Ramos discusses goals for his second term

By Nadine Cafaro
Posted 4/26/23

After winning his second term as Walden’s mayor, John Ramos feels excited as he gears for the rest of 2023, which he predicts will be productive.

Mayor Ramos said the transition was …

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Ramos discusses goals for his second term

Posted

After winning his second term as Walden’s mayor, John Ramos feels excited as he gears for the rest of 2023, which he predicts will be productive.

Mayor Ramos said the transition was “smooth” when discussing the addition of new board members, Kristie Hall, Chris Batson and Ralph Garrison, who ran alongside him in their previous campaign. According to Ramos, they’ve done their homework and are learning the ways of the board.

As commonly stated, Mayor Ramos brought up aging infrastructure as one of the biggest issues on his mind.

“Everything costs money, and I’m not talking about dollars and cents, I’m talking about mega dollars,” he noted, explaining that he’d like to obtain a grant to tackle some of the infrastructure issues in the village.

However, grants are hard to come by. Ramos explained that when competing with larger municipalities, it’s hard to be awarded one.

He also would like to see Walden’s ball fields come to life again.”The Town of Montgomery Little League has vastly grown and they sought out to use our fields, so we’re maintaining our fields so that they can use them,” said Ramos. He also envisions the addition of lights to fields after seeing some at one of Maybrook’s softball games.

One of Ramos’ concerns in the village, which he has stated often, is local businesses closing down. When asked a solution, he referenced the proposed Milk Factory project, which he believes will bring in a lot of positive traffic and tourism.

“If you’re a business owner, this is the right time to open something and wait it out until the Milk Factory becomes operational. It’s gonna be a huge thing,” Ramos mentioned.

Bringing up their recently adopted budget, Mayor Ramos mentioned they are just piercing the tax cap, and that he’s happy with how sales tax in the county is looking. Included in the budget was funds to pave the parking lot at the brand new Anita L. Vandermark Community Center.

This will add four more handicap parking spots, which is especially important due to the amount of senior events hosted at the center.

Notably, Mayor Ramos has taken on the role of president of the Senior Club. After being sworn in the first week of April, he mentioned how energetic they are and the increase in senior events being held at the community center.

Overall, Ramos is looking forward to the next two years.

“This is the time to start coming in and exploring what type of business you want,” said Ramos, who hopes that more businesses soon come to the Village of Walden.