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PROUD TO BE THE UNPOLITICIAN
When I first ran to be a Westchester County Legislator in 1983, my slogan was “Choose Paul Feiner or Get a Politician.” Although I have been in elective office for over a quarter of a century, the last 18 years as Greenburg’hs Supervisor, I’m proud of the fact that I am still not a politician.

TEENAGE ACTIVIST
I was a teenager when I spoke out as a citizen activist At 16, I persuaded the Westchester County Board of Legislators to appropriate $50,000 for the first bike path in Westchester. I organized petition drives, called legislators at their homes and persuaded friends and fellow cyclists to write letters to the editor. One day the minority leader of the Board of Legislators contacted me. He offered me a deal: the County Legislature would approve the first bike path in Westchester if I promised not to show up for six months. I was thrilled and we had a deal! A non-politician was born.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS
I got “the bug!” and felt I could make a difference in people’s lives. During my student days at Fordham I organized a successful effort to persuade the Scarsdale Town Club to admit women as members. It was a huge civil rights issue because all the Scarsdale Mayors traditionally came from the Town Club and ran unopposed in the election. I contacted the National Organization of Women and organized rallies at the Town Club meetings. I knocked on every door in Scarsdale, and formed a group named “People for a ‘WholeTown’ Club”. We forced the club to finally open their doors to women. Since that time there have been many women mayors of Scarsdale.

FIGHTING THE SYSTEM
Longtime residents of Westchester may recall that in the early 1980s commuters had unpleasant experiences on the trains. Windows did not open and commuters were packed in like too many sardines. I was shocked that commuters were treated so poorly, so I chose to offer them an alternative: express bus service into Manhattan. One morning, I handed out questionnaires to commuters at the Hartsdale Train Station. The MTA was so upset they called the Greenburgh police, who threatened to arrest me. I left peacefully but contacted the Civil Liberties Union and Associated Press. The state-wide attention I received from this incident ultimately forced the MTA to back down. I was then able to start the first bus service from Westchester to Manhattan as an unpaid volunteer Eventually the County took up my challenge and began providing subsidized bus service to Manhattan. Westchester County’s subsidized bus service continues to this day.

ATTACKED BY DIRTY POLITICS
It was after the success with establishing express bus service that I decided to run for elected office. In 1983 I ran to be a Westchester County Legislator and got my first taste of underhanded politics. As required by New York State election law I was a resident of the community. At the last possible moment my residency was threatened when the landlord locked me out of my apartment. I was astounded since I was a trouble free tenant. I believe this was politically motivated. I was familiar with landlord/tenant law and knew this was an illegal eviction. I threatened to sue for damages and I got my place back in time to continue my candidacy.I campaigned aggressively for the job, going to every supermarket and ringing thousands of doorbells. I beat a Village Councilman in the primary and the Mayor of this same Village in the November election

SUPERMARKET HEADQUARTERS
As a Legislator I continued my unpolitician-like style, beginning my now famous weekly office hours inside local supermarkets. Look for me between the lettuce and tomatoes at Stop & Shop on Sundays in Dobbs Ferry every 11:30 to 12:30 every Sunday. I then organized a committee which found housing for the homeless. I worked successfully to persuade the county to let people speak at Board meetings (which had once been prohibited). I was able to organize an effort to persuade the County to purchase the old Putnam Railroad property, which is now the South County Bike Trail. My activism was not without its price. For example, I attracted the animosity of the Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. One day he got so mad that he threw a gavel at me. I attended future board meetings wearing a hard hat!

GREENBURGH TOWN SUPERVISOR: SHAKING UP THE STATUS QUO
In 1991 I ran for Greenburgh Town Supervisor for the first time and shook up the appalling status quo. For example, the incumbent had just voted to name a park for himself. Another disgrace was that one of the then-Supervisor’s running mates had taken one of the Town’s cars to New York City to purchase illegal drugs. Shortly after I won, I took away free Town cars from 30 town employees.

FISCAL PRUDENCE
It’s been a very satisfying 18 years as Town Supervisor. Our bond rating was increased to AAA, the highest rating a town can receive. In 2008 MONEY Magazine named Greenburgh the 80 th best place to live in the nation, out of hundreds of thousands of choices. We expanded our parklands from 200 acres to more than 600 acres. We purchased a new Town Hall at a price almost half off its cost, saving the Town $5.2 million. Greenburgh also has a beautiful new, expanded Library. Our Arts & Culture Committee has turned the Town Hall into an art gallery.

GREENBURGH IS GREEN
I’ve worked hard to make our Town one of the first communities in the United States to go green. We were the 2ndlocality in the nation to mandate energy star in new residential construction, the first in NYS. Our Town Hall is powered with solar panels. Our library uses geothermal heating and cooling. We are moving toward all-electric Town cars, require environmentally sound LEEDS standards for all new commercial/multifamily construction and have built affordable housing on foreclosed Town property.

REALLY OPEN GOVERNMENT
Over the years as Supervisor I have continued to make citizen participation integral to how we run the Town. I strive to run one of the most open town governments in the country. We were the first locality in the United States to not only televise our Board meetings but to provide residents with the opportunity to phone-in during board meetings–without being screened. Our work sessions are also streamed live and archived on the internet to reach those who can not attend the meeting.

WE MEAN BUSINESS
We were among the first communities in the region to have a farmer’s market and have attracted the NY Knicks and Rangers teams to a new Greenburgh-located training facility. The national headquarters for Dannon is right across the street from our Town Hall. The national headquarters for biotech companies OSI and Regeneron are also located here.

A GREAT POLICE FORCE
The Town’s crime rate is very low. One reason is that we have taken policing and residents’ security to a new level. Our initiatives include community policing, a summer youth police training camp for lower income students, a marine unit to patrol the Hudson River, a canine unit to locate missing persons and track suspects, and a technical rescue team. The relationship between the Department and the community is very strong.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE
I am a graduate of St. John’s Law School and Fordham College. My wife Sherrie Brown is an attorney and my daughter Julia a 7th grade student. Sherrie and I adopted Julia from Russia when she was only 8 months old. I run six miles a day and enjoy hiking, white water rafting and other outdoor activities. I am an avid cyclist and biked from Hartsdale to Washington DC to lobby for stem cell research funds. When we arrived in Washington, our small group of cyclists met with former US Senator and now U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.