Censoring The Public

We’ve often seen Mr Feiner and his Board do whatever they could to shut down residents from speaking at Town Board meetings and other public events. To say open government in Greenburgh is alive and well is heresy, only mocked openly when Mr Feiner purports to espouse it. One meeting saw he and his Town Board adjourn the meeting at 10:15PM without giving residents an opportunity to speak as was promised earlier. And, many who speak at the opening three-minute session often state they’ll come back during the five-minute session. Although in this instance, with sheepish smiles on their faces, the Board hurriedly scampered away for fear of being challenged.

Such is the case with tomorrow night’s meeting to discuss the the Jefferson Project proposal to be constructed on property at Lawrence and Saw Mill River Roads. Only this time, the Board is making no pretense of curtailing the public’s right to speak. This time Mr Feiner is sending out an email (we wonder if there is also a snail mail version?) stating the rules of engagement for tomorrow night. In his email, he states that they are expecting a very large turnout. And, as a way to justify his control of the public, is using the guise of a Twitter Inspired speaking option. Frankly, it’s designed to be cute so he can get away with silencing the public.

If his concern is really that there were a lot of people seeking to speak, he could schedule another time to do this. However, he won’t do that because he really isn’t interested what people want to say. This episode is a fait accompli. If there are not a lot of people in attendance, will he simply allow everyone to speak for the three and five minutes as previously done? Doubtful. If there are a lot of people, and the majority are against the development, he will use that to twist the arm of the Jefferson management to provide beau coup give-backs in return for what will appear to be begrudgingly offered support. Can you say lawsuit?

There are two schools of thought for this development. The first is that the developer purchased this land, put together a proposal designed for the site and is entitled to build it. There must be an acknowledged back and forth between the developer, the Town and the Village’s residents. The second side is from the Village residents perspective. They naturally are afraid of increases in school children and increases in traffic and congestion. There are of course other issues on both sides.

We hope to see many residents come out on Wednesday night to speak on this issue. While no one promises that the process will be easy, we hope that everyone will treat each other with respect and courtesy. Since these will be people not normally attending a Town Board meeting, Mr Feiner, et al, will be on their best behavior. These guests will not be returning after tomorrow’s meeting. They will hear platitudes of open government, that the Board hears their concerns, they will do their due diligence, people need to have faith in the system and a litany of worn out expressions that have served them well in the past amongst virgin crowds. Only if they continue to come back and not allow this Board to censor them will they have a chance of getting their way. This Board has proved that all too many times. It’s why we continually hope the willfully ignorant will get involved and help us to get A Better Greenburgh.