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EDITORIALS
Freedom Of Information Or An Invasion Of Privacy
February 2012
By Meg Vaught
For those of us who regularly attend municipal meetings, there is no doubt that the recent amendment to the “Open Meetings” portion of the New York State Public Officers Law will make things a great deal easier to follow. To summarize, the amendment requires that all agency records, as well as proposed resolutions, laws, rules, regulations, policies, amendments there-of, etc. that are scheduled to be the subject of discussion by a public body at an open meeting be made available to the public via the Village website prior to that meeting. On the surface, this seems fairly straightforward. But when we stop and take a closer look, in some cases, this amendment can be considered a state-mandated invasion of privacy.
In the Village of Tuxedo Park there are four main “public bodies”: The Board of Trustees, The Planning Board, The Board of Architectural Review and the Board of Zoning Appeals. The BOT is our main governing body and as such, the Trustees are the ones who are, for the most part, dealing with the adoption of laws, rules, regulations and policies. It is nice to know that moving forward, if the BOT plans to discuss a policy change or new draft legislation on a Tuesday evening, interested residents can log onto the website a couple of days beforehand and review the documentation. The newly allotted “review time” will enable residents to consider any questions or concerns or thoughts they might have, so that they can, in turn, voice these at the appropriate time. Individuals living in other municipalities, states or even countries can get a glimpse of how things are run here, the types of laws we are enacting, the projects we are putting out to bid, the policies we are considering etc. This is probably a good thing. We have a lot to be proud of here…why shouldn’t the world have a look if they want to?
Things are a little different, however, when we take a look at how the amendment will affect the other three public bodies. The Planning Board, Board of Architectural Review and Board of Zoning Appeals preside over the process of development within the community and as a result, site plans for projects of all kinds are subject to their review. Whether an applicant wants to build a new home or an addition, install windows, reroute their driveway or even put up fencing they must appear before at least one (and sometimes all three) of these boards, detailed plans in hand...plans which, under the amended law, will now be available to the World via the Village website. Its one thing to allow the World at large a closer look at how we govern the Village, but in my view, it’s another entirely to provide them with a detailed look at what residents are trying to do with their private property. It is true that most site plans do not outline interior details (and those who may have done so at one time will surely delete them now) but all the same, they do provide a map, however vague or detailed it may be, of the project in question and in many cases, of the entire property at hand. Certainly, there are cases where certain individuals might want to have a look at this kind of information. For example, neighboring property owners might want to know what is being proposed in the lot next door or just down the street and in my view, that is entirely understandable. As TPFYI’s BAR reporter, I will not deny that having access to site plans will certainly aid in my ability to follow the discussions that take place during meetings and also embellish my understanding of the projects before the Board, which will no doubt improve the quality of my reports. That being said, should this kind of detailed information be available to any one, anywhere, world-wide, who might want it? I think not.
So, what can the Village do to protect the rights of its Applicants? Sadly, not much of anything. When asked If they could provide the information on a pass-word protected basis to Village residents only, Village Attorney Rick Golden advised the Board that while they could attempt to protect the information in this manor, they would be unable to deny any person the ability to register and obtain a password. Just about the only thing they can do is to remove the information as quickly as possible after the applicable meetings have taken place, and although the Board has yet to determine what the policy for posting and removing the information will be, they all agree that speedy removal will probably be a part of it.
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East Village Resident Relief Committee - Work Finished
January 2012
During the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, The Tuxedo Park Fire Department responded to over seventy calls in a 4-day period. As part of the community's outreach to storm victims, the Department's Executive Committee asked David du Pont and Gardiner Hempel for their help in organizing the residents of the East Village as that section of town was particularly devastated. With the help of Reverend Betty McWhorter, who generously offered up St. Mary’s as a place to meet, the Department was able to bring forty family members from the East Village together. Collectively, this group elected six members from various parts of its neighborhood to prioritize a list of those families needing outside assistance. The six elected members were Rick Marsh, Dave Stevens, Fidelis Curry, Ron Tripani, Rich Rigoli, and James Ogden. In light of the work already being undertaken by St.Mary's and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, it was quickly determined that the TPFD would focus its efforts on three specific resident needs: electrical panel replacement; furnace replacement; and hot water heater replacement. The rapid approach of winter and the threat of cold weather as well as the ability of the East Village Committee to assess and prioritize needs in a relatively short period of time were leading factors in this decision.
As soon as the East Village Committee started its assessment, the Fire Department began its fund raising by contributing $2,000 to what came to be called the East Village Resident Relief Fund. Two individuals and one institution immediately contributed $10,000 each followed by gifts from two foundations of $4,000. Fund raising efforts were then halted in order to ensure that the funds could and would be intelligently spent on the three items the Department had chosen to focus on. In the subsequent weeks, starting in late October and going through the end of December, financial assistance was provided to 25 homeowners over and above the donations from both of the Church organizations. The total amount spent was $34,949.38. The fact that so many different people within the Tuxedo community came together, and working with both Churches and the Fire Department, donated well over $120,000 to assist the East Village community is something we can all take a great deal of pride in. The members of the Tuxedo Park Fire Department thank you for your generosity as you redefined the true meaning of the word "Community". Bless you all.
TPFD
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Saying Goodbye to 2011
January 2012
By Meg Vaught
As we welcome the year 2012 with open arms, TPFYI would like to pause for a moment and reflect on 2011. There is no doubt that 2011 was a challenging year for the Village filled with lively elections, changes in government, hurricanes and freak out-of-season snowstorms. It was also a highly productive one in which the Tuxedo Road Guiderail project was finally completed, the Tuxedo Lake Dam project was brought to a close, water mains on Club House Road were realigned, generators were installed at the Village Office for the purpose of creating an emergency community center and the Village website was redesigned. Thanks to the strong leadership of Mayor Wilson, the Board of Trustees, the Village Police Department and an extremely dedicated and hardworking DPW the Village has not only handled all of this in stride, but is cruising comfortably into a new year that promises to be just as productive with discussions and plans for various new projects as well as improvements and repairs already well under way.
TPFYI would like to take a moment to salute all of those members of the Tuxedo Park community, elected officials, employees and volunteers alike, who have worked so hard over this past year to make the Village the wonderful place that it is to live. There is no denying that the workload around here has increased in recent years and we are extremely grateful to have such a strong, diligent, and dedicated group of individuals at work on our behalf.
THANK YOU and HAPPY NEW YEAR
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Your Vote Counts....Or Does It?
December 2011
By Meg Vaught
When I arrived at the polling station, I was a little caught off guard by the new system of voting that was under way. Gone were the two metal voting booths of old, replaced by what looked like several make-shift, curtained off cubicles with tables inside of them. I was greeted by a smiling election inspector, who quickly directed me towards the table designated for Village voters. I easily found my name in the book and dutifully signed on the dotted line. A plump young man, who looked to be in his early twenties, then handed me a paper ballot. He explained that the annual proposition for the Library budget was located on the back of the ballot and instructed me to vote for one candidate in each column as he pointed me towards the closest cubicle. Thinking to myself that the system had taken a giant leap backwards by reverting to paper ballots, I pulled the curtain closed behind me and reached for a pen. As I began filling the various bubbles, I quickly realized that two of the individuals I wanted to vote for were listed in the same column. Hmmmm. I scanned the ballot again. There were 5 candidates running for the position of councilman. Although four of them had campaigned with slates, I knew that I had the ability to vote for a mix of candidates if I wanted to (which I did) however, not every candidate had been designated his own column, and if I followed the directive I had been given when handed my ballot, I would not be able to cast the vote I wanted to. Surely, there must be some mistake, I thought, and filled in the bubbles next to my candidates of choice anyway. But I was unsure. On my way out of the cubicle, I stopped at the table and in the vaguest possible terms attempted to explain my dilemma by clarifying the instructions I had been given. The gentleman looked a little unsure of himself, but reiterated his initial directive. Frustration mounting, I asked for a blank ballot and he quickly produced one. Using it as an example, I pointed out that each of the candidates had not been given their own column and that asking voters to choose only one candidate from each column was technically unfair as it forced them to choose between candidates who were opposing each other. “Exactly” commented the election inspector from behind me. “You can only choose one candidate per column. The machine will not read your ballot if you do otherwise”
“But that’s not right” I protested. .
No longer feeling the need to be modest about my vote (but also not wanting to broadcast it to the entire room) I grabbed both the spare ballot and the ballot I had filled out and attempted to point out my specific concern as discretely as possible. “Let me see” said the inspector coming closer. She then took my completed ballot and spread it open on the table commenting “I’m not wearing my glasses, I can’t read this anyway” Despite the fact that there were only a few bystanders, I was somewhat horrified by this action. After noting that I had indeed filled in two bubbles from the same column, she once again remarked “This won’t work. The machine will not read this ballot. It will have to be voided”
“Why don’t you let her try and feed the ballot into the machine” suggested one of the nearby poll watchers. “It’s worth a shot”
“No” she responded. “It won’t work.”
As I moved awkwardly to fold my ballot back in half, she presented me with a large black marker and instructed me to write VOID in giant letters all across the ballot. As I was doing this, she went to the corner of the room and retrieved a large green bag, which she used to take the voided ballot from my hand (law prohibits her from touching it) The young man at the table promptly handed me a fresh ballot. I turned around and noted that a small line was beginning to form at the table behind me. Flustered, I headed back into the cubicle. Torn between the desire to defend my rights and the fear of causing a scene, I sat there for a moment. Then, noting the time and realizing that I was expected at work in New Jersey in less than 20 minutes, I decided against my better judgement to choose between the candidates and quickly filled in one of the bubbles. I promptly exited the cubicle and was directed to a machine that looked like a giant ATM, where I fed my ballot into a slot that sucked it away. As soon as it was gone, I regretted my decision.
It didn’t take long for me to discover that I was not the only one who had experienced this issue. Many of the voters I spoke with simply voted for whom they wanted to, while others like myself, compromised their vote. One individual, who voted hours after I did, told me that poll watchers were openly cautioning voters that the machine might not read ballots with two votes in the same column. Whether this was true or not, we’ll never know.
As it turned out, the winners in the election triumphed by a landslide and as a result, nobody saw the need to challenge the results.
That being said, all these weeks later, I still question their validity.
While I fully understand that certain aspects of the voting process are mandated by Orange County and cannot be changed, it is my sincere hope that the Town of Tuxedo has taken note of this situation and will move towards making notable improvements to the process for the next election.
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The Golden Fleece Award | January 2011
The late senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin, my home state, famously hated frivolous government spending and periodically dispensed Golden Fleece awards to highlight what he considered bad uses of taxpayer money.
Last night, the Tuxedo Town Board held their Annual Reorganization meeting which took approximately 15 minutes and consisted of the Supervisor waving a document around and mentioning a few highlights, such as an across the board 3-1/2 % raise for the employees of Town Hall. This was followed by a quick and unanimous vote in favor of the proposed resolutions. Only this morning did a copy of the Reorganization document become available to the public, and in reading it through, I discovered that the Supervisor and Town Councilmen are henceforth going to be paid for carrying out their liason assignments to the tune of $500 per “liasonship.” Each member of the Board has been assigned as liason to five organizations around Town so each member has just, in effect, voted him or herself a $2500 raise. This was done without any announcement, discussion or even acknowledgement that they were doing it. Do we really need TWO liaisons to the Monroe-Woodbury School district? We now have them. TWO liaisons to the Ambulance Corps? A liason to the Silver Dollars??? We’ll all be paying for those too!
In the current economic climate, most municipalities are cutting back and a lot of that starts with the people at the top of the governments. In the Town of Tuxedo, however, not only have the people at the top of the government just voted themselves a 3-1/2 % raise, but they have also given themselves a little $2500 dividend just for doing their jobs! And, they have done this without telling anyone about it, instead burying it on page 6 of a 7-page document which was voted on without being read into the record.
I nominate the Supervisor and Town Board for a Golden Fleece award. Shame on you for this blatant disregard for your taxpayers wallets! Conversely, I would like to commend Town Justice Loretta Davis who refused the offered 3-1/2 % raise and will be paid at last year’s rate!!!
-Mary Graetzer
To view the official Reorganization document that was voted on, click here.
To View the 2010 Reorganization figures (for comparison) click here.
To view a spreadsheet outlining salary amounts click here.
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Town Supervisor and Council Approve Tuxedo Reserve Environmental Impact Statement and Revised Special Permit For 1200 Unit Development | November 2010
With little advance notice and a few days before Thanksgiving the Tuxedo Town Board unanimously approved a new Special Permit for the Tuxedo Reserve Development. The new permit rearranges the development’s plan and increases multifamily units by 41%, all to be built in Phase 1. The additional multifamily units will replace single-family units and will certainly reduce the tax base of the development. The true impact of this reduction was never carefully analyzed because the data for the fiscal analysis was provided by the developer and it paid little heed to current real estate sales, the needs of the fire district or the opinions of the Town’s tax assessor. It is disappointing that the Town Board chose not to consult the Town’s Planning Board, which had spent months reviewing the Application, or the Town’s School Board whose budget and our taxes will be severely impacted by the project.
Nevertheless, we are told the Town Board gained important concessions from the developer. The Development’s Home Owners Association will be responsible for the maintenance of; 10 of the 14 miles of roads within the development, all retaining walls and all infrastructures associated with the storm water management and water supply systems. The current and future boards should hold firm on all of these concessions.
Some will be unhappy with the Town Board’s decision. If so they should consider running for a seat on the Board as more important decisions lie ahead. Others will be angry with the Related Companies, but after all, developers develop. We must remember that a few members of our own community initiated the project and sold it to the Developer, they must bear ultimate responsibility for its negative outcomes.
-Jim Hays
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Tuxedo Reserve: Unanswered Questions | July 2010
The Tuxedo Town Board is well along with their review of Tuxedo Reserve’s application for an Amendment to their Special Permit of 2004. This amendment asks for sweeping changes to the Special Permit that was negotiated over many years by the prior Town Board. Some of the changes seek to unravel agreements the prior Town Board thought important, including limiting multifamily units to 305, banning construction within the Tuxedo and Mountain Lakes water sheds on environmental grounds and limiting retail space within the development in order to protect Hamlet businesses. The amendment calls for a 41% increase in multifamily units, including condominiums and rentals, over a thousand percent increase in retail space, and construction of houses within both the Tuxedo and Mountain Lake water sheds. The Town Board has conducted a series of workshops, but the developer has influenced the direction of the discussion. Town Board members have asked questions and are engaged, but can be deflected by the developer. For instance, Supervisor Dolan wanted to explore phasing of the development, so that if all the developer’s fiscal predictions don’t come true, the town has a chance to renegotiate certain aspects of the project. The developer’s representative objected and the town’s attorney for the Tuxedo Reserve project, after looking at the developer’s representative said “that would be difficult” and the matter was dropped.
There are many issues of concern to our town’s residents that have not been satisfactorily addressed. Of particular concern is the fiscal impact of the development on the town’s taxpayers. Time after time, at public hearings last fall, town residents, who had little faith in a prior fiscal analysis, that the developer guided, asked the town board to conduct a fiscal analysis independent of the developer. An independent fiscal analysis was promised on a number of occasions by the Town’s supervisor. But the analysis that was performed, was again heavily influenced by the developer. The developer provided the data for the analysis and the developer’s consultant did the computer runs. The town’s consultants did not thoroughly check the validity of the information that was provided by the developer for, if they had done so, they would have realized that the average square footage of housing units was larger than it had been in the prior analysis. This increase helped move the outcome into positive territory. Without a believable fiscal analysis, the board can’t make sensible decisions on issues that may be advantageous or disadvantageous for town taxpayers.
The Town Board is in a very strong position--they don’t have to agree to amend the Special Permit. The developer has a Permit to build…….so let them build. The developer wants changes, so the town should negotiate something from the developer in return. This development has many potential costs to the Town: equipment for the fire district, the ambulance corps, space for the library, costs to the highway department etc. These potential costs need to be analyzed carefully.
In recent months, the town board has received perplexing advice from their attorney that is not conducive to communication between residents and the board. The board has been advised not to answer any questions about Tuxedo Reserve raised by town residents. For example, at a summer meeting of the town board, I started to ask a series of questions that I thought the board should consider. I was stopped by the town Supervisor before I finished and told to submit the questions in writing. The board would then ask for answers from their consultants that would then be relayed to me. I did as I was asked, but never received any answers. At a subsequent town board meeting, I asked if my questions had been submitted to the consultants. I was informed that they had been and town board members had discussed the answers but I would not be told what the answers were nor what Town Board members thought about specific issues.
Those of us who have regularly attended Town Board meetings and work shops are concerned about the removal of these minimal rights of communication with the Town Board. We want the board to negotiate a deal for the town that is fiscally positive and we have repeatedly made this point. We believe the Town Board also wants this but their task is large and they need encouragement from their constituents. Please contact your Town Board representatives and encourage them to do a credible fiscal analysis and from it negotiate a deal that will not be an expense to the town’s current taxpayers. Supervisor Dolan has said there will not be another Public Hearing before the board votes on the Amendment so contacting your town representatives or speaking at a Town Board meeting are the only options open to you.
Sincerely,
James and Nancy Hays
TARGET Tuxedo
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