New Mayor Outlines a New Approach to Issues

At the first City Council meeting of the year, before getting down to the evening’s agenda, Mayor Joe Sack delivered the State of the City address.

By Robin Jovanovich

At the first City Council meeting of the year, before getting down to the evening’s agenda, Mayor Joe Sack delivered the State of the City address. While his speech wasn’t replete with new initiatives, to some degree because, as he noted, many of the important issues are not new, Mr. Sack pressed the point that he will change the way the City approaches important issues. “And in so doing, perhaps we may achieve some resolution to these issues and find outcomes which are most beneficial to the people of Rye.”

Mayor Sack called for a fresh start to the police contract negotiations, one in which management and collective bargaining units “work together to cultivate mutual understanding of the respective economic pressures which we are all under, in order to arrive at mutual respect and trust.”

He stated his intention to stay on top of two significant multi-unit residential projects: the affordable senior housing project at 150 North Street and Theodore Fremd Avenue, and the senior-assisted living facility at 120 Old Post Road. While City staff has been working closely with County officials for months to move the affordable project forward, the latter project is still in the formative stage. Mr. Sack said, “We cannot allow these projects to meander.”

Regarding major infrastructure projects, which were funded by the 2012 bond issue and are set to begin this year, Sack said, “Let’s keep tabs on them, and also find time to pursue other long-neglected projects, like improvements and parking at the train station, and possible renovations at the court facility.”

While he never mentioned his predecessor by name, the new mayor implied that his predecessor hadn’t done enough in some areas. Sack remarked that, “Checks and balances and oversight have been less than tight in the City;” and that at Rye Golf Club, “we need to more aggressively pursue the employee theft insurance claim filed in the wake of the management scandal.”

And, in the tradition of mayors before him, Mr. Sack praised the state of the City, “its solid foundation, its dedicated employees, and our friends and families and neighbors who volunteer their time.”