Editor’s note: This candidate statement was provided by the Pelham Town Democratic Committee. The Pelham Examiner publishes statements in the form received as a service to the community.

I’m honored to seek your support for re-election to the Pelham Town Council. I am a lifelong Westchester resident and native of Mt. Vernon.  My family has lived in Chester Park for 9 years, and I have served on the Town Council for four. When I ran in 2019 I promised to roll up my sleeves and get to work putting my strong relationships with elected officials throughout our area to good use for our Town. Here are some highlights from my first term in office:

• Secured $450,000 from Senator Fernandez and Assemblywoman Paulin to purchase a dedicated ambulance for Pelham.
• Working closely with the entire Town Board, we developed a new approach to managing our EMS service in collaboration with the Town of Eastchester, which will benefit the entire community.
• Advocated for a County ambulance to be stationed near Pelham, significantly improving emergency response times while we implement the new ambulance contract.
• In 2022, I procured $280,000 in state funding to revitalize the Daronco Town House, helping to reduce the burden on taxpayers while bringing much-needed renovations to our public facilities.
• Spearheaded the upgrade of our new Town website to meet ADA requirements, ensuring easy accessibility on mobile devices and leading to greater transparency and regular updates of Town information, which we have been updating regularly.
• I have served as the liaison to the Town of Pelham Public Library for the past four years while this beloved community resource has undergone remarkable growth in programming, patronage and services.
• Assisted the Pelham Children’s Center to secure the necessary permits for their after-school care program to continue at Hutchinson School, ensuring that this vital resource will be reliably available in the future.

Looking Ahead: My first term illustrates my success collaborating with my fellow Council members and other elected officials on our community’s behalf.  In my next term, I will:

• Ensure our ambulance and emergency services achieve their intended results.
• Help facilitate the implementation of a multi-year financial plan with ample reserves for emergencies and anticipated capital expenses.
• Advocate for a strategic analysis of best and highest uses for town properties. In light of the departure of the Village of Pelham Police Department from Town Hall in 2024, I will explore opportunities to find dedicated space for seniors and youth, with input from all stakeholders.
• Continue to advocate for & support our volunteer boards for the Library and the Recreation Department. They work hard to add programming and value to our community every day, alongside our town employees.

I am, at my core, a community organizer, logging hundreds of hours of volunteer service with the PTA, Pelham Together, the Chester Park Association, the Pelham Newcomers Club, and the Community Engagement Committee for the Board of Education. I am also a parishioner of St. Catharine’s Church, where my 11-year-old loves playing CYO basketball. I served as a class mom at Hutchinson for six consecutive years. In 2017, when my daughter entered kindergarten, I teamed up with a bipartisan group of parents to address critical structural and overcrowding issues at Hutchinson and worked to pass the bond to build a new state-of-the-art elementary school which opened in 2021 to great acclaim.

I grew up in Mount Vernon and my family settled in Chester Park in 2014, when my husband Charlie and I bought a home perfectly suited for our young daughter, as well as my then-84-year-old father. Before my father passed away in December of 2021, I was fortunate to be able to care for him until the end at home, carrying out his wishes. Service has always been a hallmark of my family. My dad was a Deputy Fire Chief; my brother is a Fire Captain; my grandfather and great grandfather were firefighters; and my sister is a nurse. After the sudden death of my mother in 2000, I became a volunteer grief facilitator for the Bereavement Center of Westchester. I volunteered with the American Red Cross in downtown Manhattan for months after 9/11. I hold a Political Science degree from Fordham University and was the Managing Director and Treasurer for Senator Alessandra Biaggi’s Political Committee. I spent over twenty years as a senior executive at media companies and internet start-ups like Conde Nast, MySpace and tumblr.

Pelham is home to so many amazing non-profit organizations that I believe are the backbone of our Town and enhance the thriving community that we all love. I value the programming and the contributions that vital organizations like the Pelham Art Center, Pelham Together, the Junior League and the Pelham Civics- just to name a few- make possible. This is also true of the all-volunteer boards for the Library and Pelham Recreation. They work hard alongside our dedicated Town staff to add programming and value to our community, and I have been honored to contribute ideas and resources wherever I can.

I’m proud to have earned the endorsements of Eleanor’s Legacy and the Westchester Hispanic Democrats and to be a Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate. We all want a thriving, welcoming Town. My track record demonstrates my commitment to achieving that goal through hard work, compromise, and collaboration. I respectfully ask for your vote on November 7th.

With Gratitude,

Maura Curtin