Watching Your Rights Zoom Away

During the C-19 pandemic, more and more organizations have resorted to using conferencing applications such as GoToMeeting, WebEx, Skype, HangOuts, FaceTime or Zoom. Regardless of which one you’ve been forced to utilize whether for work, an organization you belong to or hanging out with friends and loved ones, the first broadcast usually starts with the moderator saying something akin to, “This is a new experience for most of us as we try to maintain some normalcy.”

The question that has arisen is to what extent should we, or could we, use these meetings (we’ll use Zoom as the defacto app) and how legal and binding are any decisions made during their use? Keep in mind we are not talking about family members or friends speaking amongst themselves. Fraternal organizations that hold Zoom meetings are able to discuss pertinent or time sensitive issues such as paying bills or taking actions that assist others in the community, such as checking up on elderly members, delivery of food and/or supplies to home-bound members.

But what of the Town Board or the School Board (or any official governmental Boards) using Zoom to make decisions. How binding are those decisions that are being rendered given the lack of community participation via online participation? While it’s certainly seductive for these conference call neophytes to use a new and unproven tool, is this really reliable or secure? For instance, in the part of Greenburgh that is referred to as North Elmsford, the Town Board is routinely green-lighting the desires of developers seeking to build a new ShopRite on the former Grand Union/Masters/UA Cinema location. They’ve already given enough of a nod to the developer to have them force all the tenants to vacate the shopping center space.

Still the bigger issue is that meetings held via Zoom, tremendously limits public participation in the requisite approval/disapproval process. Make no mistake, the Town Board has already decided to allow the project under threat from the developer that they will walk if they don’t get what they want! What? We are the residents, taxpayers and community. And, while we welcome a ShopRite in the community, we welcome it within the parameters that we want, what the community wants. At hand is the insistence by ShopRite to create/open an entrance off of Old Country Road, which parallels Orchard Lane, for tractor-trailer and smaller truck deliveries. This curb cut and traffic increase will definitively alter the traffic flow, congestion and quality of life for the residents already negatively impacted by 9A traffic at all hours of the day and night.

The issue warrants everyone who a) has an opinion about this significant change and b) would want to be heard regarding this, to be summarily disregarded, dismissed and disenfranchised by Mr Feiner and his Board as they choose to move the project forward via computer users only. This is illegal if the current laws mandate that the public participate with a Public Hearing which must be held for this proposal for everyone. Holding a Zoom public meeting illegally limits the decision to a handful of people who have computers and may know about this shifty and suspect move. We already know that Mr Feiner and his rubber stamp Board are always looking for ways to remove the residents from participation in Town events, but this gives them and entirely new and unencumbered way to do so!

The Town Board has already moved the ShopRite proposal forward, certified by the Town Board having already voted to approve a SEQRA Negative Declaration that indicates the ShopRite proposal will not have a negative environmental impact. Proof positive this is a done deal. The Sam’s Club fueling stations request is meeting a modicum amount of resistance. These two projects should be evaluated in tandem with each other as they flank both sides of 9A at a most congested area and promise to do more damage to an F-rated traffic zone!

Holding Zoom meetings or utilizing any other conferencing program during this pandemic can serve a purpose in the short-term. Taking advantage of a difficult situation to achieve an agenda does not. These actions to move Mr Feiner’s friends projects forward should not happen. But it will because this is Greenburgh. It’s time to get back to normal, but until we can, moratoriums should be placed on all projects whether underway or not. Salaries for all politicians should be reduced to $0, and not resumed until the public is back to work, at which point they be resumed, and not retroactively. We need the politicians to try to do the right thing by their constituents no matter how contemptuously they're being treated by them. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.