Larchmont Gazette Interviews the Candidates:
Anne McAndrews

See Election 2003 for more on all the candidates.

by Paula Eisenberg & Judy Silberstein

(March 5, 2003 ) At the end of college, Anne McAndrews was faced with a difficult decision: continue studies in law or public administration? Ultimately she chose law school, but only after an internship with the state of Massachusetts where she learned the ins and outs of service delivery. “Government service is political – you have to get into office,” she noted, “But you also have to have the understanding of public administration. I think I have a pretty good understanding of both.”

McAndrews believes her experiences in public administration will be particularly useful in helping the Village get through the next period. “The way the Village of Larchmont is run will be ending with the retirement of the current Village Treasurer, Carmine de Luca. “It’s inevitable,” she declared. “At the moment we have a part-time treasurer who is really working triple time, and these days are going to end.” McAndrews has not decided on the optimal approach going forward. “This is not on the front burner at the moment,” she said. “But this is a big question that if I were elected I would bring to the forefront.”

McAndrews' last political foray was as the Democratic candidate for Mayor of Larchmont in 2002. Though she did not win, she is proud of the run and of the results. “I think I had an excellent chance to be elected if I had run for Trustee.”

She is running again because, “There were many things that I started that I’d like to see to fruition. The streetscape, zoning reform, Flint Park, Village governance, the Reservoir and Greenway are the most obvious. I’d like to finish these up,” she said.

She believes she has a good chance of prevailing this time and cites her experience, her reasonable approach and her ability to bring all the constituents to the table in a nonadversarial way.

All candidates had an earlier opportunity to outline and comment on their top priorities. In addition, McAndrews cited planning and zoning as her particular areas of expertise and interest. “I have the perspective of being on a Zoning Board and a Planning Board - for a number of years - that none of the other candidates or trustees has. “My approach is non-confrontational, consensus building. I like to have everyone on-board,” she added.

Constituency service is of particular interest to McAndrews. People come to her with concerns, looking for solutions, she explained. The solution may require a new law or enforcement of an existing law. “Sometimes,” she pointed out, “there isn’t a government solution and you have to rely on your sense of neighborliness.“

She gave as an example the issue of construction noise on which she was working before she left the Board. “I give credit to Chris Verni for running with that one. A Village law was passed to address the problem.” Often, though a law already exists and, “Then it becomes a fiscal issue of how you’re going to allocate Village resources to enforce the laws we already have.”

Asked to comment on intergovernmental cooperation, McAndrews replied, “You betcha! We cannot lose sight of the fact that we are a very small Village. The problems we’re facing do not stop at the borders. Ikea and 9-11 were not in the Village. Most of the Greenway is not in the Village, but we have to be involved with other governments to manage the problems and take advantage of the opportunities.”

She also supports cooperation on Flint Park planning. “Larchmont’s Flint Park merges with the Hommocks nature area in the contiguous part of Town of Mamaroneck. “Wouldn’t it be great to have a trail that went from Larchmont right through to the Hommocks trail?”

However, she has yet to decide whether Larchmont should join a proposed united sewer district. “Cooperation is one thing," she said, “but control of the Village over its own assets is another. Ultimately the Village is accountable.”

All the candidates have been attending budget meetings in the Village. “This is going to be a brutal budget year for the Village budget,” predicted McAndrews. In her view, “It would be unreasonable to keep tax levels the same as last year.” The Village is facing rising pension and insurance costs that are elevating budgets throughout the County. McAndrews pointed out that these increases are, by and large, out of the control of the Village Board.

"The residents of Larchmont need to pay a great deal of attention to the budget process this year and make their opinions known to the Board," McAndrews advised. She believes it’s up to the residents to make it very clear if they’re willing to see cuts in services or willing to pay more.

“Thank God we have a surplus!” she exclaimed, but added, “The surplus is to be used with great care.” She pointed out that because of the surplus Larchmont enjoys the lowest rates for borrowing to finance capital improvements. However she made clear, “I don’t believe in dipping into Village surpluses to keep tax increases unrealistically low.”

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Interview with Geoff Young