Port Chester mayor is running for re-election with accomplishments like keeping taxes flat and including low-cost rents on new apartments
Newsroom | Westchester Hispanic
Port Chester
Port Chester Mayor Luis Marino announced his run for re-election and has already received a nomination from the Port Chester Democratic Committee, as well as from all the Democratic council members of this Town. There are big changes in the town and advances. One of his great achievements is keeping property taxes low.
Port Chester is going through a stage of development and there is construction work on several streets in the town, something that the mayor considers necessary due to the increase in population and the need to renovate old and dangerous construction. All buildings will be mixed, with business spaces on the first floor and apartments on top.
“Port Chester has always been a town like a small city with buildings on Westchester Ave, King St. and now these constructions are taking place after a long time to improve the buildings, give greater housing security and comfort to the community,” he said. Marine.
As he explained, most of the buildings on South Main Street, for example, which used to have 3 or 4 floors, with businesses on the first floor, are in terrible condition, and so now the community is growing.
What will be the height of the buildings?
“The tallest building on South Main St. will be 6 to 8 stories. And the buildings in the part of the train station will be 10 to 12 stories. “That is not out of control, they are not very high, and you have to take into account that the developers who build invest a lot of money in the buildings and want success,” said the mayor of Peruvian origin, the first burgomaster of Hispanic-Latino origin in Port Chester.
He explained that the community is growing and now there are more immigrants. Where would those people go? I see it as a good thing because nobody wants to see a city with apartments that are falling down, with a poor and insecure structure, and that over 100 and 150 years have deteriorated. Families have grown and people continue to immigrate and the town should not be closed to them, said Mayor Marino.
The parking lot
The parking problem that Port Chester has suffered for many years will be solved, explains Marino, who has ordered that from now on all new works have parking areas under the building itself. In addition, there is a project to create a 2,000-car parking garage on Oakland Road, at the back of Westchester Avenue. “The other alternative would be to build a parking lot in front of Nery’s and it would be municipal,” he said.
No Tax Increase
Among Mayor Marino’s great achievements is having kept property taxes intact in 2022. In 2023 he will continue working to keep them without increases. And despite the Covid-19 pandemic, which even affected him personally, he has come out on top with the budget.
“I hope that in the budget that is approved in June, we will continue with the same idea. I am careful and I don’t like to spend on something that is not necessary, since those funds are from the taxpayers. Each department has its budget and what can change the most is with the storms, since you have to buy salt and pay more staff.”
Affordable Apartments
Marino reported on a law passed requiring all buildings built in Port Chester to offer 10 percent affordable rental apartments. Interested people will only have to present their tax return, and those who earn little can be benefited. “I am working so that they are only granted to people who already reside in Port Chester. I am working on it,” he said.
Bilingual Police
Port Chester, with a population of 31,190 people, according to the updated count until 2021, has 64.2 percent residents of Hispanic Latino origin, and for that reason it now has more bilingual police personnel. They currently have 58 police officers, more than 15 of whom are bilingual in English and Spanish and one who speaks Portuguese-English.
“We work in coordination with the chief of police and we analyze each case and solve it. Port Chester is quiet, but there is much to do. My priority is to keep the city safe and try to educate people to do good things, working with children and residents.”
In the social part, the mayor develops a work aimed at children and young people and will soon be extended to the elderly, in order to guide and entertain residents under 18 years of age who live in Port Chester.
“The Youth Bureau has a program for children and adolescents and it is operating very well. We are now working to add grandparents to work with the youth,” he said.
Marino, who was first elected mayor in March 2021, has a City Council made up of three Democrats, two Republicans and one conservative. He can vote on the City Council. However, he has not had a problem passing local projects or laws, unlike the difficult situations faced by previous mayors.
“I have been on the Council for more than 10 years (he was previously a councilor) and we are having one of the best moments. And I’m not saying this because I’m the mayor and because Democrats are in the majority, but because my goal is to work with everyone, whether Republican or conservative, and we sit down, negotiate and reach agreements. I always tell them that we were elected by the people and we work for the people,” Marino said.
Marino thanked the Democratic Party for giving him back their trust and assured that he will continue to work hard for Villa. “I hope that people go out to vote if they want their mayor, who is Marino who is running and I thank them,” he concluded.
Posted on February 02, 2023
