Meet the Pleasantville Trustee Candidate: Jonathan Cunningham

Jonathan Cunningham is seeking re-election as a village board trustee in Pleasantville for the fourth time.

There are currently two open seats on the board. Fellow incumbents Stephen Lopez, along with George Dolce and Colleen Griffin Wagner, are also vying for the spots. Current Mayor Peter Scherer is also running for re-election, unopposed. Village board members serve three-year terms.

The village election will be held on Tuesday, March 20 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at .

Cunningham, 49, has lived in the village for 23 years and works as a corporate financial consultant. He also currently serves as chair of the village's financial advisory committee and parking committee. He is on the board of (PCTV). Cunningham formerly served as a council member at and as treasurer of Holy Innocents' Christian Youth Organization (CYO).

Patch: Why are you running for election and why should residents vote for you?

Cunningham: Pleasantville has fared relatively well through these difficult times, in part because of the 
fiscal discipline I have fought for and championed. This has allowed us to avoid 
large tax increases while judiciously and responsibly using our savings. We took advantage of historically low interest rates, financing our major infrastructure projects while maintaining our investment grade
credit rating. This fiscal stability is contributing to Pleasantville's attractiveness as a place
 to live and do business, and we are seeing increased commercial interest from 
businesses looking to locate here. Brought to fruition, this will help diversify our tax base 
and lower the cost of living here for everyone. Momentum is gaining, but the 
economy is still weak and uncertain, and there is a lot of work left to be done. Now 
is the time to increase our efforts, not ease up on them. The leadership, financial experience and continuity
 I bring to the board, provides a good shot of not only surviving the economic crisis but also growing stronger from it.

Patch: What are your thoughts regarding the state tax cap and how the village board should address it? Should the board consider overriding the cap?

Cunningham: Had it not been for the Albany mandated pension and health care cost increases over the last several years, our Village tax increases would have averaged less then 2%. At this point, we have a very lean budget and while we are striving to stay under a 2% increase (like every budget I have been involved with) it will be a challenge. Any candidate who insist outright (without even seeing the budget) on staying within the cap must be willing to offer up which services they are willing to cut. “Living within ones means,” first demands defining what those "means" are. It is irresponsible to insist on not raising taxes, without also telling residents what services they will be required to do without.

Patch: What should the village's top three priorities be heading into budget season?

Cunningham: 1. We need to work to balance our service offerings against their cost to insure we are getting the best value for our money. Last year this discipline resulted in a savings of over $200,000 after it was determined a reorganization of our Refuse Department was required to be competitive with services offered by private contractors. 

2. Prioritizing reinvestment back into our community is necessary to insure Pleasantville continues to be an attractive place to live, where home prices are stable, and where business want to locate. Reinvestments range from infrastructure improvements, like the water main project taking place in the Old Village, to potentially funding improvements in our Recreational facilities, as was discussed at a recent work session with our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

3. Continue to look for opportunities to promote and grow our commercial base. We have made sizable investments of time and money here and are beginning to see increased momentum as a result. This needs to be fostered and brought along. Expanding our commercial tax base is an important key to keeping all of our taxes reasonable. 

Patch: What are your thoughts about the village considering a police merger with Westchester County or another municipality?

Cunningham: There are three basic questions that need answering when considering a merger. 1) What are the savings and are they sustainable? 2) Will our level of service be impacted and to what level? 3) What safeguards do we have that any initial savings and services levels will continue in later years after our police force has been dissolved and our choices are limited? I’d seriously consider such a merger if I am convinced that the public safety, including adequate response times, will be maintained and that proper safeguards are instituted so that Village residents will receive tax savings into the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, despite 9 months of waiting for a promised formal proposal from the County, none has been forthcoming, making further discussion difficult.

Patch: What is an example of something you think the current board does well?

Cunningham: We go to great lengths to solicit and get input from the community. Our meetings and agendas are better disseminated then ever Between 4 news organizations (Patch, The Examiner, The Pleasantville Daily, and The Journal News), PCTV, the Village website, and various message boards there is little the community does not know. Our board goes to great length to understand, analyze, and try to come up with balanced solutions. Many times this input comes from the community.

Patch: How can the board improve and work better, if at all? How will you address this if elected?

Cunningham: I am from the corporate world and after 9 years on the Board, the slow pace of decision-making still often frustrates me. This Board has made great strides on changing the way it approaches the budget (once thought a near impossibility), so I will continue to push for greater efficiency in our decision making.

Patch: What are three areas the board could consider cutting spending in the coming budget year?

Cunningham: A practice, initially suggested back when I was on the Financial Advisory Board, is to go through every line in the budget with each department head. Any expense not understood or deem out of place is questioned and challenged. While time and labor intensive, it is the only way to assure an accurate and true budget. It is also one of the tools employed to keep costs from escalating, while maintaining service levels. I favor cutting any expense which does not fit or which can be eliminated by doing things differently and I do not go into the process with preconceived ideas of where the cuts should come from. This tends to blind you to seeing other opportunities for savings.

Patch: From the DOT tower proposal to flooding [], the Saw Mill River Parkway is a big issue in the village. How will you address it?

Cunningham: As is now known, the DOT Tower project has been killed. It was accomplished through a unified show of solidarity between our Board and a very active and energized community effort. While the immediate Tower threat has passed, Saw Mill Flooding remains and Pleasantville shoulders its impact. As part of my correspondence with Andrea Stewart-Cousins, I suggested, short of fixing the SMP, the State provide us with detour aid so that we can better manage the traffic which “pours” into our Village whenever it rains and the Parkway closes. While an inconvenience, it is tremendous safety issue, as getting emergency vehicles across town in a timely manner is compromised when traffic is backed up through the Village. While some rejoicing over the victory over the Towers is in order, we should not back off demanding DOT come up with solution to the flooding issue. 

Patch: What are your thoughts on the Westchester County affordable housing settlement? Has the village been addressing it well? How will you continue to address this issue if re-elected?

Cunningham: Pleasantville has always been way ahead of most communities in its approach to further fair and affordable housing. The dictates of the ruling basically reinforced what we have historically done. While there is not a lot of space for logical development in Pleasantville, we have already contributed 3 units to the settlement and have recently put forth draft legislation incorporating most elements of the County’s Model Ordinance requirements. A key aspect of the legislation is a recommended 10% set aside for any developer considering building 10 or more units.

Patch: Are there any other major issues you hope to address as trustee?

Cunningham: The rise of large and expensive tax certs in the last 3 years has made clear the need for a different strategy to deal with them.  I have been working with our assessor and legal advisors on different and unique ways to change the existing approach. The goal is to reduce the financial incentive by the filer of stockpiling years of claims and then negotiating one large settlement. If successful, it would lead to a more fair system and reduced exposure to the Village.

Editor's Note: Meet the Candidate Q&As are being published in the order they were received by Patch.