Community Bids a Fond Farewell to Beloved Mayor Feinstein

Dozens of current and former coworkers, friends and family filled the Rye Brook Village hall meeting room to tell retiring Mayor Joan Feinstein how loved she is in the village she has served for 20 years at her final board meeting last week.

Feinstein shed some tears, cracked a few jokes and laughed at people’s stories and recollections of her time serving the village during the two hours of goodbye and thank you speeches. Seven local and state elected officials (New York State Senator George Latimer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, State Assemblyman Steve Otis, County Executive Rob Astorino, Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla, Rye Brook Mayor-Elect Paul Rosenberg on behalf of the village and Congresswoman Nita Lowey) presented Feinstein with proclamations honoring her dedication, hard work, collaborative efforts and accomplishments. Pilla and Astorino named March 21 as Joan Feinstein day in Port Chester and in the county.

Feinstein retires from her position as village mayor this month, a choice she made based on her belief of self-imposed term limits. She served as mayor for two terms (the last five years) and as a trustee member for the four years prior. Before her time in village government, Feinstein served as the president of the Blind Brook Board of Education and as a member on the board.

“Joan is leaving Rye Brook a much better place today than when she joined this board,” said mayor-elect Paul Rosenberg, who referred to the mayor as a mentor, sounding board, big sister and close friend. “She will be horribly missed up on the dais,” he said.

Rosenberg listed Feinstein’s accomplishments while on the village board. Among her biggest accomplishments were: the rededication of the Port Chester-Rye Brook library, the King Street field, the flood mitigation projects, the three percent hotel tax, clean audits, healthy fund balances and small tax rate increases. Feinstein was also commended for her work guiding the village through Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters while in office. Two speakers noted the nights she spent sleeping on the firehouse’s lumpy cots in order to be close to the command center. 

“She is a genuinely good person who really cares about Rye Brook and was supportive of staff and efforts we are trying to accomplish,” said Village Administrator Chris Bradbury, who has worked most closely with Feinstein.

The mayor was always full of energy and enthusiasm and focused on what is best for the village in the long term, he said.  Bradbury added that on top of being a great elected official, Feinstein took the time to get to know village staff and remember important things in their family lives.

“(She remembers) in a way that makes others feel good about who they are,” Bradbury said.

Bradbury’s admiration for Feinstein’s leadership matches her admiration for his management skills. Feinstein called Bradbury the “captain of Rye Brook,” a “consummate professional,” and a gentleman with strong ethical behavior. “The hardest problem I have had is fending off other municipalities that want to poach him,” Feinstein said.

She joked in a way that showed her dedication to and concern for Rye Brook residents: “sometimes I talked to Chris in the morning before even talking to my husband….and sometimes he is the last person I talk to at night…and sometimes he calls in the middle of the night too, when there is an emergency.” The crowd laughed.

The mayor read from a long list of people to thank that included current and former staff, friends, members of Rye Brook Together and family.

 “Time flies when you’re having fun and the last nine years serving have been fun,” Feinstein said. “I’ve enjoyed it and it is going to be hard to leave.”

Feinstein said in her new free time she will still practice law part-time, spend more time with her husband, travel and work on her tennis game.

An hour into the goodbyes, speakers still took their time to reiterate each other’s feelings about the mayor, each with a different story to tell that demonstrated some admirable quality- her good nature, kindness, commitment, love, humility and many more. Trustee David Reiser read a playful poem he prepared that drew laughs from the crowd.

Feinstein’s son Ross explained what drives his mother by reading her favorite quote: “Service is the rent we pay for living.”

Based on the size of the crowd thanking Feinstein for her service, she has certainly paid her fair share of rent.

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Here is Rosenberg's full list of accomplishments attributed to Mayor Feinstein:

·         Kingswood Project:  The Board of Trustees approved the site plan for this 30-unit residential development on the corner of King Street and Anderson Hill Road.  This approval resulted in the payment of approximately $175,000 which was earmarked for recreational purposes. A portion of that money paid has been placed in a sinking fund for the refurbishment of the Rye Brook Athletic Fields in the next 5 to 10 years.  

·         Port Chester Rye Brook Public Library:  This was a project that Joan was particularly proud of.  The Village entered into an InterMunicipal Agreement with the Village of Port Chester and the Library to ensure the continuity of professional library programs and services, to ensure that the financial statements are annually audited, to form a library subcommittee of representative of the three constituent groups to meet quarterly to discuss issues and to provide transparency; and which agreement established a capital budget 

As part of the IMA an agreement was reached for the name change of the Library to the Port Chester-Rye Brook Public Library in recognition of the partnership between the two communities and the financial commitment of both. The Name change was effected in the summer of 2008 by an Act of the NYS legislature that was introduced by Assemblyman George Latimer and State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer and passed by the New York State legislature.

·         Flood mitigation projects: 

o   Loch Lane drainage project

o   Edgewood Detention Basin (which was funded with a grant of $218,750 from New York State)

o   A joint study between the City of Rye and the Village of Rye Brook was conducted to examine the upper and lower pond on Bowman Ave

o   The sluice gate project on Bowman Avenue which was performed in conjunction with the City of Rye

·         The Village Comprehensive Plan:  In 2008-2009, the BOT had selected a consultant to assist with the creation of the Village’s first-ever Comprehensive Plan, but we did not enter into a contract due to the economic downturn.  This is a project which Joan labels herself the main “cheerleader”, and I’m proud to say that we’ve finally initiated the process of creating a Comprehensive Plan.  Under Joan’s leadership, the BOT appointed a consultant at the last BOT meeting, and we appointed a Comprehensive Plan Committee (chaired by carol Goodman) two meetings ago.  We are eagerly awaiting the kick-off of this project.

·         The Village Board approved and then the voters passed a referendum which increased the terms for Mayor and Trustees from two to three years.

·         Technology initiatives were instituted:

o   Streaming video for Board meetings

o   A new 10-year franchise agreement with Cablevision. 

o   The Nixle Emergency alert system which Joan used throughout Hurricane Sandy to communicate with residents.

·         Financial-related:

o   Year after year of clean audits and a healthy fund balance.

o   Long-term bonds were financed to take advantage of record-low interest rates, saving the village over $100,000 in interest expense.

o   Our Safe Housing task Force has garnered over $100,000 in fee income to the Village.

o   Multiple contracts with several village employee unions (including the Teamsters, Police, and Fire) were negotiated amicably.  In the long run, these contracts will not only provide the benefits that our employees deserve, but it will also relieve some of the financial burdens to the Village.

o   The Village instituted a 3% Hotel Tax, which continues to bring in much needed non-property tax revenue from the 800+ hotel rooms within the Village.  Rye Brook is the only village in NY State to be authorized by the state legislature to levy this hotel tax. 

o   Certain supervisory positions in the Highway Department were restructured resulting in a cost savings of approximately $30,000.

o   Village departments reviewed their practices and streamlined costs without reducing services.

o   The Village maintained the same (if not higher) level of services, despite the implementation of last year’s NY State 2% Tax Cap. 

·         The Village Board’s  most recent authorized sanitation contract resulted in a savings of $100,000. 

·         Rye Town Dissolution Study – Joan was a steering committee member.  This very important study studied the feasibility of dissolving Rye Town and Rye Brook becoming a coterminous town/village. 

·         We have been extremely proactive with respect to Affordable Housing.  The Board formed an Affordable Housing Model Ordinance Task Force which Joanchaired to review the Village codeand create a new Affordable Housing Zone.  Several Affordable Housing projects were approved and are moving forward. 

·         More roads were resurfaced in the past 2-3 years then ever before. 

 ·         We’ve made capital improvements to the AJP Center. 

·         Disasters:

o   Nor’easter of March, 2010

o   Hurricane Irene

o   Hurricane Sandy

o   Coyotes

·         King Street Field

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Do you have a memory about Mayor Joan Feinstein or a message for her that you would like to share? Please post in the comments.