated as a Police Commissioner in the selecting and hiring of Ossining’s newest Chief of Police, Voted in favor of adopting the “Complete Streets” Policy, which ensured that all future roadways are strategically designed to consider pedestrian safety, access, and equitable mobility for all, Launched the Community Beautification Initiative and hosted two community planting and clean up days within the downtown area., advocated for more sidewalk cafes and helped businesses fill out applications for submission to the Village for review and supported and voted in favor of the installation of LED municipal lighting within the Village.

In September 2015, NY Secretary of State Perales announced the appointment of Omar as an Empire State Fellow. Although the program recruits mid-career professionals, from the public and private sectors to serve as the new generation of NYS government leaders; Omar was selected at the age of 25. Governor Cuomo appoints each Fellow to work closely with senior administration officials and participate in the policy-making process. Although Omar valued his experience in Governors Office as a fellow, he came home to utilize his gained skills for grassroots organizing and to run for local office so that he can directly work on issues important to him. Omar was re-elected as an Village Trustee in January 2018.

Omar's Community & Civic Service & Affiliations
 10 Year District Leader for the Town of Ossining Democratic Committee
 Past Vice President, Westchester Young Democrats (2014), current Board of Director.
 Advisory Board Member, Ossining Micro Fund
 10 Year Member, Member, Ossining Fire Department, Cataract Hose Company, Engine 97
 Secretary, Friends of Richard G. Wishnie Park
 Advisory Board Member, Gullotta House, 501-3C. Helping individuals through hardships.
 Member, Ossining Chamber of Commerce (former Board of Director & PR & Events
Coordinator)
 Board of Director, Founding Team Member of the Ossining Emergency Shelter Project
 Member, National Elected Officials Network
 Founder & Coordinator, Ossining SummerFest (2010-2013)
 Active Registered Member, Sierra Club
 Original Ossining Stakeholder, Neighbors Link Ossining
 Member & Leader, Ossining Nation of Immigrants Coalition

Patch sent the same questions to all candidates asking them to respond.

PATCH: What are the biggest issues facing the Hudson River and Hudson Valley that affect your communities?

HERRERA: The single biggest issue facing the Ossining community is our population growth and how we chose to manage it. As areas to the south of us have gotten more expensive, we’ve seen people moving north into more affordable communities like Ossining. But that growth comes at a price, as it can also drive prices higher and push some residents out. An influx in new Ossining residents is not a bad thing, but we need to make sure that we plan for it and manage it properly so that we don’t lose some of the very traits that made Ossining such a desirable place to live in the first place. Managing growth and density is also a key part of addressing other problems in our village, such as poor roads, underfunded schools, and parking congestion.

PATCH: How would you apply the adage ‘think globally, act locally’?

HERRERA: At the level of village government, there is little we can do outside of Ossining. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t explore ways to address global issues right here at home. I’ve done that by:

• Voted in favor of adopting the “Complete Streets” Policy, which ensured that all future roadways are strategically designed to consider pedestrian safety, access, and equitable mobility for all. This also aids in encouraging more sustainable means of transportation (carpooling, biking, walking...etc).
• Supported and voted in favor of the installation of LED municipal lighting within the Village. This is both environmentally positive and cost effective, a true win-win.
• Launched the Community Beautification Initiative to raise awareness ofour community’s challenge with litter. I hosted numerous clean up daysthroughout the downtown, at which a very large quantity of garbage was collected and properly discarded. I also hosted two community planting days, giving residents the opportunity to care for their environment, while also bringing new beauty to our village. This year I hosted a site as part of Stash the Trash, a tradition I have been part of the last 16 years.
• I am also in support of encouraging the consideration for energy efficient fleet for our village departments, as well as internal appliances.

But beyond environmental concerns, we can also model how we feel all citizens of the world should be treated. We can outline plans to treat everyone with basic dignity and thoughtfulness, such as ensuring that the Village can communicate in non-English languages and equitable representation of all segments of our population (youth, seniors, families, businesses, religious groups...etc).

PATCH: Property taxes are an issue for all our communities. What’s your position on the Shared Services projects? How would you bring school districts into that discussion?

HERRERA: The Village and Town of Ossining are great examples of two municipal identities that already share many services and operations for cost savings and efficiencies. Most notably, we are the first community in the State of New York to consolidate our Court. Currently, we share one volunteer fire department, one ambulance service provider and one police force. We also share the municipal building and the Ossining Community Center.

I will continue to support the exploration of new opportunities for shared services and consolidation. I believe we need to work smarter with the resources that we already have. However, before we can move ahead with future shared services, we must have full transparency. We must thoroughly investigate whether proposed projects are truly in the best interest of our village residents, and we must be absolutely sure that these projects will save resources and public funds.

As for the school district, I am the only candidate that has called for the consideration of a moratorium, in other words a temporary freeze on new real estate development within the Village of Ossining. For years, the school district has been very vocal about the fact that our schools are at maximum capacity and that future developments will only worsen this overcrowding. Frankly, a discussion on enacting a moratorium is long overdue. I propose that all three entities: the Village of Ossining Board of Trustees, Town of Ossining Council and Ossining Union School District convene to determine a facilitator to aid in developing a collaboration on how to move forward together, explain each entity’s role, and what the next steps will look like. I can’t remember the last time all three boards met publicly.

PATCH: What would your first priorities be if elected?

HERRARA: My first priority would be to push the pause button on large-scale real estate development until we have a chance to really come together as a community and decide what we want our Village to look like five, ten, twenty years from now.

Every day, I talk to people from different backgrounds and walks of life in Ossining, and it’s clear to me not only that they don’t have the same vision for our future, but that many of them feel they’ve been excluded entirely from that discussion. Before we can move forward with anything, we need to make an honest effort to bridge that gap and come together as one.

PATCH: It’s a divisive election season - how would you serve all your constituents?

HERRERA: I keep hearing about this being a divisive political climate, and while I understand that perspective, I don’t think that’s necessarily true in our village. I don’t see dueling groups of residents who are divided over issues. Instead, what I see is many separate groups who all feel that their concerns aren’t being heard. As an elected official, one can never please all constituents. But it’s our duty to at least make them feel that they have a voice and that they have a say in the future of the community that they love. In Ossining, I believe that it’s the process of listening at the government level that is failing, not necessarily a divide among residents of different political beliefs. My campaign has mobilized and connected with people, organizations, homeowners and renters that normally wouldn’t be reached out to.

We have empowered them to finally feel comfortable in speaking out on how they feel about their community, their leaders, and their future. #OneOssining is all about providing access and equity for all.

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