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Letters to the Editor: Questions About Village Government

May 17, 2011

To the Editor:

Last night at the Village Board Meeting, I provided a letter to the board about questionable actions taken by the mayor and board in violation of NYS Village Law and the Open Meetings Law.

In summary:

1 – NYS Village Law required that appointments be made at the annual meeting. Mr. Coyne did not make any appointments that night and still has some appointments open.

2- There are questions about his appointments of the Treasurer and Village Clerk and resulting responsibilities. NYS Village Law requires that “orders to pay claims” must be approved by the mayor to ensure accountability and prevent potential fraud, if one person occupies both the treasurer and clerk positions. These controls are established to ensure accountability of monies collected and paid out.

3- The minutes of village board meetings are supposed to be available within two weeks of the meeting. Approval of minutes have been habitually late and there are no minutes later than 1/24/11 posted to the website yet later minutes have been approved by the board. Why aren’t they posted yet?

I also brought up the fact that the annual financial statement is late. This was the only issue addressed when the treasurer stated that an extension has been granted until June 30th.

I questioned the status of the legal bills from Tarshis and the Ethics Board…both very important and controversial issues from the past administration…no answers…even saying that they might be addressed in a future meeting.

Mr. Coyne informed me that I had three minutes to present my letter yet interrupted me “before my time was up”. I also question why he needs to restrict each commenter to three minutes. We did not have a lot of people who wished to speak last night so there would have been ample time for me to complete my comment…no more than six minutes.

As the mayor of the village Mr. Coyne works for every resident of the community. If he truly believes in open government he should be willing to listen to his constituents. I was trying to help him. He is newly elected and maybe was not aware of the laws that govern his actions. Now he should be, and hopefully will take appropriate action to be compliant. Laws were made to protect us and guarantee our rights as citizens of the United States. This is not a dictatorship and the mayor needs to remember that. So, when will my questions will be answered?

Jan Smith
Cornwall-on-Hudson



Comments:

Here is the Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-picCIA_zU
Also at ArgenioAndrew Channel on YouTube


posted by Andrew Argenio on 05/17/11 at 10:03 PM

These people haven't even mastered stopwatch "technology." The video clearly, irrefutably shows that Ms. Smith's statement lasted 2+45 to the point where she was told "Your three minutes are up." And hers was not a rant that needed to be shut down, it was a considered, intelligent offering that requires an answer, not a "ding-ding-ding time's up thank you very much and now go away."

One of the most intelligent things Doug Vatter said during his tenure as a trustee was, "This village is so small it ought to run itself." We might be better off letting it do so.


posted by Stephan Wilkinson on 05/18/11 at 3:12 AM

I believe the way that the mayor behaves shows that he does not care about what his constituents have to say. He is not representing the village residents but his own agenda. He and Mark Edsall stated that Paul Weber is not interested in the Chief of Police position yet others who have spoken with Paul, to include my husband, have said that Paul would be willing to be the Chief if that is what the residents want. I am sure that when he met with the mayor and Trustee Edsall and they told him that he was not going to be reappointed he accepted their decision?it does not mean that he was not interested or willing to do the job. Why would the mayor want to get rid of an honorable man who has done everything he can to support the village board and this community?


posted by Jan Smith on 05/18/11 at 9:41 AM

Boy oh boy it looks like someone is not doing their job as an elected official


posted by barbara hembree on 05/18/11 at 6:04 PM

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