Candidate Profile: Thomas Catoliato For Bedford Town Board

BEDFORD, NY — Election season 2023 is here and there are plenty of races with candidates eager to serve in elected office.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Name: Thomas W. Catoliato

Age: 39

Hometown: New City, NY

Running for which office: Town of Bedford Town Board

Education: B.S. Mechanical Engineering – Manhattan College, M.B.A. Executive Management — St. John’s University, Member — Pi Tau Sigma, Mechanical Engineer’s Honor’s Society.

Political/Town experience: Town of Bedford Planning Board 2016-2022, Town of Bedford Wireless Facility Working Group 2019-current, Town of Bedford Mini-Master Plan Committee 2020-2021, Town of Bedford Town Board 2022-2023.

Work experience: Partner – Fresh Meadow Chiller Associates, LLC, mechanical contracting and engineering firm. Primarily focused on design-build and mechanical prime projects. NY State Licensed Professional Engineer. U.S. Green Building Council LEED® Accredited Professional.

Family: Happily divorced father of 2 children from my first marriage, proud father of 1 child with my current lovely partner, Joanne. My daughter Stella is 9, my son Luca is 6 and my little open heart surgery surviving son John Thomas is 10 months old and crushing life!

Campaign website: https://www.bedforddems2023.co...

What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?

I absolutely love the Town of Bedford! I embrace the Hamlets and each of their characters. I adore and respect Bedford’s nature beauty and open space. I am an individual who grew up outside of Bedford. That’s important because after moving to Bedford I learned how magical of a town it is. I always say sometimes it takes coming from somewhere else, to appreciate where you are today. With that being said, I seek to preserve and even improve on what brought me to Bedford, while driving the Town forward by invoking positive change for the ever-changing world we are in today.

My passion for the Town and its well-being is unwavering. Continuing to improve aspects of Bedford while maintaining its natural beauty, charm and character is paramount. I bring to the table my analytical, practical, logical, reasonable and data-driven approach as a professional engineer. Coupled with a tactical business sense to Town challenges as a business owner, I bring a unique multi-dimensional problem-solving skill set to which the other candidates do not possess. In addition, as the only candidate with children in the school district, I have seen over the last 5 years and every day the needs and wants of young families moving to the Town of Bedford. Also, as the only candidate or current Board Member from Bedford Village, I bring to the Board a set of eyes and ears in one of our three hamlets that no other can.

What is the single most pressing issue facing your constituents and what do you intend to do about it?

My top priorities if elected is to continue to minimize tax increases while driving economic sustainability and hamlet vitality. This starts with continuing the project to which Bedford has already untaken, for example, Bedford Hills and Katonah sewer projects Phase I and Phase II. It continues with looking at where our infrastructure needs improvement and creating a plan to improve it. This can come in the form of additional sewers in the hamlets, strategically placed wireless facilities for improved connectivity and safety and ensuring clean water for our Town.

How would you address the affordable housing issue in the community?

From my time on the Planning Board to which we reviewed many affordable housing opportunities and worked with Blue Mountain Development Corporation, I’ve learned the best way to address affordable housing is to simply keep an open mind. Affordable housing opportunities arise in many different ways, shapes, and sizes; they do not necessarily have to conform to what many believe to be typical affordable housing units. We should be proactive in documenting existing affordable housing units, setting attainable goals to increase affordable housing, contacting developers for future opportunity and work with Bule Mountain Development as I have learned personally they have a tremendous amount of expertise on this issue.

How would you protect the drinking water in the community?

PFAS as already contaminated one of our Town’s back-up well in The Farms water district so drinking water quality is a very real and inherent issue in our town. Education is paramount to protecting our drinking water. Many people do not know that the very chemicals they use on their lawn per se, have a detrimental impact on our drinking water supply. With high levels of phosphorous, they cause blue-green algae in our freshwater sources. So, education is step one.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

I have been working on infrastructure upgrades throughout the Town of Bedford over the last 7 years sitting on both the Planning Board and Town Board. Infrastructure upgrades are integral to increasing our public safety, which is another issue I intend to address during my campaign. Many times, our first responders do not have the wireless service needed to properly, safely and timely respond to an emergency in Town. This is unacceptable and must be addressed. The Town was proactive in solving this problem with the implantation of the Wireless Facility Working Group back in 2019. As a member of that working group, we have mapped the Town of Bedford with the help of our consultants and are working on filling in the gaps in service that were uncovered.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Two accomplishments specifically.

#1 – With the approval of the wireless facility off old post road in Bedford Village, we’ll be able to bring cell service to areas of Bedford that have needed it for decades. While on the Planning Board I voted against two alternate locations that I knew, were not the least intrusive site and did not provide adequate coverage to our Town. In doing so, it paved the way to find the right solution for all, but most importantly will bring much needed emergency service capabilities to areas of Bedford that do not have the communication capabilities currently.

#2 – Our progress on the Bedford Village Sewer District front. Bringing sewers to the hamlet of Bedford Village has been something that has been discussed as well for decades. By improving the effluent water infrastructure of the hamlet, you enable new businesses and business uses to come to the hamlet. This can come in the form a pizzeria, a new restaurant, or even a bagel shop! All of which many of the town residents have been yarning for, for many years.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

You need to know what you know, but more importantly, you need to know what you don’t know. This was told to my entire engineering class by the dean of our college. It is applicable in all walks of life and I bring this responsible approach to the Town Board. It does not preclude me from doing research, learning the things I do not know, and surrounding myself with those who can educate me on those matters. However, I simply will not make a decision or formulate a conclusion on a matter to which I am unfamiliar.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am just a down to earth, reasonable, practical, proactive, Bedford enthusiast whose experience in the Town has taught me about the history of the Town. It has given me the tools to, when analyzing what needs to be analyzed in the position, keep the history of our Town in mind. It’s an aspect I believe to be important as we move the Town forward in a positive way.