This Thursday night's Town Board meeting will either produce a big pay day for Mark Evers and friends or it will produce fiscal restraint and common sense. Either way, the public can once again speak on the proposed raises for elected and appointed officials which defy common sense especially in this worst economic crisis since the great depression.
Despite what you may hear from the spin doctors on the town board, the budget as proposed increases the property tax levy a full 3% on both general and highway taxes. Spending is also increasing at a time when a fiscal crisis demands restraint and hopefully tax cuts.
You can read the agenda including a Resolution we presume would amend the proposed budget to remove all offending raises which exceed 3% here.
The public is urged to attend and speak on the budget.
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3 AM Planning Board Meetings
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You have to wonder why anyone would allow a public agenda to be so filled with agenda items as to require a planning board to be in session 9 hours until 3 in the morning?
Not only is this an affront to citizen participation and open government, it leads one to conclude that the planing board places the desires of the development community well ahead of the public interest by inhibiting public participation and awareness. Planning Board agendas should under no circumstances cause a board to be acting on projects until 3 in the morning. In fact, common sense would dictate that a reasonable hour would not permit action after 11PM.
The public is certainly not benefiting by these all night sessions and the rush to approve every proposal possible does not serve the community's interests.Yet this is what happened at the last planning board meeting.
What is needed is not another meeting of this board every month, but rather a recognition that the town can only handle so much at a time while insuring public input and attendance at these meetings which impact the quality of life of North Greenbush.
That's a hint boys and girls, to change the way you do business and change it now.
1 comment:
speaking of the 3am planning bored meeting....how does a family get kept from building a house next to the connolly family business after they did everything the town planning and zoning boards asked them to do? make them go to two planning board public hearings so ms connolly can present her objections twice. the zoning board ok'd the project
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