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 \u201cH Plus Graphic Design\u201d with an arrow pointing to the left. The next door had a sticker that read \u201cH Plus Graphic Design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I knocked and there was no answer. I knocked again. Still no answer. I quickly learned that the door was unlocked and stepped inside. \u201cHello?\u201d I asked.
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\u201cHello!\u201d A cheerful voice replied. There he was, sitting at his desk, surrounded by mounds of paperwork and signs of all kinds.
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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.
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Scherer\u2019s journey into village government began about 20 years ago. He began by serving on the Architectural Review Board<\/a> (ARB), whose purpose is to \u201censure 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,\u201d according to the Pleasantville government website. After serving on the ARB from 1999 to 2001, <\/strong>Scherer then served on the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission<\/a>, which is responsible for the \u201creview of site plans and subdivision applications,\u201d has the main responsibility of ensuring that any plans that are proposed do not interfere with the Village\u2019s comprehensive plan. Scherer was on the Planning Commission for one year, from 2001 to 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s 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<\/a> in 18 years, Scherer was triumphant against incumbent Bernie Gordon. <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[There are] no term limits so I could keep doing this forever, although that\u2019s not my plan,\u201d Scherer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201clongevity brings something\u201d to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t think term limits are necessary nor do I think they would be useful in our specific case,\u201d 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\u2019s latest move<\/a>. \u201cThe fact that he\u2019s supportive of unfiltered community television has been vital for the community and for village government,\u201d McGaffey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A New Jersey native, Scherer credits his father, a city councilman in Plainfield, as being a \u201crole model for civic life.\u201d He credits Plainfield, NJ as being the setting for his \u201cformative years.\u201d A small city in Union County, Plainfield is currently home to over 50,000 residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an adult, Scherer went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201cput their foothold\u201d in Westchester. \u201cOne way or another, we ended up here in Pleasantville, New York,\u201d he said.
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow did he get to Pleasantville?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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