Forum Focus

On Thursday, December 10 at 8:00 pm via Zoom, the Scarsdale Forum presents Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, who will shed light on legislation in this extraordinary time and the forecast for 2021, followed by Q&A.

All members of the public are welcome. Registration required here.

The County Fiscal Affairs Committee met virtually with Gregory Casciato, Director of Fiscal Affairs, Westchester Board of Legislators Fiscal Staff, who graciously responded to questions from Committee members on the proposed 2021 County Budget. The Committee is in the process of drafting its annual report, offering an informed review of the upcoming County budget. Please contact Chair Richard Pinto, rpinto10583@gmail.com.

The Committee met on November 17 to discuss a range of issues pertaining to the Village Center, noting that two new retail establishments recently opened: a Japanese restaurant on Spencer Place, and a home aroma store on Harwood Circle. With the change of seasons, the Spencer Place dining tent was removed. It brought in business to the area but the rental was costly. The tables/benches will remain without the tent through December. The Committee reviewed a design sketch for redesigning Boniface Circle that included space for a smaller dining tent and movable tables and chairs. Ideas were shared with the village for incorporation in an RFP for a potential Boniface project, but much of the funding would have to be raised through private donors. With so many residents working from home, commuter parking has been substantially reduced at Christie Place and Freightway garages. The Committee discussed how the Village could encourage merchants and their employees to use these spaces rather than feeding the meters nearest to their stores. The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 17 at 8:00 pm via Zoom. please contact Chair Susan Douglass, susanudouglass@gmail.com.

The Committee Chair, following Scarsdale Forum follow-up protocol, reached out to the Board of Education to suggest ways that recommendations in the Committee's recently released report could be applied as short term solutions to achieve more diverse stakeholder participation and improvements in their communications. This subject is expected to be discussed at the next BOE Community Engagement Committee meeting. See the report, A Proposal for the Formation of a School Community Communications Committee. Please contact Chair Barry Meiselman, barwest2@aol.com.

Fiscal Affairs

Fiscal Affairs Scarsdale members met by Zoom on November 11, 2020. The review of the current fiscal year budget presented at the Village Board's October 27, 2020 Work Session did not include any discussion of austerity measures the community had been told were implemented for the current year, or a report on actual or projected expenditures.  The Committee sent a budget information request on November 13, 2020 to the Board and the Village Manager to obtain this information, and received a partial response on November 14.  The committee needs the requested information to understand the revisions made to the current adopted budget, and to be able to respond to calls from Trustees to weigh in on the 2021-22 budget. The Committee is preparing a follow up request and will continue its efforts to arrange a meeting with the new Village Treasurer.  For more information please contact Chair Anne Hintermeister, ahintermeister@gmail.com.west2@aol.com

The Membership Committee and Scarsdale Forum invite members of the community to join the Forum and participate in our committees and events. Please contact Chair Gabrielle Wise, greiffel@me.com.

The Municipal Services Committee is planning a meeting in January 2021 for follow up on its traffic safety report recommendations to the Village Board, including installing more visible traffic calming signage and signals, enacting a lower, 25 mph speed limit on certain linear segments of roads, continuing work with legislators on area speed limit amendments, and increasing enforcement. Contact Madelaine Eppenstein, meppenstein@eppenstein.com.

Deadline December 1: The Nominating Committee is requesting members to suggest the names of nominees to fill Scarsdale Forum officer and director-at-large positions. Your input should be submitted no later than Tuesday, December 1, so that the committee has ample time to recommend candidates at the February 11, 2021 Membership Meeting. Please forward suggestions to Chair Tim Foley, tim@commanderfoley.com, or one of the other committee members: Laura Liu, Jon Mark, Richard Pinto, and Karen Smith.

The Sustainability, Fiscal Affairs Scarsdale, and Municipal Services Committees are revisiting Village fall leaf collection and advocating for switching from vacuuming loose piles of leaves from the streets to collection of bagged leaves (as is required 10 months of the year), as recommended in a 2014 Scarsdale Forum Sustainability Committee report. The public safety and budgetary reasons for enacting sensible, environmentally sound best practices is more compelling than ever. The review will examine the success of leaf-bagging and leaf mulch mowing initiatives in neighboring communities, public safety and environmental issues, and budget considerations. Please contact FAS Chair Anne Hintermeister, ahintermeister@gmail.com.