Astorino's Tough Fiscal Stand Boosts Westchester

WHITE PLAINS, NY-Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino has been a lightning rod on a host of issues, including fair housing, the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge and economic development in Westchester. The Republican county executive's three years at the helm of Westchester County have been highlighted by a tough fiscal approach that has successfully closed multi-million-dollar budget deficits and placed tighter controls on county spending.

(Astorino will be the keynote speaker at the RealShare Westchester Fairfield Counties event on August 15 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here.)

Astorino has been a key player in the push to get the new Tappan Zee Bridge built. In June 2011 at a speech at a conference in Manhattan, Astorino, frustrated over a decade of study by state agencies and the prospect of construction still years off, urged New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take a leadership position on the Tappan Zee Bridge issue and get the process moving forward toward construction.

“It is time for the planners and the engineers to put their pencils down,” Astorino said. In October 2011, Gov. Cuomo and President Barack Obama announced that the project would be fast-tracked toward construction. Today, cranes are in the water and construction has officially begun on the nearly $4-billion project.

The county executive, who is running for re-election this November against Democrat Noam Bramson, the popular mayor of New Rochelle, has also been an advocate for mass transit to be included in the new Tappan Zee Bridge. Immediately after Astorino's upcoming speech at RealShare, a group of panelists, headed by Special Advisor to Gov. Cuomo Brian Conybeare, will discuss “The Economic Impact of the New Tappan Zee Bridge.”

During his term in office, Astorino has been at odds with the Democratic-controlled County Board of Legislators on a host of issues, including the redevelopment of Rye Playland and the process of awarding county contracts. Recently, however, the two sides ironed out their differences and formed a Local Development Corp. to assist not-for-profits build new projects or re-finance existing debt. The county executive is also looking to strike a deal to develop 60 acres of county-owned land at the Grasslands reservation into a biotech park.

He has also garnered national media attention over his battle with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development over a $56-million fair housing court settlement negotiated under a previous administration that requires Westchester County to build 750 affordable housing units in 31 communities. Astorino has charged that HUD has overreached on the court settlement, while HUD has withheld $7 million in fair housing funding over its insistence that the county investigate and take legal action if necessary when it uncovers cases of exclusionary zoning. Recently, Astorino signed a Source of Income bill that he vetoed in 2010 after losing a court battle over the issue.