Frank Zipp Wins Patch Poll as Person of the Year

It's a small consolation to Frank Zipp that he was chosed as the Bedford-Katonah Patch 'Person of the year.'

"I'm about to lose everything I've worked for," he said on Friday when notified of his selection.

Zipp, 46, became a poster boy of sorts for the town's financial crisis after and pleaded with officials to reinstate his job in the town's highway department to the $25.5 million spending plan. “Please, do not pass this budget as-is,” said then, "because I’m not in it.”

Zipp, an equipment operator with Bedford for over three years, received the most votes by a wide margin, in . Of the 348 votes (last tallied Friday) he received 43 percent, or 153; Superintendent Jere Hochman and Sherry Wolf, executive director of the , followed with 71 and 37 votes, respectively. 

Today, Zipp said he understands the position the board is in but still feels that he was unfairly singled out. When asked what he wanted locals to know about him and his job, he said he wanted them to understand the risks they took in their jobs, every day.

"During a storm, everyone's home but we are out all night long clearing roads and sometimes risking our lives," he said, noting that during the cleanup from the October storm, power lines were falling all around him and his co-workers while they worked. "We work hard—I work at 150 miles an hour."

His supervisor, Kevin Winn, agreed wholeheartedly. "Frank is one of the hardest working guys I know. He's an asset both for his work ethic and for his character—he brings everyone up a notch. It's disappointing to see him leave," he said.

And one local who voted for him said she did so because she admired and respected him for the dignity of his remarks to the town board. "This is someone who had every right to be angry and never showed anger," said Bea Rhodes of Katonah. "He remained composed when his future was uncertain. That showed courage. I believe that letting Frank Zipp go was wrong; I believe his job could and should have been saved."

But saving Zipp's job—and the job of Kevin Carroll, a custodial worker in the police department—just wasn't possible this year, according to town officials.

"We've cut for three years, our pension and health care costs are skyrocketing and employees have not had raises in three years," Supervisor Lee Roberts told Patch on Friday. "We have no where to turn and we need employees to share the burden," she said, was alluding to recent negotiations between the town and its blue-collar union. At the Dec. 7 meeting, prior to Zipp's speech, she said the failed negotiations led to the town laying off two blue-collar workers.

The town recently reached an agreement with its white collar union which included an agreement for employees to contribute 12 percent toward health care costs. The blue collar union was asked for similar contributions. Mike Rosafort, head of the union and member of the highway department, said negotiations were to continue in the new year.

The difference, said Zipp, was a 20-percent give-back in pay he and his co-workers made last year. "How much can Frank Zipp give back?" he asked.

But the town may be looking for something more permanent.

"With the tax cap and falling revenues, it's a new fiscal reality, unfortunately," said Roberts, who said she has gone without a raise for the past four years and contributes toward her health care costs.

Zipp, who lives in Sherman, CT, said he's gone through this before. Before coming to Bedford he worked for 17 years at another company that was sold, and he lost his job and sold everything he had to keep his house. He's not sure what's going to happen this time.

He said he will accept his dinner certificate from Patch for winning the poll, but he said he may give it away, "to pay it forward."