Accolades for Veron and Lewis at the Final Meeting of the Village Board

Rob Cole, Jonathan Lewis, Jane Veron and Randy WhitestoneThere was praise around the dais at Village Hall at the final Village Board meeting for departing Mayor Jane Veron and Trustee Jonathan Lewis on March 28, 2023. Veron completed two years as Mayor and four and a half years as Village Trustee, as her service was extended due to the delayed election during COVID, and Lewis concluded four years as Village Trustee. At a meeting that extended to 11 pm, the two were rewarded with words for hundreds of hours of volunteer work on behalf of the residents of Scarsdale.

Veron went first, thanking the Village staff, her colleagues on the board and community volunteers. She called the staff, “dedicated, professional and cutting edge,” and applauded their ability to deliver for residents.

To Village Manager Rob Cole she said, “we worked side by side to ensure excellence,” and credited Deputy Village Manager Alexandra Marshall for her tremendous work ethic.

She recognized each Board member individually, commenting on Ken Mazer’s “warm and welcoming way, his good questions and frequent outreach and his success at increasing volunteer involvement.”

To Jeremy Gans she said, “I am impressed by your passion, strong grasp of the details and commitment to the community.” She noted his understanding of residents’ recreation interests, his spot-on questions and thoughtful insights.

She called Karen Brew a dedicated and insightful partner who did a great job managing the MRTA (Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act) decision for the Board. Veron said Brew “championed myriad impactful initiatives, shepherded the pool process and carried an enormous portfolio for the village.”

To Sameer Ahuja, she said, “We have transformed our IT capabilities and developed a strategic vision for our telecom platform. You have been actively involved in improvement efforts and embraced the pool project.”

She thanked Trustee Randy Whitestone for being a wonderfully supportive Deputy Mayor and offering “sage advice.” She called him our “go to communications expert,” and said she was “guided by excellent questions, strategic listening, improved stewardship and transparency.”

Turning to Jonathan Lewis she said, “We leave together… you brought a strategic vision of excellence.” As out Public Safety chair you forged a “Long term sustainable relationship between the Village and the Schools ….. you leave the community far better off.” She thanked him for his financial acumen and his insightful questions, saying “You nudged us into new territory.”

Turning to her parents, husband and two daughters who were present in the audience she said, “I could not have done this without the support of the family. They lived with my commitment to government. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you rallying around me.” She said it was her daughter’s 18th birthday and said, “I hope you all carry my love with you.”

County Executive George Latimer and Deputy Ken Jenkins came to Village Hall and presented Veron with a proclamation. Latimer praised both Veron and Scarsdale’s Non-Partisan System which he learned about as a member of the County Board of Legislators 30 years ago.Ken Jenkins, Jane Veron and George Latimer

He said, “There is nothing like this system anywhere else in Westchester. You have a lot to be proud of… I see the wisdom and benefit of this system to the people who live in Scarsdale. Why don’t we have more of this in Westchester? This is not about getting your brother in law a job. The Village staff are professionals. This is an admirable system.”

Turning to Jane Veron he said, “You can be duly proud of your exemplary leadership. It is a community with a structure that works beautifully.” He said, “There is a time to come and a time to go. I hope I can help you to find a path to more service.”

Ken Jenkins read the proclamation and said that March 29 would be Jane Veron day in Westchester, with her name on the jumbotron at the Westchester County Center.

There were accolades from the public as well as fellow trustees. Here are a few excerpts:

The LWVS thanked Veron for the strategic and financial process, encouraging community engagement, ensuring transparency and being accessible and approachable. They thanked Lewis for strengthening cyber security, modernizing technology and managing Village reserves.

Trustee Jeremy Gans told Lewis, “You have benefited every resident of the Village by improving how we invest our money. You are a passionate advocate for safety.”

To Veron, he said, “Sometimes people ask me if I want to be Mayor…. But given how hard Jane works, my answer is NO. You contribute countless hours to make Scarsdale a better place…. You are always available… you respond to every single email from residents… you make sure everyone feels heard… Thank you for your guidance for me and your service to Scarsdale.”

Ken Mazer said, “When people ask me what I think about Mayor Veron I say, “She should not be Mayor – she is too good for the Village. I hope you will use these skillls in the future….You empathize, you acknowledge and you care. Your strategic vision and the soft touch is unique and valuable.

Karen Brew said to Veron, “You outperformed even my highest expectations. You do everything with thought and caring. You kicked off your term with the four pillars. You brought remarkable institutional knowledge to the job. You work tirelessly to make Scarsdale the best it can be. I gained a trusted colleague and a friend.”

To Lewis she said, “You moved mountains with the schools. You understood that work needed to be done for communal safety. You broke down barriers that led to strategic result and challenged past practices and brought new ideas to the dais. Jonathan you have added so much over four years on the Board.”

Completing his remarks on the dais, Sameer Ahuja said about Lewis, “I have sat next to him for the last two years. I have been waiting to sit in his chair – it looks more comfortable….I disagreed with him often but he made healthy disagreement and challenge cool again. I hope we can continue to engage in robust and eloquent debate. The village, county, the state are expecting more from you.”

To Veron he said, “After more than six years on the Village Board I knew there would be many accolades and I did not want to be redundant. … The world needs good leaders. Jane is a great leader. A true leader leaves things better than they were before she got there and residents are better off than they were 2 and 6 years ago.”

Deputy Mayor Randy Whitestone called Veron a “change agent,” who “created a blueprint for government moving forward.” He said, “You have worked us hard but also worked yourself hard. Your rigorous approach to decision making will outlast you. You served an extra six months as trustee and you hold the all-time record for the longest serving member of the board.”

To Jonathan he said, “My dear friend. I have been fortunate to have you during a time of fiscal dislocation. Your financial talents have been a gift. … You are a deep student of history with perspective and a knowledge of cautionary tales. You are always up for a debate and you relish a good discussion because a healthy exchange improves the decision. You’ve been the conscious of the board.”

Jonathan Lewis said he was honored to serve the Village for seven years, three on the Board of Education and four on the Board of Trustees. He  offered these parting words:

1.People move here because they are drawn to a community of engagement and civic values. Those people, our neighbors, are our greatest resource. Figuring out how to engage them more consistently and deeply is our greatest challenge and opportunity. This mission, engagement, should be integrated into every aspect of how we conduct business.

2. The nonpartisan system works. Excellence in local governance is technocratic and skills based, not political. It is built on a solid foundation of transparency and integrity. Embracing technology and modern communications techniques to enhance transparency further is essential.

3. For this to be meaningful, there must be open debate and then collaboration. The nonpartisan system does not demand unanimous votes or consensus thinking. Without vigorous debate, I believe the nonpartisan system loses credibility. We strengthen it when we offer alternative viewpoints and debate them in a fact based, process driven manner. This thoroughness of debate strengthens the nonpartisan system. This gives the nonpartisan system its credibility.

4. Yet, we faces challenges. The world is speeding ahead, the private sector is evolving in structure and practice at an extraordinary rate. We must recognize that Darwinism applies to government too. Local government’s place in our social ecosystem rests on its will to thrive and survive. We need to continue to evolve municipal government at a fast rate - if we are to sustain it as a successful organism of a vibrant society.. In these past 2 years there has been much progress, we can not rest, there is more hard work ahead. I will be cheering from the sidelines.

5. That evolution in government means rethinking our value proposition and service package, our structure and staffing, and considering new ways to collaborate internally and externally with other organizations. That work is well underway and must continue it as well.

6. Finally, how do we sustain excellence in municipal government? People, process, performance. We are fortunate to have an excellent team in place and the accomplishments of the past 2 years were only possible because of the revived leadership in our government, led by our Village Manager Robert Cole, and the team he has assembled.

Lewis thanked each of his colleagues individually and ended with this quote from Henry David Thoreau, “To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.”