DICK NAGLE'S 9/2 STATEMENT B4 THE CROTON BOARD ON THE TOUGHMAN CONTRACT, ALLEGED ECONOMIC BENEFITS, SAFETY, ETC.

As you may know, thanks to an engaged citizenry, the ongoing efforts of Croton United's Virginia Calcutti, former EMS director Richard Nagle, our volunteer firefighters, local business owners, Mr. Bob Riekert of Ossining, and many others too numerous to mention, the village board has been stopped from entering into a five year contract with the Toughman.They are however, looking at a two year contract. More details will follow soon. 

Mr. Nagle's 9/2 statement before the board follows below. As to the mayor's very public assertions about the Toughman's alleged economic benefits to our local business community, please note that a response was received TODAY to a foil request for the documentation upon which the mayor has based those statements. The response was:

"NO DOCUMENTS EXIST" 

Mr. Nagle's statement:

Good evening. My name is Dick Nagle, 88 Radnor Ave., Croton.

Mr. Mayor and members of the Board of Trustees, it should come as no surprise that I am here to speak out against the proposed 5 year agreement with the organizers of the Tough Man Enterprises Corporation.

Let me preface by saying that my opposition to this event had no bearing whatsoever on my recent resignation as Director of Emergency Management for the Village of Croton.  May I also say that I have nothing personal against Dr. Richard Izzo, the founder of the event. In fact I admire his organizational abilities and his marketing skills. If anyone could sell ice boxes to the Eskimos it is Dr. Izzo.

What I fail to understand is how our Mayor and Board of Trustees could so easily be taken in by Dr. Izzo’s claims that this event is somehow good for Croton. I see absolutely no benefit in it at all for the citizens and businesses of our village.

I continue to be of the opinion that the event is dangerous to the participants as well as the very few spectators scattered along our streets who, I might add, are not shopping at our local merchants, while waiting for the fun to start.

It is more than just my opinion that the event is incredibly disruptive to the people of our village. An activity as simple as going to church in Ossining on the day of the race becomes a challenge.  And never mind the folks wanting to pass through our village to points south and have found themselves lost on the back roads leading to the Taconic State Parkway. How the Mayor and Board can see this as a good thing for the Village of Croton is beyond me. I challenge the members of the Board, as I did last year, to ask drivers lost and stuck in traffic what they think of Croton now!

As for Dr. Izzo’s remark last December that a “marketing survey” claimed that the 2013 race generated $3.2 million dollars in income for Westchester County, I would love to see the methodology employed to come up with that figure and how accurate it truly is.  What is accurate is that the manager of Giovanni’s on Croton Point Ave. told me personally that if it had not been for the $240 the Croton Police Department  spent on lunch on the day of the race they might as well have stayed home. Indeed, 13 other local merchants from Shop Rite, the Gulf gas station and the delis in Harmon revealed to me, without exception, that the event had a negative impact on business or no impact at all. I don’t know where the $3.2 million dollars went but it sure did not come to Croton.  

It is also interesting to note that the DeCicco Family Market, a food chain operating throughout Westchester and Rockland (but not in Croton) is advertised as providing food in the park for the event.

Finally, I agree with Trustee Gallelli that the village cannot abrogate its responsibility to serve and protect the public by refusing to provide police and other services for the event.  However, I was pleased to see that Trustee Levitt asked for an increase in the fee the village will charge for these services from $14,000 to $15,000, which will barely cover the cost of overtime for the Croton Police Department.

While I am not so naive as to believe that this year’s event will be cancelled I would urge the Board to require Dr. Izzo to return each year and petition the Board of Trustees for an agreement in order to permit a meaningful discussion of the impact on the village and to determine the real, and no doubt, escalating, costs to the taxpayers. I urge this despite Dr. Izzo’s protestations that he needs a 5 year agreement to get a firmer handle on what his overhead costs will be. Let him come back each year and the village will tell him what the cost will be in Croton. If you sign the requested agreement we will not be having this discussion again for 5 years.

In closing, as far as Dr. Izzo’s claim that his organization supports local charities, I will give you one example, the Croton Caring Committee, a god-send to many people in our village. According to my information in 2009 Dr. Izzo donated $200 to the Croton Caring Committee. In 2010 he donated $100. Since then he gave nothing.

Let him come back again next year and tell us then how much he did for the Village of Croton.

Thank you.

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Editor's note: Croton Caring Committee letter here http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/09/from-croton-caring-committee-open.html