Candidate for
Council Member; City of White Plains

Dear White Plains Resident:

For those of you that do not know me, I was born and raised in the City of White Plains. I am the son of an Italian immigrant, Mary, and of a first-generation American with Greek and Irish heritage, John. I am one of five siblings, all of whom have raised families in White Plains, except for one sister who lives in California. My father was a business owner on the Post Road corridor for many years before working at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital. My father passed away 27 years ago at the young age of 60 from esophageal cancer. My mother is now 87 years young living in the same White Plains residence in which I was raised. I have always loved White Plains. I was born at White Plains Hospital almost 47 years ago. My wife, Charlene, and I decided to raise our children in White Plains and purchased our current home approximately 14 years ago. We live here with our three daughters: Jessica, who will begin her studies at Pace University in the fall; Nicolette, who will be a freshman at White Plains High School in September; and Francesca, currently enrolled in Our Lady of Sorrows School. Also, living with us is my mother-in-law Rose and my niece Leah, whose husband is currently serving in Iraq.

Recently, after serving the City for 21 years, I accepted a position with Emigrant Bank. Prior, while working for the City of White Plains, I worked under the direction of three mayors + Alfred DelVecchio, Sy Schulman, and Joseph Delfino. I was appointed the City's first Director of Information Services and as such I was responsible for all of the City's use of computer technology. Throughout my career with the City, I had acquired extensive experience in all aspects of municipal government. Since every City department relies on computer technology for their operations, it was necessary as Director of Information Services that I understood as much as possible the operational needs of each department in order to best support them. As a result of this experience, I have come to realize that a great number of cost-saving measures can be implemented without reducing services to the City's residents. Working smarter with less we can accomplish more.

When I was tasked with reorganizing the computer technology department in the City almost 17 years ago, I began to look throughout the government to see how expenses could be cut through the smart use of technology. This search ultimately led to the installation of a fiber optic network--one of our nation's first municipal use fiber optic networks, installed here in our great City. I worked tirelessly with the White Plains School District and various other organizations to bring this to a reality with very little capital expenditure. The cost savings for our City have been dramatic and are ongoing. Further, I was able to reduce I.T. related expenditures for the City government to one-third of their existing level while expanding the use of computer technology to every City department.

Now, I am currently employed as the Director of Network Infrastructure for Emigrant Bank, and as such, I am directly responsible for all network designs, standards and implementations in a zero-down time, highly complex environment.

Although I am no longer serving the City in the capacity of Director of Information Services, I hope to serve the City in another capacity, as a member of the Common Council.

If elected, I will do my utmost to serve those to whom White Plains is home. To that aim, I pledge to utilize my extensive knowledge of City operations and my experience in intelligent cost cutting to curtail taxes without the need for dramatic service reductions. It is possible. Experience is required now and White Plains is the Priority.

Thank you for your consideration and I hope to have your support on Election Day.