|
Town Board Has Failed to Comply With the Will of the People
(Reprinted at the request of the author) Town Supervisor
Members of the Town Board Philipstown Town Hall
Your advertisement in the September 5, 2007 Putnam County News and Recorder is absurd. Leaving aside one minor question-who paid for the advertisement??-the point is that the public, by its vote, has already informed you of its decision. This decision has been confirmed by the court, already at considerable expense to us, the townspeople and taxpayers. Keep in mind that the fact that the matter had to be brought to court in the first place was the result of your failure to comply with the will of the public, or even to object at all, except several months too late, to the result of the vote expressing that will.
Not only the library board and personnel, but personnel from the Mid Hudson Library System (including myself as a Putnam County trustee) were at all times willing, as soon as we were made aware of the Board's stated intent not to comply with the results of the referendum, to meet with the Supervisor and the Board so that any difficulties might be clarified.
To the best of my recollection, the very first meeting scheduled, as soon as the Library was informed of the Town's intention not to make the required payment, was cancelled by the Board. It is misleading for you to state that, "(m]istakes were made on both sides."
The Library's mistake, a minor error in paperwork, was found by the court to have been not material. It is also the case that the Town Board had ratified the results of the referendum by failing to object to the certification of the vote in a timely fashion. The voters apparently were adequately educated and informed; a majority of those voting on the question voted in favor of funding the Butterfield Library at the annual level provided in the notices and on the ballot.
The public has expressed its will. Your job is to accomplish the will of the voters, not to spend more of our money by seeking ways to thwart it.
The only "reasonable" possibility for further litigation is in the hands of the Town Board. Either you will decide to appeal the existing court ruling, or will withhold payment despite the people's, and the court's, decision.
Your advertisement should have recited the actual cost of the legal expenses of this business so far, together with a reasonable estimate of what would be the expense of a meritless appeal. Unless the members of the Town Board, and the Supervisor, are themselves personally defraying these expenses, that should be considered part of the equation. Keep in mind that these expenses are wasteful to everyone.
The Butterfield Library has been hampered in its planning, and has itself been required to waste its own resources in legal expense, solely because the Town Board has failed to comply with the will of the people. The Library has better things to do with our money.
Camilla von Bergen
Garrison
| 
