Two individuals have filed petitions to run for Village of Brewster mayor, staff at the Putnam County Board of Elections said late last week.
Incumbent Mayor Jim Schoenig filed Aug. 16 for the Better Brewster line. Incumbent village trustees Christine Piccini and Teresa Stockburger are running for reelection.
Richard G. Allen Jr. filed Aug. 19 for the Bulldog Party line, which former mayor John Cesar ran on. Allen, 61, is registered blank, meaning he is not affiliated with a political party. His views tend to be conservative.
Except for time he served in the military and a couple of years when he lived in Florida, Allen has been in Brewster nearly his entire life. He was born here, he attended Brewster High School and he worked in the railroad industry for 34 years.
"There’s a lot of good," he said when asked about the village. "I don’t see very much bad. It’s just a sleepy little Hudson Valley town, it always has been."
Allen told Patch he could be more of a "full-time mayor." He is a proponent of term limits, and he believes the current mayor has served for too long.
If elected, Allen would like to "reduce the police force down to two officers and one car." He wants to see officers walking through the village, and would like to bring back sheriff's deputies to patrol the streets—a practice he said would be "less costly for the village."
Other issues Allen said he would like to address are high water bills and the agreement between Covington Development and the village, which is linked to the urban renewal process.
"A lot of people that are backing me are totally against it," he said. "One developer should not have exclusive rights, especially when you don’t know what the plan is. They’re talking about blighted areas, moratoriums, eminent domain, those are scary words to a lot of people."
Allen said there needs to be more communication between residents and the village board members. He would like to "open up the books and let the people vote" when it comes to things like development agreements.
"I would like to get more people involved," he said. "...The village residents are the ones that own the village."
Allen is a Vietnam veteran. He owns a rental property in Brewster and was recently cited for code violations. He has a daughter and three grandsons, and his son lives in Brewster.
Editor's note: This post initially misstated one of the incumbent's political affiliations. The error has been corrected.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
