Former Lewisboro Super Takes Over as Mt. Kisco Village Manager
The importance of volunteering and public service was instilled in Ed Brancati from childhood.
His parents, Ed and Sue, were active at their house of worship, the Mount Kisco Presbyterian Church, and his father worked in the Westchester County Human Resources Department for 38 years.
Brancati, who was raised in Bedford and North Salem, said he has the same philosophy as his mother and father: to help improve the lives of others.
Brancati has brought his passion to serve others to his new job as Mount Kisco’s village manager. Brancati, 39, a former Lewisboro supervisor who now lives in Somers, started his $125,000-a-year position on July 13. He said his goal is to provide services to residents as efficiently and effectively as possible.
He replaces Jerry Faiella who served as the interim village manager for the past year since the previous full-time manager, Jim Palmer, left the post to work in Bronxville in June 2014.
Mount Kisco Mayor Michael Cindrich said he was impressed with Brancati’s education and experience. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of Richmond and a master’s in public administration from NYU in addition to his extensive government experience, Cindrich said.
Brancati was elected to the Lewisboro Town Board in 2006 to complete the unexpired term of a council member who resigned. The following year he was elected town supervisor for one term.
A proponent of shared services, during his time as supervisor Brancati worked with several neighboring municipalities, including Mount Kisco, to jointly hire a firm that audited the cable television franchise fees paid to several local governments. The audit resulted in thousands of dollars being paid to the municipalities.
Brancati began his government work as a staff assistant during Vice President Al Gore’s final two years in Washington. He had the responsibility of organizing Gore’s constituent mail, including alerting the appropriate agencies when the office received suspicious letters and packages.
“Being in Washington was a great experience,” Brancati said.
He then worked for five and a half years in the White Plains district office of Rep. Nita Lowey after returning from Washington.
“You’re dealing with a lot of the same issues,” Brancati commented about working for both the federal government and municipalities.
He also has experience in the private sector. Brancati was a consultant for Super Media in Purchase in 2011 and 2012, working on marketing projects for businesses.
He returned to government work in January 2013, serving in Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s district office in Fishkill. His key responsibilities were constituent services and working with municipal officials to pursue federal money for various services and projects.
Along with attending church in Mount Kisco, Brancati said he has other fond childhood memories of the village, such as visiting Leonard Park and going shopping for clothes.
Brancati becomes the first full-time Mount Kisco village manager who is not a resident of the municipality. The village board decided to review its residency requirement to create a larger pool of qualified candidates for the job, Cindrich said. Officials are still considering whether to permanently amend that law.
“While the residency law is under review we had an absolute right to hire Mr. Brancati under the current law,” Cindrich said.
Brancati said he is open to moving his family to Mount Kisco.
“We’ve been looking,” he said.
