If this morning’s News 12 article was the first time you heard that a developer has officially submitted a request to build a four-story hotel where the GAP building is located?
If you answered “Yes,” it is most likely because our Village is governed using an approach known as Selective Transparency.
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| Wayhomestudio.com (freepix.com) |
Selective transparency refers to revealing some information while concealing other information. It's a strategic approach in which an organization, government, or individual chooses to be transparent about certain aspects of its operations or decisions while maintaining secrecy or opacity regarding others.
In the case above, the May 9 Planning Board Meeting Agenda was not released on time as required by the New York Open Meeting regulations. It is required that the meeting agenda be released to the public a minimum 24 hours prior to the scheduled meeting. However, I repeatedly checked for this agenda until around noon on Thursday, and it was not posted. At that time, I assumed that the only item up for discussion at the meeting would be the posted Open Meeting for an application to allow an apartment above a home.
To me, it appears that this little “Oh, sorry for the error or late posting” is just another example of the many times this has happened during the current administration. If it were not for News 12, many of us would have no idea about the insane proposal to rezone and allow the building of a four-story hotel in the heart of our quaint historic harbor front village.
A truly transparent leader tells the good, the bad, and the ugly and looks for input from the residents before taking action. There have been too many Closed Executive, Special, and Emergency meetings resulting in immediate action by the Board of Trustees. Using this guise allows decisions to be made without input from the Village residents and does not allow the Trustees sufficient time to study the matter adequately.
Some examples of when selective transparency was used by our current Mayor include: Removing of the firearms from Code Enforcement Officers, a lease of the Country Club, which permanently closed the restaurant/bar making the facility a catering establishment, and moving forward with the multi-million dollar Bluff Restoration Project Phase II without a referendum. I am sure you can think of many more.
The Mayor believes that her Commissions and Committees are staffed by residents, and since any resident can join, it ensures transparency. These groups do excellent work and I applaud the members for their service. However, the 4 -12 member groups do not provide a valid statistical sample of the voice of people since our Village has over 8,000 residents.
I believe the Village needs a new leader who will be transparent in all instances. We can take the good along with the bad and the ugly if we are part of the process in making these major decisions.
We have a chance to make change happen this June 17, when we go to the voting booth. Be sure you vote and select the officials you feel will provide true transparency and who truly encourage resident input PRIOR to making major decisions.
Author Note:
I encourage comments and discussion, but if possible, I suggest you post them on the corresponding Healthy Conversations Port Jefferson Facebook page, where this post was listed. This way, all members can join in the discussion.
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