Trustees Discuss Funds for Fields and Potential Change in Management of Local Election

Are female student athletes being treated equally to male athletes in Scarsdale? The answer is a resounding “NO” from girls who have been playing softball on subpar fields for years while the boys played on well- maintained fields that include extras like dugouts and a scoreboard.

The situation has gotten worse, not better over the years, as more and more clay and drying agent were dumped on the softball fields in an effort to keep them playable.

According to a memo from the Recreation Department, “Through years of continuously adding clay and drying agent to maximize field usage, our infield elevations are substantially higher than the grass outfields. Additionally, a lip has formed along the arch between the clay infield and grass outfield, creating a fishbowl effect not suitable for sheeting of water into the outfields during rain events. Furthermore, the subsurface has been compacted to a point that
impedes drainage.”

The schools made a hasty attempt to improve the situation by doing some work on a school-owned baseball field at Greenacres and dedicating it in early June. However, the softball players quickly realized that this field was flawed and inadequate.

Improving the Village-owned fields was the subject of a work session of the Village Board on June 27, 2023, when trustees considered a proposal to renovate four fields at an estimated cost of $50,000 per field. The department proposed “surveying the infields, removal of existing sod
and clay from the infields as well as an 8-foot perimeter of sod around the clay arch, tilling sub soils to aid in drainage, addition of new clay and sod, building new pitcher’s mounds, and regrading the infield to promote drainage into grass outfields.”

Superintendent Brian Gray recommended work be done on:

Crossway Filed 2 – a baseball field closest to the Crossway Firehouse
Supply Field 2 – a softball field next to the parking lot used by the Varsity Girls Softball team.
Crossway 1 – a baseball field closest to the parking lot
Hyatt Field 2 – a softball field at Hyatt Park

There are plans afoot for a comprehensive field study to be done with the cooperation of the schools and the village next year, so trustees discussed whether this interim measure should be taken.

Trustee Jeremy Gans explained, “Since the renovations will not completely strip the field, this will improve them in a material way for the short to medium term. It will get rid of the pitch and some of the compactness. It isn’t a long-term solution.”

Mayor Justin Arest said, “The field study is good but it won’t fix our fields There is a conflict between making them usable now and their long term life. Would it be helpful to add two more fields to this plan and spread out the play?”

Deputy Mayor Whitestone concurred. He said, “I believe we should address the worst fields in the near term. The perfect should not be the enemy of the good.”

Ultimately the trustees agreed to ask Gray to get bids to remediate these four fields in addition to two more fields, Crossway 3 and Supply 2.

Trustees discussed the timing and said that the goal would be to complete the work by April 2024. Hopefully the fields will not need to be closed in the fall as Scarsdale Travel Softball uses them for their program. Gray estimated that it would take two months to get the bids and six to eight weeks to do the work.

During Public Comments Michelle Sterling said, “I am the mother of a varsity girls softball player. The field is pathetic. It is the worst field in the division. Everyone slides on the rocks. The girls are looking at Dean Field where the boys play vs. Supply Field where they play. There is incredible inequity. Please prioritize Supply Field as it is the only field for our Varsity girls and get it ready for April.”

Joe Guarino said he is the parent of a rising middle schooler and a Board member of travel softball. He said, “Supply Field is the only game in town for us. When we think about the program for girls – everything happens at Supply Field while the boys have many fields to play on. There is certainly an equity discussion needed. It is concerning if we have to close the fields in the fall as we play then. You realize how limited softball in Scarsdale is now.”

Becky Bach from Scarsdale Travel Softball said, “After it rains parents come out with rakes to take the water off the field. In the spring we shrink our program due to limited field space. There are only three fields that are village-school owned. If we closed the fields in the fall – we have already had our tryouts.”

Village Election

Trustees then considered a proposal by Village Clerk Taylor Emmanuel to turn over the management of Village elections to the Westchester County Board of Elections. Scarsdale is one of only four villages in the county that supervises its own election of Village Mayor, Trustees and Village Justice. This election is held in March and there has also been discussion of moving the date to November so that the election could be held at the same time as the local, state and national vote.

Emanuel was clear about her recommendation. She said, “It is not that I cant’ do it (here) – but I recommend that we turn it over to the BOE.”

The advantage is there would be cost savings of $8-$14,000, depending on if the election is contested, and any election challenges would be handled by county officials.

Also – the Village already pays the county $18,000 a year to run the November elections.

See her memo here:

There is however a potential downside to losing local control of the elections. She outlined, “Petitions to appear on the village ballot would have to be submitted to the BOE directly. Parties and candidates would need to coordinate with the BOE on Campaign Financial Statements and related election documents. The Village would have no responsibility or assume any liability for any of this paperwork; nor would the Village retain any of it. Voters applying for absentee ballots would apply directly to the County Board of Elections. Additionally, all official results after the close of the polls would be determined and announced by the County and posted on their website by the next business day.”

For a contested election, if the results were not received until the following day, the Village would need to change their custom of celebrating the new Mayor and Board on election night after the closing of the polls.

In order for the change to be enacted, it would require a “permissive referendum,” which Village Clerk Taylor Emanuel outlined as follows: “The board must adopt a local law or resolution transferring the election to the county and I will then need to notice this legislative act and wait to see if a valid petition is filed requiring that the question of transferring the elections to the county appear on a ballot. Alternatively, the village board on its own motion may send the question directly to the voters.”

Discussing the timing of the election trustees agreed that it would be better to leave it in March. If it is moved to election day in November, Trustees feared it would be overshadowed by state and national elections and become partisan.

The Board took no action on this at the work session but said it would be discussed further in September.