Positive Change for Westchester
For Westchester to remain a vibrant place to raise a family, find a job, and enjoy a rewarding life, we need a County Executive willing to lead on the important priorities of our day: energizing the regional economy and creating opportunities for all residents to succeed.
In my opinion, Rob Astorino has failed to address these challenges. His Administration has no coherent policy for encouraging smart growth, reforming public institutions, modernizing infrastructure, or improving our quality of life. Instead, Astorino has offered a divisive, short sighted, and right-wing agenda that nickels-and-dimes middle class and working families, while placing our shared future at risk.
Reflexive opposition to government is not a strategy for advancing the common good — not at a moment when the County needs innovation and energy — and I feel an obligation to offer a better path forward.
As County Executive, I will work tirelessly for positive change and act decisively to shape a stronger, healthier Westchester. I will end the petty squabbling that consumes too much time and energy, and instead forge partnerships to:
- adopt forward-looking transit, land use, public health, and environmental plans that grow our economy, attract new jobs, and deliver greater value for every tax dollar;
- confront the duplicative bureaucracy that drives up expenses, increases our regional tax burden, and crowds out essential investments in the future;
- uphold our commitment to seniors, children, working parents, and the vulnerable; and
- stand confidently for reproductive rights, marriage equality, inclusion, and Westchester’s mainstream values.
The Experience to Lead
The experiences, skills and achievements I have compiled as Mayor of New Rochelle prepare me to wage an effective campaign and, more importantly, govern our county with vision and determination.
I have led a diverse and complex community, brought people together to overcome difficult challenges, collaborated with partners throughout Westchester on regional priorities, and addressed issues directly relevant to our County, including:
- successful economic development initiatives that have created new jobs and spurred hundreds of millions in new investment;
- responsible budgets that have given New Rochelle the lowest city tax rate among Westchester’s urban centers, while meeting essential service priorities;
- an award-winning sustainability plan that serves as a detailed twenty-year blueprint for environmental, economic, and social progress; and
- measures to make New Rochelle more affordable and inclusive, such as the construction of new workforce housing and programs to provide job training and career skills to youngsters.
Because of these and other accomplishments, I won my last election with a record-setting 79% of the vote, running strong across every segment of the electorate in a politically competitive city that Rob Astorino carried in 2009.
I have also been an aide to Congresswoman Nita Lowey for more than twenty years and have learned from her the vital importance of hard work, outreach, and communication. I am very proud to have Nita Lowey’s endorsement in my race for County Executive.
A Contest of Values
An election this important needs to be bigger than a clash of personalities or an exercise in name-calling. This is a contest of fundamental values.
As immigrants who came to this country in the 1950s, my parents felt a sense of gratitude, almost a reverence, for the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. They never took these things for granted, and they had no patience for those who looked upon the democratic process with cynicism.
So growing up, I was taught that all people should have goals larger than their own self-interest, that every person deserves respect, and that our own character was measured, in part, by the dignity of the least fortunate among us. With the right aims and in the right hands, government can be an instrument for achieving opportunity, fairness, and progress, and for making lives better.
These principles shape who I am and how I approach every aspect of public life. We are in this together and must affirm our core beliefs with courage and conviction.
I am running for County Executive to do right by our neighbors and fellow citizens, and to shape a future that my children — and all children — can greet with excitement.
It will be a tough challenge, but a worthy one, and Catie and I are filled with determination as we look ahead. Please join us.
Sincerely,
Noam Bramson