New Leadership for NYS
Congratulations to elected leaders who took office last week in Albany, including Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins who became the first woman to lead that chamber. Two of the concerns that many local folks will be watching for progress on are fully funding foundation aid for outlier schools like the Ossining UFSD, and drivers licenses regardless of federal immigration status.
Last week was the first work session of the year and it was a very heavy agenda. One item discussed was to establish a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion subcommittee that can determine the mission for a standing committee of this kind. Click here to view the village board discussion about establishing this subcommittee. Anyone interested in serving on this subcommittee is encouraged to e-mail me at mayor@villageofossining.org with the subject line “DE&I Subcommittee”.
Community Connections
Open Office Hours with the mayor will take place tomorrow from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon in the Board of Trustees office on the first floor of Village Hall. No appointment is necessary, and all are welcome to discuss any topic, concern or idea of interest to you.
Have a burning question or idea, at any hour of the day or night?… E-mail me at mayor@villageofossining.org, the Board of Trustees at bot@villageofossining.org or Village Manager Debbie McDonnell at dmcdonnell@villageofossining.org.
Wednesday Legislative Session
This week’s meeting begins with two special presentations at 07:00 p.m. The first is the anticipated swearing in of Michael Lantz to be our newest Ossining Police Sergeant. Next we will be honoring some of the dedicated volunteers who have served many years on village boards and committees. These presentations are intended to end by 07:30 p.m., at which time we will begin the public hearing related to the proposed Hidden Cove development at the site of the old Brandreth Pill Factory.
We anticipate a number of folks may attend this week’s meeting to speak at the start of the Board Resolutions to address item B, a call for a public hearing to take place on February 6 declaring that the NYS rent stabilization program known as etpa does not serve to abate the housing emergency.
During Continuing Business, we will review and discuss draft legislation for proposed local law 1-2019 related to requiring written leases for residential units throughout the village. Click here to view the full agenda.
Because this week is a Legislative Session, there are a number of invitations for community members to comment. If you would like to spread the word about an upcoming event, please take up to two minutes during Organizational Announcements. Folks who would like to comment on the resolutions included on that night’s agenda may do so for up to four minutes at the start of the Village Board Resolutions portion of the meeting. The meeting closes with an invitation for community members to comment for up to three minutes during Visitor Recognition about any topic of relevance to the common good of the Village. We invite community members to reach out to us by e-mail at bot@villageofossining.org anytime.
With regards,
Victoria Gearity
Ossining Mayor
