TOWN OF FISHKILL – Carmine Istvan, a small business owner and lifelong resident of Southern Dutchess County, has announced his candidacy for one of the three town board seats on the ballot this November.
Istvan is the president and CEO of Eastern View Landscaping, a company he founded 20 years ago. The first-time candidate says his business background will be useful in making decisions that affect the taxpayers in the town. He has previously served the town as a member of the Environmental Board from 2011 to 2012 and was a member of the planning board from 2012 to 2014.
“I support transparency, honesty, and personal integrity in public office, regardless of the issue. The interests of the taxpayer are more important to me than the interests of any political party,” Istvan told Mid-Hudson News.
The 49-year-old father is raising four children with his wife Lisa. Istvan said he grew up in an underprivileged household and, as the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, was the only child in the family to graduate high school. After graduation, he enlisted in the US Army Reserves and specialized in counterintelligence. He then enrolled at Dutchess Community College and majored in Liberal Arts.
In a release announcing his candidacy, Istvan described his career path that led to the start of Eastern View Landscaping. According to the statement, he began working for a landscaping company part-time while attending DCC. He developed a passion for the industry, inspiring him to take a job with a national landscaping firm where he learned all aspects of the business. Istvan says that he was promoted to project director and was tasked with overseeing several IBM facilities on the east coast.
With the encouragement of his wife, he started Eastern View in 2001 with a staff of one employee. In the following decade, his business has expanded to a staff of 25 employees and is still experiencing growth 20 years after beginning.
