A Yale graduate and 30 year union member, Sylke grew up in a working class family in Nyack. She has devoted much of her life to community initiatives. She served on the boards of Rockland County's Helping Hands for the Homeless (10 years) and Creative Response to Conflict (8 years). She chairs the Local USA 829's Wellness Committee and led that group's creation of a dedicated benefits liaison who directly assists the union's more than 5,000 members.
Sylke is the secretary of the Central Nyack Civic Association and the Central Nyack Green Group, and helped found Central Nyack's Native Plants Community Garden. She is an active member of her local Quaker meeting and serves on the nominating committee for a world body of Quakers.
Sylke grew up and raised her children in Nyack, and she works passionately to improve life for Rockland County residents. She has served her community as:
Sylke's numerous petitions, signed by more than 2,000 community members, testify to her impact:
After working with her neighbors to start the Central Nyack Native Plants Community Pollinator Garden, Sylke headed up an initiative to preserve a local farm and create a passive park in Central Nyack.
Through this work, Sylke noticed Clarkstown wasting taxpayer dollars and a lack of transparency in Clarkstown's dealings with Central Nyack.
Sylke and her community in Central Nyack faced a number of frustrations and disappointments, including witnessing the town spraying Roundup and killing thousands of dollars worth of plants that the town had installed just a couple of years earlier. These experiences motivated Sylke to run for town council.
She intends to make sure that Clarkstown taxpayers' money is used effectively, for the good of the community.
Conduct a thorough independent review of Clarkstown's contracts and staffing, and streamline, eliminating unnecessary expenditures.
New projects shouldn't overburden our roads, water, sewers or schools. Developers should pay for the improvements they require, not taxpayers.
Keep the town's share of the tax levy within the state cap and require a line-by-line budget review.
Speak up for residents at utility rate meetings and push for energy-efficiency programs that lower bills.
Revitalize failing sites like the Palisades Center that already have the infrastructure to handle more people, instead of piling more development onto areas with traffic problems.
Hold down park and program fees, expand scholarships and offer free community events.
Cut permitting delays and fees for homeowners and small businesses, and back business incubators.
So any resident can watch online without a cable subscription.
Limit how long council members and the supervisor can serve.
Offer regular town halls and real opportunities to help shape our community's future.
In a searchable, easy-to-read format.
Use every tool the Town Board has to protect the land.
As walkable open space, with gardens, housing for young people, artist studios, small-business incubators, makers' spaces, a theater, an ice rink and other community amenities.
Encourage prosecution of building code violations to the full extent of the law so that harmful conditions do not endanger the lives of residents. Ensure that projects do not proceed unless traffic and safety studies show results that are consistent with loads that local infrastructure can handle.
Sylke received candidate distinction from Moms Demand Gun Sense, and has been endorsed by:
