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Two first-time candidates, Deb Pekarek and Marc Samwick, and current Trustee David Lee, have been nominated by the Citizens Nominating Committee for election to the Scarsdale Board of Trustees on Tuesday March 18. If elected, the two new nominees will fill the seats of Trustees, Kay Eisenman and Jon Mark, who will complete four years of service on the Board of Trustees this spring. David Lee, who is completing his first two years on the Board will serve an additional two year term.

We took this opportunity to learn more about the candidates so that we could introduce them to you and encourage you to vote at Scarsdale Village Hall on Tuesday March 18 from 6 – 9 am and noon -9 pm. There will be a reception for the newly elected Board members at the Scarsdale Woman's Club at 8 pm, following the vote.

David Lee:

Tell us about your professional career:

I practice trusts and estate's law, with a focus on tax planning. I began my legal career at two large law firms and then moved to my present, small firm in mid-town Manhattan. What I especially enjoy is the wide range of issues that arise in this family-oriented field of law. I attended Harvard College (B.A. degree), Columbia Law School (J.D. degree), New York University (L.L.M. degree in Taxation).

What were some of the highlights of your experience as a Village Trustee for the past two years?

What I find most interesting is the breadth and variety of issues faced by the Village – land development, storm water mitigation, infrastructure concerns regarding roads, sewers, and parks, the individual concerns of residents, and of course, our biggest challenge – the Village budget.

What enriches the experience is our terrific Village staff who provide us with materials and background information to help us become informed on the issues at hand. Being on the board has been a hands-on course in municipal government, watching its many moving parts, and addressing policy issues as they arise.

What ultimately makes the experience so positive, however, is working side-by-side with others on the board who bring experience and intelligence to the table, an interest in working together with one another in addressing the issues, and a shared love and appreciation of Scarsdale.

Working as a trustee, however, is a time-consuming proposition. Although there is the occasional week when we have no meetings, most weeks have anywhere from one to three evenings where we are either together as a board or attending the meeting of one of the several Village boards or councils to whom we each liaise. For example, I serve as the board liaison to the Advisory Councils of the PRC and the Scarsdale Seniors, the Youth Advisory Council, the Teen Center, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling, and the Scarsdale Drug and Alcohol Task Force.

But it's like anything else – if you find the work interesting, as I do, you enjoy the time you put in and it's rewarding.

How long have you lived here? And what do you like about Scarsdale?

I have lived in Scarsdale for a total of 39 years. I grew up in Scarsdale, graduating from Scarsdale High School, as did my wife Cathy, and, in 1990, when our first child (Rachel) was on the way, we moved back to Scarsdale. Rachel is now one year out of college (Bates College) and our son Matthew is a junior at Brandeis University.

There's nothing very surprising about what we like about Scarsdale – the great schools, the beautiful open spaces, trees, and homes, and the terrific public facilities – ball fields, parks, the pool, and the library.

What do you see are some of the key issues facing the Village?

First, budgetary issues. How can we preserve what's special about Scarsdale -- the quality of our Village services and schools (although the schools of course are not a Village board issue) and tend to our town's infrastructure needs –- while minimizing property tax growth. In short, how do we keep it reasonably affordable to live in Scarsdale while maintaining its high quality?

Second, how can we avoid over-development in the Village – where houses take up so much of their lot or have so much bulk - that we lose the beauty and charm of open spaces between homes – without unduly limiting individual property rights. We need to be thinking about what we want Scarsdale to look like 30 years from now.

What issues did you work on during your first term?

This year's work for me, as Chair of the Board's Law Committee, has meant learning the intricacies of certain areas of the Village Code, as the Board works to improve our laws on historic preservation of homes, to preserve the look and character of our Village with adjustments to our land development rules and procedures, and to regulate the installation of DAS technology (distributed antenna systems) in our Village. The land development areas is one of the most challenging because any changes to be made to help maintain the beautiful open spaces and greenery of our Village have to fairly take into account our residents' individual property rights.

What are you looking forward to during your second term?

Completion of the some of the projects that are well underway, such as those involving historic preservation and adjustments to our land use regulations, as well as the implementation of some infrastructure plans, such as some storm water mitigation projects and renovations to some of the Village's buildings.

Anything else?

It's amazing, with term limits, how quickly you become one of the senior members of the board. I'm just now finishing my first two-year term, and, assuming I'm re-elected, I'll be third most senior board member, with Jon and Kay now finishing their time on the board. While that means we lose experienced hands pretty quickly, I think it's a good thing to share our Village's leadership among more of our residents. And, fortunately, the professional staff provides the continuity with their experience and institutional history in seeing that the Village runs smoothly.

Deb Pekarek:

Tell readers something about your background and your previous service to Scarsdale? 

Jon, Jeff and I moved to Scarsdale from San Francisco in 1992 when Jeff entered the 3rd grade at Greenacres Elementary. I joined the PTA, continued my membership with the Junior League and enrolled in Manhattanville in the Master Program in Teaching. My undergraduate degree is in Business but I had been interested in education when we lived in Denville, New Jersey, Coral Gables, Florida and San Francisco, Ca., where I helped create and implement a peer tutoring program at an elementary school there.
I completed my masters in 1995 and then taught for almost 10 years in Westchester and the Bronx as an elementary education teacher, which I quite loved!

What is your professional training – and what were some of the volunteer projects you worked on that you most enjoyed?

I worked in Product management for Nabisco, CPC, and Savarin Coffee for about 12 years and then took some time to devote to family and community service. I was a member of the Junior League across the country, President of the Women's Auxiliary at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation where we introduced a very successful Golf tournament. When we moved to Coral Gables I was able to use that experience to create a successful golf tournament for the Miami Children's Hospital.

In Scarsdale, as President of the Greenacres Neighborhood Association (GNA), a sub-committee began to work on improving some of the nine traffic islands. In a great collaboration with the Village, GNA, Friends Of the Scarsdale Parks, Eti Katoni, a Landscaper who donated her expertise and interested neighbors, we designed and planted a beautiful, sustainable and drought tolerant garden that is attractive, provides a vibrant habitat for a host of critters, is dog friendly, and is a location for lemonade stands! There are a few of these refreshed islands in Greenacres and it is a small testament of a community working together to improve their environment.

I also enjoyed my service to the League of Women Voters as Chair of Planning & Zoning and was energized by studying the possible Roundabout, Fair and Affordable Housing, Distributed Antenna Systems Zoning Code Amendments. Organizing public meetings where the community was presented information about these issues and where they were able to clarify their understanding is important to me. And the League process of consensus and thoughtful study of many issues affecting the Village is quite extraordinary. I learned so much from my association with the League.

What do you see are some of the key issues facing the Village?

The issues that face the Village, some annual, some unique – the budget with the constraints of the tax cap, overwhelming increases in healthcare and pension costs and a variety of other "unfunded mandates", balancing individual and Village wide projects and needs, grappling with an aging infrastructure and issues like the Homestead tax option – is certainly a challenge.

What issues are you looking forward to working on?

Right now I am really focusing on the Budget, getting to understand the scope of the "job", understanding the Village structure in great detail, observing the Trustees and Mayor at work and getting to know the people I will be working with better. This is the first time I have attended all the Budget meetings which are all public meetings. The budget detail that the Village staff prepares and presents is quite extensive and to me, quite impressive.

Anything else?

I am a big proponent of the non-partisan system and served on the School Board Nominating Committee for many years. Of course as with any system there is always room for the consideration of improvements but I would not have decided to "volunteer" in a partisan system. In order for this system to continue to be robust we really need many Village residents to volunteer, either with time or contributions to keep the system working. And of course it is imperative that everyone exercise their right to vote on election day!

Marc Samwick:

How long have you lived in Scarsdale and what do you like about it?

My wife Cynthia and I moved to Scarsdale in 1997 and have discovered first-hand what a wonderful place Scarsdale is to raise our family of three boys, Jason, Oliver and George.

The Scarsdale community is a remarkably giving community - with waves of volunteers coming forward to serve and improve our community.

Tell us about your education and your professional background:

I graduated, with honors, from Union College with a BA in Economics. I received an MBA, with honors, from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. I am a real estate investor and developer focusing on properties in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

I formerly worked for Capital Trust, Fleet Bank (now part of Bank of America) and Chemical Bank (now part of JP Morgan Chase). At Capital Trust, I originated mezzanine investments on properties throughout the United States. At Fleet Bank, I worked out problem real estate loans. I completed Chemical Bank's formal credit training program and originated commercial real estate financings.

Tell us about you community activities:

I am currently an Alternate on the Scarsdale Planning Board and recently completed service on the Board of Scarsdale Little League. One of the highlights of my time on the SLL Board was a program I originated to Coach the Coaches. This program is designed to give coaches a solid base of fundamental baseballs skills to provide the children with a higher level of baseball instruction throughout the entire baseball season. I have coached over 20 baseball teams in Scarsdale. I also serve on the Finance Committee of Westchester Reform Temple.

I enjoy teaching and co-authored and taught a case study on complex real estate ownership at Columbia Business School and interview potential candidates for admission at Columbia Business School.

What do you see as the most important issues facing the Village Board?

One of the most pressing issues facing our community is managing the budget with the pressures to maintain and enhance services while managing the tight revenue constraints coming from Albany, the loss of interest income as a revenue source and the realities of the current economic environment. Scarsdale is very fortunate to have a very talented and committed Mayor, Board and Village staff.