Feiner Facing Challenge for Greenburgh Supervisor in Dem Primary
If Paul Feiner were to win re-election this year to a 16th term as Greenburgh supervisor, he would stand alone as the longest continuously serving supervisor in Westchester County. It’s a distinction he currently shares with Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi, who has announced her retirement at the end of the year.
Feiner touts his 30 years of town government experience and his continued passion for the job. He loves helping people and improving their quality of life.
“I really have a lot of accomplishments,” he said. “We’re putting in a lot of sidewalks all over the town and I feel like the main thing about this job is instead of just complaining, I’m able to really make a difference.”
But this year Feiner, 65, will have to fend off a political newcomer to win the Democratic nomination again. Tasha Young has spent most of her career in managerial and business administrative capacities for nonprofit organizations before serving as land use policy director and then chief of staff to the New York City Council majority leader.
Young, 49, said she is running for supervisor to focus on several matters that have not received adequate attention. She said there are residents in a swath of town, particularly in the villages, who feel ignored and want their town government to attend to their needs.
“So that’s how I approach it, listening to people in a 360-degree feedback loop and it is engagement, and just letting them know what the role of the supervisor is and how the supervisor can address their concerns,” Young said.
One major concern for Young is the housing issue, where there is not enough targeted or workforce housing for people earning between $50,000 and $100,000. That salary level includes working people, young professionals early in their career, new college graduates and single parents.
The town would look to incentivize building more affordable and workforce units for developers, she said.
“These are just two things, putting the threads of government together to look at this and to solve this when a developer comes negotiating for the greatest public return and then expanding affordability to that demographic,” Young said.
She also would want to have developers build with green energy and attract more independent shops rather than big-box retail along Route 9A.
Young said she has no major issues with Feiner but that 30 years is long enough for the same person serve in one role.
“I am not Mr. Feiner’s enemy; we are opponents and we are in a very competitive race,” Young said.
Feiner, who has run in two previous primaries, said he’s taking nothing for granted.
“I think one of the biggest problems in the county is that most people don’t have contested elections, so it really keeps you on your toes,” Feiner said. “I feel like I’m better when I have an opponent.”
He ticked off a long list of accomplishments during his tenure, ranging from major initiatives to dealing with small problems that some officials might not bother with. Feiner’s administration initiated the Fix It Greenburgh program where people take photos of potholes on their phone and transmit them to the town. It goes directly to GPS so crews can be dispatched for repairs.
He said he was proud that nearly 30 percent of the Greenburgh Police Department are officers of color, and Greenburgh was the first police force in the county to require all officers to have body cameras.
Currently, there are 70 units of senior housing being built on Manhattan Avenue, a complex that will be more than twice the number of units then what had previously been at the same site, Feiner said. Then there’s the former Westhab facility with 70 affordable units and another 45 are being built in Edgemont.
“We’ve taken foreclosed properties and we’ve turned it over to affordable housing developers,” explained Feiner. “We did that a few times like the Waterwheel in Ardsley, which is workforce housing.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/