Let The People Be Heard!

Before I get into the body of this blog a quick comment: Gov. Cuomo as of today has begun to push harder for his proposal to cap local taxes and send tax credits to taxpayers where local governments have taken steps to lower taxes. Please see the Governor’s website and click “No Excuses Campaign to Cut Property Taxes” at: http://www.governor.ny.gov. There you will find useful information about the Governor’s proposal and ways you can help to see his plan adopted.

People do need to speak up and nowhere else more than right here in Patchogue Village as our Mayor has made Patchogue Village ground zero for LI opposition to this plan. I have to say while the village has gotten a reputation for “progressive government” events of late make me question why that description is deserved.

The Mayor has put the whole village on record by implication in opposition to the Governor’s plan. A truly progressive Mayor in my opinion should take these steps before announcing his opposition on behalf of the public.

One, he should hold an informational public hearing to present facts about the Governor’s proposal. The Governor’s staff should be there to provide a more independent source of information about that plan then the Mayor can be said to be at this point.  He should present his own facts too and let the public judge what to believe.  That meeting too would not be called when everyone was at work either. It would be held and widely advertised at a time convenient to the public as a whole.

At that meeting he should allow for open discussion and debate about the merits of the Governor’s plan and allow the public to ask him why he thinks the Village now sitting on a surplus of somewhere between three and four million dollars could not comply with its terms. There should be civil discussion of this civic matter on both sides of the podium too.  No one should be afraid to discuss their views. The Mayor should be respected but no one should be afraid or discouraged from expressing their views. Time limits would help if the turnout was large or if it was that large then another meeting might be called to hear the public out.

Taxes are after all the most important issue this village has to deal with and whatever amount of time it took to hear public comment is what the Mayor should be open to.

After that meeting then the Mayor could honestly say he had some sense of the current feelings of the tax payers of the Village I think.

Next a progressive Mayor would then ask the entire elected Board of Trustees to debate that issue too and go on record. If they voted to support him then I would have to say he was at least speaking with some semblance of official support.  Or perhaps they would vote another way. It should be remembered that Patchogue Village is in fact governed by seven elected officials who have equal responsibilities to govern in the name of the people.

There may be times when the Mayor knows best. This is however not one of them. It is the people who know best. And when their views are truly known then a Mayor may rightly say he is speaking for the majority.  Democracy demands nothing less.