Good afternoon, I am writing to share my experience with the Cortlandt Forward team, specifically Dr Richard Becker, Debra Carter, and James Creighton.
This past winter I attended a virtual meeting in regards to redeveloping a piece of property in Verplanck for the purpose of a privatized indoor soccer facility. I passionately expressed my concern, explaining how club sports programs impact our recreational programs and it caught many of the council members by surprise.
After this encounter, I expected to be treated like public enemy number one but instead, during a local youth sports league’s opening day event, Dr Becker, Deb Carter, and Jim Creighton actually stopped to listen and talk to me. We talked about concerns I had, where the local sports league needed help and listened to my frustrations in supporting the league, and his team didn’t stop there. Dr. Becker immediately brought his team together, stayed in constant contact, and came up with a solution, each program, baseball, and softball would receive a monetary stipend to use to support the programs and help with those deficits they have.
Dr Becker also started meeting with the youth sports leaders every few months, and Deb Carter and James Creighton have been continuously advocating for the programs to get what they need. It’s amazing what open communication, mutual respect and collaboration can achieve.
The future of Town of Cortlandt recreation is looking bright because these people cared enough to meet with parents in the community and create a plan that actually makes sense. A huge heartfelt thanks to Dr Richard Becker, Debbie Carter, James F. Creighton, Cristin Michelle, and the rest of the team from TOC for recognizing that for progress to happen we need to work together.
A huge thanks to Linda Puglisi for all of your years of support and partnership. We are sad to see you retire but we know the future of the TOC is looking bright.
Rachel Seaboldt-Fenty
