A New Fire Chief For Scarsdale

Christopher MytychScarsdale Village Trustees appointed a new Fire Chief, retained a firm to do a traffic study and set a date for a public hearing on Village code which would prohibit roosters and peafowl in Scarsdale at their meeting on Tuesday February 8, 2022.

New Fire Chief:

After Scarsdale’s Fire Chief Jim Seymour announced that he would take a new position in Peekskill, trustees launched a search to identify Scarsdale’s next fire chief. At the meeting on Tuesday evening they looked pleased to announce that the next chief would be pulled from department ranks and that Captain Christopher Mytych, who has worked in Scarsdale for 13 years, had been selected to serve as chief. Trustees noted that he has served as a training office and a relief officer and said he is courteous, thoughtful and deliberate with a commitment to excellence and public service. Randy Whitestone said he was “impressed with his (Mytych’s) vision for the department and his analytic approach to build a department for the future.” Jonathan Lewis said the role was “critical in ensuring the safety of everyone who lives here.” Lena Crandall said, “He is planning on doing outreach into the community so many of you will meet him.”

Accepting his appointment Mytych said, “Thank you – this is a tremendous responsibility… It’s an honor and a privilege and I thank you once again.”

We asked Mytych to share some information with us and here is what he wrote:

How many years have you been with the department and in what roles?

I have been a firefighter with the Village of Scarsdale for 13 years and have served as Captain for the last four, fulfilling roles as both the Training Officer and Relief Officer.

What did you do before coming to Scarsdale (education/work?)

Before beginning my fire service career, I graduated from Providence College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. I joined the Purchase Fire Department as a volunteer later that year, which sparked a passion for the fire service. After a brief tenure as a chemical control assistant, I held positions as a fire safety director and emergency communications operator while rising through the ranks in Purchase, concluding with Fire Chief in 2014.

Where do you live - please tell us about your family?Chief Mytych with his wife Eleanor and daughters Madison and Avery.

I have lived with my family in White Plains for the past 12 years. I’ve been married to my wife, Eleanor, for 11 years and have been blessed with two daughters, Madison and Avery. Supporting and setting a good example for my family is the primary motivation in my life.

The trustees all noted that you had a good sense of analytics - what do you think the department can improve and what do you envision for the future of the Scarsdale Fire Department?

In preparing for this role, I became increasingly aware of the amount of efficiency-related data accessible to us. Our staff is comprised of well-trained career and volunteer professionals that respond to over 1,400 incidents each year in a timely manner. We are proud that our response times meet national standards, but the data allows us to determine where we can safely improve. It also helps us determine where our resources are needed most, which sharpens our focus on fire and emergency prevention. We hope that this information will lead to improved service delivery and reduced impacts on our personnel and equipment.

What do you hope to accomplish as chief?

I will do my best to meet the level of fire and emergency protection that our residents expect of the fire department. I hope to increase community engagement through a stronger presence on social media and appearances at Village events throughout the year. I am interested in delivering new fire prevention education programs to community groups as opportunities to congregate return. I am also interested in seeking third party validation for our performance by improving our Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating and pursuing national accreditation.

Anything else?

I am grateful to the Board of Trustees and Village Manager for placing their confidence in me among two other highly qualified candidates. Ensuring the health and safety of my firefighters and our residents is a tremendous responsibility. It is an honor and a privilege to hold this position.

Traffic Study

The Village Board approved a resolution for a study from transportation firm FHO Studio in NY for a “Strategic Mobility and Placemaking Plan to 1) improve mobility and sense of place in the Village Center and its primary arterials including Crane Road, Popham Road, and Fox Meadow Road, and 2) study and recommend traffic calming strategies to reduce the speed of vehicles, decrease traffic conflict and increase pedestrian safety on Sprague Road, these strategies will be applicable to similar roadways.

The purpose of the study is to gather information and propose plans for pedestrian and cyclist routes in and around the Village, and for traffic calming measures to improve safety along Sprague Road, where residents have expressed concern about dangerous conditions. Trustees believe that the tactics recommended for Sprague Road can be adapted for other dangerous areas of the Village.

The Village issued an RFP for the project, interviewed six firms and agreed to retain FHI Studios to do the work at a cost of $93,000.00.

Roosters and Peafowl

At a work session of the trustees on February 1, they discussed proposed legislation to prohibit rooster and peafowl in the Village of Scarsdale. This was in response to complaints of noise and rodents from neighbors who keep roosters. If the new law is passed, resident will have sixty days to relocate their roosters. A hearing on the proposed law was set for March 8, 2022 at 8 pm.

Road Race

Trustees approved the annual 15K and 4 mile road running races to be held on Sunday April 3, 2022 from 9 am to 12:30 pm on a route through Fox Meadow and Greenacres.

Public Comments:

During public comments Jordan Copeland invited the community to come to the Scarsdale Library to see an exhibit on Scarsdale’s Black History. The exhibit was sponsored by the Scarsdale Historical Society and the Scarsdale Library and a video preview can be seen here.

Copeland, who contributed to the exhibit said, “Black people only comprise 1% of our population in a county that is 14% black. They have been mostly excluded from benefiting from this wonderful community. During the early years they were excluded from buying homes. Now we have a more laissez faire approach that has attracted few black residents.” To the trustees he said, “In the decisions you make, consider racial justice, especially as it relates to black people. How can we make our community more attractive to those who are underrepresented here. At some point our strict land use policies and limits on affordable housing has an impact on attracting black residents.”

Susan Levine of Ardmore Road wrote a letter to the trustees complaining about a steep rate hike on electricity rates from Con Edison. She said the cost of electricity doubled since the prior month.

Village Manager Rob Cole responded and said the rates were set by the NYS Public Service Commission and the Village has no control over Con Edison. Justin Arest also sympathized but said an additional rate hike is expected soon.

Here are comments from Mayor Jane Veron:

Hello Scarsdale. Before I get started on Village updates, on behalf of the Board I want to extend a very Happy Lunar New Year to our Chinese community. It is the Year of the Tiger, and we wish you luck, love and health.

We are deeply engrossed in the budget process and thank you for your interest and engagement. Our goal is to afford a more comprehensive, transparent and forward looking process, and we hope that you have appreciated the changes we are making. As I have mentioned before, we view this year as a bridge from past practices to new processes. It takes time to transition, and I appreciate the community’s willingness to iterate with us as we head toward a best-in-class approach.

Thank you also to Department Heads for taking this leap with us. We challenged you to propose budgets in line with the goals and objectives of your departments and the community at large. Our strategic and financial planning framework calls for hyper focus on the four pillars of government: Quality of Life, Infrastructure, Municipal Services and Sustainability, Public Safety and Land Use and Economic Development. We are also taking great care in our role as fiscal stewards, understanding the community’s desire for prudence and care. Although we have asked staff to draft what we call an Aspirational Budget, the Village Board recognizes that there is a limit to how much change can be absorbed in any given year. We have a duty to our taxpayers to exercise sound fiscal judgement.

Earlier this evening, we continued the department head presentations. To increase transparency, we conducted the department head presentations over the course of several days toward the end of the work day and recorded the meetings so that the public could more easily participate. Now that we’ve had full presentations, we will invite back subsets where we need more information and conversation. On February 16 we expect to continue the water rates discussion with Woodard & Curran, will review the leaf vacuuming program analysis, and will reengage on the fund balance policy discussion. We also anticipate a deeper dive into funding recommendations for both capex and operating. The expectation is to also present the second pass budget review.

Tonight we also continued essential policy discussions that will inform how the Board makes budget decisions. Our ever responsive Village Treasurer provided data to advance our conversations on fund balance. She also delivered fully loaded personnel costs so that all of us can understand the true costs.

Despite the intense budget work, we continue to press forward with Village priorities. As you know, this Board kicked off the Village Center Mobility and Placemaking Study with Complete Streets, and we are entertaining the resolution to hire the firm who emerged as the clear leader in advancing this work. We have a strong desire to rethink how we convene in public space and peacefully coexist with motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. We will also advance a Quality of Life initiative to prohibit roosters and peafowl. In a densely populated Village like ours, we need to be respectful of noise concerns as we live in such close proximity.

As your representatives, the Village Board deliberates policy to make Scarsdale the best place to live. But it is really the Village staff who delivers on that promise. I had the pleasure of spending a bit of lunch at the Central Garage and got to thank our staff for putting themselves out there to make sure our Village runs smoothly, even when Mother Nature wreaks havoc. They are the ones who worked through the night to plow and deice our roads. They, along with our extraordinary police, fire and ambulance corps, deserve our appreciation, keeping us safe and sound.