Mayor Josh Nathan announced the appointment of a steering committee that will help guide the City of Rye as it updates its comprehensive plan for the first time in 40-plus years.
Here is the 12-person committee, which received unanimous approval at the June 10 City Council meeting, along with a comment from Nathan on each:
- Laura Brett, member of Rye City Planning Commission: “A former City Councilmember and Rye Historical Society officer, and longtime resident many of you know.”
- Christopher Cummins, former NASA rocket scientist and financial strategist: “Now an AI tech expert, he has time on his hands because he works in AI, so he’s got a company that does everything for him. I’m kidding. He’s got time and interest and is a wonderful person.”
- Brian Dempsey, chair of Rye traffic and pedestrian safety committee: “He has been giving countless hours working on traffic and pedestrian safety issues in Rye, chairing that committee for many, many years. His family is multigenerational in Rye, so he brings that perspective to the committee.”
- Justin Driscoll, president of New York Power Authority: “He is a forward-thinking energy futurist and pragmatist, and we are very fortunate that he is going to make time for us. He has a heavy workload, but he loves this community.”
- Nick Everett, chairman of Rye City Planning Commission: “So many of the good things that are here in Rye are because of the insight and good work that Nick and the various teams he’s led have done for us. We’re grateful Nick is going to double down on his volunteerism, and the wisdom will keep coming. Nick was also instrumental in us designing this process and selecting and retaining our consultants.”
- Hilary Garland, chair of Rye Sustainability Committee: “Many of the sustainability initiatives, Hilary was working with those committees and is responsible for a lot of grants coming into Rye and championing our Climate Smart Bronze status and championing our efforts to achieve Silver status.”
- Alexandra Kirk, student at Yale Law School: “Our younger member of this committee, she graduated from Rye High School, attended Columbia, and is a rising third-year law student at Yale Law School. She just completed a massive paper on comprehensive planning. She’s wicked smart and enthusiastic and very much looking forward to the opportunity to work with all the members of this committee.”
- Victoria McMahon, advocate with the Rye Professional Firefighters Foundation: “Representative of the young, up and coming new parents in Rye crowd, and that’s a very important perspective we want to make sure that’s there. She has graciously agreed to work with us, she’s very well connected and tuned into that crowd.”
- Jorge Otero-Pailos, Columbia University architecture and preservation professor: “He works on restoration projects around the world. His greatest selling point to me was seeing his home, which was a Tudor from the early part of the 1900s in which he has renovated in a beautiful way that maintains its character and contributes to the neighborhood but is also a lovely, modern place to live.”
- Christopher Repetto, former Rye Board of Education member: “He served on the Board of Education for 12 years. It was very important we have a school board perspective, that insider perspective and can think about things that way.”
- Danielle Tagger, former City Councilmember: “She was on this committee in its iteration back in 2015. That initiative didn’t go forward. We’re very grateful to have her come back, volunteer and work with us to follow through on something she started and will help us make sure we don’t stop until we’re done.”
- Maria Shuck, former Republican City Council candidate: “Many of you got to know her in the last election. She ran against my ticket. We’ve all gotten to know each other. She’s a wonderful, smart person. She lives in Rye and raised her family here. She’s a lawyer who cares deeply about Rye.”
Nathan said the committee was assembled to represent a broad range of perspectives and expertise, including planning, sustainability, education, historic preservation, energy policy, and community engagement.
“It is a public committee that will have public meetings,” Nathan said. “They will work with members of the community on hearing, listening, and synthesizing with our consultants, and they will bring reports to the council.”
At the start of April, the city put out a call for volunteers to help with the comprehensive planning process. Nathan said about 150 people completed the online interest form, with another couple dozen raising their hands offline.
At the end of April, the city released a survey to better understand volunteers’ perspectives, areas of interest, and availability. Nathan said 71 people responded to the survey, with many more responding that they just want to be kept informed of the plan’s progress.
Nathan said the steering committee will meet about once a month, and several additional working groups will be formed to focus on specific areas of interest. Several young residents will also be invited to participate as junior observers, with those appointments expected to be announced later.
“All of this volunteer work is designed to make sure that we’re working toward a consensus on what we, as a small community that continues to be outstanding and exemplary in so many fashions, continues to be that way and reflects our vision for the future,” Nathan said.
Officials emphasized that the comprehensive plan ultimately will be adopted by the City Council following public hearings.
A comprehensive planning website is expected to launch soon, and residents will have opportunities to participate throughout the process via public meetings, surveys, and other outreach efforts.
