Mayor’s Message: In Praise of Mayor Peter Swiderski
Posted on: April 2, 2019 - 10:07pm
Dear Everyone,
Today, Tuesday, April 2nd, after 16 years of selfless and dedicated public service, our beloved Mayor Peter Swiderski, stepped down from his post. We will all miss him tremendously, especially his comforting, witty and informative emails about what’s happening in the Village - from how to manage during a super storm, to tactics for avoiding close encounters with coyotes, and of course the A-Z of deer contraception.
Peter’s slogan when he ran for Mayor was “Hastings Forward!” but his election as Mayor coincided with the beginning of the financial crisis. This meant that his change agenda was tempered with the stark reality of people losing their jobs and struggling to make ends meet. During his first few years as Mayor, Peter’s focus was on addressing the challenging economic environment.
Those of you who lived in our charming hyphenated Village back then will remember that the Downtown was really suffering, there were many empty storefronts and the Village looked shabby and run-down. In 2014, Peter authorized the hire of a Downtown Advocate and now 25 storefronts have been filled with vibrant businesses that have become local favorites. Now, we have regular events throughout the year that bring music, energy, and people, as well as food and wine, to the epicenter of our village.
The abandoned buildings from our industrial past dominated the Waterfront and remediation on the site was stalled. The Waterfront has now been completely transformed – you can see the soaring, glittering towers of Manhattan from almost any point on the train platform and the rezoning is poised to begin.
Many of the Village parks and trails were in disrepair. Under Peter’s stewardship they’ve been revitalized: Riverview Park has become a real haven and a welcome respite from the bustle of Warburton Ave; Reynolds Field playground, the Hillside Tennis Courts and Uniontown Park have been completely renovated and are humming with action; and the Quarry Park Trail extends to the waterfront offering spectacular views of the Palisades. In addition, land has been reclaimed for two new parks at Saw Mill Lofts and Quarry Park. Remarkably, most of this was funded through grants.
In 2009, our Village finances were under stress and Peter was determined we would work our way back to fiscal health. We grew our “rainy day” fund to $1.7M (more than 10% of our budget) and established two new capital preservation funds, one of which is dedicated to parks. As of the last audit, these two funds had accumulated $330K, resulting in a total reserve of over $2M. Our thriftiness has meant we could invest in infrastructure, including equipment for our fire department, police and DPW as well as resurfacing streets, fixing curbs and catch basins, and filling potholes. All this while remaining under the 2% State imposed tax cap and boasting one of the lowest tax increases among the Rivertowns.
These things I’ve described so far are the bread and butter of municipal government – taking care of your finances, your infrastructure, your open spaces …. But Peter insisted on pushing the envelope. He has always cared about promoting affordable housing and under his watch, 21 new units were constructed in the Village (much more per capita than any of our neighbors). He also encouraged a cutting-edge sustainability agenda that included battling the national super-market lobby to ban plastic bags and instituting a green building code. And then there was the deer Immunocontraception Research Program … which received national attention when Jon Stewart commended us on how responsible our teenaged deer were.
At this point some of you are probably thinking: “I knew he was pretty special but he is starting to sound a bit like superman!” The truth is that one of the main secrets to Peter’s success is that he is a brilliant delegator. He believes in the importance of citizen-led coalitions and has empowered local groups of citizens to take on topics they are passionate about and come up with solutions. Our village truly runs on volunteers, from the 135 volunteer fire fighters to the 140 citizens serving on our Boards and Commissions. Peter has always understood that we achieve more together and that the sum of the parts can result in a quite remarkable whole! He managed to convince all of us who have volunteered for this Village that our engagement matters, that our contribution will lead to something important, and that we can achieve great things together.
Peter believes deeply in public service and in the democratic process. My fellow Trustees and I are grateful to have had the chance to serve with him and will miss his wisdom, his thoughtfulness and his fundamental human decency.
I hope that you will join the entire Board in extending warm wishes and thanks to Peter for his dedicated service to this wonderful Village we each call home.
Sincerely,
Nicola Armacost