Virtual Meeting Gains Volunteers for Tarrytown Boards

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November 3, 2020

By Robert Kimmel–

Running a virtual meeting, a widely used procedure now because of the pandemic, may have opened the way for the Village of Tarrytown to recruit residents more successfully to serve on its various committees, boards and councils. That is the observation of Josh Ringel, Assistant Village Administrator, who handled the mechanics of an “Open House” Zoom session last week designed to increase the number of volunteers offering to serve within those units.

While the Mayor, Board of Trustees, Village Administrator Richard Slingerland, department heads and their staffs manage the business of the village, these boards and committees make countless decisions in the execution of the municipal laws and rules.

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With as many as 20 or more interested village residents in virtual attendance, the chairs and leaders of the committees and councils described their organizations’ role, how they work and what is expected of their members. Collectively, dozens of village residents volunteer and are selected to serve on the different units.

“Overall, I’d say it was a success,” Ringel said of the evening “Open House.” “We had a higher turnout than expected. We want to build a candidate pool, because openings can come up at any time,” he added. As for the present, he noted that preliminarily, five people who attended the meeting submitted applications to be on a board or council.

”I think that ZOOM actually lent itself very well to this type of event,” Ringel noted. “Those who were interested but wanted to only stay for a certain amount of time could do so. For those who were ‘on the fence,’ the format made the event more accessible since they didn’t have to be physically present. Overall, the goal was to create a bank of volunteers from which the village could draw in the future. I think we’ve started that,” he concluded.

Participation by village officials and chairs and representatives of the committees and councils was extensive and inclusive. Mayor Thomas Butler, Village Administrator Richard Slingerland, Deputy Mayor Rebecca McGovern. Trustee Karen Brown and Recreation Supervisor Joe Arduino were all present.

Chairs or Co-Chairs, and representatives of the volunteer groups making presentations included Jane Greenwood, Chair Architectural Review Board; Rachel Tieger, Co-Chair, Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council, (TEAC); Dean Gallea, Co-Chair TEAC, and Warner Library Board Representative; Thomas Coughlin, Traffic and Mobility Council Co-Chair and Parking Task Force Member; Mitch Chalsen, Traffic and Mobility Council Co-Chair; Jim Desimone, Parks & Recreation Advisory Council Chair; Sadie McKeown, Chair, Chair Housing Affordability Task Force, and member, Tarrytown Municipal Housing Authority; Martin Hauser, Tree Commission Co-Chair, and TEAC member; Anne O’Brien, Tree Commission Co-Chair, and David Auckland, Planning Board member and Co-Chair of the Comprehensive Plan Management Committee. Trustee Brown also spoke about the activities of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Most of these Councils, Boards and Committees consist of five to seven members, who serve for terms up to five-years and meet monthly. At present, five open membership spots exist within the various groups.

Ringel arranged the virtual session so that attending residents were divided into groups in a way that allowed them all to interface more intimately with the presenters on a rotating basis. The prospective volunteers were given time to ask questions at the end of each presentation. The Village is not likely to have any similar meetings for prospective volunteers during the rest of this year, according to Ringel. However, he anticipates “something similar in the future.”

Warner Library Board member Dean Gallea found the virtual meeting “…a good opportunity to talk about the Library’s board, describe what we do, and provide a little bit of Warner’s history.” He saw good reason to repeat such meetings in the year ahead.

Further information about the committees, along with links to an application, can be found at https://www.tarrytowngov.com/volunteer-to-serve .

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