LEWISBORO, N.Y. – Peter Gross believes the Lewisboro town government is in desperate need of a change. He hopes to facilitate that by winning a seat on the town board next Tuesday. He is running on the Democratic ticket.

Gross has spent many years practicing as an attorney, specializing in finance and corporate law and eventually media and entertainment law. In business, he has been involved in the start-up and senior management of many successful companies, including HBO and others in the entertainment and media business. He has devoted time as a volunteer board member and officer to nonprofit groups, such as the Center to Prevent Youth Violence, other children’s charities and numerous cultural groups, and is treasurer of Plan International, a $700-million-a-year organization that works to alleviate child poverty in fifty of the world’s most disadvantaged countries.

Gross and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Lewisboro a few years ago, attracted by the warmth of the community and a life surrounded by nature

“But since then, I have watched with increasing distress the behavior, attitudes and inaction of the Town Board,” he said. “It’s clearly time for a change.”

One of the keys to Gross’s platform is open, transparent government, which is says is the “kind of local participatory democracy fundamental to American tradition, in which taxpayers are given the information they need.” He said citizens should be able to have meaningful opportunities to speak at Town Board meetings where dissenting voices aren’t bullied and decisions aren’t made by a small clique behind closed doors.

Gross would also like to see professional-quality, honest fiscal management. He wants periodic financial reports instead of “sporadic, incomplete, obfuscating and politically shaped reports.”

He also favors protecting the environment, including wetlands, preserves and lakes, through strong enforcement, effective protections and sensible reforms. He wants vibrant hamlet centers that are safe for pedestrians, attract businesses and consumers, and lead to a healthier tax base.

Gross said town needs a supervisor and Town Board members who willing to roll up their sleeves and build a record through positive accomplishments.

“Not by claiming credit for what others have done or denying responsibility for mistakes,” he said. “Not through manipulation of finances and not through photo ops and handshaking.”

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