I notice that the editor of the Town-Crier is somewhat comforted by the fact that the Wellington Village Council voted not to reverse previous council action on some equestrian land use decisions. I wish that I were as optimistic that the new majority will work together for the betterment of the village. I am not optimistic.
The new majority has already blocked the award of a tennis contract that should have been approved. They used the excuse that one aspect of the process should have specifically been addressed at a council meeting rather than at the agenda review. The result of using such a fine-toothed comb will be more expense for citizens, with a clear danger that the tennis program will not be ready this fall, and that future bidders for any village service will wonder if it is worthwhile to make the effort.
My sense of the direction that the new majority is heading is that there are some old scores that will be settled: almost a vendetta, or even more than one. I would not be surprised if an attempt is made to find reasons to dismiss the Village Attorney [Jeffrey Kurtz]. One of the new majority has been antagonistic to Mr. Kurtz in the past. I also am watchful for various attacks on the village manager.
There are already suggestions that the new majority might move to return the village to a five-day workweek. That would be a direct slap at the manager, who showed that the four-day week saves money and works well. There will probably also be attempts to dig into longstanding policies that can be made to look bad for the village manager. There may even be further efforts at getting the inspector general to do another audit (or whatever she chooses to call the process) of various policies and processes. Never mind that the IG has done nothing positive for the village and has caused us some pretty large expenses.
I hope that citizens will be closely aware of what happens in the near future, and that the local press will be skeptical, as they should.
Phil Sexton
Wellington
