Alzapiedi, Makowska, Saland for a Change in Direction in New Castle

There have been few town supervisors or local mayors that have elicited as strong a reaction as Supervisor Robert Greenstein has generated the past 22 months in New Castle.

For some who know him or deal with him, many seem enthralled by Greenstein’s wealth of ideas, energy, drive to improve the town, charm, attempts at humor and his often tell-it-like-it-is, in-your-face style.

Then there are those who are enraged, or certainly put off, by his ideas, drive, energy, attempts at humor and in-your-face style.

To some extent, this election has become a referendum less on the accomplishments and demerits of Greenstein’s administration, or the prevailing strengths and weaknesses of his opponent, Democrat Victoria Alzapiedi, but whether voters take to him or are offended by him.

To be sure, Greenstein is a capable individual. Even before he reached the supervisor’s office, he was the driving force behind the formation of the Chappaqua-Millwood Chamber of Commerce.

He has had his share of successes, small and significant, since taking office, perhaps none better than the renegotiation of the garbage contract, which is projected to save the town close to $500,000 a year for seven years.

Getting access to the Wallace Auditorium at Chappaqua Crossing will provide the town with a bona fide cultural space, although not near downtown.

There have been real attempts and successes at improving the town’s aesthetics.

Throughout the current campaign he has chided previous administrations for failing to address pressing issues head on, such as the deterioration of the business hamlets and the continued parking crunch at certain hours. The criticisms have some merit.

Greenstein’s biggest strength is that he has big ideas and he wants the town to look great and be great – today.

But it gets him in trouble. Even though he has the votes on a split board there have been repeated run-ins with outgoing Councilman Jason Chapin, who has constantly accused him of failing to keep him and fellow Democrat Elise Kessler-Mottel in the loop, and sometimes running a one-man show.

Even if you chalk up some of those complaints to partisan politics, there has been too much of the snark, which reached a crescendo during the controversy and unnecessary vitriol during the dueling coyote committee debates. He went after Alzapiedi, the chair of one of the two groups with whom he disagreed, with alarming regularity.

But most of all, Greenstein and Team New Castle campaigned in 2013 largely on two issues: stopping Chappaqua Crossing and stopping the controversial Conifer affordable housing project. Neither project has been stopped. Both he and Councilman Adam Brodsky, citing the potential for litigation, voted for the Chappaqua Crossing rezone to allow 120,000 square feet of retail. Only Councilwoman Lisa Katz held her ground.

Yes, Greenstein advocated for a Whole Foods at Chappaqua Crossing, which appears will happen, but the project before the planning board today is much bigger today than what many who opposed the application wanted.

Alzapiedi certainly has the smarts and skill sets to be a successful supervisor. She’s a lawyer, who no longer practices, but now has her own mediation and teambuilding consultancies.

She acquitted herself capably when the ugly coyote debates deteriorated earlier this year. While some of the plans are short on detail, if Alzapiedi brings the same enthusiasm and verve for downtown revitalization and parking and downtown issues that she displayed during her exhaustive coyote research, the town would be in good hands.

For town board, Hala Makowska is an easy choice for one of the two open seats. Since shortly after moving to Millwood in the late 1990s, she has been an active member of the community, first with the old Millwood Task Force, then serving on the board of fire commissioners at the Millwood Fire Company. Today she is chair of the board.

She was part of a board that was instrumental in helping turn around public opinion that had been against a new firehouse to one where a nearly $10 million referendum was easily passed by district voters.

Regardless of what section of town she lived in, Makowska would be a strong candidate. But given much of her work has been in Millwood and West End, she would bring a much-needed perspective to Town Hall.

Saland, who has been a town prosecutor for more than five years, is a sharp individual who seems dedicated to public service. He would complement the ticket well.

On the Republican side, Eileen Gallagher is an active member of the community, having volunteered in a host of capacities. She is familiar with Town Hall as a member of Chappaqua for Responsible Affordable Housing and a freelance writer.

Seth Chodosh, the second Republican candidate, has recently returned to town after growing up in Chappaqua. Other than plans to create more foot traffic to revitalize the business centers, he didn’t seem to be overly familiar with some of the other pressing issues facing New Castle.