"I Fought the Roundabout, but I Support Gearity for Re-Election"

You may find it odd that as one of the organizers of the No-Roundabout/Save the 5 Corners grass roots effort, I am endorsing the person who was at the heart of the protest. But I believe Mayor Victoria Gearity learned from the roundabout debate and understands that we must take a holistic approach to village development. Her opponent, Omar Herrera, doesn’t seem to get this.

The roundabout debate did two things: It activated the community and sparked a new discussion about the future of downtown. And remember: The roundabout itself was never built. We collected over 3,000 signatures, and that was the effort that put an end to it. Not the Chamber of Commerce, not any individual or politician. (Since Brenda Burbach has the facts wrong, I must set the record straight. She was not part of the anti-roundabout effort; as a matter of fact, this is the first time her name has come up in connection with it.)

At the height of the fight, Victoria reached out to us, and we sat down for a three- hour meeting to map out how we could proceed. The effort concluded with the Board dropping the funding. Victoria and the rest of the board got our message, loud and clear.

We then created the Downtown Redevelopment Working Committee (DRWC), a group of 20 village residents, trustees, employees and land-use board representatives. With three straight months of intense effort, we created a library of documents and a presentation of possibilities for Ossining’s future. Our work won an award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation.

That effort came from Victoria listening.

Personally, when I moved from the Historic Preservation Commission to the Planning and Architectural Review Board, Victoria asked if I would support more communication between the three Land-Use boards via inter board meetings, which of course I applauded. Those meetings have started to take place. That’s listening!

Today, Victoria says that while the five-corners intersection “still needs to be upgraded [sic, this is true], at this point we should wait on any decision about the intersection improvements until it can be a part of a larger conversation about the future of Downtown.”

Since the roundabout debate ended, we have made progress. Kevin Dwarka’s important study of affordable housing was completed. With that and the DRWC, we were engaging in planning our future holistically.

Omar Herrera was part of these meetings, though you wouldn’t know it. He praises the comprehensive studies on one hand and then completely neglects and rejects them to favor a narrow constituency moments later. He is pushing legislation through piecemeal, without taking in account the outside consultants’ nor the village land use boards’ recommendations. His support of rent control, which benefits a relatively small percentage of Ossining households, and his request for a moratorium on all development, show his lack of understanding with the holistic planning process. That’s throwing good advice to the wind.

That’s not listening to your own advisory boards.

That’s not listening to the taxpayers.

So hear me on this: I’ll be voting for Mayor Gearity in the Democratic Primary on Thursday. Please join me.

Kaja Gam

Member, Planning and Architectural Review Board

Small business owner