John Degnan

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John A. Degnan
Mayor of Brewster, New York
In office 2005 – 2007
Preceded by	John Cesar
Succeeded by	Jim Schoenig
Children	2
Residence	Brewster, New York
Occupation	Contractor

John A. Degnan (born 1960) is an American politician. He was elected to one term as Mayor of Brewster, New York serving from 2005 to 2007.^[1] He has been involved in issues regarding illegal immigration in New York, as well environmental policy, having been called to testify in April of 2008 before the United States House of Representatives Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment discussing Superfund sites before members of Congress at the invitation of Congressman John Hall.^[2][3]

[edit] Political career and background

Degnan graduated from Fordham University with a degree in economics, and studied Construction Management and Finance at New York University. He was a real estate contractor before beginning his political career serving four terms as a Brewster Village Trustee.^[4] Brewster is a community of about 2,000 people, with an undocumented day-laborer population estimated to be as many as 600 to 1,000.^[5]

[edit] Mayor of Brewster

In his 2005 campaign for Mayor, Degnan ran on the Democrat and Republican lines due to New York's unique electoral fusion system, and defeated the eighty seven year old, six-term incumbent John Cesar, New York's oldest elected official at the time, by 97 votes.^[6][7] In the 2003 election, when Mayor Cesar, who at times had been a candidate of the Democratic and Conservative parties, was nominated as a Republican for the first time in 15 years, Degnan mounted a successful legal challenge to have the caucus results invalidated and Cesar's name thrown off the ballot, although Cesar was ultimately reelected as an Independent.^[8]

Upon taking office, Degnan joined the Team Brewster sustainable growth initiative, an organization of concerned residents that met monthly to discuss growth in the village with U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, the village trustees and Mayor, the County Executive and county officials, along with the State Assemblyman, State Senator, and Congresswoman representing Brewster.^[9] The mayor commissioned a Master Plan for developing the village, which was completed by students from the Urban Planning Department of Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.^[10] The plan contained recommendations for urban design, governance, economic and community development, zoning, infrastructure, and finance.^[11] According to the students, demographic data from Brewster showed that although the village's population is predominantly white, it holds a sizable Hispanic immigrant population that has "increased exponentially over the last ten years", a trend not seen in the Town of Southeast (where Brewster is located) or Putnam County.^[11]

"Node 3, Labor Employment Center", a diagram from the report issued by Mayor Degnan, showing the proposed location of a Day Laborer hiring center (right, top), to be built on the site of the old Village Hall (right, bottom) on Main Street in Brewster, across from the Community Action Program Office (left).^[11]

One of the three "nodes" for improvement in the report included a recommendation to build a sanctuary city employment center for day laborers in the site of the old Village Hall.^[12] Degnan kept the recommendation in his final report, and the language used in village's version of the report stated that "The immigrant laborer community is a vital aspect of the overall workforce diversity and a source of economic vitality in the Village. This vitality can be harnessed and enhanced through investments in the laborer community. The principal way to achieve this goal is to create an employment center at a central and accessible location in the Village."^[11] While similar neighboring communities such as Mt. Kisco launched housing raids and passed laws restricting the public solicitation of work, Mayor Degnan had no interest in such measures, noting that "The key is going to be community involvement. Even if you make progress with a brick-and-mortar day-labor center, you still have to do a lot better job of communication within the community."^[5]

The center was to provide education and outreach programs, aiding laborers in the job attainment process, and perform social services in partnership with the local public service programs to provide workforce development, language classes, social services, transportation, and housing for all members of the Brewster community.^[13] Degnan's suggestions included training opportunities such as computer and English as a second language courses, programs for family health care, free transportation, and affordable housing provided by the Village, which is the primary holder of low cost rental housing.^[11][14]

The Mayor announced construction of the hiring site for Brewster's day laborers in his 2006 state of the village address, although the plan failed to materialize after three separate proposed sites were rejected by state officials.^[15][16][17] Technically, day laborer hiring sites are illegal in the United States, although they exist in Los Angeles, California, as well as Glen Cove, Long Island.^{[11][18][19][20]} According to The Journal News, Degnan was "enthusiastic" about playing an "integral role" in securing the site.^[21][22] A 2006 survey of 583 registered Republicans in Brewster and Southeast conducted by State Assemblyman Greg Ball revealed that 92% of residents did not support its construction. Degnan stated he was not about to let a poll put a halt to the longstanding plan.^[23] Although there had been no new proposals on the table for over a year, Assemblyman Ball hosted a "Stop the Work Station" rally in the Village in July of 2007 which drew local residents to speak out on both sides of the issue.^[24] Ball was joined by Michael Cutler, a "former INS agent and immigration expert" who has appeared at many of the Assemblyman's events and fund raisers.^[25]

While serving as Brewster Mayor, Degnan increased his salary from $8,563 a year to $15,600, and nearly quadrupled other personal service accounts, stating the new pay level was "commensurate with the job's long hours".^[26] The Mayor and the board of trustees approved a fee increase on the village's water system to pay for a $7.5 million system upgrade, increasing rates for high-volume users from a flat fee of $600 to a level proportional to their usage. There was a controversy when the Village government retroactively applied it, billing some customers thousands of dollars and leading to protests, causing Degnan to respond that "We simply made a mistake and we apologized to the community".^[27] The fee hike took place in 2007, and while revenues from water meters were $300,219 in 2006, they rose to $1,016,125 in 2007 and $1,398,217 in 2008, an increase of 365%.^[28]

On a typical day in Brewster, day laborers line up on Marvin Avenue to find work, which prompted Mayor Degnan to call for the construction of a hiring center as part of the village's redevelopment.^[29]

In 2007, Degnan invited the Guatemalan consulate to the village to offer its mobile ID card service to distribute identification cards to illegal aliens.^[1][30] Degnan claimed that the cards would help in enforcing quality-of-life infractions, although the town of Southeast does not accept consular cards as proof of residency or identity, after residents complained in the summer of 2006 about their use.^[31] He believes that "the Federal Government is the only branch of government empowered to enforce immigration laws", and sought assurances from Immigration Enforcement officials and special agents "that they would only pursue illegals who commit serious crime".^[32]

Degnan later announced that the village of Brewster would be one of the first communities in the state to participate in the 287(g) program that provides training for local law enforcement officers to work as ICE agents and file immigration violation charges.^[33][34]

[edit] 2007 campaign for Southeast supervisor

Degnan had run as a Democrat for the role of Town supervisor of Southeast, New York in 2007, but was defeated in a close three-way race.^[35][36][37] The recount was plagued with accusations that Degnan supporters voted twice in Southeast and the incorporated village of Brewster, and legal challenges by Degnan to his opponent's absentee ballots.^[38][39] Degnan ultimately lost by a nineteen vote margin.^[40] Amongst the candidates, Degnan raised only $8,172 from six individuals, while his opponents raised over $100,000 combined.^[41][42]

Degnan began the race as a Republican and after finishing a distant third in the primary, ran under the Democratic and Conservative lines after picking up their endorsements.^[43] Degnan's opponents referred to him as a "slumlord", a charge which he emphatically denied.^[44] Some Hispanic residents of Brewster said little was being done to improve the quality of life in Brewster, pointing to overcrowding, joblessness, and downtown graffiti allegedly made by Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13), an El Salvadoran gang.^[45] Members of the day laborer community pitched in to remove the graffiti themselves.^[46]

Aside from immigration, the major issues in the campaign included a the sewage treatment plant for Southeast, property taxes, and the widening of Route 22.^[29] Degnan stated his accomplishments were forming a village police force after backing out of a contract with the Putnam County Sheriff's office, installing security cameras on Main Street and hiring a worker to fight overcrowded housing.^[47][48]

[edit] 2008 campaign for State Assembly

Main article: New York's 99th assembly district#2008 election

In May of 2008, Degnan announced he was a candidate for the New York State Assembly in the 99th district against freshman incumbent Republican Greg Ball.^[49] The former Mayor admitted he faced an "uphill battle", but promised to wage a "positive and upbeat campaign dealing with the issues".^[50]

After his announcement, Degnan was ceremonially endorsed by a local committee in Southeast led by former Assemblyman Willis Stephens, whom Ball had ousted in 2006.^[51][52][53] The bitter 2007 campaign for Southeast Town supervisor saw Ball support one of Degnan's opponents.^[54] When Degnan announced he would be seeking the Republican party's nomination, the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, which rarely involves itself in primary races, issued a press release on Degnan's candidacy, stating that "If it weren’t so transparent, John Degnan’s attempt to try and run in a Republican Primary after having just run with the Democrat Party would be laughable. In fact, it is laughable."^[55][56]

Degnan received the endorsement of the Putnam County Republican committee, which had endorsed Stephens in 2006, while the Republican committee from Westchester, the largest part of the district, endorsed Degnan's opponent.^[57][58][59] Degnan noted that, "I will seek as many positions on the ballot as I can," acknowledging that he will challenge Ball on both the Republican and Democrat lines despite not receiving the backing of the Assembly Campaign Committee.^[50][60]

Degnan was later endorsed by the Westchester and Putnam Democratic County committees, while the Dutchess committee decided against endorsing him.^[61][62][63] As of June of 2008, there were no documented challengers to John Degnan for the Democrat line.

In June of 2008, a blog from the Journal News reported that discussed elements of a political mailer by Assemblyman Ball's campaign in June of 2008. The author concluded that despite the mailer saying otherwise, the Village of Brewster was not officially a sanctuary city under former Mayor John Degnan.^[64] The next day, Degnan received the endorsement of the Working Families Party, which in order to garner, candidates must fulfill a detailed questionaire indicating they support issuing drivers licenses to all immigrants (documented or undocumented), requiring business to accept IDs issued by foreign consulates in place of a New York issued photo ID, legalizing gay marriage, and an immeadiate moratorium on the death penalty.^[65][66] This contradicts the journalists claim that Degnan does not support drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.^[67]

[edit] References