Croton United Unveils Slate of Candidates for Village Board
Croton United, a self-proclaimed non-partisan organization, recently announced its slate of candidates for the 2015 election.
Heading the ticket is former mayor and trustee Dr. Gregory Schmidt, who is looking to unseat incumbent Democrat Leo Wiegman, who has led the village since 2009.
Schmidt, also a registered Democrat, is a local chiropractor who has lived in the village for 30 years. He served two terms as mayor and three terms as trustee in the past. He currently heads the Croton Business Council branch of the Hudson Valley Chamber of Commerce and serves as president of Croton Rotary, where he is a key organizer of Summerfest and the classic car show.
During his tenure on the board, Schmidt maintained he was instrumental in improving departmental efficiencies and maintaining the village’s finances on solid footing. He also said he presided over the completion of Croton Landing and initiated the Croton-Harmon Station parking lot drainage improvements.
Joining Schmidt are Village Board hopefuls Bob Anderson and Ken Walsh, who will be looking to unseat incumbent trustees Andy Levitt and Maria Slippen.
Anderson, who has lived in Croton for more than 40 years, taught second and third grade in the Hendrick Hudson School District, as well as special needs children at Northern Westchester BOCES. After teaching Anderson spent several years as a tennis professional at clubs in Westchester, and in 1983 he joined IBM Research as a designer of laboratory and office space.
“I am running for village trustee so I can perform public service without being constrained by party loyalty,” said Anderson, who is not affiliated with any party but has been a dedicated member of the Croton Caring Committee for more than a dozen years. “I’m gravely concerned about our village debt that was unanimously increased by 33% by the current board. This burden will affect the village in future years, long after these board members have moved on. The current spending levels are unsustainable and the priorities, if any, are misplaced.”
Walsh works for Verizon as a Six-Sigma Black Belt project manager and has resided in Croton for 16 years. He served on the village’s Gouveia Park ad-hoc committee, has coached CYO basketball for seven years and Croton Little League softball for two years, and is a Eucharistic minister at Holy Name of Mary Parish.
“I want to give the people what they want, not what they are told to take on, help the village be more fiscally responsible and great place to live,” said Walsh, a registered Democrat.
Roseann Schuyler, chairperson of Croton United, is confident in the candidates chosen.
“We firmly believe this slate of candidates, which offers both experience and new vision to our village, will provide public minded, forward-thinking leadership to the community,” Schuyler said. “Croton United does not believe that national parties and partisanship have any role to play in local government.”
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