Dear Fellow Villagers,

Sep. 2, 2020: When Mayor Marvin recently approached me to ask if I would consider serving as a Village Trustee, if a vacancy arose, I was flattered and honored.  

As a longtime member and chair of the Village’s Zoning Board, I have had the experience of (and privilege of) working with many other Village volunteer board members as well as senior professional staff at Village Hall – but certainly, there are many other Village residents who would make excellent trustees. To be asked to consider serving in these circumstances is humbling.  

However, the vacancy created by Trustee Mark Wood’s recent decision to resign (combined with a COVID-scrambled Village election calendar) has created a situation where the vacancy (regardless of a temporary appointment) will now need to be filled by write-in votes on the September 15 ballot.  

While Mary Taylor Behrens and Helen Knapp will now effectively be running unopposed for full, two-year Trustee terms, I will be seeking your write-in support on the separate (and blank) ballot line for an interim Trustee term (expiring at next year’s March 2021 election).   

When the Mayor asked me to consider running, she made it clear that she was doing so on a non-partisan basis because she thought my experience and knowledge of the Village would be beneficial at a time when there has recently been greater than usual turnover in Village offices. I similarly made clear that, although the Mayor and I are members of different parties, I would run (and if elected serve) on a non-partisan basis.   

For those who don’t know me, I grew up in Bronxville and attended the Bronxville School for nine years. After graduating from Swarthmore College and Columbia Law School and clerking for a federal judge, I have spent the last 30 years practicing securities and commercial litigation in New York, where I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants. In 1997, I returned to Bronxville with my wife Ivy, and children Charlotte and Thomas.  

As Zoning Board chair, in addition to working with my able colleagues to decide variance requests under existing law, I have worked to identify areas to improve Bronxville’s zoning code, particularly with respect to requiring that “teardowns and rebuilds” be subject to at least some review to ensure that future development is harmonized with the Village’s rich architectural heritage while also adequately addressing 21st century environmental concerns.  

For the past several years, I have also served as the treasurer of the Bronxville-Tuckahoe-Eastchester Nature Preserve, and recently joined the board of the Bronxville Historical Conservancy.  

Most importantly, I feel very fortunate to know residents who have lived here for many years as well as those who have become part of the Bronxville community only recently.  

If elected, I will do my best to give a fair hearing to all points of view, to work with the other trustees to build consensus when possible, and to pursue the fair, just, and efficient administration of Village affairs.  

Thank you for your consideration, and I would be honored to have your write-in vote in the otherwise empty column for the “one year” trustee position (expiring next March) that will be on the September ballot.   

Bill Fredericks

 

Editor's note:  MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements in letters to the editor and letters to the community, and the opinions do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff. Its objective in publishing letters is to give air to diverse thoughts and opinions of residents in the community.