Sunday, November 17, 2013

Unhappy Times in the Grand Duchy of Croton

OP ED

The British houses of Parliament observe a practice called “stating one’s interest” in which members reveal their connection to an issue before speaking on it. Let me state mine.
     I rise figuratively to express my deep disappointment with the current Democratic administration in Croton. Having turned 21 in 1939, I registered as a Democrat and proudly voted for FDR in the 1940 election. My record as a lifelong Democrat surely lends a measure of heft to my grievances. 
     Without taking the public pulse, this administration has pushed issue after issue in a high-handed, manorial fashion not seen since the Middle Ages in feudal Europe. The time has come for the serfs of Croton to express their displeasure at the repeated flouting of the principles of representative government.
     Here are a few examples of the indiscreet actions taken by this administration without adequate public discussion:

¶ Proposed cruel bow hunting of deer from tree stands in Croton parks while they were open to the public and even tested skills of bow hunters before legislation existed.

¶ Made ill-advised zoning changes in commercial areas under the guise of mixed use later deemed to be discriminatory by the monitor overseeing the 2009 settlement.

¶ Displayed ignorance of Croton’s zoning code by preparing to install already-purchased bike racks on sidewalks, and then red-facedly hastened to revoke the existing ban on sidewalk parking.

¶ Grossly underestimated costs of  the unnecessary redesign and reconstruction of a major thoroughfare to alleviate two brief weekday periods of heavy traffic that could be handled by merely staggering traffic lights.

¶ The same redesign project also damages local businesses by totally banning on-street parking to create bike lanes for a handful of seasonal bicycling commuters.

     A majority of trustees and the mayor are now falling all over themselves to accept the gift of the so-called Gouveia property plus an accompanying million dollars to be left in trust for the village pending the donor’s demise.
     The “gifted” property would not be immediately accessible to the public. The property’s tax burden, however, would instantly shift to village taxpayers because of Mrs. Gouveia’s demand to live on the property tax-free for the remainder of her life.
     Why the headlong rush by Croton officialdom to make the transfer happen when no firm plans exist for use of this veritable white elephant? The reason may be that this dubious “gift”--largely handled in off-the-record conversations with the would-be donor--is exactly what it appears to be: a sweetheart deal fraught with mendacity, misinformation and unanswered questions.
     The process has also been tainted by scare tactics tantamount to blackmail. There is no fairer word to describe the officially voiced suggestion that if Croton fails to accept Mrs. Gouveia’s terms, she will offer the property to an unidentified tax-exempt entity, such as a religious denomination.
     Croton lately seems to harbor more dark secrets than Peyton Place, novelist Grace Metalious’s notorious fictional community.