Town & Village Candidates
Re-Elect
Elizabeth Feldman
Ossining Town Supervisor
Liz believes the Town should prioritize affordability and easing the tax burden on residential taxpayers; protecting Ossining's watershed, ecosystem and remaining green spaces; making sure that our parks and riverfront are well maintained and accessible to all; and improving communication and collaboration with all of Ossining's residents and business owners.
As a lifelong resident of Ossining, her first half in the unincorporated Town of Ossining and the second half in the Village, Liz has a deep understanding and appreciation of their differences, and how they can work together and yet retain their own identities.
As a member of the Town Board since 2015, and now as Supervisor, Liz has been focusing on replacing our aging infrastructure and addressing the increasing needs of our storm water systems. She has been working diligently to find and use grant funding opportunities to support this important work.
Other priorities include implementing the Comprehensive Plan, preserving historic structures, and incorporating fuel efficient and energy producing technologies to our buildings and fleet to be more sustainable and save taxpayers money.
In a full term, Liz looks forward to continuing the Town Board’s work to find energy efficiencies while reducing our carbon footprint and working in collaboration with Sustainable Westchester on the new geothermal heat program. Another priority is finding affordable housing options for seniors and community members without overburdening our infrastructure. She also believes that Ossining should join Briarcliff in incentivizing new commercial businesses to revitalize vacant commercial properties to support our tax base, rather than turning them into residential areas that will add more students to the Ossining school system. Most importantly, she will continue to listen to and collaborate with all members of the community to understand what works best for Ossining.
Re-Elect
Pete Connolly
Superintendent of Highways
Pete has more than 40 years in the public works field, which helped greatly when he took over the highway department after his predecessor’s retirement. The department had lost over 50 years of experience with retirements over the last 5 or so years; having his experienced leadership made the transition better for the continued operation of the highway department.
During Pete's tenure as highway superintendent, the department has upgraded its sewerage lift stations; resurfaced over two miles of roads; replaced over 1000 feet of guard rail; started yearly road striping with their own personnel; completed a road sign replacement project; replaced drainage lines on Cedar Lane, Stonegate Road, and Gordon Avenue; and participated in the McCarthy Drive rebuilding project, to name just a few accomplishments.
Prior to assuming leadership of the highway department, Pete worked with and managed over 450 volunteers as chief of the OFD and served as cemetery superintendent for over 6 years. His goals are to continue to maintain and improve our town infrastructure, keep our roads safe, and provide excellent responsive service to our residents.
Re-Elect
Rika Levin
Ossining Village Mayor
Rika Levin’s family immigrated to the USA when she was seven years old. She was raised mostly in New York State. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and earned her MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU. She spent more than 25 years in management, new product development, diversity management, and eventually Chief Marketing Officer in Fortune 100 companies in New York. She is currently in management at a large Westchester not for profit organization.
Rika and her husband Mark have resided in Ossining for more than 30 years and raised their two daughters here. After serving in numerous community organizations, her interest grew to public service in Ossining. In 2015, she was appointed Village Trustee. She is currently happily serving as Mayor, and is seeking re-election for a fourth term. Mayor Levin is proud of the work she has done to re-engineer the 13 volunteer committees that support the work of the Board and represent the public. The commitment to building bridges in our community between staff, elected officials at all levels of government and the public has given the Village the team strength to win numerous grants to improve the Village, including a $10 million DRI grant and $15 million in grants to support the modernization of Ossining's water treatment facility. Her inclusive successful bridge building mandate have her laser focused on improving technology and communications for the public at large, fair and safe housing for all in the community, environmental improvements to make Ossining “the greenest village in the country,“ ethics policies, parks and recreation, and right-sized post pandemic redevelopment for the 21st century.
Going forward she is building on past successes and focusing on keeping a balanced fiscal policy, code enforcement, business improvements for upper Croton Avenue, enhancements to the community center, and advancing the youth bureau.
Re-Elect
Dana White
Ossining Village Trustee
Dana White is running for her third term as Ossining Village Trustee. She has worked as liaison to several village commissions, including the Environmental Advisory Council and the Ossining Arts Project. She sits on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Route 9 Road Diet, and was part of the team that produced the winning video for the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Grant.
Prior to this, Dana was Ossining Village Historian for five and a half years. In addition to Trustee, she works as a freelance writer. Dana moved to Ossining in the spring of 1991 with her husband David; they have two sons, both of whom went through Ossining schools.
“As a journalist I am trained to look at both sides of a situation and explore the gray areas, to think independently and objectively, and I apply this approach to every issue in front of me.”
Re-Elect
Pat Yost
Ossining Village Trustee
Pat Yost is a lifelong Democrat and long-term resident of Ossining. He and his wife chose to live in Ossining for its diversity, history, proximity to New York City and the Hudson River, affordability, outdoor spaces, and wonderful people. He is more excited about the future of the area than when he first arrived, and is committed to making sure Ossining remains a great place to live, work, and enjoy leisure time.
Pat is seeking re-election to help steer Ossining through a complex set of opportunities and challenges. Navigating these issues successfully requires a fresh, informed, and balanced perspective, which he has a demonstrated ability to provide. Pat has professional experience as a business consultant in addition to years of experience volunteering in local institutions. He was chosen to co-lead the Village of Ossining Comprehensive Plan Committee and to chair the Recreation Advisory Board, in addition to his service as a board member at the Ossining Children’s Center and a volunteer for our local youth baseball and soccer leagues. Pat has also advocated for the sustainability and resiliency of Ossining’s waterfront and drinking water. Working with local, state and federal officials, Pat spearheaded the work to obtain and execute a $1.2 million Federal Boating Infrastructure Grant project on the Ossining waterfront. He also participated in the Cornell Climate-adaptive Design Studio, and is a member of the Drinking Water Source Protection Program team.
Pat will continue to support successful investment, work to further improve affordability and appropriate development across the VIllage, continue to advance work recommended in the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, support local arts and businesses, and proactively address the resiliency of the waterfront and our parks. Most of all, he will continue listening to, learning from, and understanding Ossining residents and stakeholders.