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March 01, 2011
To the Editor:
We strongly support the candidacies of Joe Gross as Mayor and of Jan Smith and Andrew Argenio as Trustees.
We have watched with dismay during the past two years as the Board of the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson has been hamstrung by political fighting and posturing while serious matters have been left unaddressed. Chief among them is the matter of the DPW building, a building deemed unsafe, not just by a local inspector, but by the state code inspectors. It is imperative that we get to the bottom of how this came about - how is it that the village paid a million dollars for a building that had no engineering plans, no soil tests to see if the area were safe for building, no construction permit, and no CO? The three members of the board have done everything they can to avoid answering the questions concerning this fiasco.
Another area of concern is the question of legal bills. How is it that the Board of Trustees, with a lawyer as one of its members, came to hire a law firm without a reasonable retainer agreement? So the taxpayers have to pay an exorbitant hourly rate to this law firm. And yes, perhaps most of its time has been taken up by questions posed by the mayor in regard to legal issues, both major and minor, but that wouldn't matter if the law firm were on retainer and available to take care of legal matters on a set-fee basis. And it was never made clear to us why the previous law firm was fired in the first place. Is there a reasonable explanation for that?
We also question the elimination of the second public comment session from the board meetings. We recall at the time the elimination was proposed it was to shorten the length of the meetings, but that is a ridiculous notion, as it is usually after new business is introduced that most people would want to comment. Perhaps if the trustees would limit their long-winded proclamations, resolutions, etc., we would have shorter meetings and more time for the people of the village to comment on the business before the board that affects us all.
Most importantly, looking to the future, we believe it is past time to have a board that can work together peacefully to get things done. We support Joe Gross, Jan Smith, and Andrew Argenio because of their vision for the future of our village - they promote the ideas of transparent, open government; competitive bidding on all village projects; referenda on major expenditures; close reviews of all village spending; and re-establishment of the village ethics board, among other ideas. They are passionately committed to the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, they are experienced, conscientious, and engaged in making our village a better place.
Warren and Mary Mumford
Cornwall-on-Hudson
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