The Peekskill Business Improvement District (BID) announced election results at its board meeting on April 1.
Following the election of directors, the board re-elected Richard Rogers as president, elected Roger Campos as vice president, and re-elected Toni Tracy as treasurer and Deb Milone as secretary.
According to BID Executive Director Bill Powers, 11 of 13 board directors voted unanimously in the election of officers, with nine directors present and two proxies.
Prior to the vote for officers, the BID held its annual election of board positions representing property owners and commercial tenants. Member businesses of the BID were able to vote for board directors in person on Feb. 21 or by mail no later than March 1.
Newly elected or re-elected members include four property owners – Hever Palacios, Roger Campos, Chuck Lesnick, Drew Claxton – and one commercial tenant: Richard Rogers.
For property owners, Palacios received 27 votes, Campos and Lesnick 23 votes each, and Claxton 20 votes. For commercial tenant, Rogers received 8 votes.
While there was an unspecified amount of write-ins for both property owners and commercial tenants, Powers said the BID does not permit write-in candidates, so those were not counted.
Two additional candidates for the four property owner seats, Emiliano Perez and Arne Paglia, received 15 and 11 votes, respectively, and were not elected.
In a statement to Peekskill Herald on Tuesday, April 8, Bill Powers said, “Each board member, whether new or re-elected, brings a unique set of assets to the BID, including their enthusiasm, experience and talents.”
Chuck Lesnick, president at Rental & Management Associates and of counsel at the law firm Marks DiPalermo Wilson PLLC, has just finished a two-year term and now begins a second term.
“It’s been great the last couple of years to get to know all of the activities that they’re involved in,” Lesnick said of the BID. “From the farmers market, the flea market, to festivals and partnerships with the Peekskill Arts Alliance and the library and all the other people that are doing good work for Peekskill to get people downtown.”
Lesnick is a property owner with several projects in Peekskill, including a couple of historic Victorians on Main Street with commercial and residential use, and a proposed 57-unit workforce housing project on the corner of Broad and Howard Streets, under the banner of Broad Howard LLC, that has received all approvals from the city, he said.
Roger Campos, a business relationship manager at Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, is beginning his second term as a property owner representative, plus will serve as vice president of the board. He replaces Dorothy Posada, who held a seat as a board member for about a year and a half.
Campos told the Herald on April 7 he will be working with the city and local business owners to make the downtown a better and more vibrant place. He added he will make himself available to property owners and make sure their concerns are addressed.
“I will be working a little bit closer with [Powers] and getting a little deeper with the projects, whether it’s signage, lighting and things like that,” Campos said. “For this upcoming term, I’m really looking forward to taking a larger role in the bid.”
Hever Palacios, owner of Taco District and Iron Vine Tapas Bar and Restaurant, moved to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1994. His candidate’s bio said he is “deeply involved in the Peekskill community and committed to contributing positively to its growth and success.”
Drew Claxton, a former Peekskill councilwoman, is co-owner of BeanRunner Cafe and chief executive officer of Annie Owens Holding Corporation, which owns mixed-use commercial property at 201 S. Division Street, including BeanRunner and Third Eye Studio.
Rogers is manager and senior tax analyst at H&R Block, located at 1027 Park St. He is also a managing partner at Just Happy Dogs, a home-based dog daycare.
Last month he told the Herald among his priorities are the return of the city’s free shuttle service, supplementing the city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) marketing efforts, and tapping into the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026.
Said Bill Powers, “The 2025 [BID] board will be focused on making the flea market’s new location a success, launching the 35th season of the farmers market, getting the spring-summer-fall shuttle service rolling, and finding innovative ways to promote and improve Downtown Peekskill.”
BID’s volunteer board of directors consists of 13 members, with an annual election for open board positions of two-year terms, including seven elected to represent owners of real property within the BID district, and two elected to represent commercial tenants of property within the BID district.
There also is one member designee of the city manager, one designee of the comptroller, one designee of the Common Council and one member Certified Artist elected to represent the interests of artists in the BID.
Other members of the board include David Abrevaya, Paddy Neville, and John Sharp, whose first terms all expire in 2026, and David Kaminsky, whose second term expires in 2026.
It also includes Councilman Brian Fassett as the Common Council’s representative and Matthew Rudikoff as economic development specialist. Along with board treasurer and City Comptroller Toni Tracy, their terms have no expiration dates.
The BID’s mission statement is to “promote the growth and development of downtown Peekskill as an attractive place to live. We generate business through business recruitment and retention, marketing campaigns, capital improvements, beautification efforts, event sponsorship, and advocacy.”
