Luzio Hopes to Earn Opportunity to Lead Mt. Kisco in a New Direction
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For Thomas Luzuio, his entry into the Mount Kisco mayoral race started with signing a petition to protect Leonard Park from a cell tower that the Village Board had considered relocating last year.
At first, Luzio’s concerns were merely aesthetic, followed by environmental questions he had. But Luzio said the more he delved into the matter, the outcry and response were a symbol of the poor communication and the failure to listen to residents by village government.
“There’s never a bad idea; there’s only bad decisions,” said Luzio, who was endorsed by the village’s Democratic Committee. “I’m not anti-cell tower. I can understand the person or the persons who suggested Leonard Park as a location.”
That’s the biggest reason why the former Brooklyn, Queens and Westchester County prosecutor who currently has his own law practice is on the ballot in the Democratic primary.
Luzio said he is not convinced at this time there is a service gap in the vicinity of the Route 172 corridor as village officials have claimed, and if there is, how much of the gap is on the Bedford side of the border. Then the environmental concerns for those near the 180 S. Bedford Rd. site didn’t seem to sway officials for several years, he said.
For Luzio, a reading of the park’s deed, which prevents commercial development, should have scuttled the idea almost immediately. If not the deed, then overwhelming public sentiment should have signaled a quick abandonment of the possibility.
“It was clear to me the moment I signed that petition and take a look around at my town, setting aside issues…the town was united in this position, for different reasons on many of them,” said Luzio, who has lived in Mount Kisco since 2015. “The town was united on that.”
The village’s lack of a robust ethics code is also troubling to Luzio. While circumstances that led to the departure of two Planning Board members in less than two years is what more people may recall, the absence of financial disclosure for elected and volunteer board members has been a glaring blind spot for Mount Kisco, he said.
Luzio said disclosure should include property ownership in the village, outside of someone’s primary residence and their retirement accounts, and who they might have business dealings with. There should be penalties “with teeth” when there are violations, he said.
What Luzio would like to see is a code that is comparable to guidelines that he had to follow for his professional life in district attorney’s offices.
“It’s not just that a Planning Board member or a board member got removed,” Luzio said. “There should be consequences to those actions.”
Protecting the remaining 66 acres of open space is a top priority for Luzio, including a pledge to preserve Leonard Park. When it comes to potential downtown development, Luzio said he would first like to address the vacant storefronts. However, there are certain parameters that new construction must meet.
“I’m not anti-development. It’s just got to be energy efficient; it can’t impact us negatively on our greenspace anymore,” Luzio said. “We don’t want to tax our infrastructure.”
He also added that new development can’t add to the traffic, which at peak times makes the village difficult to navigate.
Luzio complimented village government for creating Mount Kisco’s growing vibrancy with downtown events, including the festivals and concerts.
Although not entirely against the possibility of local accessory dwelling unit legislation, it would have to be under the right circumstances, and most importantly, not negatively impact the existing single-family areas of Mount Kisco,” Luzio explained.
“A pilot program that’s limited in scope and limited in area to see how it would work,” Luzio said. “I could see the light on something like that. But there are a lot of (single-family) neighborhoods that people invested their life savings.”
Inadequate communication has also left too many residents wondering about where the village is regarding pedestrian safety and traffic, and not just have an occasional announcement.
“I think people need to know we’re working on it, not just I’m having meetings with so and so, but give me an approximate time and date or when or what are you thinking,” Luzio said.
He said he would make better use of bulk mailings to communicate more effectively on a host of issues.
Luzio mentioned he would seriously consider bringing in a part-time park ranger to help patrol the trails as long as they are police academy trained. That responsibility should not fall on DPW, he said.
Most of all, he would reach out to residents to try to help him accurately gauge community sentiment.
“I want to listen to the voices on every issue and try to form a consensus,” Luzio said. “It’s what I’ve done my whole career, whether I was working for Republicans or Democrats, towns, villages, cities other task forces, other agencies.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
