Results
Delivering for Yorktown
As Chief of Staff for State Senator Terrence Murphy, Matt helped guide the state’s investment in Yorktown. Over the past four years this included::
- $1.9 million in state funding to rehabilitate our local highways and bridges
- $250,000 to pave Quinlan Street, which is scheduled to occur this Summer
- $725,000 to assist in the modernization and consolidation of town facilities
- $500,000 for the Yorktown Heights Fire Department to purchase necessary equipment for the new Kitchawan Fire Station
- $80,000 to help Yorktown purchase a new weed harvester to fight against the dire blue-green algae that continues to close our local lakes during summer months
- $75,000 to purchase new radios for the Lake Mohegan Fire Department
- $65,000 to advance the services of the Putnam/Northern Westchester Women’s Resource Center
- $45,000 to support the mission of Drug Crisis in Our Backyard
- $40,000 for the Lakeland School District to build a new playground accessible to children with special needs.
- $25,000 for the Yorktown School District to purchase new scoreboard for the baseball and softball fields, as well as new equipment for the high school swim team
- $22,500 in additional funding for the John C. Hart Library
- $20,000 to support Yorktown’s Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK)
- $10,000 for the Yorktown Police Department to purchase a new K9 officer named Spar.
Solving Problems
Working with the New York State Department of Transportation, Matt facilitated the installation of a full traffic light at the intersection of Route 118 and Route 129.
As Senator Murphy’s Chief of Staff, Matt helped enact new laws:
- Designating nearly two-dozen local lakes, including Mohegan Lake, Sparkle Lake and Junior Lake, as inland waterways for the purposes of waterfront revitalization and environmental rehabilitation.
- Limiting opioid prescriptions to just 7-days, a direct result of a statewide task force on opioid abuse and addiction that Matt organized and executed.
- Recognizing the Vietnam Veterans of America as a benevolent order to provide parity with other veterans’ organizations.
- Executing a study to properly determine the true value of lost revenue to our community through New York State’s untaxed land policy.
- Naming two state roads for fallen warriors with ties to the Yorktown community.
Helping People in Need
Along with Senator Murphy, Matt was one of the first people to arrive at Allan Avenue’s Beaver Ridge where Matt helped organize and deliever dry ice, bottled water and food for the residents when dangerous winter storms caused blackouts in our area.
After Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast Matt organized the “Fill A Truck” effort in the Yorktown Heights CVS parking lot which collected nearly 50,000 pounds of donated goods and sent them to Texas. When Hurricane Maria destroyed the island of Puerto Rico, Matt worked with the New York Medical College, the Greater Hospital Association of New York and the Center for Excellence in Precision Response to Bioterrorism and Disasters to send a medical mission to the island administering 1,000 doses of necessary vaccines and providing direct care to residents still in need.
Leadership
Matt Slater has a bold plan to make Yorktown a better place to live.
His innovative approach will bring new jobs and vitality to our community by making town government more responsive and easier to use for residents and businesses.
Matt is focused on making Yorktown a destination by investing in infrastructure, creating walkable downtown areas and protecting Yorktown’s lakes and parks.
Matt and his wife, Kellie, have a three-year old son, Charlie. Matt is a program administrator for Westchester County, member of CSEA Local 860 and Grace Lutheran Church, where he served on the Congregational Council.
Matt graduated Yorktown High School in 2004, has a BA in Politics from St. Anselm College and received his Masters in Public Administration from Marist College.
Matt was a charter member of Yorktown’s Energy Advisory Committee and is a member of the Yorktown Elks and Son’s of the American Legion. He also served on the White Plains Hospital’s Breast Cancer Awareness Committee and Go Red for Women’s Health Committee.
Experience
Born and raised in Yorktown, Matt Slater is committed to making our town a better place to live, work and raise a family. A graduate of Yorktown High School, Matt has spent the last four years as Chief of Staff for former State Senator Terrence Murphy. In that role, Matt partnered with Senator Murphy to enact more than 50 new laws benefiting Yorktown residents, secure millions of dollars in state funding for area projects and lead local relief efforts helping the victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Maria.
Specifically, Matt played an integral role in the State Senate’s Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse—helping to write a new law limiting opioid prescriptions to combat the region’s heroin epidemic and provide $45,000 for locally-based Drug Crisis in Our Backyard. Matt also worked to designate Mohegan Lake, Sparkle Lake, Junior Lake and nearly two-dozen others as state inland waterways to promote environmental protection.
To protect Westchester property taxpayers, Matt helped write a state law requiring the state to properly value the tax revenue lost by local communities through New York State’s unfair untaxed land policy. Matt also worked to honor area veterans by helping pass a new laws establishing the Vietnam Veterans of America as a benevolent organization and renaming two local roads for fallen soldiers with ties to the Yorktown community.
Working with local schools, charities and municipal officials, Matt helped Senator Murphy secure state funding for critically-important local projects, including $1.9 million for road repaving and another $250,000 to resurface Quinlan Street this summer, $725,000 to modernize town facilities, $500,000 for the Yorktown Heights Fire Department to equip the new Kitchawan Fire Station, $75,000 for the Lake Mohegan Fire Department and $80,000 to fight the blue-green algae intrusion affecting town lakes.
In addition, they secured $40,000 for a new special needs playground at the Lakeland School District, $25,000 for sports programs at the Yorktown School District, $22,500 for the John C. Hart Library, $20,000 to support Yorktown’s Alliance for Safe Kids (ASK), $65,000 for the Putnam/Northern Westchester Women’s Resource Center and $10,000 for the Yorktown Police Department to purchase a new K9 officer named Spar.
In 2015, 914Inc. and Westchester Magazine recognized Matt for his accomplishments as Senator Murphy’s Chief of Staff, noting that the position was “normally reserved for someone with decades of experience [but it was] nothing new to Slater.”
After attending Yorktown High School, Matt graduated from St. Anselm College, in Manchester, New Hampshire and joined Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. Prior to serving as State Senator Terrence Murphy’s Chief of Staff, Matt was Hudson Valley Regional Director for New York State Assembly Minority Leader and worked for Westchester County. Matt earned a Masters of Public Administration degree from Marist College.
Matt and his wife Kellie have a three-year old son, Charlie. Matt’s mother, Kathy, and his grandmother, Elinor, still reside in Matt’s childhood home off London Road. Matt is a member of CSEA Local 9200 and Grace Lutheran Church, where he served on the Congregational Council for four years.
Matt was a charter member of Yorktown’s Energy Advisory Committee and he volunteers with the Tim Tebow Foundation’s Night to Shine event for children with special needs. He is a member of the Yorktown Elks and has served on the White Plains Hospital’s Breast Cancer Awareness Committee and Go Red for Women’s Health Committee.
Complete Streets
WHAT: Many studies have shown that the “transit” is not the only essential component needed to pursue to transit-oriented development. alkability, mixed use, traffic density and other factors are just as important as our proximity to rail stations.
HOW: We can begin to address these areas in the context of planning by passing a local sustainable complete streets ordinance to make our departments, as well as the planning and zoning board utilize sustainable complete streets design principles when implementing transportation projects. If we start with streets that provide safe, comfortable, and convenient access for users of all abilities and all modes, implementing, whenever practicable, elements of design, construction and operation that also serve environmental sustainability for functional needs like storm water retention and curbing runoff, we will contribute to safer mobility and address our longstanding need to ween ourselves off of separate stormwater sewer systems.
WHY: That is why I would also invest in our infrastructure and finally begin building combined sewer systems with the funding we have available, some of which I helped secure during my time in the Senate.
Stronger Ethics Laws
What: The current ethics laws and enforcement apparatus have become outdated. The current ethics board lacks any enforcement capability and has deliberated for more than a year on complaints with no resolution. It is time to update Yorktown’s ethics laws to ensure greater transparency, accountability and protection of Yorktown’s taxpayers.
Why: Yorktown’s Town Attorney should not be an officer of a political party and wade into potential conflicts of interest. Residents should not have to question the interests of the decisions and advice given to the town and any complaints should be deliberated as part of a system that can enforce the laws.
How: A three pronged approach to strengthen our ethics laws include instituting an Ethics Board, Conflict of Interest Board (COI) and retain an IG to give teeth to complaints that upheld. Under this proposal the Ethics Board would hear all complaints, including those referred by the COI Board and the IG would enforce any complaints that are found guilty. All guilty complaints will be made public unlike the current administration.
Smart Asset Management
What: Making decisions based on best guesses or intuition is no longer accessible to an educated and intelligent citizenry. Asset Management Systems are being utilized by municipalities around the nation but not Yorktown. From our vehicle fleets and equipment, to our roads and bridges, to sewers and water distribution system, an asset management system provides a central hub of data that drives decision making, provides long term financial planning and performance level of municipal assets.
Why: Local government must maximize every tax dollar and we can’t do this if our departments are siloed. Individual asset management systems, for those departments who have implemented something, only paints a small picture of the needs of the obsolete tools we are asking our staff to use. An asset management system, if properly implemented, provides concrete data to support decisions by municipal leaders. Advanced asset management systems improves efficiencies, effectiveness and overall productivity while achieving transparent fiscal responsibility.
How: Asset management systems and companies are expanding at a rapid pace. Working with municipal department heads the Slater Administration would look to identify a specific system and utilize a pilot project to determine its long term feasibility.
Operation Remember
What: We as a nation and town continue to lose members of the Greatest Generation every day. We have an obligation as a community to honor and digitally document their experiences before it is too late. Operation Remember will partner with our town Veterans Council, American Legion and VFW to record firsthand accounts of our veterans to be submitted and preserved by the Yorktown Museum.
Why: Currently there are only 3 Medal of Honor recipients from World War II alive. Whether World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Atomic War Veterans, Gulf War or Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts, we have members of our community who valiantly defended our nation. As a community we have an obligation to honor these brave heroes and preserve their memory before it is too late.
How: Embarking on digitally recording firsthand accounts by local veterans can be done at town hall or a number of local settings. Considering Yorktown’s appreciation for our local veterans, Operation Remember will provide a fantastic volunteer opportunity for all of our residents, of all ages, to contribute to preserving the stories of our heroes.
Veterans Service Agency
What: Yorktown veterans are an important piece of our community. Under New York State Law municipalities have the ability to create a Veterans Service Agency. The Yorktown Veterans Service Agency will provide certified VA benefits counselors to assist local veterans in receiving the benefits they have rightfully earned through their defense of our nation and freedoms.
Why: Nationally the Department of Veterans Affairs has been undergoing an overhaul of how it delivers services. Locally, we can be doing our part by establishing a specific department within town government to assist our local veterans and ensure they are receiving the benefits they have earned through their service to our nation.
How: Establishing an official Yorktown Veterans Service Agency can be accomplished legislatively.
Inclusive Work Programs
What: Individuals with special needs are underemployed yet are important members of our community. Building on existing programs, such as Dutchess County’s ThinkJobs initiative, Yorktown will partner with local providers and businesses to find potential employment opportunities including at Town Hall.
Why: Support our neighbors with special needs is just the right thing to do. Caregivers are in constant search for programs for their loved ones that is both safe and fulfilling for the individual. Yorktown can and should be a leader in fostering opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for the special needs community.
How: We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here but stand as an active and willing leader. Partnerships with local organizations such as SPARC and Westchester ARC are key and can provide a framework for similarly successful programs.
Technology Parkway
What: Talking to residents around Yorktown it is astonishing how few realize IBM’s Watson calls Yorktown home. Having IBM as part of our community is an incredible asset that we must maximize. Companies such as Prodigy, an original competitor of AOL, one time called Yorktown home as well. Building a technology parkway will create greater employment opportunities that will support Yorktown’s workforce, keep our residents in our community and provide the critical mass needed to support and expand our commercial taxbase.
Why: Yorktown continues to have the same conversation and expect different results. We have enough grocery stores and banks but scratch our heads when other brand name retailers, such as Trader Joe’s, won’t settle in Yorktown. Building a critical mass to support our local business community is the key and attracting job creating employers is the answer. It is time we stop the daily export of Yorktown’s workforce and usher in opportunities right in our backyard.
How: Proactively building partnerships to communicate and attract employers is key. Exploring start-up tech companies, biotech and cutting edge industries who provide good paying jobs for Yorktown’s educated and highly skilled workforce is key. Welcoming organizations such as the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, Westchester County Association and partnering with our local business groups, will produce the right results for our residents. With the right leadership we can open Yorktown to these possibilities.