It was far from business as usual for the Chamber of Commerce and New Rochelle and the New Rochelle Rotary Club last Wednesday night. The two organizations teamed up to invite County Executive Robert Astorino to give an overview of his first year in office and discuss future plans for the County.
More than 100 people attended the event at the Davenport Club in New Rochelle, NY including Mayor Noam Bramson, Superintendent of Schools Richard Organisciak and Chamber of Commerce President Cynthia Lobo. Astorino, who has been a Rotary member since 1995, was happy to attend.
“I applaud Rob for his willingness to address issues,” Bramson told the crowd as he introduced the key speaker.
The event was a bipartisan one, addressing issues that affect all members of the community — particularly our high taxes.
“I hate the fact that Westchester is the highest taxed county in America,” Astorino said. “But we have shown that it is possible to keep taxes down.”
Since his time in office, Astorino has helped to bring the tax levy down 2% by cutting expenses in each department, restructuring and eliminating some positions. His cuts, however, are not blind ones. Astorino has made a conscious effort to not affect the county bus system, which currently has about 110,000 riders.
He also discussed cutting state employee pensions to cut the budget. Though his frankness has been admired by some, it has been met with opposition from others, particularly unions.
“Truthfully, I do not blame the union voters for expecting what elected officials in the past have given them, this is the problem, they gave away the store,” Astorino said. “Now we have to hold the line and start correcting.”
Astorino seeks to promote economic growth within the county, but he said it “requires the private and public sectors to work together.”
“The government does not create jobs, but it does create the environment for jobs to flourish or die,” Astorino explained.
He would like to offer tax and mortgage abatements as well as lower utility rates for businesses. Overall, Astorino was well received by his audience.
“I tried to give an honest assessment of where we are as a county,” Astorino said.
Cynthia Lobo, the President of the Chamber of Commerce of New Rochelle felt Astorino’s remarks were a success as well.
“It was a wonderful event,” Lobo said. “Well attended and well received. I appreciate Rob’s candor.”
