MICHAEL NEWHARD

a Valley Table interview

Issue 43 (Oct/Nov 08)

[Copyright © 2008, The Valley Table]

As part of our tenth anniversary introspective, we'll be speaking with some of the movers and shakers throughout the Hudson Valley to get their take on the issues and changes they've seen over the past decade. Michael Newhard is a business merchant (Newhard's Home Store) and three-term mayor of Warwick, generally viewed as one of the more successful villages in the region--surrounded by agricultural land, it's home to the first municipal farmers' market in Orange County and has launched a "green city" campaign. But the economic realities of sustaining a downtown business district in a county where "commercial sprawl" seems to be the governing principle means it hasn't been a cakewalk.

Michael Newhard: It's interesting to take a ten-year period like this because it has been very dramatic. Now we're eating organic whatever, and ten years ago we were eating hot dogs. It's like, what's going on here? It really is quiet amazing.

I think the very beginning was with our farmers' market. That was sort of a starting point for greater awareness in this community. I was on the Board of Trustees--I remember these very long, heated meetings that we had with farmers and consumers and it took us about a half a year to really hammer out all of the ideas. It was very, very exciting.

What we recognized, I think early on, was that farmers had experience with the Greenmarkets in New York, so they brought that information to the table. And then I think we, as a community, recognized that this wasn't just a farmstand, this was a farmers' market and there was a great differentiation and we needed rules and regulations as strident as the Greenmarket's in New York if this was going to work. We didn't want infiltration of stuff that didn't belong here. To me, that was a very important moment. That sort of set the tone. It became a model. The restaurateurs were part of that. I was a Main Street merchant at that time, so that was part of it as well. Understanding that bringing that activity downtown was a real source of vibrancy that would add another layer to what we had as a downtown shopping area—another option.

[Downtown] is pretty good right now. There is maybe one vacancy on the entirety of Main Street. Where we've really seen the interesting growth is on the side streets. This is exactly what we had hoped would happen--that on Railroad Avenue and on Spring Street and on West Street--all these little, kind of secondary streets--that they would all of a sudden come alive, just as in the European model. That's how communities and business districts grow: Instead of sprawl on the end, sucking the center out, not allowing that, trying to keep that at bay so that the center can continue to grow in a very healthy way.

I said "You know, if you allow large commercial entities or a lot of small commercial entities to happen on the outskirts of the village--a stones throw from the village--suddenly you're competing, and suddenly the entrepreneur who thought about taking over an old building and reconstructing it and making it into a beautiful restaurant, maybe that entrepreneur will not make that determination or not make that investment because of this other opportunity down the road, on the highway. That is problematic, because the way this community grows is from this internal point. We count on people taking the old and decrepit and reviving it, reconstructing it, preserving it and making it into something better. It's sort of like controlled growth. And I think the proof is what we see here.

What happens, too, is in all the comprehensive plans that exist in the town, in the county, in the village (in most villages, I imagine), they all say, "Well, we want a vibrant Main Street and business district, and we will control the growth on the outer areas so that the areas where the infrastructure exist will continue to grow." Something happens in the translation--someone says, "Maybe we need a little strip mall. Maybe we need a yadda yadda down the road because everyone else has it. Why should we feel left out from Middletown?" That's the interesting dynamics of planning. The struggle that Goshen has is that it's so close to 17, which can bring you to a big shopping mall in minutes. We're in a nice geographic situation where that proximity isn't hurting us. And as gas prices grow, it gives us even greater reason to become more sustainable and to grow our businesses and to become a stronger community.

VT: Warwick seems to have so much going for it, whether you look at its downtown business district, its cultural events or its residential areas. What has enabled it to stand up as, some say, a model community?

MN: Well, a lot of things. I think people love this place and they understand the sense that it is a place, and it is a community, and it has a history. These roots that are so amazing. They're not just written by one person but by many people. And your voice can really make a difference. I really feel there is that sense here. When there is an issue, a lot of people come out to express themselves. And that to me is vital. That's the key. When people stop going to meetings and they stop writing letters or stop discussing the issues, then you leave yourself vulnerable for anything and people start making decisions for you. And you don't want that.

The diversity of this community, I think, is really very important. And I think it is sometimes misunderstood by the rest of the county even, or the region, because many people come in to town and they see these large homes and they think "Oh well this is just such a wealthy community." And frankly, it isn't. I mean, it has many well-to-do people, but there's a whole other core of people here who make up what Warwick is, that make moderate incomes and some people who are really low-wage earners. But it's a mixture of all those groups.

But like I said, it's the diversity. It's not tipped in any one way, which I think is what is really affective.

We also have a youth culture here. If you go downtown, we have these wonderful, small cafes that really cater to those, you know, between 16 to 26 to 30. There's entertainment, there's a whole bunch of activity that goes on whether or not you and I would be aware of it.

VT: Is it because you have an involved and engaged population, is it the style of governance, is it a visioning thing? It seems like you're more on top of what your vision is (as a village) and you're working toward something all the time.

MN: It's like you can't stop. For the village, the big issue is aging infrastructure. That's constantly on our plate. But it's what's going to help us get to the future--if we let it go it will fall apart. Once you recognize that, that's key. But it's also understanding that your community is not just infrastructure, not just water and sewer, it's people. And what people need are things like a business district that is flourishing, a place to interact with the farm community, with agriculture, restaurants to go to bring your family but also to bring your friends, a place to socialize, and also cultural things, like the arts festival or concerts on the green. I think because the community wants it to happen there are people in the community who want it to happen and they are also willing to take it on themselves to make it happen.

Our meetings are always televised. I'm on the radio quite often. I'm on other TV programs locally quite often. I grew up here; I walk this village all the time. So I think there is a certain accessibility that people feel about me, and also to [the local] government. It's still small enough that you can feel that. I have a great Board of Trustees in that respect. Very energetic and diverse. When we go into a meeting, they've had their agenda for a number of days (usually the Wednesday before a Monday meeting), so they are able to really digest that material. But we don't talk about it, per se. We may have individual discussions but we don't have a work session before the meeting and hash it all out so we all say yes. We do it live. I think it's very constructive to the person watching the meeting because they can understand what that person, what that trustee is thinking or what the mayor is thinking. They can see us make a mistake, which is not so bad. We're all human and we all are there for the same goal. We all have different perspectives. So I don't want the board to all say yes; I want the board to say "Wait. Discussion. Look at it this way. I want that person to sway me to look at it differently." And I think that that's what is happening.

VT: The continued vitality of Warwick's downtown has been helped, as you say, by the cooperation between the village and the town. Was there a specific catalyst for this or is it sort of a natural progression of the political and economic and social elements there?

MN: I think the local government, if it is working, should be able to do that. A good example is Railroad Green. We purchased that as a park seven years ago with the understanding that this would become a municipal green space. It was just happening as I became mayor. It would be good for just people. Once we bought it--I was in charge of Parks & Recreation at that point but I was determined to design it in such a way that it was really welcoming, that it was really a beautiful place--and once we did that, once we accomplished that goal, it set a tone for that street and gave the people who own those buildings on that street another reason to grow those businesses and to redevelop their properties and to restore their buildings.

The next level comes with cultural events, and the next level comes with businesses organizing as sort of a mini-guild, or as a "business improvement district." So that's what grows it--a very interesting series of events. You could even say, for the farmers' markets, that a whole series of events takes place. Sometimes what I see as a problem in some communities is that they reach too far--they try to put the icing on before they have the cake baked. They've got to work from the grassroots. It goes back to that--it goes back to the desire of the people and what they really want and if there is consensus--it's all about consensus. A lot of communities, they go out and they say, "Well, we have to make our Main Street alive." Instead of recruiting businesses or defining a plan for doing that, they go to their assembly person or their senator and get street lights. Well, fine, but how much business takes place at night? Yes, it's partially the environment and street lights do improve it, but that isn't going to influence someone to open up a business.

There are other things: A farmers' market would bring the needed people into an area to create a certain level of vibrancy. Businesses piggyback on businesses. There are no stand alones that I know of, anywhere, even on Fifth Avenue or Madison Avenue.