New Croton Group Announces Slate of Candidates

Croton United is a coalition of the residents of Croton-on-Hudson, which is running three candidates for village office. Election Day is Nov. 4. The coalition issued this press release:

Croton United (CU) is pleased to announce the nomination of Bob Anderson, John Brijeski, and Virginia Calcutti as its candidates for the three open trustee seats on the Croton Village Board. CU is a recently formed, non partisan organization dedicated to returning honesty, integrity, and efficiency to government in Croton.

“Croton United is very proud to have such an outstanding trio as Bob, John, and Ginny as our first candidates for the board,” said CU chair Roseann Schuyler, “and we’re proud to offer the voters of Croton a choice of three individuals with diverse strengths and experience, as well as great honesty and integrity in this November’s election. We’re looking forward to introducing our candidates to the community, and to presenting our vision for the future of the village. If village residents want honest, open, and efficient government in Croton, it’s as easy as ABC. Just choose Anderson, Brijeski, and Calcutti in November.”

Bob Anderson has been a Croton resident for forty years. He and his wife, Leslie, raised their son in Croton. After graduating from SUNY, New Paltz, in 1972 with BS and MS degrees in education and psychology, Bob taught second and third grade in the Hendrick Hudson School District, as well as special needs children at Northern Westchester BOCES.

A man of many talents, Bob left teaching to spend several years as a tennis professional at clubs around Westchester. In 1983, he joined IBM Research as a designer of laboratory and office space. He later served as an executive assistant to the VP of Science and Technology, and finished his career as a technical recruiter, retiring in 2002.

For the past dozen years, Bob has been a dedicated volunteer with the Croton Caring Committee, providing medical transportation to our senior citizens and delivering holiday baskets of food to disadvantaged families in Croton.

“I am running for trustee because I believe the current village board has forgotten what public service means.” Bob said. “The lack of fiscal responsibility, transparency, and overall lack of integrity became my tipping point. The feeling of entitlement exhibited by the mayor is appalling and if nothing else I hope to make Croton voters aware of what is going on with our Village government.”

John Brijeski and his wife, Lillian, settled in Croton twelve years ago. Their three children attend Croton schools. John is a graduate of Hofstra University and a certified public accountant. He is currently a vice-president at Citibank having previously held executive positions at various firms, including Credit Suisse, Young & Rubicam, and Ernst & Young.

John has been especially active with the youth of the community. He is an AYSO soccer coach, and he and Lillian own and operate the Kumon Education Center in Tarrytown.

“I believe in giving back to one’s community,” noted John. “I know my background and skills will serve the residents and taxpayers of our village well, especially now, when it is vital for our village officials to make fiscally sound public policy decisions based on objective analysis and forward-thinking consideration of village spending priorities.”

Virginia (Ginny) Calcutti, a native of Ossining, has lived in Croton for 52 years with her husband, Vito, a retired Croton village employee. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.

Ginny spent 24 years with the Croton-Harmon School District where she also served as president and negotiator of the Civil Service Employees Association Clerical Unit. She was elected secretary of CSEA Westchester Local 860.

Ginny was a member of the Croton Emergency Services Committee and a color guard instructor for the Croton Cardinals Drum and Bugle Corps. She is an active member of the Croton Senior Citizens Club.

“My goals as a trustee are to bring open government to the village and keep the residents of Croton informed as to what is happening in their village,” said Ginny. “We need to improve the leadership and accountability of our officials, eliminate unnecessary spending, stabilize or even reduce our taxes and ensure our Village Code is enforced for all residents. Most importantly, I want to meet with our residents to ensure that their concerns are addressed.”

“Croton United does not believe that national parties and partisanship have any role to play in local government,” noted Ms. Schuyler. “Our members are Democrats, Republicans and independents. As for our candidates, two are registered Democrats, while the third has no party affiliation.”