I believe the Village of East Williston Board owes a duty its residents to: be transparent; enforce Village rules; and advocate on behalf of Village residents.
Recently, I have been critical of the Village Board and in particular Mayor Tanner as it relates to the: Water situation with Williston Park; Village Property Tax Assessment System; and Village security.
A short summary of each topic is detailed below:
- Water — the E.W. Village Board entered into a water supply agreement with Williston Park that allows for uncapped increases in water rates for residents. The result: Starting Jan. 1 E.W. Village residents will see a 30 percent+ increase in their water rates.
- Tax Assessments — the E.W. Village Board maintains a flawed property tax assessment system that only re-assesses a small fraction of Village homes each year. The result: Village property taxes are not allocated fairly across residents (quite similar to the issue being debated now with respect to the Nassau County Tax Assessment System) causing many residents to pay more taxes than they should. In addition, the E.W. Village Board appears to unduly benefit from this flawed system.
- Security — the E.W. Village Board has consistently ignored the concerns of residents and failed to take actions to address increasing incidents of crime in the village. The result: Many Village residents have been the victims of crime, burglary, and incidents of vandalism.
It is with regret that today I am adding a fourth item — the EW Village Boards’ lack of transparency as it relates to the proposed North Side Wall & Fence.
Specifically, I am calling out the E.W. Village Board for the following:
- Failing to disclose all information from the EWSD on the E.W. Village website as it relates to this topic. Specifically: Failure to provide residents the letter dated 9/28/18 by the EWSD in which the EWSD requested a meeting to discuss this matter be held prior to 11/2/18.
- Failing to provide residents the letter dated 11/5/18 by the EWSD in response to the multiple letters dated 10/22/18 by the EW Village, the E.W. Fire Department and the EW Village Building inspector, collectively the “E.W. Village Letters.”
- Failing to provide residents with either the summary of or copy of the letter dated 12/7/18 from the JAG Architect to the EWSD. Said letter responds to the points raised in the EW Village Letters. The details of the JAG letter were recently discussed at the EWSD Board meeting on 12/17/18.
- Failing to enforce E.W. Village Building code with respect to the EWSD as it does with all other E.W. Village residents. Specifically, failing to take the position that the proposed 6-foot fence violates the E.W. Village Building code.
- Failing to threaten enforcement of said Village Building code.
- Failing to update residents on activities being taken to review this matter. Specifically, failing to meet with the EWSD prior to 11/2/18 as was proposed by the EWSD.
- Failing to inform residents that a meeting has been scheduled in January 2019 between the EWSD and the E.W. Village to discuss this matter.
- Failing to provide a date for said meeting.
- Failing to make this meeting public to ensure transparency.
- Failing to provide an agenda for said meeting.
As such, I am publicly calling for the resignation of Mayor Tanner as it appears his is not acting in the best interests of E.W. Village residents.
I hereby suggest, but respectively defer to the majority of the EW Village Board, that current Trustee and former Mayor Casella be appointed interim mayor of the Village of East Williston.
Casella should remain in that role until such time as the village can hold its regularly scheduled election in May of 2019.
Stephen Leccese
East Williston