The Baymack Team

It is with a deep regret that after assessing my work obligations, I will not be pursuing reelection this March as your Trustee. It has certainly been an honor and privilege to serve as a Trustee for Garden City, and I am very grateful for all the support I have received and continue to receive from you…the residents.

During the remaining months of my tenure as your Trustee, I will continue to be transparent and give thoughtful and sound consideration on all issues while remaining an independent thinker. I value our resident’s input and ideas and I will continue to make myself available whenever needed.

There are many big issues before us. With this in mind….now and into the future….the Board of Trustees should always exhibit proper decorum, professionalism and respect for one another and others. During these important times in the history of Garden City, the valuable input of our residents, the various village organizations, and our civic associations should be fostered and considered by the Board of Trustees. We need to lower the noise level on politics and not contribute to sowing seeds of discord. It is a time to work to unify around what is best for our Village. We are so fortunate to live and raise our families here, and we must all strive for harmony, and to foster consensus on issues as much as possible.

Thank you all for the opportunity to serve as your Trustee!

Village great. We also sought to open the playing field to more qualified candidates and to greatly increase resident participation on election day.

So far, we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams and believe that has meant a better, albeit still imperfect, Garden City.

Mayor Veneziale had been an early part of our mission, and during his time in office we have seen him and his fellow Board members achieve many elements of the FABGC platform, including positively changing the tone of governance in our Village and ensuring that residents can now freely address their grievances before a respectful Board of Trustees in order to obtain meaningful redress. Unfortunately, we came to learn that the Mayor began acting more and more unilaterally over time to the exclusion of other Board members. Unlike our previous electoral opponents, FABGC was not going to encourage the repeat candidacy of anyone exhibiting those traits in contradiction to our platform, and so we made it clear to Mr. Veneziale months ago that we would go a different way, and instead supported mayoral candidate Mary Carter Flanagan, a current Trustee and thoughtful consensus-builder uniquely suited for the grave challenges ahead.

Extreme disapproval

To the Editor:

Tom O’Brien, Village

Trustee

Two years ago, FABGC set out to revolutionize governance in Garden City. Not in any radical sense, but to restore the transparency, accountability, and common decency that had prevailed until about 20 or so years ago and elect leaders who would fight to protect and preserve those things that make our

It was therefore with great sadness and extreme disapproval that FABGC learned of Mayor Veneziale’s decision to individually mail a letter dated January 23, 2023 on Village letterhead to Trustee Flanagan’s employer in what can only be described as a politically self-serving attempt by Veneziale to knock Trustee Flanagan out of the Mayoral race (we understand Veneziale wishes to remain Mayor now and after the coming Village election on March 21). Despite Trustee Flanagan already serving spectacularly two years without issue, receiving approval from her employer to serve, and despite Veneziale receiving assurances from Garden City Village counsel there was no issue, Veneziale still sent the letter wherein he suggested ridicuSee page 32