The two newest members of the Rotterdam Town Board said they have plans to put aside political affiliation and work as a team to improve the town.
Democrat John Silva and Republican Michael Della Villa, who were sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 1, are relative newcomers to Rotterdam town politics.
But both men have spent time as public servants.
John Silva, 52, moved to Rotterdam four years ago to serve as president and CEO of Hometown Health Centers.
Silva served for six years on the board of selectman in Hull, Mass. The board of selectman is the executive arm of town governments in Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, selectmen are not endorsed by a political party.
I ran as a resident in Massachusetts and not a Democrat, said Silva. `I hope to take the partisan stuff out of Rotterdam’s government and employ a common sense approach.`
Silva said he would try to get the town board to focus on putting labels aside to take a united approach to town issues. He also said he wants to focus on essential issues like infrastructure and property reassessment instead of getting caught up in personnel and departmental issues.
`When I was running for the board, I knocked on every door. I think I’ve got an idea of where the people of Rotterdam are coming from,` said Silva. `We’re not keeping pace with the broadening tax base so we need to focus on infrastructure before we start building more condos.`
Silva said that being a newcomer to town politics has some major advantages.
`I’m kind of an unknown quality to both Democrats and Republicans,` he said. `I’m not necessarily labeled or aligned so I can focus on the issues.`
Silva lives on Maida Lane with his wife of 32 years, Helena. The Silvas have three grown sons.
Unlike Silva, Michael Della Villa, 44, is a lifelong resident of Rotterdam and a graduate of Schalmont High School. Della Villa now serves as the president of Schalmont’s Board of Education, a position he has held for the past two years.
Della Villa, who has served the board for four years, has two years remaining on his term. He said he will remain on the board for the remainder of his term but will step down as president at the board’s organizational meeting in July 2008.
Della Villa said he’d been approached to run for office for the past three or four years, but decided that now was the time to take advantage of an opportunity to serve on the town board.
`I decided it was time to give back to the community,` said Della Villa. `Rotterdam is a great place to live, and I decided to run for office hoping that
I can add value to the town.`
Like Silva, Della Villa believes the town board should work together as a team of residents rather than as a partisan group.
`We need to define our goals and a strategy for Rotterdam and then work together to achieve those goals for the benefit of our residents by having consensus on the goals for the town and support for decisions,` said Della Villa. `These actions should be non-partisan.`
Increasing economic development, keeping taxes low and strengthening Rotterdam schools are some of the initiatives Della Villa plans to explore as a board member. According to Della Villa, commerce, education and senior care are all interrelated issues that affect the community.
`We need to take care of our seniors as they worked hard to take us to where we are, and we need to take care of our children because they are our future,` said Della Villa. `We need to have strong school systems because they will support our businesses.`
Della Villa lives off of Dunnesville Road with his wife, Debbie, who is the director of OLA Nursery School. They have three children.
Della Villa is the co-president and Partner of RockIT Science Solutions, a Latham-based technology services company.“