Fire Chief Jim Seymour to Leave Scarsdale for Peekskill
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Change is afoot in the Village of Scarsdale. The Village recently appointed a new Village Manager and a new Deputy Village Manager, the search is on to replace Village Clerk Donna Conkling due to her retirement, and on Friday December 10, 2021, long term Scarsdale Fire Chief James E. Seymour announced that he will be leaving in just a few weeks to accept the position of Peekskill Fire Chief.
Seymour, who worked in Scarsdale for 17 years will return to the department where he began his fire service career.
According to Village Manager Rob Cole, the Village of Scarsdale has initiated the
recruitment process for Chief Seymour’s successor, an effort undertaken in accordance with prescribed Westchester County civil service protocols.
Cole said, "We will likely need to appoint an interim chief while the recruitment process is underway. As for timing, the process will proceed consistent with Westchester County civil service requirements. While efficiency of the hiring process is important, we are also sharply focused on selecting the best candidate to lead the fire department forward.
With respect to the market for hiring municipal employees, it should be noted that five Scarsdale FD captains are included on the Westchester County fire chief promotional list. To support public safety excellence and to support succession planning, the Village of Scarsdale invests in training and development of our public safety front line and leadership personnel. Additionally, each of our fire captains is deeply committed to serving the Scarsdale community. Our recruitment process will ensure that the best candidate is selected to fill the role of fire chief; our captains will certainly have opportunity to compete for this critical appointment.
In making the announcement to his Scarsdale colleagues, Chief Seymour wrote, “I am accepting the newly created Fire Chief position in the City of Peekskill. I have been offered an opportunity to return to the city where I was born, raised, and started my fire service career over 20 years ago.” He continued, “The decision was certainly made more difficult due to the high caliber employees that I have had the pleasure to work alongside here in Scarsdale. I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with all of you.”
Chief James E. Seymour IV began his fire service career as a volunteer with the City of Peekskill Fire Department in 1995 at the age of eighteen. He was then hired by the City of Peekskill as a career firefighter in 2001, continuing to serve Peekskill until transferring to the Village of Scarsdale Fire Department in 2004. During his tenure with the Scarsdale Fire Department, Jim has served as Firefighter, Captain and Municipal Training Officer, and ultimately Chief, a position he has held since 2016. Chief Seymour is scheduled to start with the City of Peekskill on January 01, 2022.
Calling All Artists: Sketch the 'Dale
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The Village of Scarsdale Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department is looking for all of the artists of Scarsdale to participate again in this special community program.
Whether you consider yourself a beginner, advanced or a professional, every artist who resides in our amazing village has a favorite building or location, view, or image, that they would love to sketch and submit for all to see. Now is your chance to share it with your community!
Here is how it works: determine what level of an artist you feel you are, sketch something or someplace that can be verified as being located in Scarsdale and submit a physical sketch of up to 11”X 17” along with a $10.00 entrance fee (to be allocated for prizes). Artists will be given 2 weeks to complete their masterpiece and once submitted will be judged by a panel of residents who know and love this wonderful community. There will be prizes awarded for each level so make sure to pick the right level. All images will be scanned and displayed on various media platforms (website/cable tv) for all to see.
To ensure all holidays can be captured during this program registration opens December 2, 2021, at 9:30 AM and all sketches & waivers must be physically submitted by Monday, January 10th, 2022, to the Parks and Recreation Department located at The Supply Building, 244 Heathcote Road, 2nd floor by 5:00 PM to be eligible.
You must register before you can submit your artwork. Absolutely NO REFUNDS!
Winners will be announced via a zoom presentation where all winning sketches will be presented. The entire community will be invited to tune in and enjoy the creations of their neighbors!
For more information or to register, please visit www.scarsdale.com/recreation.
All artists must be mindful of pedestrian and vehicular traffic if sketching in the community. All participants must adhere to all COVID-19 safety recommendations and guidelines when in public.
Scouts Deliver Cheers to Scarsdale Veterans
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On Veterans Day, Scarsdale Girl Scout Troop #2688 delivered smiles, words of appreciation and cookies to 18 Scarsdale Veterans as well as the Veterans who work for the police and fire departments.
See photos below, contributed by Debra Asher.
Mr. Treglia gives a wave.
Scarsdale Alum Publishes "The Story of Money"
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Scarsdale High School alumni, Class of 2012, Sean Cover has written “The Story of Money: From Shells and Shekels to Bills and Bitcoin”. The Story of Money is a guide to the past, present, and future of money. Sean says, “Reading this book will help people understand how money developed to where it is today, how it affects our lives in more ways than we realize, and how it will develop into the future.” The books is available for sale online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Audible.com.
“The Story of Money was written to be an introduction to money, meaning it is written for an audience first exploring their curiosities about money. Audiences of all knowledge levels should be comfortable reading this book.”, Sean says. “Readers who are already knowledgeable about money and economics will find value in this book as well.”
“They say to write the book that you wish you could have read, and that is what I did with The Story of Money,” he explains. “I’ve read many books about the history of money. I’ve read books about the future of money. And I’ve spent considerable time listening, reading, and analyzing the ways that our economy today is evolving and changing. While there are many great resources out there, I never came across the one I wish I had available right at the beginning. The Story of Money is my attempt at writing that book.”
The book begins with the history of money, showing readers how money developed over time and why it developed the
Sean Cover way it did. It then analyzes how money works today and how it affects our society in more ways than most of us realize. Topics in this section include the rising costs of healthcare and college tuition over the last 50 years and the growth of income inequality. The book ends with a look at how we can expect money to develop into the future with focus on bitcoin and central bank digital currencies.
We asked Cover how his experience at Scarsdale High School influence his interests and career path and he said, “Where Scarsdale High School influenced me the most is with regards to my ability to think critically. At SHS, I developed an intellectual curiosity about the world, which I have pursued in my years since graduation. Without having attended SHS, I may not have been initially intrigued by the history of money as I was, which led to me writing my book.”
And what does he do when he’s not writing? Cover said, “Professionally I am associated with multiple nonprofit organizations that operate both in the US and abroad. My role with these organizations consists of various finance, operations, and strategy SeanCoverSean Coverresponsibilities.”
Last we asked Cover if he would advise readers to invest in Bitcoin and crypto currencies? He said, “I would encourage readers to begin learning about Bitcoin, namely how it works and why it matters. Bitcoin is not just magic internet money. It is a genuine technological advancement and will be around for decades to come. Still, readers should not invest in things that they do not understand. The easiest way to understand Bitcoin is first to learn how money today works and how the history of money has led us here. The purpose of my book, The Story of Money, is to explain this journey in an easy to understand and engaging way.”
Sean Cover has also produced a 25-episode podcast series “Questioning Money” that analyzes the ways money affects our world and has an email newsletter “Insights” where he delves into economic issues of the day. He also has a seven-part educational YouTube series titled “An Introduction to Money”. For more information, visit www.seancover.com.
LWVS Calls Splitting Scarsdale Into Two NYS Assembly Districts "A Grievous Error"
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One of the proposed districting maps for the NYS Assembly would divide Scarsdale into two districtsNY State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin has represented the 88th District, that includes Scarsdale since 2001. A Scarsdale resident, she is one of the most powerful legislators in the Assembly and has sponsored legislation on state government reform, children and families, domestic violence, sex trafficking, education, health care, animal welfare, and preventing gun violence
However, all this could change, depending on the outcome of the work of the Independent Commission that is charged with drawing district maps. Though it is supposed to keep "communities of interest" together, the commission has submitted two proposed maps for the state assembly, one which divides Scarsdale among two districts.
On Monday November 8, Alissa Baum, President of the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale testified before the Independent Commission that is charged with drawing new district maps for Congress, the NY State Senate and the NY State Assembly, based on the 2020 U.S. Census.
She said, “Both the League of Women Voters of Westchester and the League of Women Voters of New York State have expressed their disappointment regarding the conduct of the redistricting process thus far. We share their concerns about the partisanship and lack of transparency which continue to embroil the drafting of proposed legislative maps.”
“The Scarsdale League Board was surprised to see that Scarsdale, which is thoroughly encompassed in the current Assembly District 88, has been split between two separate Assembly districts in the “Names” map released to the public. We are puzzled by the configuration of this map, and really by all of the recently released maps, because the Commission has provided no explanation whatsoever to justify the configuration of any of them.”
Three of the core requirements in shaping districts set forth in the New York State Constitution are to keep communities of interest together, keep municipal boundaries intact/preserve political subdivisions, and maintain cores of existing districts. The “Names” map violates all three requirements as they apply to the Village of Scarsdale.
Scarsdale is a unique community, sharing common interests in its exceptional school system, nonpartisan election systems of Village and school governance, and its village-in-a-park zoning/planning and municipal services. Despite its relatively small size, it contains numerous Village-based volunteer-led community organizations, has an active local business alliance for brick and mortar shops within its borders, and remains one of few communities to have been able to sustain a printed newspaper of local circulation, serving as the official paper of record for both the co-terminous town/village and the school district. Why did the Commission disregard municipal lines and remove portions of four of the five Scarsdale neighborhoods from representation in a single Assembly district?
Scarsdale’s school district comprises one high school, one middle school and five elementary schools. In the “Names” map, segments of four of the five elementary schools - Edgewood, Fox Meadow, Heathcote, and Quaker Ridge -- have been cut off from the rest of the town of Scarsdale and placed into a different Assembly district, literally splitting the neighborhoods of four elementary schools that serve as the Village’s traditional polling sites. This result is totally unacceptable, and we fully expect the Commission to correct this grievous error.
The drawing of legislative districts may be an art rather than a science, requiring the commission to balance several factors in order to configure maps encompassing the entire state. However, without the opportunity to see the negotiation process or consider the Commission’s rationale, we have to wonder if the split of Assembly District 88 was due to an unlawful partisan or political factor.
The Village of Scarsdale, with its strong school system and common interests, deserves the representation of a s\ingle legislator in each of the Assembly, Senate, and U.S. Congressional districts. We hope that the Commission takes its charge seriously and listens to the public so that it can draw political boundaries that are in the public’s best interest.”
Paulin said, "Municipalities should be kept whole in legislative districts whenever possible. Dividing towns, villages and cities dilutes the vote of residents and leaves them without a clear, singular representative to advocate on their behalf. To break up the Village of Scarsdale would be a disservice to its residents - Scarsdale is a cohesive community and should remain whole in a single State Assembly district. I commend the Scarsdale League of Women Voters for engaging in public comment before the Independent Redistricting Commission and for strongly advocating to keep Scarsdale whole.”
