Supervisor, Unopposed, Talks About Issues

Lee Roberts, Bedford supervisor and a popular Republican incumbent since 2003, will not have a challenger in the November elections. She has been opposed only once—in 2009—and collected two out of every three votes.

She sat down with Patch to talk about local politics, clean water, and why women can make better leaders.

Patch: Why do you think no one is running against you?

LR: I remember my first run for town board – I very nervous. It's hard to subject yourself to public scrutiny, but it obviously gets easier. I think that local politics are not as polarized—we all care very much about the town and strive to do what’s best for Bedford.

Patch: One of the tough issues for you and the board to address last year was that of community organizations bearing increased costs for town events. Do you see that changing in your next year of office?

LR: This issue has actually been around for 10 years as a legal opinion we ignored. We knew about this for a long time and we realized we needed to move community organizations in the direction of sharing costs. We were one of the only towns that hadn't made that change. We also know how important it is for organizations to have these events and raise money. We can't change it but we can work with groups to look at ways to mitigate event costs—everyone wants to hold them in the center of town on a weekend, but maybe by changing the venue and talking with the police and highway departments we can identify ways to lessen the burden.

Patch: Can you give us an update on the water plant and potential sewer project?

LR: Water quality is a top priority for us. The construction of our water plant is exciting and will ensure an abundant supply and make sure our residents have the best water possible. As you may know, we had the [environmental consulting] firm, Malcom Pirnie, do an feasibility study of taking over and expanding the prison’s wastewater treatment plant in 2003. And they’ve done an update to that assessment, but it’s going to be hugely expensive—$55 million dollars. We also need a permit, a waiver to build or expand a plant in the watershed, and we would need to hold a public referendum to form a sewer district. So we are working on a dual track to move the waiver process forward, but also to look at smaller innovative systems that we have seen in other parts of the country as ways to address our sewage problems.

Patch: And you’ll continue serving on the board of Bedford 2020?

LR: Yes. I’m so amazed and proud of the people who are willing to work on the energy projects, and serve on the Bedford 2020 task forces. They are working so hard to enact the measures that will reduce our carbon footprint—it’s a huge gift to the town. But beyond that, this work is so important and we are doing what we should be doing.

Patch: What are the town’s economic priorities now? The board stood up against Gov. Cuomo’s tax cap in February, are you still opposed? 

LR: We’ll keep looking for ways to save money. One initiative is looking at shared services—we are meeting with the towns of Lewisboro and North Salem and both the Bedford and Katonah Lewisboro school districts to exchange ideas.

We are all concerned about tax cap and I know it’s popular but it’s a slippery slope because I don’t see mandate relief coupled with this. A tax cap flies in the face of home rule. We’ve been cutting services for three years, no one has had a raise in three years. Now we are seeing reductions in revenue through tax grievances.

I think a tax cap is poor governance—we work hard every day to be fiscally prudent in this town, and a mandate for a one-size-fits-all cap doesn’t recognize the work we do.

Patch: What other issues come up regularly to your office?

LR: Traffic and speeding on local roads always come up. We are trying to engender awareness—we all need to concentrate on speed. It’s hard to do 30 miles per hour when you might be thinking about things—but we all have to be cognizant of pedestrians and our surroundings when we drive in our community.

Patch: Have to ask—given the number of scandals tainting the political records of several male public figures—why do we rarely hear about scandals involving female leaders? Are there advantages to being a woman in a position of leadership or does it help you?

LR: It can help. I think women have more nurturing personalities—we are the volunteers, we do the bulk of caring for kids. There are many capable male volunteers and leaders, but for me, I think ultimately we are the complaint bureau here, and there are female qualities that lead us to be more understanding of human nature and of people’s problems. We are in the business of listening, and even if I have to tell someone no, sometimes they are happy to have been listened to, and told that we will look at a solution.