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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 27 September 2023

Created: 27 September 2023

Last Updated: 02 October 2023

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In a surprising turn of events, the Scarsdale Board of Trustees has parted ways with Village Manager Rob Cole. At the opening of the Village Board meeting on Tuesday night September 26, Mayor Justin Arest read a statement explaining the absence of Cole from his usual spot on the dais.

The statement was difficult to parse at first, but after a closer reading we understood that the Board and the Village Manager had fundamental differences about the interpretation of Village code and the lines of authority. This came to light when the Village retained law firm Keane & Beane to review best practices.

This audit illuminated two different philosophies on Village governance. It was Cole’s understanding that Scarsdale had a “Council-Manager” structure giving independence to the Village Manager’s office, rather than granting the elected officials the power to govern.

Keane and Beane determined that the Board of Trustees should run Village government and set priorities for the staff, rather than having the Village Manager’s office call the shots. The statement below clarifies this saying, “Scarsdale has preferred to keep its long standing system whereby the Village Manager … works as an executive assistant to the Mayor and Board of Trustees.”

Once Cole understood the definition of his role, he was no longer comfortable in the position and resigned. He said, “…I learned that the Village of Scarsdale is not, and has never been, a Council-Manager form of government. I am unable to comfortably serve the Scarsdale community under this unfortunate circumstance.”

During the meeting, the Board added a resolution to the agenda to terminate Cole without cause, which was passed with a vote of 6-1.

Cole first came to Scarsdale as Deputy Mayor in 2015 from Oak Park Illinois where he served as the Assistant Village Manager for 19 years. In 2021, Village Manager Steve Pappalardo retired, and Cole was elevated to the position of Village Manager. He holds a B.S. and a Masters in Public Service Management from De Paul University.

Read the statement from Mayor Justin Arest below:

Tonight, I need to address an important issue about our Village Code that has been flagged for the Board by our Village Attorney, Keane and Beane, which also may explain why Mr. Cole is not sitting next to me this evening. I am going to give a little background and then explain the crux of their discovery at a high level. When Keane & Beane was retained as Village Attorney in September 2022, they began a review of Scarsdale’s code to ensure that we are operating with best and current practices. With Keane & Beane’s assistance, we have made necessary changes to our Noise Ordinance, telecom laws, and laws regarding unsafe buildings and structures. This work is still ongoing, and we intend to continue making all necessary code improvements so that Scarsdale is a model for 21st-century local government. 

To backtrack a little, I also want to share a bit from my own experience on the Board for two terms prior to becoming Mayor. As a Trustee, I understood that our code divided certain responsibilities between the Mayor, Board, and Manager. While it had been stated that we have a Council-Manager form of government, I was unaware of exactly what that meant. I was also unable to locate the section of code to evidence that. In myriad contexts, I have always felt strongly that governing is done with laws and policies not by following tradition alone. If tradition is different than our code, it is our obligation to comply with the law and discuss whether we can learn from the tradition to make the law better.

When I became Mayor, I asked the Village Attorney to research this to ensure that we, as a Village and your elected representatives, were providing the proper oversight as dictated by law; and that the Board and the Village Manager had clarity as to how their roles were defined. What I did not know until I broached this question with the Village Attorney is that independent from my experience, our Village Attorney had similar questions about the nature of our form of government and had begun to do his own research into the roles of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Mayor and Village Manager.

In July, as part of the firm’s code review, Keene and Beane informed the Board that although Scarsdale informally had the position of Village Manager since 1942, our predecessors on the Village Board opted against a true Council-Manager form of government. When the position of Village Manager was formally defined in 1949 by the Board at that time, following the work and report of a separate commission to study the matter, it was decided that our Village’s elected officials would retain their vested powers. And in regards to the Village Manager’s office, they stated that “Scarsdale has preferred to keep its long standing system whereby the Village Manager…works as an executive assistant to the Mayor and Board of Trustees.”

This intent is still showcased today in Chapter 57 of the Scarsdale Village Code. There have been subsequent modifications to our code and the Manager position, but none have taken the necessary steps to effectuate a transfer of authority. In fact, when additional rights or authorities were added to the Manager role by Board Resolution in 1962, the former Board was careful to note that “it is not intended that [this] resolution shall modify or detract from the statutory duties of any Village Official.”

I want to thank our Attorney for the important work ensuring that we are all operating within the limits of the law. And I want to make something clear, these findings and the work ahead are not intended to interfere with the work that our paid professional staff does for this community daily. We support the longstanding tradition of deference to the experts who keep our Village running smoothly and who manage the day-to-day operations. The affairs of the Village will continue to be handled by the Village Manager’s office and business will be conducted as envisioned since the role of Scarsdale Village Manager was created.

We believe that this Board and future Boards should continue to focus on policy and budgetary matters. But we also understand and respect the expectations of our constituents- that they are electing the officials who are ultimately accountable and responsible for overseeing the management of the Village of Scarsdale as our code, as well as NY state law, dictates.

Before year’s end, the Board will hold a public work session to discuss how we refine our code to ensure we reduce ambiguity and roles are clearly defined so we can operate in the most efficient way possible ensuring excellent governance and transparency.  Thank you for your patience with us as we work through this issue methodically and carefully. There is more to be discussed and considered, and because of our Village Attorney’s findings, we will revise our code to correctly define the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Village Manager. Much of this will come from the appendix, section A318, which is the codification of a 1962 Board Resolution and will be incorporated into our code. A new draft Chapter 57 is already in the works and will be part of the same transparent and collaborative process that we follow with any proposed local law. We hope that many of you in our community will participate.

I mentioned that this is also related to Mr. Cole’s absence. In his own words, “…I learned that the Village of Scarsdale is not, and has never been, a Council-Manager form of government. I am unable to comfortably serve the Scarsdale community under this unfortunate circumstance.” Therefore, the Village of Scarsdale has no choice but to separate from Mr. Cole. We will promptly initiate a search for a new executive to advance the initiatives already in progress, ensuring that Scarsdale is and remains a model of exceptional village government in the 21st Century.

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 04 October 2023

Created: 04 October 2023

Last Updated: 04 October 2023

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Mayor Justin Arest sent the following out to the community on October 4, 2023 in light of the departure of the Village Manager:

Dear Scarsdale,

I hope that you and your families are safe in the wake of the latest storm. I want to thank our dedicated staff whether it be our first responders, public works team, or other department members for their tireless work during this latest rain event. We will be continuing our stormwater conversations in the coming days and weeks, both locally and regionally. I have already been in touch with our state representatives in the Senate and Assembly as well as our County Executive and expect to continue conversations very soon.

On behalf of the Village Board, I want to take this opportunity to make sure that the community has a clear understanding of the current state of affairs in our Village government. We are aware that some have wondered whether there will be any changes in day-to-day operations following the departure of our former Village Manager. We want to address some of these comments and questions.

First, our Village is running smoothly and without interruption. Scarsdale’s Acting Village Manager, Alex Marshall is overseeing the day-to-day administration of the Village. Ms. Marshall is an outstanding public servant who has been Scarsdale’s Deputy Village Manager and is experienced in the daily operations of the Village. We are fortunate that she will work with our exceptional department heads who continue to keep the community safe and well served. Nothing has changed in the day-to- day operations of the Village. The Board will provide oversight and guidance regarding budgetary and policy matters.
Second, on the advice of counsel, we will not be discussing the employment of our former Village Manager at this time.

Finally, we have begun the process of finding a replacement to fulfill the Village Manager role. We will be working closely with qualified experts, running a national search, dedicated to attracting the best talent to our wonderful community.

The Board recognizes its role as stewards, committed to continued excellence, and always seeks to channel the cooperative spirit of volunteerism and professionalism that has long served Scarsdale. We are truly grateful for your patience and trust and pledge frequent updates to and — opportunities for input from you — our residents.

Sincerely,
Justin Arest
Mayor

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Written by Joanne Wallenstein

Published: 20 September 2023

Created: 20 September 2023

Last Updated: 20 September 2023

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Driving through the streets of Scarsdale you can’t help but notice the construction boom. Older homes are vanishing overnight to be replaced with one, or sometimes two oversized homes that crowd and dwarf neighborhood homes.

Distressed neighbors come to Village Hall to object, only to be told that they have come before the wrong land use board. The frustrating process ultimately leads to the developer winning approval to build homes that are out of scale with the neighborhoods and too close to other homes.

What to do? Jack Miller, who recently served on the Planning Board has this to say:

Dear Mayor Arest and Village Trustees Ahuja, Brew, Gans, Gruenberg and Mazar,

As I look at the agenda for this month’s Committee for Historic Preservation (CHP) meeting there are a few homes that I will miss seeing, but none of them that are worth preserving. Truth is, there are only a handful of structures in town that are “above the wrecking ball” and the beast that is our tax base almost relies on these turnovers to keep our fine town moving. The CHP’s guidelines are a bit subjective, especially when determining the status of a “Master Architect” but sometimes an average architect can create a masterpiece, like the equivalent of music’s one-hit-wonders.

As someone who has sat on multiple land-use boards over the past several decades I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to say that our town’s biggest problem isn’t tear-downs but rather the out of scale homes that often replace them and even worse, multi-home subdivisions seemingly crammed into the fabric of a neighborhood. The following may prove unpopular to my developer friends, but I have seen too many defeated neighbors leave board meetings crestfallen and feeling that they had little to no agency in the development of their neighborhoods. Here are a few ideas that I will throw out to whoever may listen.

When a home comes before the Committee for Historic Preservation the only item being discussed is the home itself. In other communities, when a home is up for demolition, the owner / developer must share a comprehensive plan for what is replacing it. If we adopted this, it would help neighbors better understand what is to come.

The process is too segmented.

For instance, the way that the current system works is a home will be presented to the CHP for demolition and if it does not fall into one of the categories for preservation then the demo is granted. If not, there may be a need for additional meetings or further discussion. If demo is approved, and the owner / developer intends to subdivide the property, they must then present it to the Scarsdale Planning Board. This may take at least an additional two meetings where the board primarily reviews the new site plans, with the actual design of the future home(s) not part of the purview of the board. Then, if the subdivision is approved, the proposed new home(s) are reviewed by the Board of Architectural Review, where it is almost certain to have at least two meetings. Chances are at least one of the proposed homes will need a swimming pool, so there is yet another board to review that, the Zoning Board of Appeals. This all means that if you are merely a neighbor who wants to be part of the process you are attending a minimum of six meetings, six.

Additionally, when a subdivision is approved the proposed new homes fall into the same zoning category as the current neighborhood, this almost guarantees the appearance of homes that are too close and too out of scale. Believe it or not, most of the subdivisions that have been approved over the past few years are legal and required no variance. A very simple solution for this would be to create a zoning overlay for subdivided lots. Some thoughts on these overlays could be as simple as reduced floor-area-ratios (F.A.R), greater side yard setbacks especially towards neighboring existing homes, or reduced height, although our current definition of ‘height’ in the building code is confusing.

The way the existing submittal and review procedures work, we as residents in our community have very little power in preventing much of this growth as most of these applications are completely as of right. In the future it may also be helpful to explore F.A.R credits for homes that are being preserved, renovated, or added on to, or even tax credits for newly constructed homes that aren’t maxed out F.A.R and lot coverage-wise.

Respectfully,

Jack Miller