Aug. 6, 2014: "What's most exciting about local government management is that it is truly the government that's closest to the people," said Bronxville's new village administrator, James M. Palmer. He brings a strong background in public service and a career of more than twenty years dedicated to local government management to the village.

"I always had a strong desire for public service," Palmer said, "and I attribute that to my grandmother, who served as president of the Westchester Women's Club for many years. She truly instilled in me the importance of public service.”

A graduate of St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont, with a degree in business administration and a minor in political science, Palmer earned his master's degree at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at SUNY Albany.

While still in graduate school, Palmer entered professional local government management when he accepted a position with Schenectady County Manager Robert McEvoy, former manager for the Town of Rye and assistant city manager of Yonkers. "He was professor, mentor, and a master of local government," Palmer said. "Through him I gained exposure to everything within the county. He was absolutely terrific."

From Schenectady County, Palmer moved to the Village/Town of Mount Kisco, where he began his 20-year tenure working for the village manager, eventually assuming that position. "I wore just about every hat in municipal management in Mount Kisco," Palmer said.

Although Mount Kisco has a larger population and covers more square miles than Bronxville, Palmer noted similarities between the two communities, including downtown areas similar in size that contain a significant number of co-op apartments along with retail establishments and a hospital that generates a significant number of vital statistics requests. He described his administrative functions in both communities as much the same, but with Mount Kisco being one of only five coterminous village/towns in the State of New York, and the only one with separate assessing units, Palmer served as both village assessor and town assessor.

In Bronxville, beyond the administrative aspects of the village administrator's position, Palmer is involved in the many village projects currently in progress and soon to be initiated. His duties also include serving as the village clerk and the records management officer. 

He noted that designs for island and tree placement are being finalized for the Garden Avenue Lot and that the lot will be repaved during August. He hopes that, in September, a consulting engineering contract can be awarded to move forward with the design to rehabilitate and repair the Parkway Road Bridge, closed for over a year. At that time, Palmer said, he will work with the village attorney to draft the intermunicipal agreement between the village, Town of Eastchester, City of Yonkers, and County of Westchester that will facilitate the bridge repairs.

Palmer and Vincent Pici, superintendent of buildings and village engineer, have met with the engineers who are completing designs for the flood mitigation project, a joint project with the school district and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Palmer estimated that groundbreaking could begin in January of 2015 with a targeted completion date in the summer.

Palmer has also met with a construction manager to discuss designs for a new department of public works facility. "It's long overdue," he said. "Our vehicles are exposed to the elements and the space is tight."

"The beautiful thing is that, in local government, you can touch and feel a lot of those projects," Palmer observed, adding that citizens are aware of what local government provides them. "An educated, engaged public that participates in the process is a benefit and what makes it exciting is that it's totally accessible."

Pictured here:  New Bronxville Village administrator, James Palmer.

Photo by N. Bower