I walked down Wheeler Avenue expecting to see an awning like the rest of the ones that spanned the block and would indicate that I was in the right place. Instead, I found a glass door with a 42 above it in gold stickers that lead to a staircase. At the top of the stairs, there were several doors. The first one to my right read “H Plus Graphic Design” with an arrow pointing to the left. The next door had a sticker that read “H Plus Graphic Design.”
I knocked and there was no answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. I quickly learned that the door was unlocked and stepped inside. “Hello?” I asked.
“Hello!” A cheerful voice replied. There he was, sitting at his desk, surrounded by mounds of paperwork and signs of all kinds.
Out stepped Peter Scherer, dressed in a hunter green quarter-zip, black cargo pants, and black sneakers. Scherer is the long-time Mayor of Pleasantville and owner of a small business in the same village.
Scherer’s history in village government
Scherer’s journey into village government began about 20 years ago. He began by serving on the Architectural Review Board (ARB), whose purpose is to “ensure that there are no adverse effects in the immediate area with regard to architectural inconsistencies in the use of materials or signs. The ARB judges a proposal’s effects on property values in surrounding areas,” according to the Pleasantville government website.
After serving on the ARB from 1999 to 2001, Scherer then served on the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission, which is responsible for the “review of site plans and subdivision applications,” has the main responsibility of ensuring that any plans that are proposed do not interfere with the Village’s comprehensive plan. Scherer was on the Planning Commission for one year, from 2001 to 2002.
His next move was to run for a Trustee position on the Village Board. Scherer was successful in his campaign. After serving two full terms and one year into his third term, the Mayor’s position was up for re-election. Since he served on the Planning Commission, Scherer felt that he had developed a solid understanding of how to move forward from the development challenges that the community was facing at the time.
In the first contested mayoral election in 18 years, Scherer was triumphant against incumbent Bernie Gordon. Since his election, Scherer has run three more times uncontested and has been mayor for almost 10 years. He is now in the first year of his fourth three-year term.
“[There are] no term limits so I could keep doing this forever, although that’s not my plan,” Scherer said.
Scherer said on one hand, he feels that turnover is important because new people bring new perspectives and new ideas. On the other hand, he believes that “longevity brings something” to the table.
“I don’t think term limits are necessary nor do I think they would be useful in our specific case,” he said.
As mayor, Scherer has remained involved in the community in more than one way by serving on the board of Pleasantville Community Television (PCTV). Station Manager Shane McGaffey credits Scherer for his support of PCTV’s latest move. “The fact that he’s supportive of unfiltered community television has been vital for the community and for village government,” McGaffey said.
How did he get to Pleasantville?
A New Jersey native, Scherer credits his father, a city councilman in Plainfield, as being a “role model for civic life.” He credits Plainfield, NJ as being the setting for his “formative years.” A small city in Union County, Plainfield is currently home to over 50,000 residents.
As an adult, Scherer went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. When he returned after graduation, his girlfriend (who would later become his wife) was attending Columbia Nursing School. She would then go on to attend Columbia for graduate school, so they wanted to live near the Washington Heights campus of Columbia Presbyterian.
While living in Manhattan, they found themselves taking an apartment in Irvington, a village in the town of Greenburgh, Westchester. He described the move as being the thing that “put their foothold” in Westchester.
“One way or another, we ended up here in Pleasantville, New York,” he said.
H Plus in the Making
Between his junior and senior years at Wesleyan, Scherer worked as a summer intern at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum when it had just opened at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion on the Upper East Side.
He enjoyed his experience so much there that he would return on an unpaid basis during vacations to help install new exhibitions. After graduation, he was offered a job at the museum and worked as an assistant to the Director.
“I was right in the middle of things in what was simultaneously a Smithsonian museum and a start-up,” he said.
His experience at Cooper Hewitt led him to get involved in designing publications. One of the staff developers who left to start her own business invited Scherer to join her after he had been working at the museum for five years. “At 27, this felt like something to do and I did it,” he said.
Over time, their business began to change. The Central Park Conservancy was one of their biggest clients and was part of the change that took place. The Conservancy started asking Scherer and his partner to do graphics outside of their normal realm, including a porcelain enamel map that was one of a 27-part installment of kiosks throughout the park.
By the time his partner was ready to move on to other things, Scherer had already spent “much of” his life on signs. With someone else who worked for their company, Scherer and his new partner bought the company out.
“In the year 2000, we moved the office from New York [City] here to Pleasantville,” he said. At the time of the move, the “Dot Com explosion” had just begun, Scherer explained, so his landlord wouldn’t renew their lease because he wanted to only lease his building to full-floor tenants.
While staying in New York City full-time wasn’t an option, they moved headquarters to Pleasantville and opted to sublet space in Manhattan since that was most of their clients were. That was 18 years ago.
“With the evolution of electronic communications and web access, it just doesn’t really matter where you are,” he said.
Scherer considers running H Plus to be his “day job,” attributing it to being the job that “pays the rent.”
While Scherer admits that being the Mayor can consume some days, he mostly considers it his “$6,000 a year night job.”
Balancing the two
“When you are physically separate from the goings-on in the town [for which] you play a role in the government, it’s probably a little easier to keep the two parts of your life separate,” he said.
Scherer recognized that there are days when the lines between the jobs are blurred. Some days, his village board responsibilities leave him realizing the things he needed to do for H Plus have been left unfulfilled.
“Because of my role as the mayor, and also as a small-business person, and a resident, the community has benefited by the blending of those roles,” he said.
He referred to his relationship with the Pleasantville Chamber of Commerce (PCC) as an example of the benefits that he sees. He is a member of the PCC because of H Plus, but is also able to serve as a liaison between the Village Board, community, and the PCC.
The President of the PCC, Bill Flooks, credited the Mayor with being a great liaison between the Chamber and the Village Board. “We have an open line of dialogue to discuss things with him,” he said.
Despite being the mayor, Scherer said he voices his opinion like any other small-business owner in the PCC. “He usually has very good ideas and if we can implement them or we can help him implement them with the Village Board, then we do,” said Flooks.
Scherer said he understands what he’s gotten himself into with his level of involvement. It doesn’t hurt that every stop he makes during the day is within a walking distance of less than five minutes.
“I live here, I work here and play a role in the government, all within walking distance. Every time I think should complain, I realize I shouldn’t because that’s a pretty darn good trifecta,” he said.