Scarsdale Village Board Says Goodbye to Mayor Flisser and Trustee Harrison

This week marked the changing of the guard at Scarsdale Village Hall. On Wednesday March 27, the outgoing Board had a celebratory dinner before their last Board of Trustees meeting when they both roasted and lauded outgoing Mayor Miriam Flisser and one-term Trustee Bob Harrison. Though Harrison fought for years to earn a seat on the Board of Trustees, after his initial two-year term he opted not to run again. Mayor Flisser completed four years as a Village Trustee, immediately followed by two-years as the Mayor of Scarsdale, serving the Village for a six years and remarkably never missed a meeting.

On Tuesday March 19, Trustee Robert Steves was elected Mayor and two new trustees were elected to fill Harrison and Steve's positions on the Board of Trustees.

At the final BOT Meeting, Mayor Flisser called the accomplishments of this Village Board "remarkable," and listed the following projects that had been implemented during her term on the Board:

Infrastructure:

• Fox Meadow Drainage Basin Project at George Field Park and Cooper Green
• Planning for the Sheldrake River Project
• Ardsley Road Pump Station
• Modernization of Reeves Newsome Pump Station
• Opening of Public Safety Building
• Planning to Modernize Fire Station #1

Legislation:

• New code regulating the installation of permanent emergency generators
• Revision of neighborhood notification law

More:

• Beginnings of changes in the building and engineering department
• Expansion of rain garden
• Leaf mulching demonstration
• Publication of the Historic Resources Survey
• Emergency notification System
• Beginning of Village-Wide Tax Revaluation

She ended by saying that "all of these require continued diligence" and wished the Board "the greatest success."

In remarks about Bob Harrison, Trustee David Lee credited Harrison with "long and fruitful devotion and service to Scarsdale." He noted Harrison's "tireless advocacy and outreach to residents and said, "your passion for Scarsdale's betterment runs to your very core." He called the Mayor's work on behalf of the village "outstanding" and complimented her on the "enormous energy" she brought to the job. Flisser "made sure that every resident communication to the board was answered, and promptly replied to phone calls all "while maintaining a full time medical practice."

Stacey Brodsky told Harrison that she was "consistently impressed with the number of people he counts as friends," and cited his work on the personnel committee where he conscientiously reached out to dozens of people to encourage them to apply for positions on Village Boards and Councils." She congratulated him on two years as a Village Trustee and three decades of service to Scarsdale.

She complimented the Mayor on her passion, conviction and great love for the community and thanked Flisser for her commitment to process and open dialogue.

Jon Mark called Harrison the Cal Ripkin Jr. of community engagement due to Bob's claim to have attended 3,000 community meetings. He cited Bob's willingness to debate issues, reach consensus and find workable solutions.

He told Mayor Flisser that she "finds herself at the end of the road of a long term of civic service and listed much of the work that had been done in the last six years. He invited her input in the future but also wished her well in her next endeavor.

In her remarks to Harrison, Kay Eisenman reviewed two definitions of the term "gadfly": the first is "a person who is an irritant or who upsets the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions," while the second definition refers to one who does "honorable work or civic duty."

She said, "Perhaps the most famous of gadflies was the philosopher Socrates: During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's writings, pointed out that dissent, like the gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high. Socrates said "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me," because, as he said, his role was, "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."
She said that Bob had lived up to the second definition and "kept us on our toes." Referencing Bob's tendency to challenge she said, "you were always courteous in your disagreements."

Eisenman referenced her shared past with Mayor Flisser. They both came from families of World War II refugees and together attended NYU's Heights Campus. She praised Mayor Flisser on her "unfailing commitment to her office" and said that the Mayor "deserves our praise and our thanks."

To Bob Harrison, newly elected Mayor Bob Steves said, you have "shown a deep concern for the community and you have been heard. We haven't always agreed. But we have been prodded and pushed so that we don't settle into a point of view."

He complimented Mayor Flisser on "enthusiastically and energetically embracing the role of Mayor." He added "To be a true public official there has to be a depth of concern for the community."

Moved and choked up Bob Harrison then offered comments to each Board member as well as his wife Terry to whom he said, "It's been 44 year and we are still married."

Unable to stop himself, Steves interjected, "that's because you went to 44 years of meetings!"

Harrison encouraged David Lee to continue to investigate $600,000 in overtime at the fire department and thanked Stacey Brodsky for working with him on the Personnel Committee where they filled over 70 vacancies on Village Boards and Councils. To Kay he admitted that he would prefer to be called "Citizen Bob" than the "Village gadfly," and thanked her for work on sustainability and municipal services.

At that point the Mayor wielded her oversized gavel to tell him he had run out of time, but that didn't stop him.

He continued by saying he "could talk about Jon (Mark) all night," and told him not to "worry about the triple A bond ratings." He apologized to Bob Steves for "asking too many questions" and said, "I know you will be an excellent mayor and do an excellent job."

To Mayor Flisser Harrison, said, "You have responded to some and been badgered by some and you were cool. You cut some ribbons. I always admired your background of being born in a DP camp to holocaust survivors and coming to America, the land of the free. You worked your way up to become a wonderful pediatric doctor, a trustee of the village and the mayor. What a great life – congratulations!"

Mayor Flisser again thanked each Board member individually and then gave a shout out to her husband Harvey, who "took the pictures and documented everything we got done."