Walter Montgomery is a current Irvington trustee, who was appointed Deputy Mayor when Brian Smith became Mayor of the village. 

Patch asked him some questions about his experience, his goals if elected to the board and about himself as a person. 

Below are his responses: 

1) What previous experience (either on this board, other village boards or even unrelated) do you have that will lend itself to serving as an Irvington Trustee?

I have served Irvington for five years as a Trustee, and previously six years on the Planning Board and six years on the Board of Education, including one year as President. Other experiences that have helped broaden my judgment and ability to function as a Trustee include 33 years in business, including 25 years of helping to build the global firm of which I have been CEO for a decade; five years of teaching at the college level; 20 years of close affiliation with perhaps the top public administration school in the country; and military service in the Vietnam Era, when I worked with various military organizations in the U.S., as well as ones from Asia and the Middle East.

I also should cite my philanthropic work, which is described below.

2) Which 2 to 3 issues facing the Village do you think are most important? Where do you stand on them? 

The most important issues for our community, I believe, are: fiscal responsibility, protection of the natural and man-made environment, and the caliber of public services. Together, these are the main determinants of the quality of life that drew most residents here, and makes us want to stay.

Fiscal responsibility requires us to keep a very tight rein on expenditures, make some very selective cuts and carefully prioritize capital expenditures. Over the past five years, we have done all three and have achieved a major reduction in the tax-rate increase over that time. Looking to the longer term, we have been taking steps to reduce the kinds of personnel and debt commitments that were made in the past and are today threatening the financial well-being of governments throughout this country.

As for protection of the environment, the Board needs to continue to do all it can to facilitate volunteer efforts such as the "Love 'em and leave 'em" leaf program. We also should ensure that our Village Code does all it reasonably can to promote the use of sustainable energy. Further, we need to implement the storm-water drainage plans on which the Board has been working. Of course, these are only a few examples of what the Trustees have been doing or need to do.

With regard to public services, there is little more to cut without making truly major changes to what we offer residents. But we must continue a) to perform the Board's microscopic examinations of the budget to shave expenditures where we can, and b) to work with Village Hall administrators and department heads to find creative ways to reconfigure work and staffing and thus achieve new efficiencies. The department heads have been very cooperative in efforts to do that, and there are several examples of genuine success.

3) Where do you stand on the waterfront and its development/zoning?

The waterfront, I believe, must be rezoned to protect it against industrial usage. In that process, the  viewshed must be safeguarded and public access ensured. Moreover, as our draft zoning bill has stated, there have to be constraints on the types of businesses that could operate there. It is also important to emphasize that our Planning Board approval procedures will very much help to protect the community against development that is harmful to the interests of the community.  

However, I do not believe the Board of Trustees should prescribe exactly how the waterfront is to be developed by its owners. Nor should we limit its development in ways that effectively preclude the owners' ability to make economically (and responsibly) viable use of that area.  We also should bear in mind that the current owners have done a fabulous job of developing Bridge Street in a manner of which we all can be proud. And they have been civic-minded citizens in other ways as well.

4) What's your best idea for revitalizing the downtown business district?

Two of the best courses of action for the Board to help revitalize the business district are a) promote a high quality of life through sound fiscal policies, protection of the environment and good services; and b) ensure that the Village's laws and regulations do not needlessly hinder commerce and, where feasible, actually promote it. I have already described some priorities with respect to a). As far as b) is concerned, the Board has taken specific constructive actions - e.g., with changes to the Village Code -  and has encouraged the Chamber of Commerce and individual business people to propose other measures we should consider.

5) What do you love most about Irvington? What needs the most improvement?

My wife and I were attracted to Irvington more than a quarter century ago because it has a quaint physical charm, natural beauty, good schools, a meaningful degree of socioeconomic diversity and a sense of community combined with respect for individuality and privacy. These attributes still prevail, I believe, and must be preserved.

The most pressing need, in my opinion, is to control taxes at all jurisdictional levels. If we don't do that, we will see a fundamental and irrevocable change in our community - for the worse.

6) Where do you stand on property value reassessment (either town-wide or county-wide)?

I want reassessment, in order to have a more equitable and rational property-tax system. That is long overdue, to say the least.  However, reassessment will be meaningful and affordable only if undertaken above the Village level.  Further, it would have to be implemented in a manner that would preclude sudden, onerous spikes in taxes on individuals. All these objectives are attainable.

7) What are your best ideas for keeping village property taxes manageable? 

I have nothing that qualifies as a "best" idea about controlling taxes. The State has to act to ease the mandates on local governments, but that may well continue to be a quixotic goal. Beyond that, we have to continue the hard labor of minutely scouring our budget, ensuring that all  expenditures are carefully managed throughout each fiscal year and working with department heads to come up with more or less creative ways to configure work and staffing, and to utilize technology. We also must refrain from making personnel and other commitments that foolishly burden taxpayers years from now. Today we are paying the price for such decisions in the past.  Of course, additional revenues would help, but the potential sources in Irvington are extremely limited.

8) What's something interesting about you that members of the community probably don't already know.

In addition to the background I cited above, I perhaps should cite my philanthropic work as testimony to my qualifications and desire to engage in community service. I am on the Board of Project HOPE, the organization that for over 50 years has delivered health care and disaster relief by hospital ship to people around the world. Also, I am on the Board of Union Settlement Association, which serves disadvantaged people in East Harlem.

And I am a Director of the New York YMCA, as well as a long-time member of the Advisory Board of Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. In virtually everything I've done, I have also found that my Master's and Ph.D. in Chinese history from Brown University—with all the accompanying language and other cross-cultural training—have been very beneficial.

Yesterday we profiled Democratic candidate Mark Gilliland. Stay tuned for a profile of the third candidate Rick Rasulo tomorrow at 5.