SBNC Announces Candidates for Board of Education
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The Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee is pleased to announce that they have selected Jonathan Lewis and Sunil Subbakrishna to run for the Scarsdale Board of Education. These two distinguished members of our community will fill the vacancies of Linda Hillman Chayes and Barbara Kemp, respectively, whose second terms are expiring in 2011.
Jonathan Lewis has been a Scarsdale resident for nine years. Mr. Lewis has a professional background in finance and has authored two books. He is currently the chair of the investment committee at a privately held fixed income company which he co-founded.
Sunil Subbakrishna has been a Scarsdale resident since 1994. Mr. Subbakrishna has a professional background in finance and international business as well as electrical engineering and computer science. He is currently in 
private practice as a management consultant.
The School Board Nominating Committee was chaired by Michael Pollack and Leanne M. Freda served as Vice Chair.
Pothole Alert
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If you've been swerving around potholes to avoid getting a flat, you're not alone. According to Deputy Village Manager Steve Pappalardo, village roads are in even worse shape now then they were at this time last year.
He told us that Scarsdale has 91.33 miles of roadway, and 78.81 miles of those roads are Village owned and maintained. On those 78 miles, Scarsdale is in charge of snow and ice removal, paving and potholes.
The regular maintenance schedule calls for repaving of larger arterial and collector roads every 15-25 years, and the repaving of residential roads every 25-35 years. With that schedule in place, many will move in and out of town and never see their road repaved.
According to Pappalardo the potholes are worse this year than last and the Department of Public Works (DPW) is doing what they can to patch them. The DPW has been repairing potholes daily since the asphalt plants opened in mid-February. They focus first on repairing main roadways -- and the Department of Public Works is driving through the Village daily to determine what areas need attention first.
Village budget cuts have reduced available funds to purchase hot asphalt though the staffing is still intact.
If you want to report a pothole to the Village, call the Public Works Department at 722-1150 or email then at: [email protected]
Write-in Candidates Challenge Citizens Party Slate in Tuesday Election
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Though elections in Scarsdale are usually uncontested, this year may be different. Elections for Village Mayor and Trustee are scheduled for Tuesday March 15 and the Citizen’s Non Partisan Committee has selected its slate of candidates. The party’s nominee for Mayor is Dr. Miriam Flisser and for Village Trustee the CNC candidates are Stacey Brodsky, Robert Harrison, and Robert Steves. In the past, very few people turned out to vote because there was no choice of candidates and residents could either vote for the individuals on the slate or abstain.
However, write-in votes are permitted, and Scarsdale10583 has learned that this year a move is afoot for a write-in campaign. Disenchanted with the CNC’s selection process, a well-organized group of residents has selected two people to challenge the Non-Partisan Committee candidates. The ad hoc group is encouraging Scarsdale voters to write in these names on the ballot when they vote at Village Hall or on absentee ballots. For the post of Mayor, they favor Sharon Lindsay, and for Trustee they are backing Robert Selvaggio, for Bob Harrison's seat.
Sharon Lindsay is an attorney who served as Village Trustee and Deputy Mayor, as the Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and as the President of the Greenacres Association. She has lived in Scarsdale for 29 years. Robert Selvaggio has worked in finance for over 20 years and has a B.A. in economics and math from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in economics from Brown University.
Voters can write in alternative candidates – whether for Ms. Lindsay and Mr. Selvaggio or 
otherwise – by collecting an absentee ballot from Village Hall on Monday, or in the voting booth on Tuesday’s Election Day. The latter option can prove complicated, requiring voters to lift a small lever located above the CNC candidate’s name, and penning the write-in candidates name on a blank line there.
Voting will be held on Tuesday March 15 from 6 am to 9 am and from noon to 9 pm at Scarsdale Village Hall-- and whatever the outcome-- this challenge is sure to increase voter participation.
Foundation Scholarships Make College Dreams a Reality
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Ask any parent of a SHS senior and he or she will tell you what the most popular topic of conversation is these days: college admissions. With college applications at record levels across the country, SHS parents are understandably concerned about whether their children will get into their dream school. But a little discussed subject in Scarsdale – well under the radar screen in a community known for its affluence and high achievement – is a far more basic concern for some of our families: will college be affordable and how much debt will I have to assume to make it happen for my child?
With uneven economic recovery and spiraling tuition costs, more and more Scarsdale families are finding it difficult to send their kids to college. Some families have been hit by unemployment. Others are facing debilitating health setbacks or the death of a parent. Still others are simply living on incomes that are insufficient to cover college tuition and ancillary costs for their children. To send their kids to college, these families often deplete their life savings by dipping into retirement accounts and taking out additional loans.
The Scarsdale Foundation helps these families by providing annual, need-based scholarships to students entering their sophomore, junior, and senior years in college. In 2010, the Foundation awarded $76,000 in scholarship monies to 24 deserving young students. Grants ranged between $1,000 and $5,000 and averaged around $3,200. Many of these students received financial assistance in their first year of college from the SHS PTA Scholarship Fund for College, which provides support for college freshmen.
The students who seek help from the Foundation, all of whom are on financial aid, are pitching in by taking out loans and working during the school year and summers, but they’re still struggling to make ends meet. They are unanimously appreciative of their support, a sentiment that is perhaps best expressed by a 2010 scholarship recipient who wrote, “I want to thank the Scarsdale Foundation for all the assistance and help provided me. This assistance has helped me to focus my time on my studies. The cost of tuition, living expenses, books, etc. are so overwhelming that I do not know how I would have been able to make it this far without the help I have received.”
To continue to serve the Scarsdale community as generously and compassionately as possible, the Scarsdale Foundation is asking community members to consider making a tax-deductible donation to a specially earmarked fund for scholarships. Checks may be mailed to the Foundation at PO Box 542 or donations may be made online at www.scarsdalefoundation.org (donors are urged to specify Scholarships on the Paypal Purpose line.) By contributing to the Scarsdale Foundation’s scholarship program, Scarsdale families can make the dream of college a reality for students who are in need of financial support.
Contributed by Jackie Irwin, President of the Scarsdale Foundation
Why Vote In an Uncontested Election?
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Tuesday, March 15 is Election Day in Scarsdale for the village mayor and for three village trustees. This year, as has been the case for the overwhelming majority of the last 100 years, the election is uncontested. Four candidates are running for four positions. For full disclosure, I am one of those candidates and have been nominated to serve as a village trustee. I hope that, if you are a registered voter in Scarsdale, you will vote on March 15. Your vote is important even in an uncontested race.
Hundreds of Scarsdale residents volunteer tens of thousands of hours annually in wide-ranging activities that enhance life in our community. People who volunteer do so because they believe that their efforts make a difference. All of us know that the combined effort of so many people contributes in wonderful ways to the quality of life in our village. Men and women who serve on the village and school boards, and as mayor, are also volunteers.
Each year, the Citizens’ Nominating Committee proposes candidates for village trustee vacancies, and every two years the CNC nominates a mayoral candidate. The School Board Nominating Committee serves the same function for school board candidates. Any registered voter may run to serve as a member of one of the nominating committees and any eligible adult may appear before the nominating committees to be considered in the candidate selection process.
This non-partisan nominating process was inaugurated in Scarsdale in 1911 in order to minimize the discord that can arise in a contested electoral process.
Is the process perfect? No, but non-partisan elections have many characteristics that serve to strengthen our community. First, the nominating committees typically reach out to prospective candidates with vastly different sets of experiences and skills. The non-partisan process successfully attracts many qualified people who have expertise and civic commitment but who would not be interested in the competitive nature of a contested election, including the fundraising and sparring that comes with running against an opponent.
Candidates who are nominated through the non-partisan process are not defined by party affiliation, and they owe no allegiance to any organization, donor, or group, other than to the residents of Scarsdale. The boards are accountable only to the community.
Because non-partisan candidates have not campaigned on a platform of issues and promises, when elected, they are able to enter the debate about matters that affect the community neutrally and with an open mind. Equally, residents can feel comfortable that their representatives serve everyone. There will still be issues that are controversial. There will still be decisions that do not satisfy all people. But by means of the non-partisan process, controversy does not have to translate into divisiveness.
Your vote for in village and school board elections reflects your commitment to Scarsdale and your commitment to the volunteerism that is the hallmark of our village. Please support the non-partisan election process by casting your vote in the village election on March 15. Voting will take place at Village Hall from six to nine in the morning, and from noon until nine in the evening.
See a video of the four candidates here:
