The Baymack Team

Completely transparent

To the Editor:

I write to reassure all residents that I will always be completely transparent with you on St. Paul’s matters as well as all other Village matters. Nothing is more important than honesty when representing residents. I have tried to be clear in my last two Mayor’s Columns about the Board of Trustees’ requests for clarification relating to the Westerman report, and suggest you continue to follow my Mayor’s Column where I will provide updates.

Why We Have Questions

To the chairs of subcommittees on the Mayor’s Committee on St. Paul’s: my intent is NOT to obstruct your efforts. Rather, my intent is to make sure residents are provided with clear and accurate information about what could be the largest capital project ever undertaken by the Village. I will not be deterred by personal attacks. The email correspondence regarding the need for clarification relating to the Westerman report is on the Village website.

Committed Board of Trustees

Your Board of Trustees is united in our commitment to bringing the community to a decision on the St. Paul’s Main Building, and we are a Board that respects the different opinions of all residents. The Board of Trustees includes two members of the prior Mayor’s Committee on St. Paul’s. This Board is not working for any particular outcome for the St. Paul’s Main Building. We are working to bring this chapter of dissent to an end. Our goal is a decision on the future of the St. Paul’s Main Building.

All Garden City residents will have the opportunity to voice their opinions before year end. The Board expects this will be accomplished through a vote or a survey. Strong feelings are expected as members of our community have been arguing over the Main Building at St. Paul’s for decades, and it is our hope that we can all agree to respect the opinions of other residents. Open discussion often leads to the best solutions. One thing we all agree on is that the time to make a decision on the St. Paul’s Main Building is now.

Was Report Finalized and Does it Matter?

Some residents may have been confused by the references to the “final” report, and to address that, I will let you know that it was not until after the Board of Trustees meeting on April 3, 2023 that I learned Cosmo Veneziale had attempted to finalize the Westerman Report on his last day in office and against my request to our Village staff that we wait for the new BOT to discuss this matter. I felt it was important that the questions raised by members of the Board of Trustees were addressed before the report became final. Frankly, this detail is immaterial, and I was not making much of it since I have been advised by counsel that there is no legal significance to a Mayor “finalizing” a report.

Some Other Things They Got Wrong Last Week

• When I first spoke to Lloyd Westerman, I asked whether he had a prior relationship with the Mayor or any members of the Mayor’s Committee. I think that was fair, and the statement in last week’s letter that I made an accusation is just not true. I asked the question, and it was appropriate to do so.

• The Board of Trustees is simply looking for clarification in the report we would like to be able to rely upon, and we are not looking to change any professional opinion. It was my impression and the impression of every other resident I have spoken to that we would be getting a cost estimate on the plans prepared by a resident who had volunteered so much of his time to prepare detailed plans on adaptive reuse. Those plans were frequently displayed in Village Hall and at other meetings.

• As far as a suggestion that I am coming up with a “worst case scenario” and spreading that in the Mayor’s Column, the worst case scenario question was actually prepared by anoth-