Isabella Pectol moves to Building Department

Isabella Pectol FILE PHOTO

By JEFF MORRIS 

The Bedford Building Department is getting a new full-time staff member, but the THRIVE coalition that serves Bedford, Lewisboro and Pound Ridge will be looking for a new coordinator.

At Tuesday’s Town Board meeting, members approved the appointment of Isabella Pectol to the position of senior office assistant in the Building Department. 

According to the appointment resolution, Pectol is currently working as a contractor with THRIVE and has “previously worked with the town in various departments seasonally. She has also worked in the health care industry.”

“We’re really excited to have you join the building department,” board member Stephanie McCaine said. “I think the innovation and your character will really brighten up that part of the world.”

McCaine said she was looking forward to what Pectol can do “to support our residents and our realtors and the contractors who work with that department,” and that she was going to be a “great fit.” Board member Bobbi Bittker added, “Any work that Isabella has taken on for the town, either per diem, contract, seasonal, she’s done an amazing job and we’re really lucky to have her in this position.” 

Building Inspector Alberto Ciraco appeared via Zoom to thank the board for the appointment. “We are looking forward to having Isabella on the team. She is no stranger to the building department. We’re looking forward to her helping us help the public.”

It was in January 2025 when the board approved an agreement with Pectol for consulting services related to THRIVE, formerly known as the Bedford-Lewisboro-Pound Ridge Drug Abuse Prevention Council.

At that time, Sally Corbett-Turco, serving as acting chair of THRIVE, said the town had been awarded a federal Drug-Free Communities Grant that made hiring Pectol possible. THRIVE’s mission is to reduce youth substance abuse and promote mental health across Bedford, Lewisboro, and Pound Ridge.

Calves said she is sad that Pectol is leaving the position of THRIVE coordinator after she takes this position, and thanked her for offering to help with that transition. 

“We will be posting that position within a couple of days,” she said.

Pectol’s new appointment takes effect on April 27. The starting salary will be $60,392.

Back in 2021, when she was first running for supervisor, Calves said, “Fixing the backlog in the building department is clearly on everybody’s list of things to get done” amid frequent complaints about lengthy delays with inspections and applications.

Besides Ciraco, the town now has two assistant building inspectors, and the department handles more inspections under recent enhancements to the Landlord Registry and Rental Building Health and Performance Law.