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Get to Know will be a regular series on The Daily Pelham to introduce various people in the community. If you would like to nominate someone, please email Pelham reporter Patrick Stapleton at pstapleton@mainstreetconnect.us.
PELHAM, N.Y. Robert Yamuder is a man you could meet in his office at Village Hall or walking around town as he observes the activity in Pelham. He is now in his third year as village administrator and he enjoys helping to maintain and better the community.
TDP: What does your job as village administrator entail?
HE: How many hours do I have of explaining? Im appointed by the mayor and board. Basically, Im here to preserve the health, safety and welfare for the village. As far as the administration goes, Im day-to-day operator of the village and in charge of staff, of capital projects, of safety projects and the budget. I make recommendations to the board on all facets of government and they basically vote on it. They set the policy and I administer it.
TDP: You mentioned that you were appointed by the mayor and the board. What does that mean to you?
HE: They invest their trust in me to get the job done day-to-day. Basically, Im here every day, here in Pelham, always available to answer their questions and to give the right guidance. You have to have a certain personality and plenty of experience doing what I do. I love my job because its local government. Thats really where the people get to meet the government first hand. It goes to the local level this is where they come first.
TDP: Is the best part of your job working with people on the local level?
HE: Right, this is where the rubber hits the road so to speak. The local level, you move from a federal grant right down to where we are here in Pelham. More boundaries, very protective, and we take care of business here in the village.
TDP: If youre a Pelham resident, what is there to look forward to in the town and what are some issues facing Pelham in 2012?
HE: There are a number of things and its always ongoing. Nothing ever gets done in the same year. Its always moving at the speed of government. It always involves, like I said, other layers of government. By that I mean, theres some projects were working on like flooding grants. These things have been going on for years.
We have some new financial software thats going to help us be more efficient. We also have the muni-meters that we are installing. Those will be up and running in a couple of weeks. We just redid two parking lots. Under these tough conditions, we do the best with what we have. And again, try to maintain the safety, health and welfare of the village.
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