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Boak Wants To Bring Business Back To Pound Ridge

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. -- Ali Boak, the Democratic candidate for Pound Ridge supervisor, said she has the expertise to help bring business back to Pound Ridge.

Town Councilwoman Ali Boak is running for Town Supervisor of Pound Ridge.

Town Councilwoman Ali Boak is running for Town Supervisor of Pound Ridge.

Photo Credit: Sam Barron

Boak, who was elected to the town board in 2011, is running for supervisor against Republican candidate Richard Lyman. Current supervisor Gary David Warshauer is retiring.

While Pound Ridge boasts such celebrity residents as Richard Gere, Jane Pauley and Tim Robbins, the downtown business district paints a different picture.

"There's this disconnect," Boak said. "Our shopping centers are filled with vacant stores."

Boak helped form the Pound Ridge Partnership, a not for profit, with the primary mission to  improve the aesthetics of the town’s business district and to inspire volunteerism.

Lyman, Boak charged, has not done enough for businesses during his time on the town board in which he served as liaison to the business community.

"I'm frustrated," Boak said. "There are all these things I want to do. My opponent hasn't been able to take the lead. He had his time. It's time for fresh energy."

Currently in the town, many projects run over budget or simply don't get done. Work on the town poolhouse has gone double over its projected budget. Boak believes her non-profit experience will help keep projects from cost overruns.

"If we ran our projects like that, our donors wouldn't pay us," Boak said.

Boak would like to see more transparency in Pound Ridge, including having meetings streamed online. She said she often looks to see what other towns are doing by watching their meetings.

Boak said she would have office hours as supervisor and change supervisor forums from Saturdays, since parents are often busy Saturday mornings.

Boak moved to Pound Ridge eight years ago from New York City, originally hailing from Oswego.

"It had great schools and was a tight-knit community," Boak said. 

While some businesses have thrived in Pound Ridge, Boak believes more can be done. She is pushing for the town to apply for Transportation Enhancement Program money that would add more pedestrian and driver safety in Scotts Corners.

Boak would like put together a strategic environmental plan for Pound Ridge so the town knows what direction it will head in.

"Where do we want to be?" Boak said. "What are our goals? How do we get there?"

 

 

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