Our Candidates

MAYOR KEN BIALO

January 31, 2006

Mayor Bialo’s Remarks to the Republican Caucus

Thank you all for coming out tonight and thank you for allowing me to serve as your Mayor for the last four years. It has indeed been an honor and a privilege.

It sounds so trite to say that our right to choose is precious -- but Steven Formaro, with us after a year in Iraq, can safely attest to that.

In coming here tonight, many of you may have already made your choice. Unfortunately, in the last weeks, you have been exposed to overheated rhetoric and false rumors characteristic of Washington, not Larchmont.

But I will use my four minutes to offer the truisms that hard work, dedication, and trust are the key ingredients to success. Anywhere, any time. Especially in the Larchmont way of doing things.

Serving as the chief elected official in this Village takes hard work. It takes hard work if you care to uncover the real facts, and to learn what real facts are important in seeking to make the best judgments. I mean genuine facts, not the rumor, not the subjective impressions, not who you like and who you don’t. And it takes dedication during the budget process to find the choices that will keep our taxes as low as reasonably possible. It takes hard work and courage to distinguish between what we really need and what we just want.

And it takes caring dedication to be available all day, every day to respond to residents’ problems, large and small. At the end of the day, the Mayor is responsible. It’s the people of this Village who must be served. It’s the people who count. No one wants to hear excuses.

It also takes lots of hard work to lead the development of new ideas for the larger vision of our Village, in order to stay ahead of the trends materializing all around us. The fight to protect this Village from the motor vehicle onslaught that would have been IKEA in New Rochelle was a notable success. But so is the great Flint Park Expansion project and pulling together the sports leagues and the environmental groups; and the zoning code revision, the rebuild of our streetscape and the new railroad station. These are all part of that broader effort for our people.

I feel like my hard work has led to many, many improvements around the Village, with the generous help and support, of course, of our very capable Staff, and our many energetic volunteers serving on our important Village committees. And though we’ve come a very long way on many fronts in my four years as Mayor, it’s all still – as it must be – a work-in-progress.

Trust is another critical ingredient to success, trust, both given and received. Trust in our diversity. Trust in our own decency. Respect for our Larchmont way of doing things. Respect for our people.

I feel like I have earned your trust and respect. You know I will listen to any idea. You know that I’m a tough negotiator in protecting your interests. You know where I stand on things. You know that with me, what you see is what you get.

I spent 11 years as Trustee in this Village, winning six contested elections and serving in the minority on the Village Board, before becoming Mayor. We have benefited from those 15 years of dedicated hard work, and building of trust, with a party that has prevailed in a Village where it has a minority enrollment. I urge you not to throw that away.

A few months ago, Larchmont was named by Money Magazine as the 11th Best Place to Live in the Nation, just ahead of Greenwich.

Whatever you think about that, you know that we are lucky. We are privileged. And we are blessed.
I ask for your vote to keep it that way, and to make it even better.

Thank you for listening.

CANDIDATE FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE:

PETER "Bubba" FANELLI

Republican Caucus Speech

I am here tonight to ask you for your vote on Election Day. I would like to thank all the volunteers who made this possible, you are an inspiration, And should always be proud of your work. Thank you for your time, I look forward to a great election, Get out and vote, get involved, And remember in your own life be an ACE.

MIKE BUCCI

Why I'm Running

I’m a registered independent – the only “official” independent in this campaign.  I’ve lived in the Village since moving here from Manhattan in 2001 “in pursuit” of my wife, Erika Lubben Bucci, who is an 18 year resident.  We have 4 children, ranging in age from 14 all the way down to 1!

In addition to being a husband and a dad – and an independent (to the extent any husband can be!) – I’m also a lawyer.  I opened my Larchmont practice in 2001 (and specialize in commercial and tort law), and before that I worked as a corporate finance lawyer in Manhattan for about 16 years.

I have never before run for public office.  I’m running now because I want to help preserve Larchmont’s unique character and make a remarkable place even better.  My kids are young and Larchmont is our home, and I want them to know and experience Larchmont’s special qualities as they grow up and fill adult shoes. 

Most residents know that the Village is special, and many would themselves make terrific trustees.  The fact that I find myself among the 4 candidates actually running probably has more to do with timing than with qualifications.  Even so, I believe I have some useful qualities to bring to bear on behalf of our Village:  I am instinctively independent; as a lawyer I have a trained eye to be objective; and my commitment to Larchmont is deep and sincere.  Perhaps more importantly, I possess the creative energy to help our Village thrive in the years ahead.

There are significant and varied issues facing Larchmont.  These include high property taxes (a perennial favorite), zoning concerns related to residential overbuilding, and the FAA’s imminent NY/NJ/PA Airspace Redesign.  My background in economics, tax and law – and in general aviation, as a pilot for over 20 years – gives me a measure of skill and competence to address such issues.

Of all our Village issues, property taxes are my paramount concern.  High property taxes strain the wallets of many Village residents.  They also discourage new families from moving here, jeopardizing the Village’s historical diversity and sense of community.  The only way that property taxes can be moderated is by having leaders willing to make fiscally responsible decisions for the Village as a whole, as opposed to decisions favoring only special interest groups.

Our opponents in this race are mischaracterizing fiscal responsibility as a “lack of civility.”  I understand that it’s your money, because it’s mine too, and I am prepared to make decisions that are in the Village’s best interests, regardless how unpopular they may be with any given group or person.  As an example, I believe the board was absolutely correct to negotiate aggressively with the police union and obtain a contract less costly to the Village than the one the union sought.  To have done otherwise, as Ms. Feld advocated (and for which stance she has, predictably, received the police union’s endorsement in this campaign), would have been a breach of the taxpayers trust, because it would have increased our Village tax burden by as much as $2,000,000 without providing any additional benefit.   

I hope to bring a fresh and energetic perspective to the board, and to remain true to my official "independent" status...a status I chose years ago precisely because I didn't want to be – and didn't want to appear to be – predisposed to any specific ideology or perspective. 

I am grateful for being nominated to run for Trustee.  All of us in Larchmont are neighbors, but one real benefit of being a candidate is the chance to meet not only neighbors across the street but across town and throughout the whole Village. I am deeply grateful to this place -- I found my wife here! -- and my life is quite blessed.  Even though I'm the "new kid on the block" relative to other candidates, my appreciation for the beauty and values of Larchmont is probably greater than others who haven't had the comparative experience of living elsewhere, like Schenectady (where I grew up) or Manhattan (where I lived and worked for 16 years), for example.

Erika and I plan to be here for the rest of our lives.  I would be honored to repay my good fortune with this opportunity to express a sense of commitment to a remarkable place.

Here is my simple promise if I am elected trustee:  I will be pragmatic, open-minded and equitable in working to solve the varied issues that will come before the Village board.

EXPERIENCE:

• Broad background in economics, tax and law
• Practicing lawyer for over 20 years representing large corporations, small businesses, and individuals
• Opened Larchmont private law practice in 2001 (specializing in commercial and tort law)
• Corporate finance lawyer with Schulte Roth & Zabel, and then in private practice in Manhattan (1988-2000)

FAMILY:

• Village resident since 2001
• Wife Erika Lubben Bucci, 18 year resident, widowed in 1997 with two children, and former corporate lawyer
• 4 children: Alex (14) at MHS, Laura (11) at FASNY, Zoe (3) at St. John’s pre-K, and Lucas (1), pre-Chatsworth

PERSONAL:

• Born Schenectady, NY
• Brown University, A.B. (Economics) 1978; University of Michigan Law School, J.D., 1982; New York University School of Law, LL.M. (Tax) 1984
• Member Westchester Flying Club
• Former Director, YMCA Camp Chingachgook, Lake George, NY
• Fundraising leader for Brown University
• Coach, Larchmont Junior Soccer League (boys and girls coach)
• Stewardship Committee, St. John’s

COMMITMENTS:

• Will bring over 20 year's experience as a general aviation pilot to the NY/NJ/PA airspace redesign and help reduce its impact on Larchmont
• Will use legal expertise to help tailor zoning laws that protect our special Village qualities
• Will use tax and financial expertise to help hold down Village taxes and secure a better future for our children
• Will combine financial expertise and “shoe leather" fundraising to obtain new money for Village parks and cultural activities without raising taxes