When Westchester Community Image Council Executive Director Jim Lange announced his resignation last month, the board turned to the group’s MacGyver, Mike Isherwood.

“He knows how to fix everything,” Lange said. “He can run a project top-notch.”

Isherwood, who served as vice president and director, took over the community beautification nonprofit when Lange’s tenure ended Jan. 1. Lange resigned so he could run for trustee in the April elections. Now Isherwood says he’s looking forward to picking up where his predecessor left off.  

Q What was your reaction when you learned the board had voted to appoint you executive director?

A (Jim Lange) did a lot in three years, and it’s going to be fun to see what I have to do to go further. He got us a lot of awards, got us a lot of recognition and did a lot of programs. We’re going to expand on that. It’s going to be a hard act to follow. I can’t wait for the challenge.

Q What are some of your goals for the CIC?

A We got a lot of ideas on the books that we’re going to submit to the Village Board, probably in the next 30 days ... a lot of fun projects a lot of visible stuff. All the gateways into town, we want to brighten them up, make them look better. That’s probably going to be our biggest focus this year.

Q What led you to get involved with the CIC?

A It started as a fluke. It was something that one of the trustees really started. He put a seed in (Lange’s) head, and Jim really ran with this thing. I met Jim at a village meeting and the next thing we knew, we were just there all the time. I got to meet a lot of people that were involved and it was something to just give back to the community and try to make better.

Q Where does the CIC funding come from?

A Currently, about 90 percent comes from fundraising. Last year, we were able to get some percent from the hotel motel tax, which comes from the village. We’re going to try to do something similar this year. We can do some projects that would be in accordance with the parameters of the hotel motel tax, which would be tourism.

Q Any final thoughts?

A I would like to thank Jim Lange and his family for the long hours that they donated to this thing and their commitments. It’s going to make my work here a whole lot easier. And everybody enjoys doing it, which is half the battle.