Three months into his tenure, political novice Kevin Stuessi is adjusting to his new role. (Source: Chris Franciscani)
On his 100th day in office, Greenport’s new mayor, Kevin Stuessi, reflects on a busy three months with the Suffolk Times and talks about his journey to The roads of this one-square-mile seaside village. Call home now.
Backed by a seemingly united village council, Mr. Stuaici didn’t hesitate when asked about his top three priorities: updating village bylaws in the waterfront business district and strengthening enforcement of short-term rentals , as well as making the village hall more efficient, effective and reliable. welcome.
Mr Stuessi said updating the village code on the waterfront was “without a doubt” his priority. The village has stepped up enforcement of traditional regulations for short-term rentals, but a contract with a software company should automate the entire process by late summer, he said. His third priority is to “make village halls and local governments easier and more efficient”.
The mayor position in Greenport Village pays only five-figure part-time salaries, but Stuacie said he’s treating it like a full-time job.
“My hope for the future is that the village considers the job of the mayor as a full-time job. It has always been considered a part-time job. I don’t think the level of commitment needed to manage the village and take care of the community should be less than full-time.”
Stuerce said activity over the past three months has been murky, but he already feels the new government is making a difference.
“Of course, we may have more meetings in 90 days than anyone expected or prepared, but we do this out of necessity because there is a lot of work to be done,” he said, adding that he was pleased the community Respond to the efforts of the newly formed village committee.
“It was fantastic to have 300 people in the first ‘vision’ meeting and 250 people in the second,” he said, referring to two recent meetings aimed at fostering dialogue between residents and village officials. Have an ongoing dialogue outside of the formal meetings of public board meetings. .
“What’s amazing and amazing is how receptive people are to working together and finding solutions,” he added.
Mr Stuessi spoke at length about the idea of creating a more efficient and welcoming village government.
He said services such as “being able to pay utility bills online” were important to him, as well as “creating an atmosphere”. [in village hall] “How can we help you?” at the front desk. “
He noted that the plastic partitions that separated visitors from village hall staff had been removed during the pandemic, adding, “Our local neighbors bring flowers to the hall almost every week, which is really nice. “
The mayor said he was looking to fill vacancies at the village hall, including an administrative clerk and an economic development position, “who will lead the [the] Find grants and fight for state and federal funding. “
Funding author positions is critical from a financial standpoint, he added.
He said the new government’s decision in March to raise taxes by almost 17 percent was “not even enough to cover day-to-day operating” costs.
“Honestly, we need to seek state and federal funding and grants for all the projects that we need to address,” he said.
Mr. Stuessi also said that village planning and zoning committee attorney Brian Stoller and another attorney at his firm, Jared Kasschau, “will handle all legal activities in the village, including the planning committee, zoning committee and general village legal matters.” The mayor said, Country lawyer Joseph Prokop is leaving the job after submitting his resignation.
Deputy Village Treasurer Stephen Gafgar was also recently promoted to Village Treasurer.
Mr. Stuessi, 50, grew up in Northern California’s Almaden Valley, a suburb of Silicon Valley that has since become the nation’s largest tech hub. “When I was a kid it was still very rural, but by the time I graduated high school everything had grown.”
He said he and his sister Kelli were raised by single mothers after their parents divorced when they were young. His father, a Santa Clara County sheriff, worked the night shift on an undercover drug operation before moving to Lake Tahoe, where father and son spent time during Stucey’s high school years.
Mr. Stuessi moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, where he and his late wife raised their two daughters, Emma, 24, and Alex, 22. Emma is currently pursuing a master’s degree in diplomacy at Georgetown University, with the goal of working for the U.S. State Department, her father said. Alex recently graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Environmental Science. After an internship in South Africa where she studied great white sharks, she plans to pursue a career in marine science.
Mr. Stuessi began living in Greenport six years ago after being introduced to North Fork by a lifelong Greenport resident. He’s been working as a consultant in New York City, commuting to the North Fork on weekends, “initially out on Thursday night, and then back into the city on the Monday morning 5:20 train.”
In 2020, he moved to the village full-time and was almost immediately struck by a sobering reality: A rare form of breast cancer called a thymoma required surgery to remove a “peach-sized” malignancy.
He recently received a two-year health certificate from his oncologist, but said he remains as physically active as possible to stay fit and avoid a relapse.
Like Greenport’s former mayor, George Hubbard Jr., Stuacy follows a fairly standard routine, partly so that villagers know he can be found when he’s not at the village office. he.
“I can’t cross the road without being stopped [about] Something, which is good because people care,” he said. Mr Stuessi said he was up every day between 5.30am and 6am to walk his dog, Pedro and Abby (Abby)’s rescue mutt. He would often take one of them on morning swim or kayak trips in the bay, and would often be back in the water at night.
Afterwards, he said, “Usually, I’ll have coffee and an egg sandwich at the Stirlington Deli.”
From there, he will go to the village hall at 8:30 a.m. to answer emails and phone calls or meet with constituents.
Unless Mr. Stucey is going on long road trips in his pickup truck, he rides a three-speed bike with a wicker basket hanging from the handlebars. When the unique bike is parked in front of the village hall and unlocked, residents know the mayor is inside.
