‘Vicky’ Contino hopes to continue serving as trustee

MILLBROOK —  Incumbent Victoria “Vicky” Contino is running for a full four-year term as trustee on the Millbrook Village Board. She is currently filling an unexpired term for current interim Mayor Mike Herzog, who is filling the unexpired term for former Mayor Rod Brown, who resigned unexpectedly this summer before his term was to expire at year’s end. Herzog will serve as mayor until Dec. 31, and is on the ballot Nov. 3 seeking another term as village trustee, running against Contino and three others, seeking the position he knowingly risked losing when he volunteered to take over the mayoral seat after nobody else stepped forward to do so. Contino liked filling in, and wants to remain on the board.

“I am running for Millbrook village trustee because, as an attorney, I spent 35 years helping arts and tourism, real estate, finance and human service clients resolve problems before New York State and local governments,” said Contino. “I believe deeply that diverse interests can come together to get things done that benefit both the private sector and the community, and have spent my career doing just that.”   

Especially essential in this rural area, Contino also has extensive success in securing government and land use grants. 

Now retired, she and husband, Paul Ashlin, are permanent residents of the village, which they said they love for its beauty and community spirit. The pair said Millbrook is a place that is unique, affordable and vibrant, and a fine place to live, visit and conduct business. 

Contino said she feels that if elected, she will bring a new perspective to village government, and that her understanding of government, its power, the duties of elected officials and the board’s ability to regulate services will be invaluable in her service to the community. 

She added that she learned many of her skills while working in New York City. She has served on the Board of GrowNYC, an organization that was developed to “improve New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations,” according to its website, www.grownyc.org.

“I want to apply my experience to preserve and enhance our quality of life in Millbrook, and promote our standing as a uniquely beautiful and vibrant village to visit,” said Contino.

Leadership comes naturally to this candidate, who has shown her ability to work with diverse factions, to bring together community stakeholders and to work with decision makers in government during her brief time on the Village Board. Contino said she felt her late tenure as a trustee went well, and that the transition was fairly seamless; it also gave her an opportunity to see what to expect moving forward, if elected in November. 

Contino was a partner at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman, & Dicker LLP, in New York City, she led the firm’s Government Relations practice, for 16 years; she was also a lead lobbyist for NYC’s largest labor union. She earned her BA from Stony Brook University and her law degree at New York Law School.

The Millerton News is running candidate profiles throughout the month of October. There are four candidates running for two Millbrook village trustee positions; two are featured on this page. The other two trustee profiles ran in last week's Millerton News and can be found online, as can all the profiles once they’ve been published in our newspaper. Look for profiles on the mayoral candidates in next week’s edition.