Dear Village of Thomaston Residents,

March 15 is a very important date in our Village – it is when the election for two seats on the Village of Thomaston Board of Trustees will occur.  Aaron Halpern and Jay Chagrin are your only choices for the Village of Thomaston Board of Trustees if you want transparency, honesty, community awareness and involvement, accountability, and a fresh perspective on the Board.

It is critical to vote in local elections.  Don’t assume that our local officials have the best interest of the people, community, and society in mind.  If there’s anything we have learned during the past 8+ months, it is that not participating in local government or voting in local elections can have dire consequences.  Village of Thomaston Mayor Weinberg and his four Board of Trustees ran unopposed in prior elections and were elected with 24 votes each.  The residents weren’t paying attention and just assumed that the Mayor and his Board would represent our interests and just do the right thing.  Well, we were wrong.

In July 2021, these five individuals unanimously passed an “Incentive Law” that applied only to the Tower Ford Property.  This law was drafted by the developer and would have enabled the demolition of the Tower Ford Building and allow a 75 unit, 5-story, tax-exempt, luxury rental apartment building to be built in its place.   During the July 12, 2021 Board of Trustees meeting, the Mayor misled his Board into believing that the Incentive Law was “generic” and applied to any commercial property in the Village of Thomaston.

This was false because it applied only to the Tower Ford Property.  The current Board members either did not read the law that they were about to pass or didn’t understand what the law meant.  Nor did Mayor Weinberg disclose to his Board that since April 2020, he had private discussions and negotiations with the developer or that in an email dated June 9, 2021, he had already “agreed” with the developer’s plans.  One can only wonder why things had to be so secret.  These documents are available on www.savegreatneck.org and were included in the lawsuit that was filed by residents against the Village.

The Mayor told the community that it would have a chance to be “heard” with regard to the developer’s application.  It is worth noting however that regardless of what the community wanted and how much its members protested, the Incentive Law gave the Mayor and his Board “sole and unfettered discretion” to approve the developer’s application.  Despite overflowing Village Hall at the Aug. 16 public hearing on the developer’s application, the community was never heard.  In fact, on Aug. 16 the Mayor adjourned the public hearing and directed that the residents leave Village Hall.  The hearing was repeatedly adjourned and never rescheduled.  Rather, to be “heard” the residents had no choice but to file a lawsuit costing tens of thousands of dollars.  Aaron and Jay led these efforts.

It’s astounding what you find once you open your eyes.  We can go to meetings, post on social media, complain in letters to the newspaper, and file lawsuits, BUT THE REAL WAY TO EFFECTUATE CHANGE IS TO VOTE! And that opportunity is NOW!  Every vote counts.  The Mayor and Trustees won by a 24-vote margin last time.

The Thomaston residents woke up, and they will never snooze again.   Now it is time to put the trust back into “trustee” by voting for Aaron and Jay who are honest, caring, and intelligent people who will try to undo all the bad and put the community’s interest first — always.

On March 15, please vote for Aaron and Jay all the way!

Wendy Halpern

Thomaston