Susanne Donnelly,
Ossining Village Trustee
I have lived in the Ossining community for the past 26 years with my husband Henry and we have proudly raised our two sons here. I have been an active member of the community by participating in many activities and organizations. Participating In these varied activities not only allows me to make a contribution to a community that I love, but the experiences have been extraordinarily rewarding. Especially when working with issues involving the youth of our community and being a member of the Ossining Village Board of Trustees where I have tried to make a difference, I feel I have gotten more out of the experiences then I could have ever imagined.
I received my degree in management from Iona College and have used my education and skills both professionally as well as in my service to this community. For more than twenty years I have been a member of the Boy Scout Troop 49 Committee and the last five years as its Chair. Today, I see so many of those young scouts who have grown to be upstanding young men. Many of them have achieved successful careers and several of them are giving back to their community by being part of the Ossining Volunteer Fire Department and/or as Boy Scout Leaders.
As an active member and officer of the Rotary Club of Ossining my passion for service continues. The Rotary motto of "Service Above Self" is something that I strive for every day. Working on local community projects while assisting in fund raising for International causes is part of my every day activities. Rotary is and will continue to be an important part of my life.
I have been a member of the Ossining Village Board since June 2006 and during these past years I have worked diligently to make this a better community to live, work and raise a family. I truly believe that we have a responsibility to make sure that every resident of the community has the opportunity to have the public services needed but delivered in a fiscally responsible manner.
One of my primary goals has been to operate our government in a manner so that the burden of taxes can be diminished and kept to a minimum. I pride myself on working professionally with every employee in the Village particularly the Village Manager and Department heads. I believe that accomplishing goals while treating each associate with respect is an important ingredient in building a foundation for success. I am very proud of our current management team and our village employees who have performed well during extremely difficult economic conditions.
Below are some of the priorities that I would like to continue working on:
- Continuing to achieve the goal of a fiscally stable community
- Operating the Aquatics Center with a “state of the art” computerized registration system
- Completion of a Comprehensive Plan with solid zoning codes especially on the waterfront
- Working toward efficient and cooperative government with the goal of the elimination of redundancies and duplication of services
- Cooperating with the State, County, Town, Schools and Library to determine ways of cutting costs that help reduce the burden on taxpayers while efficiently delivering excellent services
- Developing additional youth and senior programs
- Working with business owners and developers to create an environment that attracts investment and growth in Ossining
- Community involvement using committees to determine ways of enhancing the Ossining community so that it becomes a destination especially on one of our most precious resources the Hudson river .
- Opening doors for groups like Riverkeeper who promote not only a clean river but a green community.
I have worked hard to conduct myself as a public official with integrity and in the best interests of the citizens I serve.
