Under The Circus’ Big Tent

The April 24th Town Board meeting took over two hours to get underway after those in attendance endured presentation after presentation by The Paul. No matter how self-serving these may be, ABG endorses starting the meetings on time and focusing on Town business, not campaigning by The Paul. Seeking cans of Red Bull or just needing a break, people were in and out of the hall repeatedly. If this continues, perhaps The Paul should install easy chair recliners with beverage holders.

Once the public hearings began, speaker after speaker hammered home the fact that The Paul and his Board are being asked the same questions again and again, meeting after meeting and still not sharing information with the public. ABG concurs. Apparently, The Paul’s “Open Government” is only open when it is convenient for him or he has information he wishes to get out. It appears his and the Board’s every move are secretly guarded. The sadder commentary here is that the media in Westchester could be doing their job by investigating his claims, uncovering his deceit and exposing it. Instead, they choose to be his lapdogs and reprint his press releases verbatim or put a positive spin on issues that would be crippling to any other politician.

During the Town Board meetings, the Board has a habit of waiting for a speaker to finish their comments or asking all of their questions and then take their seat before they will address any queries that were made. That is, if they choose to address them. Most times they will remain silent and offer the public no information! One speaker asked about numerous issues in the Town, with his final question being what was the information the Board was seeking regarding the RFP’s for the Frank’s Nursery property and the WestHelp property? As he was returning to his seat, The Paul commented, “I just want to say that somebody was interfering with the process. This is not a game. This is not entertainment. This is not a circus. This is a business. We have a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Greenburgh to get the best possible deal for the Town. And if people in the community are abusing it, we’re not going to stand for that.We’ll have to keep more things to ourselves if we are legally able to do. And that’s the reason we’re not giving people as much up to date information as the neg [sic]. I don’t want people making phone calls discouraging some of the better bidders not to deal with the Town.” This is a business? Really? The Paul and this Board have yet to run anything as if it were a business. More importantly, if one resident has a conversation with a bidder and the bidder chooses to withdraw, what does that say about the quality and strength of The Paul’s “business sense” and dealings? A deal shouldn’t be so weak as to collapse because of one conversation.

What The Paul failed to mention was that the resident spoke to a partner of the company biding on the project that was a school friend of The Paul! Ironically, the next person called to the podium to speak was in fact the same resident. He took about four of his five alloted minutes to counter what The Paul had said. It’s interesting that when it’s something The Paul or his Board wants, they will insult and denigrate whomever they please. Yet they state on each meeting’s agenda that personal attacks will not be tolerated. While their common place hypocritical behavior is disgusting, they do control the microphone and get away with the same bad behavior they so desperately try to keep away from themselves. It pathetic.

Other speakers asked about the amount of money the Ardsley Water Wheel property for affordable housing was going to “net” for the Village of Ardsley? Were the other Villages and most importantly the Unincorporated portion of the Town going to get any money as well? No answer. As usual, The Paul was playing with his phone during this speakers limited time. The speaker challenged him to pay attention to what she was saying. The Paul had the audacity to say he had posed her question to a Town forum he participates with and was reading their response. When she requested he read their response, he refused, claiming he wanted to discuss it with the Board privately before sharing it. So why even bring it up? She promised to fax a FOIL request for the information upon her return home.

The Town Board meetings go along like this meeting after meeting. The Town is run more poorly day after day. Undeserving politicians seeking reelection unopposed is not good for the public or the Town. Alluding to the old saying about how power corrupts, it has absolutely corrupted our Town leadership. Morale of our employees is at its lowest of all time. Salaries for the top level of our Town are disproportionately high. The Town is keeling and going to capsize soon. We need a change in Town leadership and fast! We can only hope.