Meet the Candidate: Sumantha Sedor

Sumantha Sedor – Sleepy Hollow – Trustee Candidate

Sumantha Sedor was born in The Bronx, but grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. She went to university at the Boston College Carroll School of Management, Finance and Marketing. After graduation, she became a Mutual Fund accountant for a year, but quickly decided to go into law. She attended Pace University in White Plains and lived in Tarrytown while she was in law school. She said she fell in love with Westchester during that time and moved to Philipse Manor in Sleepy Hollow two years ago. She works for the law firm Chadbourne & Parke LLP, and wants to get involved in local government and her community. 

1) Can you name some of your accomplishments or experiences that highlight your ability to function as a trustee? 

My undergraduate education as a finance major will help with the budget and financial aspects of running the village. I also think there is a huge merchandising and branding opportunity that the village isn't taking advantage of. I think I can help in that way with promoting the name and encouraging tourism. I will have a firm grasp on legal talks. I am a corporate attorney, this is what I do. I review these types of agreements like those the village is working on with GM.  I also won't be tied to past local politics and I don't owe anyone any favors. 

2) What is something that incumbents have accomplished that you approve of?

That they are getting GM back on the table, which is a huge issue. I think it needs to be proceeded on with caution. They have been working on revitalization, and the committee that Evelyn Stupel has worked on has been doing some positive things. These are all things we want to continue to work on and improve. There is always room for improvement.

3) What would you do differently about the GM process? 

After reading through the decisions that were made and the most recent one from last year, there are a lot of different things that have happened that were before this current administration. But, being an attorney, the first thing I would want is indemnification of the Village and a contingency fund for potential liability in the future. Some things are already done and you may not be able to fix that, but you need to review all the issues and do due diligence and listen to the concerns the village is having. There have been recent trustee meetings where they aren't listening to the people, they are talking at them. We have so many people interested in this project, we need to sit down and discuss it with them. It would be a shame not to take advantage of that. 

4) If elected, what would be your stance on the disciplinary hearings against suspended Sleepy Hollow Police Detective Jose Quinoy?

I don't have that much information about that. But I would advocate continuing our whole stance with having open government. Things have to be open. Trustees should only be going into executive meetings when it is truly necessary and making it very clear why.

5) Downtown revitalization has been a big issue. What is your take on it and how will this affect the Spanish-speaking population of the inner village?

It's been good to see a few restaurants coming in. I think it would be good to hold a focus group on what we can do to attract new businesses.

I think diversity is so important and it is a huge issue. Right now there seems to be a lot of the same type of businesses downtown. I'm not saying what is there should be gone, but it is beneficial to have different types of businesses, and that will be a benefit to everyone.

6) Can you name some state mandates that unfairly affect the budget of the village?  

Honestly, that is something I would need to look at in more detail, to look at the budget to see the potential impacts. This would be my first time working in a government, but I have some very transferable skills and we will find a a way to work with the mandates that are out there.

7) If you and your running mates are elected, what would you consider to be your two-year agenda?

Open government is one of our top things that we all want to work on and address. We really want to increase community  involvement. I think there is a lot of opportunity out there to revitalize Beekman and focus on our branding campaign.

9) How do you feel about shared services? Do you approve of the proposed plan to consolidate the Parks and Recreation departments of the two villages and the school district under the leadership of TUFSD? 

I think that it can potentially be a way to save money, but we have to make sure the village isn't losing services because of it. I'm against consolidated emergency services. We have to see if there are other areas that make sense so long as the village isn't losing out and we will have the opportunity to save some costs. 

10) Are there any final comments or issues you think are important that you would like to share with our readers? 

 I'm really excited to be involved. I am really looking forward to spending my life in Sleepy Hollow. This is a great was to become involved and have the chance to make some positive changes. I think it would be a good opportunity to have some new blood and help shake things up a little bit.