By Dan Murphy
The Rivertowns League of Women Voters held a City Council President’s debate forum on June 2 for the two republican candidates, Ron Schutte and Dean Politopoulos.
Here are the candidates in their own words:
“My name is Ron Schutte. I am a 43-year resident of Yonkers. I made this city my home after completing my military service as a captain in the United States Army. Since then, I’ve owned and operated successful manufacturing businesses specializing in commercial baking, and for the last decade, I’ve served as the president of an inner-city school, working to create better opportunities for our youth.
“Two years ago, I entered the political arena for the first time. I did so not because I was looking for a title but because I was compelled to act. I challenged my councilman, who was the deciding vote on extending term limits because I believe that when elected officials change the rules to serve themselves, it betrays the trust of the people.
“Though I only lost to a 12-year incumbent by 13 votes, that close margin only reinforced what I already knew, that the people of Yoners are ready for a change. What I see in City Hall today is not a government of the people but a self-serving organization. One that resembles a political syndicate, with many in power having clear conflicts of interest and acting to preserve their positions rather than serving the residents they represent.
“I have no such conflicts. My goal is to break up this entrenched system and bring integrity back to our local government. I will bring to the job my business experience, my leadership, and most importantly, my deep understanding of the needs of Yonkers’ residents.”
Dean Politopoulos
“I’ve been living in Yoners since 1983. My parents immigrated to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s and settled in Yonkers in the early 1980s. They were small businesspeople in New York City.
“My first real job was with the New York City Police Department right before 9/11, and then a couple of years later, I transferred to the city of Yonkers Police Department where I had a wonderful 20-year career working with the Yonkers Police. I had the good fortune to work in a lot of different units and divisions, but probably what I enjoyed the most was the last 6 years when I was working in community outreach and public information.
“I had a lot of opportunity to work closely with a lot of the community-based organizations and a lot of the neighborhoods and the communities in Yonkers. I retired in August of 23. I work in private industry now, but I still want to help people.
“I enjoy helping find solutions to problems, and I enjoy working with people to maintain the quality of life and public safety in their neighborhoods. It’s what I’ve done for the last 20 years in Yonkers, and I want to continue doing that now as an elected official and as the city council president. So it’s really about the people, the neighborhoods, and the communities, and I want to continue doing what I’ve been doing since I got here in 2003. ‘
What neighborhood do you live in?
Dean – I grew up on Leroy Avenue, across the street from the Greek Orthodox Church, located off McLean Avenue, which is in the third precinct. When I got married when I was young, our first home was a 900 foot home right behind Cook Field on Brinwood Road.
“Now I live on Colonial Parkway in the Colonial Heights section of Yonkers, so I’ve lived in three different locations in the city. I’m familiar with all four quadrants of the city through my work and the work with the police department because, in community outreach and public information, I had the good opportunity to interface and engage with a lot of community-based organizations all over the city: churches nonprofits, neighborhood associations um so I have a lot of familiarity with the neighborhoods and the issues that impact them.
“Running for office for the first time, I will also say even though we’re a very diverse community and we all come from different backgrounds, a lot of the issues that we share are somewhat similar. Public safety, quality of life, taxation, affordability, schools. These core issues remain the same amongst everyone.”
Schutte-
“I have lived for the last 30 years in the Crestwood section of Yonkers. Prior to that, about 18 years over by Bronx River Road and Sarah Lawrence College that area.
“The same issues that affect the west side also affect us; one of my concerns is the zoning and how we treat changing of zoning rules and codes to benefit the developers and people that come into the city basically to change and affect the quality of life.
“Mainly when you’re seeing developments going up, and we see it on the east side now more than ever you, the next thing you know, you have flooding in the areas. Is our infrastructure ready for these types of developments?
“There’s no one looking out for that kind of stuff, and that’s why I’ve entered the race. Every neighborhood the four quadrants of Yonkers have similar issues when it comes to zoning.
“I believe, if we are going to do this kind of development, we should be looking at home ownership, co-op ownership, bringing in community banks to assist those first-time buyers.”
What is the difference between you and your opponent?
Dean-“I think Ron and I both love this city, and I think both of us want to see good things happen in the city and want the city to thrive. I think the difference is in experience and in background. I know Ron is a good man, and I know he’s done a lot of good things at the school where he was president for a very long time.
But I have a lot of experience working in city government, and I have a lot of operational and management, and administrative experience working in the city of Yonkers. I have a lot of relationships with a lot of other mid-level managers in the city, so I know how to get things done at the managerial level.
“I also have a lot of institutional knowledge about how the different areas of the city operate and how they interact with each other. I bring a level of management experience that could be beneficial to the city council.
Schutte-“I mean, Dean is a model citizen, having served in law enforcement protecting us. There’s no greater honor than doing that, so my hats off to him.
“The difference between Dean and I is I’m an outsider when it comes to the Yonkers organization, and at this particular point in time, that’s what we need.
“There’s that old, old boy’s club, you know, friends and family club, and I think the conflict of interest that I see, which prompted me to come into this election, is the reason why what makes me stand out from the other candidates.
“I’m not part of the system. We need to change what’s going on in Yonkers right now, and that’s not a knock against Dean, but he has an inherent conflict of interest, having been around those same assets that he’s talking about. It would probably be a detriment in terms of trying to make a change in Yonkers.
Dean-rebuttal. “I understand what Ron’s saying, but again, those same assets, those relationships, that history that’s been built over the years, those can also be leveraged to help the community and to benefit our communities and our neighborhoods. At the same time, I’m also a proud product of civil service.
Question: Thoughts on Undocumented Immigrants in Yonkers
Schutte: “Most people move to Yonkers looking for the American dream to buy that house to have that safe dwelling around them that they can raise their families. We have 40% of the homeless people in Westchester reside here in Yonkers, and that doesn’t count the undocumented immigrants.
“It’s a federal issue; Yonkers doesn’t have enough resources to take care of our own; we have veterans that are homeless, and we have other cities municipalities in Westchester pushing the homeless into Yonkers; that’s not fair, and that shouldn’t be done.
“With undocumented immigrants, it’s something where they’ve broken the law. We have our problems with our own indigenous homeless; they need our help.”
Dean-“I’m the child of proud immigrants who, you know, followed the prescribed process and came here following the rules. We have a large and diverse population in the city of Yonkers that makes this community great.
“We also have a large undocumented population. It’s a federal problem, and it requires a federal solution. Long-term, I think eventually, the federal government will have to come to terms with how they want to provide a path to citizenship for some.
“I am concerned with anyone who is committing crimes in the city and that affect the public safety of our communities and neighborhood. For those who are committing crimes, I am an advocate for using every tool possible to remove them from the community. If that includes the deportation of illegal immigrants who are committing crimes, then I support that as well.
“We have taxpaying residents here, and we do have to look out for the needs of the people who are not breaking the law, and I think we need to prioritize them first.”
Good Cause Eviction:
Dean-“I’m against it. I have some experience with landlord-tenant issues. Development is not a bad thing if done correctly and wisely. We need to incentivize developers to invest in our city because it can benefit our communities, neighborhoods, and infrastructure.
“But we also have to be careful not to penalize people who want to invest in our city. The problem with the good eviction clause is that it adds a layer of laws on top of an already existing layer of laws that are being enforced, and right now, it’s very difficult to evict bad actors.
“I don’t know what the exact average time is, but it’s somewhere between 6 to 8 months right now, and these landlords are paying property taxes in the city and investing in the city.
“So I don’t want to add another layer of legislation to make it easier for people to be in buildings that can destroy the quality of life for the other residents that are living here.”
Schutte-“We were at a meeting the other night where co-op owners are concerned that adding good cause eviction will make it more difficult if you have a tenant that’s a bad actor and you can’t get them out. You invested all your life savings in these homes, these co-ops, and these condominiums. The laws on the books right now are more than fair, and landlords and developers should not be penalized for investing in the city. What will happen is that it won’t be worthwhile, and you won’t have a city worth investing in.
Do You Favor Increasing the 10% Threshold for Affordable Housing Units for New Construction?
Schutte-“Depending on the part of the city where gentrification is, you know, it could be a double-edged sword. It makes an area look really clean, but it also kicks out the current residents, including some lifelong residents. I would say that the 15 to 20% would probably be more reasonable when we have developers coming into Yonkers.
Dean-
I’m okay with the number as it stands, and it could always be reviewed down the road. The actual number, or the practical number, is currently around 22%.
Yonkers Public Schools-
Schutte—Not every kid is bound for college. I’m a big believer in high schools teaching trades that involve hands-on work so that when students graduate, they can work for developers coming in. Yonkers residents can be electricians, plumbers, and carpenters.
Should Homeowners Be allowed to Short-Term Rent their homes—AirBNB?
Ron- “I’m totally against that. You know why people, through the years, have moved to Westchester or Yonkers. It’s for the quiet enjoyment of your property. When you rent it out for a little bit, it always gets out of hand. It’s something that would be very difficult to control, and I don’t think people who spend what they have in Westchester and Yonkers on homes want to have transient people coming in and out of their neighborhoods.
Dean-“I’m against it. I don’t like anything that changes the nature or culture of our neighborhoods. Turning a home into a rental to make a quick buck is not the right thing to do. I also want to add that we have a proliferation of multi-family housing in Yonkers, and there are a lot of illegal three-family and four-family homes that are either zoned for one or two families, then you find, you know, a third or fourth apartment, in the basement or in the attic.
“So there is a lot of work that can be done with the building department and with enforcement. It is one of the missions of the city council and the city as a whole.”
Flooding-
Schutte-“It’s a huge problem in my area, but what the city council should be doing again is looking at what is our investment in improving the old infrastructure. We have the old drainage pipes and the sewers. When they do development, are they addressing the water flow? In some areas, you have 12 ft of water in areas that didn’t have it before. It’s imperative that the city council looks at that and budget not only to improve but to maintain the cleaning of the pipes and the sewer lines.
Dean-“This is a big issue, and it’s an issue that a lot of constituents have brought up. In the last couple of months, my own house was flooded. You know that rainfall reaches a certain level, and it doesn’t matter what the sewer capacity is. You just can’t maintain it.
“We can leverage zoning laws and development, at least for new development that’s coming in to address existing infrastructure, and that’s one of the things that’s happening with the MGM casino is that part of the investment that they’re going to be making if they get licensed is going to be flood mitigation.”
If elected, how would your existing job business affect your elected position and any conflicts of interest?
Schutte-“The whole reason why I’m running is because I see too many conflicts of interest.”
Dean-“I’m used to 14 and 16-hour days, so I have been dedicated to the the people of Yonkers. The best disinfectant for a government overall is transparency and sunlight.”
Watch the debate at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VaYABQBv5E.
