County Legislature Election Q&A: John Nonna

John Nonna currently represents District 3 in the Westchester County Legislature, which includes all or parts of Greenburgh, Harrison, Mount Pleasant (including Pleasantville and parts of Briarcliff Manor and Sleepy Hollow) and North Castle.

He has lived in Pleasantville for more than 30 years.

Nonna, an arbitration and litigation attorney for Dewey & LeBoeuf, is seeking a third term in the legislature. He currently chairs the county's Legislation Committee and serves on the Government Operations, Public Safety, Efficiency and Savings and Housing and Planning Committees.

Nonna, 63, is .

Patch: Why did you initially run for the County Legislature and why are you running for re-election this year?

Nonna: I had been a trustee in and a mayor of Pleasantville and I decided it was time for someone else to come in, so I did not run for mayor in 2003. I enjoyed public service a lot, so the next step where I could continue to practice law and do public service was the county legislature. I was interested in expanding my horizons beyond local issues in Pleasantville.

I believe at all levels of government we need people who are going to be independent and look for solutions to problems, rather than just sticking to ideology or a party line. I believe government has to be open and transparent. It's also important for officials to communicate with constituents. That's why I ran, to bring those practices into the district I represent.

Patch: What do you see as the most important issues to locals in this election?

Nonna: People are always concerned about taxes. There are stories brought up that Westchester is the highest taxed county in the country. That's something we have to deal with. We have to make government more efficient and streamlined. We've taken some great strides in doing that—we had an early retirement program where almost 500 employees took early retirement. Most have not been replaced. We have taken various steps to make government more efficient, but we have to be very careful about services...like when county roads are not being maintained. The other problem with reducing taxes is 70 percent of the [county] budget is state mandates. We have to look at ways to share services regarding police and public works.

Patch: What are your thoughts on the state's ?

Nonna: I think a tax cap imposes some important discipline, but we have to have mandate relief with it. I would have preferred we did mandate reform first and then a tax cap. Hopefully the governor will come forward with some real proposals to alleviate the mandates so that we can operate within that tax cap.

Patch: You voted in favor of —do you stand by that decision?

Nonna: The county budget was a 2.2 percent decrease in the property tax levy. I think that was a very good budget—it was twice the decrease that was proposed by the county executive. We were able to restore some important safety net programs that allow people to get jobs and allow parents who need daycare to get subsidies for daycare and help youths stay out of trouble. I don't think any of our projections will have a serious detrimental effect. I think the tax levy will still come pretty close to a 2 percent tax levy decrease.

Patch: What is your position on the ?

Nonna: We send a legislative package up to Albany every year of what we want passed—part of this year's was the repeal of the MTA payroll tax. We were not able to accomplish that. There's too much support with respect to legislators in New York City who control the assembly. However, we did call for it and the [Westchester County] legislators passed a resolution to join a lawsuit with Nassau, Suffolk and Rockland Counties to declare the payroll tax unconstitutional.

Patch: You have said voting in favor of the federal affordable housing settlement was "a difficult choice." How do you feel about the county's progress?

Nonna: We are on track to satisfy the benchmarks in that settlement. In fact, we're on track to meet the 2012 benchmarks. I think it's certainly achievable. Even looking back, it was a difficult decision, but it was better than facing a $200 million settlement plus—this has to be made very clear—in addition to $200 million, HUD still had the ability to force the county to foster fair and affordable housing. We would be in the same position now, except we would still face a $200 million judgment. I am concerned about the administration , but that's a political issue.

Patch: You chaired the Legislation Committee that this year. Are you satisfied with the result and how it affects District 3 (which now includes part of Sleepy Hollow)?

Nonna: I was concerned about [Consultant Dr. Andrew Beveridge's] performance. I just don't think he served us that well, but at the end of the day, I think we did pass a redistricting plan that was fair. It's not perfect, but there were not a lot of dramatic changes to the districts. There is a principle that districts should be relatively compact. That's why [part of] . I didn't like that, but I was told if I had all of Sleepy Hollow, it would be too many people and it did not make sense to start carving out North Castle. I will act as if I represent all of Sleepy Hollow.

Patch: Both you and your opponent are in Tuesday's primary. How important is this to you and for the general election?

Nonna: The Independence Party has endorsed both Republicans and Democrats. It's an important line on the ballot and it's an important line for the general election.

Patch: Is there anything else you would like to say to voters?

Nonna: Last time I ran uncontested—I didn't like that. The important thing is people should pay attention to the race, pay attention to the issues and they should vote. Often the turnout is about 25-30 percent. I just wish it were higher.

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