The Baymack Team

Apology from mayor

The following letter to Trustee Mary Carter Flanagan was shared with our readers by Mayor Veneziale:

Dear Trustee Flanagan:

Please accept my apology for any hardship I may have caused you regarding my inquiry to the NYS Workers Compensation Board. My intention was never to impact your judicial position as a result of my request for information. I believed my action was an administrative one done based on the information provided to me. Should a similar issue arise, I will consult with the affected party and Village Counsel prior to taking any action. I sincerely hope you accept my apology.

Cosmo Veneziale

There is a better way

To the Editor:

Two years ago, FABGC emerged in the Village. They began with some laudable ideas – such as engaging more residents in village elections and encouraging voting. But now that we have had time to see this play out, we need to question what is really “better”. We now have a dysfunctional Board of Trustees, with factions working against each other and some barely speaking to one another. We have some Trustees who won’t engage residents who aren’t in their political party, refusing to attend any POA resident meetings, even after repeated invitations. Money is being spent for pet projects and we have a Traffic Commission with zero resident representation. Rules are being made up as we go along to suit a political agenda. These are only a few examples of where this has all taken us.

We continue to respect the Community Agreement by having the Mayor’s position rotate to a Trustee from the East. Over the last year the process to select candidates has transformed, reducing barriers to entry and eliminating nominating committees to allow easier access to the ballot and letting residents decide on Election Day. We will be joined by Cosmo Veneziale as CAP Candidate for Trustee after his participation through the WPOA process.

We believe there is a better way for our Village to function. We all know the coming years will present challenges that will truly impact the future of our community. Whether it is the Hub development, Zoning determinations or development of the Cathedral property, we need a group of calm, collaborative and thoughtful residents running our Village. We cannot go through the coming years with dysfunction, factions and political agendas driving decisions. That is why we are running as part of Community Agreement slate. We will meet with (and listen to) every resident group at any time; we will ensure that infighting stops and collaboration returns; we will not allow a political “win at all costs” mentality to rule the Village. There is too much at stake.

We believe there is a better way – the Garden City way.

Judy Courtney, Community Agreement

Candidate for Mayor

Michele Harrington, Community Agreement

Candidate for Trustee

Supports Flanagan

To the Editor:

It has been ten months since I began in my position as a trustee for the Village of Garden City and it’s been my pleasure to serve with Trustee Mary Carter Flanagan during this time. I admire Mary’s dedication to the Village and the committees she works on. All of us are very lucky to have a trustee as honest and hard-working as Mary. She always takes the extra step. Recently, Mary and I went door to door in an effort to get feedback from the residents in the Country Life Press train station area. We wanted to hear directly from the residents that would be affected by any changes being made. Mary puts in a lot of time and effort to ensure that she represents all the residents

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