Peekskill Chooses Familiar Face as City Manager
Peekskill officials reached back into their past to choose a new city manager when they announced last week the appointment of Anthony Ruggiero.
Ruggiero, 45, had worked for the city for 13 years before leaving in January to become Putnam County’s commissioner of planning. However, when health issues forced Acting City Manager Brian Havranek to retire after 28 years in various capacities, city officials turned to Ruggiero to take control of the reins, which he will do starting July 15.
“It’s good to be back,” Ruggiero said at City Hall. “I’m honored by this opportunity to return to Peekskill and continue the work I started in my previous 13 years of service. I’m excited. When I left I looked forward. I didn’t think I was coming back.”
Peekskill has been operating without a permanent city manager since December 2011 after Rick Finn left. Finn was hired in August 2009 after a search that yielded more than 50 resumes. The Common Council opted not to conduct a search before settling on Ruggiero.
“We knew what we wanted,” Mayor Mary Foster said. “Anthony is already a familiar figure at City Hall. His vision for our city and efforts to bring growth and economic development to the waterfront and downtown areas have made Peekskill a great place to live, work, visit and enjoy. We’re confident Anthony will have no learning curve as he steps into this important role. Our residents and business owners already know and like Anthony.”
Republican mayoral hopeful Frank Catalina criticized Foster and the Common Council for not seeking public input in selecting a new city manager.
“This appointment, under cover of secrecy, underscores the apparent contempt Mary Foster has for public input and participation in the democratic process. This clearly is not the same Mary Foster who came into office almost six years ago riding the national wave of hope and change and promise of transparency,” Catalina remarked. “While she kept that promise in 2009, it is crystal clear by her conduct to that city manager, Rick Finn, and the countless others who have tried to serve the city under her, that its since been Mary’s way or the highway. Even her obedient Council follows lockstep in her radical agenda to fully control every aspect of city government.”
Ruggiero, who serves at the pleasure of the Common Council, received a five-year contract that will pay him an annual salary of $163,000. He will soon be relocating to Peekskill from his current home in Fishkill.
“My priorities as city manager will be to continue the city’s economic growth and expansion, and to modernize our workforce,” he said. “I know we have a great team here.”
Ruggiero credited Havranek, 57, with mentoring him when he was deputy planner. Councilwoman Kathy Talbot praised Havranek for being a “steady hand.”
“My whole life changed for the better when I came to Peekskill,” said Havranek, who met his wife in Peekskill, a deputy city clerk. “I’ll miss this place, no doubt about it, but I truly believe everything happens for a reason.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
