For the first time in seven years, the election for seats on the Village of Pelham’s Board of Trustees will be contested. Three candidates–Arthur Long, Rhett Speros and Paul Anzilotti–have filed papers to run for board seats this November on the Neighborhood Party line. Local democrats have controlled the village board since 2019.
Up for grabs are the three trustee seats held by Hanan Eldahry, Russell Solomon and Krystal Howell. They were each elected to two-year terms in 2024.
In a series of email exchanges with the Pelham Examiner, the new candidates explained why they were running.
Arthur Long, an attorney at Latham & Watkins who ran unsuccessfully for the Board of Trustees in 2019, said the village is at a “tipping point.”
“Although the Mayor and current Board have faced challenges, their unanimous actions have dangerously stretched the Village’s finances,” he wrote. “Without correction, multiple tax increases like this year’s 10 percent increase seem unavoidable.”
Long criticized the trustees for not challenging Village Mayor Chance Mullen or his deputy Mike Carpenter over the decision to commission what he described as a “fake blight study” to support an effort to promote development of several land parcels abutting the Picture House, including two gas stations.
“I have practiced law for over 30 years and have worked with well-functioning boards that ask probing questions of management as opposed to being a rubber stamp, including in difficult financial circumstances,” Long wrote. “I believe strongly in citizen participation, which means citizens participating for limited terms and listening to all constituencies.”
Rhett Speros, who spent 25 years in the US Army before retiring last year, wrote that he was concerned about the amount of debt the village has incurred, as well as the impact of development in the area.
“Current development projects have reduced residential parking, harmed downtown businesses, and significantly increased our debt,” he wrote. “I propose a pause on all proposed development projects, a repeal of the business district floating zone, and a concerted effort to address the parking issue.”
Speros and his wife moved to Pelham in 2007 and they have two children in high school. “Our village should be a place where residents can afford to stay,” he wrote. Speros said he was concerned about the trustees’ management of the village budget and the rise in property taxes.
Paul Anzilotti wrote that he had “18 million reasons” for running this year, each representing $1 of outstanding debt that the Village has amassed.
Anzilotti said he has lived in Pelham for more than 50 years, much of it in Pelham Manor, but for the past 12 years in the Village.
He wrote that he was most concerned about the rate at which the village’s deficit has grown in recent years. “From my view, it is currently on a trajectory that is unsustainable without continuous substantial tax increases for the property owners. If this happens, I am concerned about an ensuing decrease in property value, as homeowners and businesses will look to other Villages and municipalities where they are able to receive more value for their dollar.”
Anzilotti, an engineer in the construction industry, wrote that his goal as a trustee would be “to achieve a budget that will provide good value while maintaining a high level of services for the community. I understand this is not an easy task, and it requires a careful balance, but it must be defined and controlled.”
