Comment and Response

In response to "Anonymous" (clever name that) who posts under the entry Who'd A Thunk It:

I think it might be Maria Hunter who's acting as Town Queen. Where in the town code does it say how to get rid of beautification commission members? It the town supervisor has to consult with board members on every singe thing that comes by him every day, nothing of substance would get done. Get over your ralph-hating views!

The town code does, in fact, specifically say that members of the Beautification Commission serve at the pleasure of the Town Board, not the Supervisor.

And yes, the Supervisor does have to consult with board members on every single thing that the law says he must consult with them. That's because he was elected supervisor not emperor.

So Ralph, stop whining that you don't run things.   Maria isn't Town Queen and neither are you.

KJ Annexation Forum Tonight

Proposed Annexation Area In Yellow

There will be a forum on KJ's petition to annex Monroe land into the Village of Kiryas Joel tonight (Thursday, April 16) at the Central Valley Elementary School at 7 PM. 

This just in...

We've just received word that the Town Board meeting was quick and uneventful.

Thank God!

Industrial Strength Chutzpa

Joel Petlin, the school superintendent of the Kiryas Joel School District has written a letter to LOHUD (the Journal News' website for the Lower Hudson valley).  He complains about the awful actions by... 
...elected officials (who) are now attempting to limit democracy as it relates to the Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish population of the Hudson Valley.

An Assemblyman has proposed a bill to create a state commission to better enforce the Freedom of Information and Open Meetings laws. His press conference and press release made it clear that this legislation is targeted toward a single municipality – the Village of Kiryas Joel, inhabited by a Hasidic Jewish population.

The Assemblyman and his colleagues that joined him at his press conference have been longtime critics of any actions taken by the elected leaders of Kiryas Joel. So it comes as no surprise that they would propose a new law designed to constrain a growing neighboring municipality. What is curious, however, is why there is a need for the creation of a new layer of government, at a proposed annual cost of up to $15 million, when all laws, including FOIL and open meetings, are already reviewable and enforceable by the judiciary.

The unnamed Assemblyman (who's initials are James Skoufis) is, it seems, seeking to restrict KJ's democratic right to illegally hold secret board meetings and ignore FOILS.

Who'd A Thunk It

It turns out that if you want to communicate with the Town Board you'd best contact the board members individually and directly.

A Ms. Maria Hunter sent a communication to Woodbury Town Supervisor Ralph Caruso asking that the Board remove and then add various members of the Beautification Commission - a power residing in the Town Board as a whole.

Surprisingly, Mr. Caruso chose not to pass this request on to the Board, but, rather, took it upon himself to reject the request. Thus saving time and protecting the Town Councilmen from having to worry their pretty little heads with town business.

Efficiency!

Addendum:  Does this seem petty and whinny?  Perhaps it may be, but the point is this isn't the way things should go.  And it's just one of many, many examples, in just three months, of Caruso refusing to act like a town supervisor and instead acting as if he were town king.
And it turns out that under New York State Municipal Law there is no such position as town king.

Foiled Again

From an AP posting:

A sampling of NY journalists' open government challenges

MIDDLETOWN TIMES HERALD-RECORD
As part of an Open Meeting Law project in 2012, a reporter made repeated efforts to determine when and where the village of Kiryas Joel's mayor and trustees would meet in order to attend the session in February. But the reporter was rebuffed by the clerk's office and ultimately told by the village's attorney that the meeting had been canceled and would not be rescheduled.

When the reporter returned to Kiryas Joel's municipal offices the following month for the next scheduled meeting, there wasn't any. After placing a call, a secretary told the reporter that the mayor and trustees would meet that afternoon instead and that she would call once she knew the time, which she never did.

Another Sign Of Spring on Museum Village Road.

Roadside love seats.