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Bronxville Village Election is March 19, 2024: Candidate Information, Meet & Greet March 14, and Where to Vote

Photo by A. Warner

By Staff

March 13, 2024: Village Justice Natasha Nordahl and Village Trustees Mary Taylor Behrens and Helen Knapp are running for reelection on Tuesday, March 19th.  All are running unopposed.  

There are three polling locations for the Village elections. Polls are open from 6A.M. to 9P.M.  The polling locations are:

-Districts 16 & 17 - Village Hall - 200 Pondfield Rd

-Districts 18, 19 & 21 - Fire House - Corner of Midland Ave & Palumbo Pl

-District 20 & 22 - Christ Church - 17 Sagamore Rd

Find your polling location here.

There will be a meet and greet for the candidates at the Bronxville Public library on Thursday March 14th from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.  All are invited.

Below is information about the candidates.

Natasha Nordahl

Bronxville Village Justice Natasha Nordahl is running for re-election.  Ms. Nordahl was first elected in September 2020, the first female and the first Democrat elected to this position.
 
She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Duke University and Brooklyn Law School. She worked as a litigator in New York City for over 20 years, specializing in litigation in the State and local courts in many different disciplines.
 
Ms. Nordahl and her family have lived in the Village since 2002. She has been a member of the Village Planning Board and served on the Board of the Friends of the Bronxville Public library. In her free time, Ms. Nordahl volunteers with food banks and is an active volunteer in the Reformed Church Clothing Closet.
 
She is a member of the Judicial Selection Committee which evaluates the fitness of retired New York Supreme Court Judges to serve as Judicial Hearing Officers. Before becoming a Village Justice, Ms. Nordahl was also an active volunteer assisting low-income litigants in Supreme Court, Westchester County, and has served as a fee dispute arbitrator for the 9th Judicial District.
 
When asked about what she has enjoyed most about her role as Village Justice, Ms. Nordahl says, "I really enjoy interacting with the people who appear before me and addressing both the routine and novel questions of law I encounter. I have also enjoyed becoming part of the community of justices in our area and statewide."
 
She also says that she and many of her colleagues have found that "sitting on the bench changes a person.  As a Justice, I am witness to the highs and lows of people's lives and I see people who are in distress. So, I would say that the most surprising aspect of my role as justice has been the extent to which the role has changed my outlook on almost every part of my life."
   
She also says that voters should know that "matters of consequence take place in the Village Justice Court and that it is important to elect committed and qualified people to the position of Village Justice.:
 
She further says, "It has been my sincere privilege to serve the Village of Bronxville as well as those who have appeared before me, especially alongside my colleague, Justice William Primps.  It is my goal and practice for each individual who appears before our court to leave the court knowing that they have been treated with respect, they have been heard, and to appreciate that the law has been fairly applied. It is my commitment to my fellow residents to discharge my duties, each and every day, to the best of my ability."

Mary Taylor Behrens

 

Mary Taylor Behrens is a life-long resident of Bronxville. She was voted to the Trustee board in 2020 and is currently running for re-election for a third term. She has extensive corporate and non-for-profit experience that she brings to the Village community. She is known for her strong leadership and working collaboratively with her colleagues to get things done.

Ms. Taylor Behrens' accomplishments as a Trustee include:

-Village point person for the renovation of Maltby Park into a beautiful new 2.7-acre park on Paxton Avenue which includes a playground, picnic tables, benches, new plantings, and a fence to safely enclose the park

-Supporter of the crosswalk and sidewalks on Rt. 22 at Elm Rock connecting the east and west sides of Bronxville

-Improved communication with residents through the “One Square Mile” monthly newsletter which details the work being done at the Village

-Supporter of environmentally friendly initiatives, including the food scrap recycling program and restricted use of gas-powered leaf blowers

-Integral committee member and planner of the Village’s 125th Anniversary celebration

-Working on flood mitigation efforts with the Mayor and other Trustees

-Strong supporter and partner of the Village Police Department

-Liaison with NYP Westchester (formerly NYP Lawrence) and Iona University

Ms. Taylor Behrens is active in the Bronxville community. She has served as the Chairwoman of the Bronxville School Foundation, as a Senior Warden at Christ Church of Bronxville, and as a member of the Board of NYP Lawrence Hospital.

She spent 20 years in the finance industry in New York City holding a variety of investment banking positions and was on the Executive Committee at Merrill Lynch & Co. She was the most senior woman running the $360 billion asset management division at Merrill when she retired. Mary then served on three public healthcare company boards, including the compensation, audit, nominating and governance committees.

Ms. Taylor Behrens received a B.A. in Government from Georgetown University where she was a Division 1 track athlete and co-captain of the team her senior year. She graduated from Bronxville High School where was the first recruited woman scholarship athlete. She has remained actively involved with Georgetown as the founding Co-Head of the Women’s Athletic Allegiance and Emeritus member of the Georgetown Board of Regents.

Helen Knapp

 

Helen Knapp is running for a second term as Village Trustee.  Ms. Knapp was born in Bronxville and attended the Bronxville School K-12. After graduation, she went on to the University of Virginia and then to The John Hopkins University, where she obtained an MA in International Relations. 

Ms. Knapp spent almost 15 years with Citicorp first working in corporate finance and then in international private wealth management. She then worked for a NY-based global not-for-profit, developing partnerships between private philanthropists, governments and businesses to create long-term solutions to poverty, social inequality in developing countries. 

Ms. Knapp and her husband, Charles, moved to Bronxville in 2002 to raise their family. They have two daughters who attended the Bronxville School and are currently in college.

Ms. Knapp has been involved with the Bronxville School, serving on numerous committees and as President of the Bronxville School PTA. She has also been a member of the Bronxville Non-Partisan Committee. Knapp also served as a Governor of the Bronxville Field Club for six years. She was also an alternate on the Village Planning Board for two years. She currently serves as a guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ms. Knapp had enjoyed "working with the amazing staff at Village Hall, the police force, our DPW and my fellow Trustees to address issues that are important to our residents and to get things done." 

She has also enjoyed working with Bronxville residents who she describes as "incredibly smart, passionate and generous with their time and resources, and their deep involvement on several successful recent and ongoing projects is one of the things that make Bronxville so special."

Ms. Knapp mentioned a few recent examples of successful recent projects including "the incredible transformation of Maltby Park, improvements to the Sagamore Playground and the current outdoor patio expansion project at the Public Library."

She has taken a particular interest in the Bronxville Green Committee which has worked on important initiatives such as "food scraping, the gas-powered leaf blower ban and finding ways to reduce waste and improve energy efficiency" to make our community greener.

She also works closely with the Bronxville Chamber of Commerce "to keep our business district vibrant and growing."  She is particularly impressed with "the new events, services and social media outreach they are promoting to draw shoppers and diners to our downtown."

Going forward, Ms. Knapp's top concerns are "our aging infrastructure, particularly flooding issues, as we have all seen the negative results of recent storm events on our neighborhoods."  The Board is also working on completing "a re-vamp of our outdoor dining program.