The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.
To the editor:
Citizens communicating with their elected representatives is a time-honored tradition in America. Back in a more innocent era, elementary schools would even have class assignments where students would write letters to their representatives (for young Gazette readers, writing letters is what we did before email).
The most famous was the 13 year-old whose mother said his room was a disaster area. The boy wrote to President Reagan asking for federal funds for a cleaning crew. Reagan wrote back noting that “the authority declaring the disaster is supposed to make the request. In this case, your mother.” Reagan suggested the boy launch a volunteer program to do the cleanup, and said to give his regards to Mom.
We live in a less innocent age, particularly in Croton. Elected leaders not only don’t care about their constituents, they view residents as the bottom rungs of a hierarchy. In Croton, politicians are on top.
A few years back there was the Croton politician who spoke of the necessity of “regaining power”—no thought of civic service for Croton leaders, only the raw use of “power.” Then last year we had a different Croton politician who was angered by a constituent communication and said that the resident was not “in a position of authority” and suggested that the Board of Trustees go into Executive Session to deal with the resident.
Most recently, last week we had a communication from the Croton Board of Trustees admonishing us that we should “use the normal chain of command” rather than communicate with the trustees. Seriously. We have a chain of command. Snap to attention and salute.
Can anyone imagine the Cortlandt Town Board going into Executive Session to gossip about a resident? Can anyone imagine Linda Puglisi responding to a resident by directing them to “use the normal chain of command”?
There is a long history in Croton of contempt for us average residents. Those with connections can get private briefings on the Katz property, while the average citizen is told to FOIL and is given a pile of heavily-redacted emails. Those with connections get lucrative solar contracts, while the average citizen pays taxes to upkeep the building on which the solar panels are installed. Et cetera, et cetera.
The latest is the proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. Anyone who has ever seen La Teja pull up at the Croton Municipal Building and offload equipment understands that this is a valid concern. La Teja belches enough toxic emissions on the grounds of the Muni Building to give Greta Thunberg a coronary at first sight.
“There is a long history in Croton of contempt for us average residents. Those with connections can get private briefings on the Katz property, while the average citizen is told to FOIL and is given a pile of heavily-redacted emails. Those with connections get lucrative solar contracts, while the average citizen pays taxes to upkeep the building on which the solar panels are installed. Et cetera, et cetera. The latest is the proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers.”
Gas powered riding mowers, gas powered weed whackers, and yes… the infamous gas-powered leaf blowers. A foul-smelling symphony of machinery, appearing on a regular basis on the corner of Brook Street and Old Post Road. The Board of Trustees could lead by example and convert the lawn to an eco-friendly sustainable green space, but being at the top of the “chain of command” means never having to practice what you preach. So the conservation advisory council report merely recommends that the Village follow the law it will force everyone else to abide by.
You know who is outside the “chain of command” in Croton? Well, in addition to those residents cozy with the village trustees, rich people have always bypassed the Croton “chain of command” and the leaf blower ban is no exception.
Hudson National is one of the most expensive golf courses in the country. Almost a decade ago the initiation fee alone was over $200k, and the minimum annual cost at such a club is easily in the $30 to $50k range. The rich are different from you and me, and so it is only fitting that the proposed leaf blower ban won’t apply to the rich people.
Regular people will get stuck with increased landscaping costs, but then again the regular people should be used to getting the short end of the stick in Croton. Even in these unprecedented times when politicians have unprecedented “power” it is a bit distasteful to see the blatant political favoritism based on class and money.
Laws should apply equally to all of us. Our village government should live under the same leaf blower law that it imposes on the rest of us. Rich people drinking gin and tonics on the fancy golf course should be subject to the same laws as a resident living in a modest home in Harmon.
We will probably never return to those simpler times when elected leaders in Croton thought that constituent service was a key part of their job. But at least those leaders don’t have to constantly remind us that we are at the bottom of the civic society chain of command.
Paul Steinberg