Bedford Town Board Q&A: Mary Beth Kass

Mary Beth Kass is one of two Republican candidates who are running for two Bedford Town Board council seats. Her background includes being a founder of environmental group Bedford 2020. This Q&A is edited for formatting but not for content:

Patch: Why are you running?

Kass: I am running for Town Council in the Town of Bedford because I know I can make a difference.

With our long term Supervisor Lee Roberts and Councilman Peter Chryssos stepping down, I believe there is a critical need on the board for someone who has been involved in this community and who understands the way the Town operates. My work with the Board over an extensive period has given me a unique institutional knowledge of the Town of Bedford.

I am able to listen, be inclusive, build consensus and find common ground - all skills necessary for this position. I have a proven track record of bringing together a variety of constituencies and collaborating to solve problems.

Patch: How well do you think the current town board has governed and what, if anything, would you change?

Kass: My experience over the past 6 years working on the town led environmental goals has placed me in the thick of the workings of the Town of Bedford. I have worked very closely with the current members of the Town Board and have developed a deep appreciation and understanding of the way our town works and the role of the board – and a great admiration for these elected officials - and the job that they do on behalf of Bedford’s citizens.

This job is not for everyone. The role of the Town Board is to represent the entire community. There are many difficult decisions to be made and it is important to recognize that there are at least 2 sides to every issue – and that both sides can be right. You have to be as objective as possible, follow your heart and mind and look at the big picture and decide what is best for the entire community.

The current Board has done an excellent job. As have the Department Heads and staff. I am very sorry to be saying goodbye to Lee Roberts and Peter Chryssos, but I am anxious for my chance to serve Bedford in this new capacity, knowing that I will take a lot of what I have learned from the entire Board with me to this job.

Patch: How would you describe the town board's current relations with the school boards of Bedford Central and Katonah-Lewisboro? Should the town board work with them more closely on common topics?

Kass: The Town Board has an excellent relationship with both Bedford Central and Katonah Lewisboro School Districts. They work together on Safe Routes to School, coordinate during times of emergency and power outages, share resources such as the command center, and have a plan for emergency sheltering in the schools. Both the Town Board and the Schools are open to partnering whenever possible and as a Town Board member I would continue to value the strong relationship and look for opportunities to work together on common topics – including, how to cut costs for Bedford taxpayers.

Patch: Earlier this year Patch reported on the possibility of having Bedford Hills and Katonah use alternative wastewater treatment instead of traditional septic systems. Would you support a switch?

Kass: By 2016 the Town must address our failing septic systems by enforcing septic inspections. We must figure out how we are addressing our waste water failures, as they are leaching into the Town's groundwater supply. It seems as though any large scale sewer projects are off the table because the estimated cost ($55 million) is too much of a burden on taxpayers. Instead, the board and town's planners are moving toward a focus on smaller, localized solutions for aggregated areas or individual homes where there is a frequency of failure. I would support this non- traditional solution if it is proven to be feasible from both the technology and cost effective standpoints – as it is expected to be.

Patch: Bedford is among a group of municipalities thinking about doing a joint property revaluation. Should Bedford continue with the process or should it stop?

Kass: The Town Board voted to proceed with an investigation, along with several other neighboring communities, in order to gather information about what a property revaluation would mean to the residents in each municipality in terms of cost and what the process would look like. I support this exploration, with the understanding that there is no commitment to go forward, nor any immediate action required. As with any important issue before the Town Board, all the facts must be gathered and all the stakeholders involved before moving past the exploration phase.

Patch: The idea of updating Bedford's comprehensive plan was recently brought up by supervisor candidate Chris Burdick during the League of Women Voters candidates' forum. Do you support updating the comprehensive plan?

Kass: This is a planning issue, so before saying whether or not I support this, I would want to consult with our Town Planner to find out what, if any, are the development issues that are pressing on our town. Without a meaningful driving reason to do this, it wouldn’t make sense.

Patch: How should Bedford proceed, going forward, with handling Westchester County's affordable housing settlement?

Kass: It is hard to know what this means for Bedford. It is certainly a divisive issue and municipalities are concerned. I have a level of concern about whether this could potentially take us down a path where Bedford’s zoning decisions are taken out of Bedford’s hands, and I am committed to fighting to make sure that doesn’t happen.   

For now, Bedford should proceed as it always has. We have long been on the forefront of Affordable Housing with our Blue Mountain Housing Development Corp which has been in existence since 1980. Blue Mountain Housing should continue to carry out Bedford’s commitment to affordable housing and look for any and all opportunities to do so.

Patch: Mount Kisco is considering whether to consolidate its police department with the Westchester County Department of Public Safety. Somers and Lewisboro note that they have part-time police departments and have state police support. The town, meanwhile, was given a fiscal projection study that predicts budget deficits for several of the coming years. Should Bedford study a switch to either model as a budgetary savings measure, given the deficits projection?

Kass: The biggest issues facing our Town have to do with our long term fiscal health. There is tremendous financial pressure coming our way. Property taxes are a heavy burden on homeowners – keeping those taxes down should be a primary goal of local government. Town costs are growing at a faster pace than our revenue and that simply isn’t sustainable. We are living within the 2% tax cap but it will be increasingly challenging to maintain the level of services that residents have come to expect.

This needs to be tackled on all fronts. I think this is going to require talking to everyone in our community and looking at all options. However, residents of Bedford are asking for more of a police presence in our community, not less. We want police enforcing our laws and on the streets keeping us safe.

We need to find a way to continue to deliver outstanding services – especially those that deal with protection and safety. I am anxious to work with the board, taxpayers, town employees, union leaders, community groups, business owners and others to find the most effective way of addressing our deficit projection. I will work with the Board to pressure Albany for mandate relief and look for every opportunity where it makes sense to streamline what we do.

Patch: Bedford's three hamlets have several of their own recreational services, such as separate pools and separate camps. However, given the deficit projections released recently, can having three of each recreational amenity be sustained? 

Kass: Again, as in my prior response – when looking to fix our structural deficit issues, everything should be on the table. A primary goal of the town board should be to keep taxes low and services steady. When you have periods of economic downturn, as we have for many years, there is a tension between these two things. Some tough and creative decisions need to be made.

However, Bedford’s recreational services, such as the pools and camps are largely self-sustaining – meaning the costs associated with them are mostly borne by the people who use them. In other words, the fees to join the pools or enroll in the camps cover the operating costs. The residents in each hamlet seem to love their own services and are willing to pay for it.

Patch: How would you describe the relationship between the town board and the merchants in the hamlets? Is there anything you would change?

Kass: The Bedford Town Board has an open and ongoing relationship with the merchants in the three hamlets. Together they work to resolve the hamlet specific issues of parking, plantings, trash cans and much more. Both have a common goal of strengthening the social and economic well being of our community. A close partnership between the two is important when coming together on a shared vision and generating new ideas.

By sharing ideas, information, expertise and resources with each other, the Town Board and the merchants are striving to make Bedford a more vibrant place to live and work.

The idea of “Coffee with a Cop” came out of a meeting with the Katonah Chamber of Commerce as a way of making our police officers more accessible, more approachable, and more visible in our downtown districts. This is a wonderful idea and I would like to see more brainstorming opportunities where these types of ideas for improvement can flow forward from our local merchants – many of whom also live in this Town.