Browde Pledges a Stronger, More Transparent New Castle

After Kristen Browde was approached by the New Castle Democratic Committee about running for supervisor earlier this year, her biggest concern wasn’t whether she was ready for the challenge but if those looking to draft her were prepared.

Browde is the first major party transgender candidate to run for elective office in New York State. As a former television journalist and currently an attorney, Browde knew the blaring headlines would come, particularly since she would be running in the town where Bill and Hillary Clinton live.

“I’m not running because I’m trans, but I’m not hiding that I’m trans,” said Browde, 67, who was never registered with a political party before entering this race. “That matters. It sends a message. It’s the ultimate equality message. We are the same as everybody else – we want good schools for our kids, we want low taxes, a great environment. There’s no difference, and in this town, it’s cut through; people get it.”

Since that initial burst of attention, Browde’s sole focus, and that of her running mates Gail Markels and Ivy Pool on the Stronger New Castle slate, has been on how to provide New Castle and its residents with a well-functioning town and fiscally prudent local government.

Browde has portrayed the opposing Team New Castle slate, and in particular her opponent, two-term incumbent Robert Greenstein, as having failed the town in their handling of the downtown infrastructure work.

The current administration, she argued, didn’t do its homework in a series of missteps, refusing to reach out to officials from other levels of government or failing to pursue all potential outside funding sources. Browde charged that Greenstein didn’t identify – and apparently didn’t know about – low-interest and interest-free loans available to communities across the state that could have pared down the level of bonding for downtown.

She pledged to pursue all avenues of funding from various sources for projects and to reach out to officials regardless of party.

“The truth is he wasn’t aware of this program, the town wasn’t aware of this program and they don’t talk to anybody but one Republican state senator,” said Browde, referring to Sen. Terrence Murphy, the town’s representative in the state Senate.

She also questioned her opponent’s transparency, particularly in how Greenstein and council members Adam Brodsky and Lisa Katz secretly eliminated streetscape features once bids far exceeded estimates for the work. An initial $1 million omission for a construction was another snafu, Browde said.

“You have a fiduciary duty to all people who live in this town to respect the fact that every dollar they pay in taxes is a dollar they don’t get to spend on their kids, that they don’t get to spend on things that they want, and if you waste these dollars, you don’t belong in office,” said Browde.

Browde said she’s also worried about the likely difficult traffic scenario near Chappaqua Crossing when the project opens in about a year. If elected, she plans to launch a traffic safety initiative.

The challenger said she is uncertain how much of a success Chappaqua Crossing will ultimately be.

Although no official or candidate in either slate is supportive of the Conifer affordable housing project that will be built on Hunts Place, Browde said Greenstein originally supported the proposal in 2011 – until he ran against it and won two years later. She read a 2011 e-mail from Greenstein supportive of the project at last week’s debate.

She vowed that the Hunts Place residents will be welcome in town, particularly if she’s supervisor. Browde also said keeping the residents safe when they attempt to cross the street with a building located so close to the short exit ramp of the Saw Mill Parkway will be a top priority.

“I don’t care what experts we have to get in to do it,” Browde said. “We have to take care of it. The town’s first responsibility is to make its citizens safe.”

Browde is incensed at the number of fire hydrants with substandard water pressure. Three fires earlier this year in portions of town, two house fires and the yeshiva inferno last February, were all made worse when firefighters had difficulty getting an adequate water supply from the closest hydrants. She plans to address the problem as soon as she’s in office.

Browde also plans to listen closely not only to Chappaqua and Millwood residents but those on the far east and west ends of town. New Castle residents near the Sunshine Children’s Home, which has received variances and permits for a major expansion, have been dismissed, she said. Browde said she has appealed to Sunshine’s owner to relocate operations to another area of town.

She said Greenstein and the board erred when allowing the Zoning Board of Appeals to become lead agency instead of the more experienced Planning Board.

Browde also said she would get rid of all floating zones to discourage inappropriate development, such as what has been proposed at the 96-acre Rosehill property on Route 128.

“I’m not opposed to (the developer) doing something great with that property, but it’s got be connected with the water supply and the sewage, and then it’s got to be something that’s not completely out of proportion to the neighborhood,” Browde said.