Letter to the Editor: Ossining Mayoral Election

Dear Editor

Vote for a strategy with a vision - vote for Bill Hanauer.

Visions are more than dreams. A vision is a keen understanding of where we are in the world today, what we expect to achieve within the near and far future, and the understanding of the broad strokes it takes to get us where we want to be. Vision is strategy. Strategy is vision in action.

The comprehensive plan, which was completed in 2009 under Mayor Hanauer’s capable supervision gathered the wisdom and thoughts of over 1400 Village residents over more than two years through public meetings and rewrites. The process was inclusive of the public and could be followed on the Village website as it took shape.

It was this vibrant inclusive community that brought me here and that I came to love; and the results I start seeing today is what makes me stay.

During the Ossining chamber of commerce Q&A on October 23 both candidates for Mayor of the Village of Ossining had a chance to make their positions clear. Both spoke eloquently, but Mayor Hanauer was the clear winner in substance and knowledge.

Mayor Hanauer demonstrated again and again that he knows the details and the broad strides the Village has gone through in the last 8 years, and Bill Hanauer also pointed to the huge potential the Village of Ossining has in the future. With a plan and a strategy that will follow a similar path of the comprehensive plan, he can and will lead us through the next phase with extensive but resolute community input that will become the back bone of the coming years’ development. We need urgently, but with care and through input from the community, to continue to take advantage of the momentum we have achieved so far so we can broaden the tax base and ease the burden on home owners. We need to keep including large mid- and small scale investors and developers and create a cohesive and comprehensive basis for the development of Downtown. This takes skill. A skill that Bill Hanauer has demonstrated to be in possession of again and again and a cause that he is committed to.

There are many aspects of the Village that I would like to see changed. And openness, while still managing the Village and getting things done, is a fine balancing act. It takes skill to be attentive to all the voices and at the same time keep a balanced budget and get things done.

I believe that Bill Hanauer has done just that, and more importantly: Bill will continue leading us along that path.

Vote Bill Hanauer for Mayor of Ossining on November 4th.

Best Regards,

Kaja Gam