Election Day might not be until 2015 in Greenport, but at least one village resident is ready to run for a seat on the village board.
Douglas Roberts announced at Monday’s village board meeting that he will be running for one of the two open village trustee seats after the terms of both George Hubbard Jr. and Dave Murray expire. Incumbent Greenport Village Mayor David Nyce’s term will also expire in 2015.
According to Village Clerk Sylvia Lazzari Pirillo, an independent nominating petition is one of the required steps to run for election in the Village.
Roberts said he’s decided to run because he believes that residents need to be more connected to their government. “The people of Greenport deserve leaders who have the best of integrity, as well as the ability to think outside the box and solve problems.”
His career, Roberts said, involves helping clients to do just that; he’s an entrepreneur whose business focuses on educational technology, working with former teachers or technologists to solve problems in schools, as well as connecting with school district leaders to seek answers. “My business is one of connecting people with people. That’s the kind of work that needs to get done in government. We need to return government in Greenport to a place where village residents trust it.”
During his campaign, Roberts said he plans to walk around the village, talking to residents and asking what they need in government.
To start, he’d like to see some procedural fixes. Village meetings, he said, are not held at an “appropriate time for people with families”; he believes they need to be held later in the evening. In addition, he said, “Work sessions don’t involve any interaction with the public. We have people who come to these meetings all the time who volunteer to help in certain ways. I think we need to engage people who want to help and find vehicles to get them more involved.”
His professional skills will help to facilitate forming connections; in addition, Roberts added that he believes the village should do more to seek outside grant funding.
Transparency is key, Roberts said. “People in this village feel like they’re not getting enough information from their government right now. One of my initiatives as trustee would be to increase the level of communication through social media.”
To that end, Roberts suggested at a past board meeting that the village use Twitter to update residents; Roberts said he’s only seen two tweets since the account was created. “I want to be the village’s official Twitter guy,” he said.
Roberts and his wife have one daughter, Sarah Kelsey, who will turn a year old in January. They moved to Greenport in 2007. “There was this big moment where we realized that we’d either put down roots here or leave. We decided to stay. And now that the baby was born we can say, ‘What do I want to do in the place where I’m going to spend the rest of my life?’
His daughter’s birth, he said, was the catalyst to his run for office.
Roberts said he’s spent the past year learning more about the village and its government. Some ideas, he said, are good, others need refinement; he looks forward to discussions with fellow trustees, should he win.
In addition, Roberts said he’s not a “yes” man. “I’m not going to be silent. I’m going to support our new mayor but I’m not afraid to disagree with him or her. I expect that if I am successful as a trustee we won’t have people showing up at board meetings and asking why they weren’t told about the when the power was going to come on after a power outage.”
Other fixes Roberts would like to see are an overhaul to the village website and enhanced communication between the village board and the public through increased emails and enhanced social media efforts. “I just want to build trust back between the village and government,” he said.
Roberts also said he’d like to see greater parent participation in village meetings. “A lot of people in their 30s and 40s live here, or own a second home here, and they’re an important part of our process. I intend to reach out to these groups. I’m trying to be very inclusive.
He would, if elected, also ask the immigrants in the community for their views.
“The community is not represented in government,” he said. “I intend to meet with folks and understand what’s important to them. As a newish person in Greenport I intend to get in touch with many longtime residents and make them feel comfortable that I also love this place as much as I do.”
Specifics on Roberts’ platform will include a focus on keeping R-2 zoning intact. “There’s a serious effort afoot to get rid of R-2 zoning and it’s not coming from the right place. It’s seriously detrimental to families who need the income from a second apartment in their home. It’s hard for young people to settle here.”
Transparency is another critical component of Roberts’ campaign. “I want to see less secrecy and more openness. For example, about what’s going on with the power plant. The reason everyone is so fed up is they’re not getting all the information.”
To that end, Roberts would like to see a citizens advisory committee set up to oversee the power plant and serve a bridge between the power plant staff, village government, and the public. Separate public meetings about the power plant could be held, he said. “Our village board meetings need to be about governing, not about how to run a power plant.”
With Mitchell Park a showpiece — Roberts, despite an earlier suggestion to host for-profit events in the park, has changed his viewpoint and now supports village-sponsored events only at Mitchell Park — he would like to see the same attention paid to all the parks in the village. A parks conservancy could be created, he said. The lack of attention paid to other parks in the village, he said, “is bordering on criminal.”
Finally, Roberts would like to kick off a mailing list of residents and deliver it to Village Hall, whether or not he wins the election.
At the end of his announcement, Greenport Mayor David Nyce said the public comment period would not be used, going forward, for political campaigning, but he thanked Roberts for stepping up and wished him luck.
Election Day wil be held on March 18, 2015, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., with voting at the Third Street Firehouse. Voter registration days will be held on March 5 from 8:30 am. until 5 p.m. and March 7 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.