Now is a pretty thankless time to be mayor. 

Assessment rolls are declining more and more each year as employee retirement and health contributions increase. Small businesses are failing and leaving downtown areas—yet residents are expecting and demanding lower taxes.

It's almost an untenable task—but Dobbs Ferry Mayor Hartley Connett is up for the challenge again this year.

"Maybe I'm crazy," he said. "But I enjoy what I'm doing. I have a big investment in Dobbs Ferry—in my home, my family, my friends. I want to work with the community to get other people involved; that's what motivates me."

In November, Connett will run for his second two-year term as mayor of the village. His odds are good since he's running unopposed.

A member of the Dobbs Ferry Party, Connet stressed that he is not a registered Democrat or Republican and that his goals for the village transcend traditional party lines. 

"I didn't get involved in Dobbs Ferry because of politics," Connett said. "I got involved because I had ideas for the village."

Before taking the center position at board meetings, Connett served as a trustee for three years. In 2009 he was elected mayor, and Connett is proud of the many things he and his board accomplished during that time.

"The accomplishment I'm probably proudest of was getting the community to work together to accomplish common goals," said Connett, taking time from his family vacation on Long Island to discuss his candidacy. "We were able to put aside the 'us versus them' attitude and get real work done. It required a change in attitude."

He is also thrilled to report that "volunteerism in Dobbs Ferry is as high as its ever been."

In terms of specific board actions, Connett is proud of finally passing a new zoning code and vision plan last year and securing $2 million of county funds for Dobbs Ferry's waterfront revitalization. 

He mentioned projects now underway on Broadway and the Old Croton Aqueduct as accomplishments of his administration and long-term capitol projects—such as Beacon Hill drainage—as work that will benefit the village well into the future.

He is also proud of having formed a Dobbs Ferry Local Development Corporation—which should generate additional sources of income for the village—and starting a downtown improvement initiative, which he believes will "promote economic development without costing residents more in taxes."

In terms of development, Connett takes pride in moving forward with projects in the village's gateway intersection, such as 2 Ashford Avenue.

Of course everyone wants to hear about Rivertowns Square. Connett said diplomatically that he believed developers were making changes to the proposal based on residents' and board members' comments in the scoping document. "I would like to see some changes to the current scope of the project to make it better for the village," Connett said.

On a philosophical level, Connett stressed that development was important in Dobbs Ferry especially because "40 percent of the village's property is owned by tax-exempt entities."

"This presents a unique and difficult challenge," he said. "While we support what these institutions are doing, we suffer from not collecting taxes from them."

Connett's plan for the future includes increasing the tax base—through development—and working with the tax-exempt entities (like Mercy College, Children's Village and the Master's School) to secure more money and services for the village.

"An example of this was getting the Master's School to agree to let residents use their new track once it's complete," Connett said. "We think there will be more of this sharing going on in the future."

Gearing up for new challenges such as the state's imposed 2 percent tax cap, Connett said he hoped he and his board would work with labor unions to control village costs so that they can retain jobs and services—something everybody would like to see. 

"Our biggest concern now is panning for long-term economic sustainability," Connett said. "It's a challenging picture."

Vincent Rossillo, Cathy Kay and Vic Golio will run for the three open trustees positions in November. See profiles of Golio and Kay later this week on Patch.