Calves’ column leaves affordability unanswered

Dear Editor,

I read Supervisor Ellen Calves' recent guest column explaining why she deserves another term in office ("Why I want to continue serving Bedford," Oct. 8, Page 16).

It was a pleasant collection of anecdotes about helping a resident with a septic system, supporting a music festival, and expanding recreational fishing opportunities.

All commendable. And if we were electing Bedford's community engagement director, she'd have my vote.

But we're not. We're electing a town supervisor.

That position comes with considerably greater responsibilities, including overseeing a $48 million municipal budget, managing taxpayer resources, maintaining infrastructure, and advocating for the financial interests of roughly 17,000 residents.

And conspicuously absent from her entire column was any meaningful discussion of perhaps the most pressing issue facing Bedford households: affordability.

After more than five years in office, that's a remarkable omission. Perhaps even more remarkable is how many of the financial pressures residents face have been compounded by decisions made under her administration.

Consider the costs of living in Bedford.

We already shoulder some of the highest property taxes in the country. Yet rather than demonstrating how town government is working to ease that burden, residents have watched costs continue to climb.

Last year, the administration shifted library funding responsibilities to a separate voter-approved tax mechanism through a rarely used Section 414 proposition. Whatever the merits of the arrangement, the result was another tax obligation for Bedford property owners, outside the traditional town budget.

Then there's Sustainable Westchester. Bedford residents were automatically enrolled in a community energy program that left many households paying substantially more for electricity. The program was ultimately halted following state regulatory intervention. Where was the financial advocacy for residents paying those inflated bills?

Or consider Bedford's restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers. Whatever one's environmental preferences, these policies have real economic consequences. Landscapers face additional costs and restrictions, which are inevitably passed along to homeowners. Residents who maintain their own properties face additional time and expense. These costs may never appear as a line item in the town budget, but Bedford families pay them nonetheless.

And then there are our roads. Anyone who regularly drives through Bedford knows the condition of many state-maintained roads is unacceptable. Yes, Albany controls those roads. But a town supervisor's job includes advocating relentlessly with our state representatives to ensure Bedford receives its fair share of infrastructure attention and investment. Residents shouldn't have to distinguish between levels of government every time they hit another pothole.

Meanwhile, town government itself continues to expand, with additional administrative positions, including a chief of staff, and an ever-growing reliance on outside consultants. Residents deserve to know what measurable value they're receiving for these expenditures.

None of these issues received meaningful attention in the Supervisor's column.

Instead, we were offered three feel-good stories and an invitation to read her weekly newsletter.

I don't question that Supervisor Calves enjoys the community-facing aspects of her job. Nor do I dispute that helping individual residents and bringing people together are worthwhile pursuits.

But good intentions, community events and personal anecdotes are not substitutes for fiscal leadership.

The question isn't whether Ellen Calves cares about Bedford. I have no reason to believe she doesn't.

The question is whether Bedford residents are better off financially after more than five years of her leadership, and what she intends to do about the mounting costs of living here.

That's the case a candidate for town supervisor should be making to voters.

And it's the case her column conspicuously failed to make.

-Michael Palladino, Bedford Hills