Letter To The Editor: Dan Hochvert Is Strong Candidate For Scarsdale Mayor

As someone who served with Dan Hochvert over a three-year period on the Scarsdale Village Board, I had the opportunity to work closely with Dan and to observe how he performed as a Village Trustee. I am writing this letter to state why, based on my experience with Dan, I think Dan would be an outstanding Mayor for Scarsdale.

Dan was a first-rate Village Trustee. He considered carefully every issue before the Village Board, and he listened attentively to the views of his fellow Trustees, the Village staff and members of the public. As indicated below, he made himself knowledgeable on every issue before the Board, and he exercised what I always considered to be excellent judgment in addressing those issues. He worked well with his fellow Trustees, persuasively expressing his views but always seeking to build consensus wherever possible. I felt that the Village Board was significantly stronger because of Dan’s presence.

Moreover, Dan displays additional qualities that I feel would significantly enhance his performance as Mayor. Dan is someone who will go the extra mile to research and learn about an issue, never being satisfied with taking a position on an issue that he does not fully understand. One of the best examples of this relates to the almost unprecedented eight inch rainfall that occurred in the spring of 2007, causing major flooding throughout the Village. Following the storm, Dan was soon to be found in the Village examining the watercourses where the worst flooding occurred – he correctly felt that this would put him in the best position to assess what steps by the Village would be most effective in mitigating future flooding and what the Village’s priorities should be in implementing mitigation measures. It wasn’t sufficient for Dan to go out alone – he insisted that I join him so that I too could share in the knowledge he was gaining. This was typical of Dan’s approach as Trustee throughout the time that I served with him.

Dan also possesses to an unusual degree a knowledge about the Village. He seems to know more people in the Village than just about anyone else whom I am aware of. He appears to know what every neighborhood association is doing and what the concerns of its members are. He keeps himself informed on the activities of the various organizations in the Village and has served on many of them over the years. As a Trustee, this knowledge gave Dan an unusual sensitivity to the interests, needs and concerns of Scarsdale residents and how they might best be addressed by the Village Board. I believe this in depth knowledge of the community would greatly enhance Dan’s effectiveness as Scarsdale’s Mayor.

Dan is as strong as any candidate for Scarsdale’s Mayor whom I have seen over the many years that I have lived in Scarsdale. I urge residents to support his candidacy for Mayor with their votes on March 21.

David Irwin, Drake Road