Russell Solomon

Dear Neighbors,

 

Six years ago, I ran for Trustee for a simple reason: I love Pelham. I moved here in 2007, and this community has given me far more than I can ever repay. It's where I've raised my family and built a life I'm proud of. This November, I'm asking for the chance to keep doing that work.

 

I still believe the best fixes are the ones we build with residents, not hand down to them, so over three terms as a Trustee, I've made it a point to talk directly with residents, neighbors, local groups and business owners, not just from a podium or Facebook, but in the day-to-day work of finding out what people actually need from their village government. Pedestrian safety and traffic calming are the clearest example. These are topics that come up constantly in conversations with residents, especially parents of young children. As the Board's liaison to the Police Department, I pushed for a dedicated Traffic Officer in the village budget. We lowered the village speed limit to 25 miles per hour, and we redesigned the Wolfs Lane and Sparks Avenue intersection, making it safer. This August, after four months of work with the State Senate and Assembly, the Governor signed our school zone speed camera home rule into law, clearing the way to install cameras in our school zones. I’m proud of the progress we’re making and intend to build on it going forward, together in partnership with our community.

 

The Village Board faces difficult decisions often, and my philosophy hasn't changed: learn from the past to inform the present and build for the future. I joined this board in the middle of COVID, when village revenues were in freefall. Together with my fellow Trustees, we worked through it, restored the village's finances and earned an AA+ credit rating from S&P Global, the second highest a municipality can get. That strength let us finally tackle what had been deferred for decades: relining 10% of our sanitary sewers, repairing old infrastructure and investing in the equipment, technology, and vehicles our departments rely on every day.

 

I'm especially proud of the Municipal Center, a public-private partnership that addressed tens of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance across our facilities. Without it, every Pelham taxpayer would be paying roughly 8% more on their tax bill today. Bringing our sanitation department in-house to DPW is another improvement I'm proud of, since controlling that service directly lets us pass real savings and better service on to residents. With your support, I'll keep making decisions like these, ones that are fiscally responsible and make a real difference in your day-to-day life here in the village.

 

The Trustee role is a volunteer position, so I try to offer my professional skills to work for the village whenever I can. Professionally, I serve as Executive Creative Director at a national firm, and I've put that experience directly to work here, redesigning our village logo and helping upgrade our website, so residents have an easier time finding what they need and communicating with the village. Right now, I'm gathering input from residents and local stakeholders on a new village seal, marking our 50-year milestone.

 

Looking ahead, I want to keep building our pedestrian safety program until Pelham is a village you can feel safe in, at any age, in any season. I've raised three kids in Pelham, and every one of them walked to and from school. Making our streets safer isn't abstract to me. It's personal.

 

Stormwater remediation matters just as much. I’ve been fortunate not to experience severe flooding, but I know plenty of Pelham residents who've watched water fill their basements more than once, who've drained their savings trying to keep their homes livable, and who've had to gut and rebuild rooms they'd already rebuilt once before. Even those whose homes stay dry aren't untouched: when severe storms hit, they can keep emergency services from reaching entire neighborhoods.

 

I've lived in this village for 19 years now. I've watched kids I once knew as toddlers head off to college, and new families move in and start writing their own Pelham story. That kind of view deeply affects how you serve. It's taught me to protect what makes this village feel like home, while still pushing to build what it needs next.

 

This November, for the first time since 2019, the election for Village Trustee is contested, and I think that's good for Pelham. It means every one of us running has to earn your vote, not assume it. I'm running for reelection alongside fellow incumbent Krystal Howell and Kristen Burke, who's stepping up from her seat on the Town Council to run for the open Village Trustee seat. Six years on this board have shown me the same thing over and over: that trust only means something if it's followed through with collaborative work and results. That's what I've tried to bring to every decision, the big ones and the unglamorous ones. With your support on November 3, I intend to keep bringing it.

 

To learn more, please visit the Town of Pelham Democratic Committee website.

 

With respect and gratitude,

Russell Solomon

Trustee, Village of Pelham