55°
HASTING-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. -- The neighboring villages of Hastings and Dobbs Ferry are studying a plan to share the position of Superintendent of Recreation as a cost-saving measure.
Mayors Hartley Connett of Dobbs Ferry and Peter Swiderski of Hastings released a statement Monday saying the two villages have begun formal discussions and formed two committees to examine the idea of using a recreation superintendent for both villages.
"There are two objectives to this effort: to save each community tax dollars by sharing salary expense and, more importantly, to increase the range and depth of services available to each community by sharing programs across the two villages," the joint statement read. "The effort has the support of the mayors and Boards of Trustees of both villages."
A $50,000 grant from the state has also allowed the municipalities to formally study the impact of consolidating their public works departments.
Each community has appointed its own working group to examine issues regarding how such an arrangement will work. The working groups will evaluate and study oversight, program composition, job descriptions and opportunities that will benefit both villages.
The working group members for Hastings are Swiderski, Village Manager Francis Frobel and Parks and Recreation Committee member Joanne Baecher-Disalvo. For Dobbs Ferry, members include Village Administrator Marcus Serrano, Facilities Committee member Drew Coburn, and Budget Committee Chair Robert McCloughlin.
This committee will report back to the respective mayors and boards, as well the village's Recreation Committees.
"We expect this exploratory work to be completed before April and a final announcement regarding the decisions made around this proposal at that time," the mayors stated.
Comments (4)
Bigger departments aren't always better. The more detached from the public they are, the more bureaucratic they become. Instead of knowing your name, they're now impersonal and that means bureaucratic service.
I would hope that Irvington would share police force with other villiages. I love the police and all that put there life on the line. BUT I hate it when coming home on the train seeing the cops parked behind the sand pile at the salt/sand depot all the time. Or at the reservoir. I guess their doing paper work?
Touring the Sandy damaged south shore of Long Island, one thing became very clear: the structure of cities in New York State affords many advantages over villages located in towns. The city of Long Beach has been able to respond much faster and efficiently than the neighboring towns of similar size. Interestingly, in New York State, it is not the population that determines the classification, but the structure.
Looking at the costs in the river villages and the duplication of efforts, it is clear that there will need to be changes in the future. Dobbs Ferry has made a number of efforts to find ways of collaborating with its neighbors to both control expenses and improve services. The idea of aligning rec departments follows the idea of aligning DPWs with Hastings.
While I am sure that there will be quick objections, I think the end product of this direction could be very positive. Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington withdraw from the Town of Greenburgh and form River City. All three villages retain their geographic identities as "villages" but function as districts. Each could still have its Mayor and Trustees, although they would be functioning as part of a larger entity. It would be up to each how engaged they chose to be with the City in terms of consolidated services. Instead of this taking away benefits, I think it would increase benefits to the community. For example, there could still be three police stations, but there would only need to be one chief and the number of lieutenants and detectives could be consolidated. This could result in having more cops on the beat. The DPW and Rec Departments could be handled similarly, improving the services to the community while reducing costs. The fire departments in the Villages already function in this way. They figured out a long time ago that by coordinating their efforts they could provide a better range of equipment types and, by cooperating with one another, they could make us safer.