Meet the Mayor To Be

If all goes as expected, Dr. Miriam Levitt Flisser, a 35-year resident of Scarsdale, will soon be the new Mayor of the Village. She has been selected as the Citizens Non-Partisan Party’s nominee and is running unopposed for the post.

We spoke with Dr. Flisser this week from her home off Popham Road, which Dr. Flisser told us is just 120 seconds by car from Village Hall – without speeding! Flisser is completing two terms as a Scarsdale Village Trustee and is a committed volunteer as well as a practicing physician.

She first visited Scarsdale many years ago when a medical school classmate who was raised here invited her to meet her family. Later, as a junior physician, she worked with several other doctors who encouraged her to move to Scarsdale due to the wonderful reputation of the schools. These doctors shared similar values with the Flissers, who raised three children here while Dr. Flisser’s husband taught in the Scarsdale schools. Her husband continues to teach in Scarsdale today, which keeps her up to date on parents’ concerns and school issues, though her own children have long since graduated.

When asked whether it would be difficult to juggle her professional responsibilities with the job of Mayor Flisser replied, “difficult yes, impossible, no.” She now has a private pediatric practice and also serves as the Medical Director for the Bronxville School District. In the past, she managed these jobs as well as volunteer positions at Lawrence Hospital where she served as the Chief of Pediatrics, President of the Medical Staff and as a member of the Board of Governors. Though these were time-consuming responsibilities, she was able to manage and feels that she knows how to approach the new time challenges she will face as Mayor.

As Village Trustee, Flisser served as the liaison to several Village Boards and is proud of the accomplishments of these Boards during her tenure. She shared several examples of progress that was made during the past few years and feels that her strength lies in facilitating change and improvement.

Flisser served as liaison to the Advisory Council on People with Disabilities and the group had been struggling to design a system to notify first responders of the presence of the disabled in Village homes. This would allow firefighters and police to be aware that people with special needs were present when an emergency occurred. Flisser reports that the system is now in place and people can register on the Village website.

In addition, she also served as liaison to the Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation and during this time they moved many administrative functions to the village website. Residents can now sign up and pay for recreation programs online. Flisser noticed that the parks were not being given the attention they warranted and focused the committee on inspecting Village parks and doing an inventory of repairs and updates that were needed. Due to this process some changes were made and a long-term plan for the parks is on the horizon. During this time, programming at the Weinberg Nature Center was improved and a system to send out attractive program notifications via email was put into place.

As the liaison to the Advisory Council on Technology, Flisser encouraged the staff to updated and improve the Village website. Interactive new features on Scarsdale.com now allow residents to buy parking permits and even pay their taxes online. A village-wide emergency notification system was also put in place and residents now can opt in to receive phone calls and emails. If you would like to sign up to receive notifications click here . All of these changes were made efficiently and without great expense.

During the past four years Flisser contends that she has helped Scarsdale residents to get things done – teaching them how to approach problems and change their situation with the village to make improvements. In the next two years she plans to continue to represent the citizens of Scarsdale and is eager to hear your concerns. She encourages residents to attend Village Board meetings, participate on Boards and Councils and express their views.

She also wants to encourage everyone to vote for the Trustees and Mayor on March 15th. By voting, Scarsdale residents can express their support for the non-partisan system and give their leaders the mandate to govern. The Scarsdale Village election for Mayor and Trustees will be held on March 15, 2011 at Scarsdale Village Hall from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and noon to 9 p.m.