Honesty and integrity have been keys to mayor Marini’s success

Walt Marini has mixed feelings as his tenure as Spring Valley Mayor comes to an end.

While he says there are still things he would have liked to accomplish as mayor, he says the time was right to hang up his political hat and enjoy whatever retirement may bring.

“I would have been 81 when my next term was up,” he said, “And that’s just too old.”

Age considerations aside, Marini said a health scare his wife, Mary Jane, a Bureau County Board member, experienced last year also steered him in the direction of retirement from his civic duties.

“I’ve always been a ‘we’ person instead of an ‘I’ person,” Marini said, when reminiscing about the goals and accomplishments of his two-term tenure as Spring Valley’s mayor.

What could seem like a platitude coming from anyone else is clearly a sincere statement from Marini, whose every recounted accomplishment is peppered with the names of those who stood by and stood with him during his eight years heading the city council.

Marini recalls his early days, he was elected April 9, 2013, and just a week later, Spring Valley experienced a flood that covered its wastewater treatment plant. When he officially took the mayoral helm April 29, he said his first task was dealing with that crisis.

“With the help of Frank Mautino we were able to get a grant for $9.5 million to build a new treatment plant, so we are set there for the next several years,” he said. “That project is one of my biggest accomplishments.”

Marini also is proud to have been able to oversee the upgrade of the city’s water treatment plant from a 3-stage to a 2-stage reverse osmosis system, which also insures that infrastructure is sound for the foreseeable future.

“Working with Larry Good, initially, then Mike Richetta and all the people at Chamlin’s has been a pleasure. They were especially very important and involved with the design and engineering of the new wastewater plant and the upgrade on the water plant,” he said.

On a more pragmatic note, Marini notes that there were goals he had on his agenda that weren’t fully realized during his tenure.

“I have regrets we didn’t get to do as much downtown as I hoped we would have done,“ he said.

Marini said downtown revitalization is a key component for the future of Spring Valley and he thinks it will continue to be a challenge for incoming mayor Melanie Malooley-Thompson.

“There’s various factors involved, " he said. “The hospital (St. Margaret’s) going across from St. Bede would have been terrific, but the economy took care of that.”

Likewise, Wolfers Subdivision wasn’t developed to its full potential, Marini said, due also to the economic downturn in 2008.

“The banks took a dive at that point,“ he said, “It wasn’t really anyone’s fault, the economy just took care of that.”

Marini said part of the issue with revitalization as he sees it, is the change in demographics in the downtown area. He said about a quarter of the properties in town are rentals, and it’s been difficult getting some commercial building landlords on board with rehabbing their properties in order to attract a vibrant business culture.

Still, he said of his time, he doesn’t think he would have done anything differently outside of trying to bolster the downtown area more.

“It’s going to take a lot of money and property owners that are willing to take responsibility in order to revitalize downtown,” he said.

“Honesty and integrity have been the main things that have led to success,” Marini said. “Being open and being honest with everybody. There have been terrific people on that council that I’ve lived and worked with who have really gotten involved, have given input and taken ownership and spearheading initiatives.”

“Becky (Hansen, city clerk) and Debb (Ladgenski, Spring Valley’s Economic Director) have been terrific to work with, Chief (Kevin) Sangston who led the police department well and Adam Curran who took over the department, I think he’s going to do a great job.” he said. “Jeff Norton (street department supervisor), his experience is phenomenal. When he goes, the city will be losing a lot.

“Jim Andreoni was a terrific city attorney. He had a lot of experience and I could run anything by him and he always gave great advice.”

Marini said he’s excited to see what changes Malooley-Thompson will bring.

“I’ve always felt their should have been more women on the council,” he said. “Women have a different outlook and perspective on discussions. Deb Baltikauski has done a great job and we need to see more of that.”

Overall, Marini said, he’s had a great experience as mayor, especially considering he never had any intention of getting into local politics.

“I was initially approached by mayor (James) Narczewski, and former police chief Bernabei about the idea of running, which I hadn’t considered before,” he said.

Marini said despite occasional challenges his position offered, saying the public doesn’t always understand how ordinances and policies are determined and set, he doesn’t have any regrets.

“I’ve tried my best and hoped I’ve pleased as many people as I can and done what I could for the future of Spring Valley.”