Rye Town Supervisor Joseph Carvin Rethinks Government

Spain, France, Senegal and Brazil. All stops lead to the Town of Rye, if you follow the trajectory of Supervisor Joseph Carvin.

Diversity is perhaps one of the best ways to describe Carvin's experience, a firm believer in the "transparency" of the private sector who's now bringing his no-nonsense approach to the local political scene.

"American business is very efficient but American government is inefficient. None more than in New York State," Carvin said. "New York State is a failed state. It hasn't changed since the invention of the light bulb."

Raised in Port Chester, Carvin has traversed the globe as he maintained two, almost parallel careers in both the private and public sectors.

He lived in Spain while at Tulane University, then after graduating, he moved to Senegal on a Port Chester Rotary Scholarship to study economic development at the United Nations Institute for Development and Planning. But he stayed, a total of three and a half years, working for USAID.

"When I was in Senegal I was there because I wanted to help in terms of economic development but I didn't have any real technical skills to contribute to the Senegalese so I came back and applied for a job," he said. "The big banks had training programs and then paid for your MBA."

Carvin spent 10 years working for Manufacturers Hanover Trust, first at the French West African Desk then at the Latin American Desk, during which time he got an MBA at New York University, and even spent a semester in Rio de Janeiro where, on top of Spanish and French, he learned Portuguese.

But after spending 10 years in the private sector, Carvin wanted to get back into public service.

His first move was to attend the mixed career program at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government where he got a master's degree in public administration, which led him back to Port Chester.

"I wanted to contribute to a village management position or an economic development position but I found it was very difficult," Carvin said. "I didn't even get an interview."

After an unsuccessful bid for Village of Port Chester Manager, it was back to business for Carvin. At Morgan, Grenfell and Co. he worked with emerging markets, equity analysis and equity investment. But the call of the community was still too strong. So, in 2005 he ran for the Town Rye Council.

Again, Carvin was disappointed by defeat, but the mayor of Port Chester suggested he apply for a village manager opening.

This time Carvin made the final round, but again was turned down towards the end of the process.

"I did a presentation. Speaking fluent Spanish and Portuguese, I thought I was a good candidate and I was one of the final candidates," Carvin said. "But the board decided to go in a different direction."

That decision ultimately benefited the Town of Rye, because in 2007 Carvin ran for town supervisor and won. 

Since then, Carvin has been on a crusade to make the town as efficient as possible, which Bishop Nowotnik, the supervisor's confidential secretary, says he has achieved so far.

"We've had back-to-back, 20 percent decreases in the tax levy. We initiated a very long overdue capital project at Rye Town Park, fixing the roofs. And I think what he's squarely done, is he's brought attention to the problems with revaluation of property as it relates to taxation," Nowotnik said.

Carvin has also taken a harder stance, implementing the first Rem Foreclosure program in 10 years.

The town, which also includes the villages of Port Chester, Rye Brook and part of the Rye Neck section of Mamaroneck, has foreclosed on 14 commercial properties and has seized title to more than $3.2 million in assessed property value, though the Town is considering letting the owners of two commercial buildings on Purdy Avenue redeem their properties. Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein said the foreclosure program is benefiting the entire community.

"I applaud Joe's efforts to retrieve delinquent taxes through foreclosure.  By doing so, he is helping all Town of Rye taxpayers," Feinstein said.

Carvin is driven by a strong belief in limited government, something he has focused much of his energy on while in office.

"If the private sector can do it you should let the private sector do it. A private sector company has to survive," Carvin said. "So if they can't get anyone to pay they go bankrupt which creates a real discipline in the market that doesn't exist in government."

Carvin's fervor for limited government could jeopardize his job. He is a strong proponent of consolidation and has even considered examining proposals to eliminate the Town of Rye, which if passed, would obviously eliminate the need for a town supervisor.

Just last week, an application to apply for a $50,000 local efficiency grant was submitted to the state with the support of the Town of Rye, and the villages of Rye Brook, Port Chester and Mamaroneck. The application seeks to conduct a feasibility study for the Town and possible alternatives for its villages.

"When Mayor [Dennis] Pilla of Port Chester and I first approached Supervisor Carvin over a year ago about our idea to professionally study the dissolution of the Town, he was very receptive," Feinstein said. "However, he also wants to study how to make the Town more efficient, although he understands that it is not viable to dissolve the Village of Rye Brook, which was formed only 28 years ago."

Carvin said, like the Town of Rye, many municipalities should start rethinking their approach to governance.

"Every public official should be ripping the game plan apart to fundamentally change local government," Carvin said.

"If we don't wake up and smell the coffee soon, we're going to be in some real dire straights," he added. "The U.S. is where Britain was 100 years ago and we really need to rethink what it means to be a model American community and what it means to be a model American."