Outgoing Mt. Pleasant Councilmen Reflect on Service to Town

An end of a political era is at hand in Mount Pleasant.

Councilmen Peter DeMilio and Thomas Sialiano, who have a combined 32 years of service on the town board, have reached the end of their tenure with the close of 2013.

DeMilio, who was on the town board for 20 years, decided against seeking another term. Sialiano, a 12-year councilman, was bypassed for endorsement by the town Republican Party and declined to campaign for another term even though he appeared on the Independence Party line.

Both men served Mount Pleasant long before landing on the town board. Sialiano was a member of the architectural review board for one year before being appointed to the planning board, where he served for just over 10 years. DeMilio, an active volunteer in the Valhalla Ambulance Corps, was on the Westchester County Airport Advisory Board for 12 years.

“When I came on the board there was a lot of controversy,” recalled DeMilio, 61, who is retired from operating a family-owned liquor store in Valhalla “There were a lot of politics. And Bob Meehan, who was supervisor at the time, asked if I would run and I agreed. I thought that I could bring some level-headedness to the board. We were friendly. We had similar thoughts about the future of the town and I thought it would be a good match and it turned out that it was.”

Sialiano, 54, said he had clear goals before serving on the town board.

“Being that I had some planning experience and business experience, my goal was to help improve the quality of life for our residents, to really give them a bang for their dollar, to give them the greatest service available for the least amount of taxes,” said Sialiano. “And we certainly accomplished that goal.”

DeMilio said one of his main accomplishments on the board was the construction of the community center, with its accompanying public swimming pool, which opened in the mid-1990s.

“It’s an asset for the town and the community,” he said, adding that real estate agents bring clients interested in buying a home in town to the facility. “It’s a draw. I think it’s enhanced property values. It’s well attended. It pays for itself and I think we might see some expansion (at the pool) up there in the future.”

Sialiano said working to have the public library renovated when he was a library board liaison was one of the projects he was most proud to see. The renovation projects included a new roof and improvements to the children’s department, he said.

“Basically, our success was predicated on teamwork,” Sialiano said. “What I’m really most proud of is that during a recession that we all helped each other. We made some very tough decisions that were very hard to make as far as personnel. We reduced our personnel by 20 to 22 people.”

As a result of the board’s actions, Mount Pleasant now has a budget surplus after some trying financial times, he said.

“We created business during a very, very difficult market, plus kept the town operating successfully and provided top-level service,” he said.

“We didn’t have a lot of fat to cut back in ’08,” DeMilio added. “We were pretty streamlined as it was.”

One of the town board’s long-term goals was to see the Legion of Christ property in Thornwood return to the tax rolls. With the recent zoning text change and planning board approval to place a boarding school on a portion of the property, that will become a key improvement for the town, Sialiano said.

However, DeMilio chided the state’s property tax cap, signed into law in 2011, calling it “a farce.”

“It’s one of the most ridiculous things the state’s come up with,” he said. “Why don’t they put a cap on the state budget? It’s political. They come out with what they think is a great concept and then they leave it to us to implement.”

Municipalities cannot meet unfunded state mandates such as pension contributions and medical costs with the cap.

“It’s almost impossible,” Sialiano said.

DeMilio said there was one disappointment during his tenure on the town board: land acquisition for recreation. In addition, the town could use an indoor sports facility, he said.

The outgoing councilmen were praised by Supervisor Joan Maybury.

“Both of them have been wonderful members of our community and came forward at a time when they were needed,” Maybury said. “We’re going to miss them very much.”

Though he understands there are time constraints for most residents, including the need to work long hours to pay for rising costs in order to live in Westchester, Sialiano strongly recommends public service.

“I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever,” he said. “I think everyone should do community service and step up.”