CNC Announces Candidates for Village Trustee and Village Justice

The Scarsdale Citizen's Nominating Committee and the Scarsdale Citizen's Non-Partisan Party announced their slate of candidates for the Scarsdale Village Election to be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016.

• Trustee: Seth Ross
• Trustee: Marc Samwick
• Trustee: Jane Veron
• Village Justice: Joaquin Alemany

Joaquim Almany is currently serving as Interim Village Justice and has been nominated to be the Village Justice of Scarsdale. Trustee Marc Samwick has been re-nominated to serve a second two-year term and Seth Ross and Jane Veron have been nominated for their first terms. Leaving vacancies on the Village Board of Trustees this year are David Lee who will complete two, two-year terms and Deb Pekarek who will complete one two-year term. Commenting on the nominations Pekarek, who was not nominated by the committee for a second term said, "While I am extremely surprised I believe I served the Village with distinction, honor and grace. I believe in the process and know that the new slate of candidates will also serve the community admirably and I congratulate them."

It's notable that all three of the candidate's for Village Trustee have experience with land use and development. Marc Samwick is a real estate investor and developer by trade, Seth Ross practices Real Estate Law and both Ross and Jane Veron chaired the Scarsdale Planning Board. As land use and development issues continue to come before the Village boards, this group will be well-equipped to address them.

Candidates' Bios:

Village Trustee:

Trustee Marc Samwick is now serving his first two-year term on the board and will run for a second term. He is a real estate investor and developer and the founder of Westmont Land Ventures. His investments are concentrated in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. He formerly worked in the real estate division of Chemical Bank, Fleet Bank and Capital Trust He has an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School and a BA in economics from Union College.

Commenting on the work he did during his first term, Samwick said, "I currently serve as Chair of the Land Use and Finance Committees; liaison to the Planning Board, Board of Architectural Review, Committee for Historic Preservation and Chamber of Commerce; and as Police Commissioner. In addition to my current assignments, I have previously served as Chair of the Recreation Committee and liaison to the Advisory Council on Parks and Recreation."

"As Trustee, I have been deeply involved in a number of issues, including revaluation; 2-4 Weaver Street; and the proposed zoning amendment relating to lot coverage as well as the budget process. In each of these instances, as well as many others, I toured relevant sites, spoke with many residents to seek their thoughts and concerns, and deliberated with our outstanding village staff, fellow Trustees and Mayor to seek thoughtful solutions that best serve our village."

"As a more-detailed example, I was instrumental in postponing the sale of a village-owned sliver of land adjacent to 2-4 Weaver Street until such time as the developer obtained all required land use approvals and the village retained a consultant to oversee construction of the proposed residential development in compliance with the approved building plans. By leveraging the village's land sale to the developer, we worked hard to ensure, as best we could, that the residential development is built to the high standards of our community."

Seth Ross is an attorney with years of legal experience and an impressive resume of volunteerism in Scarsdale. He has worked as a partner at Jaspan Schlesinger in Garden City since 2002 and was previously a partner at Ross & Ross LLP. In Scarsdale In his second career as community volunteer he has served Scarsdale in a broad variety of capacities. He says, "In the course of my community service I have become familiar with the workings of various aspects of community government and with many of the people whose work, whether volunteer or professional, enable the Village of Scarsdale to function as it does." Ross expressed a "desire to see (Scarsdale) retain its special character while evolving to meet the changing needs of its residents." He served as Chair of the Planning Board, Chair of the Zoning Board of Appeals, as a Trustee of the Scarsdale Foundation, Chair of the Scarsdale Bowl, Chair of the Procedure Committee and on the CNE as well as the Scarsdale Volunteer fire Department. He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and Duke University.

Jane Veron is co-Founder and co-CEO of The Acceleration Project (TAP), a nonprofit which taps the talent of local professionals to advise struggling small businesses and the co-Founder and co-CEO of TAP Growth Advisors, a firm devoted to career reentry through entrepreneurship, consulting work, and strategic volunteerism. She spent her career in business strategy and marketing, working at Bain & Company and American Express. She also managed her own private consulting business and has experience in private equity and venture capital as an investor and board member.

Jane has held leadership positions in many Scarsdale organizations. She chaired the Scarsdale Planning Board, served as President of the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale, led the Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association, and subsequently was elected Chair of the consortium of sixteen neighborhood associations. She also worked on the executive committee of the local nonprofit organization, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling. Jane earned a BA magna cum laude from Yale University and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School.

Village Justice:

Joaquin Alemany has served as Acting Village Justice since January 2015, and was recently appointed to fill Justice John Galloway's term. He has presided over a variety of trials including criminal cases, landlord/tenant disputes, small claims and traffic and parking issues. He has substantial judicial experience in Westchester and the Bronx and previously served as the Acting Village Justice in Sleepy Hollow. He has previous experience at the Bronx District Attorney's Office, the Securities and Exchange Commission and in private practice. Allemany is a graduate of New York Law School and has lived in Scarsdale since 1990.

The Scarsdale Citizens' Non-Partisan System seeks to promote a cooperative, deliberative and open atmosphere in local civic affairs in order to attract the most qualified individuals to serve in local public offices. For more information, click here.

The committee encourages all Village of Scarsdale citizens who are registered to vote in the general election to do so on Tuesday, March 15th. The polls will be open at Scarsdale Village Hall from 6am to 9am and noon to 9pm. Everyone is invited to the post-election celebration at The Scarsdale Woman's Club, 37 Drake Road, Scarsdale, at 8:30 pm.