VOM Dems Call for Transparency, Reforms in WJWW

Village of Mamaroneck residents are upset about the recently enacted 75 percent water rate increase. They said so at last week's presentation by Westchester Joint Water Works.

Today, the Democratic candidates for trustee of the Village of Mamaroneck (incumbents Toni Pergola Ryan and John Hofstetter and newcomer Sid Albert) said in a statement that not only is the increase "substantial," but it was also "set without any public discussions" by WJWW. 

The increase was approved at a Board of Trustees meeting in May, and reported on by Patch before and after the vote, but residents expressed their frustrations only last week, after receiving their most recent water bill and during the WJWW presentation.

"For too long, the workings of the  WJWW have been shrouded in secrecy," wrote Campaign Chair Tom Murphy Tom Murphy in the statement. "The Democratic candidates call for common sense reforms in the governance of WJWW  to provide transparency to Village residents."

The candidates proposed that WJWW meetings be open and televised to allow for public participation, and that WJWW post annual budgets and financial audits for recent years on its Web site (the most recent annual report dates back to 2005). They also asked to see online the financial analysis that was conducted to determine this year's rate increase.

(See our photo section for the data presented at last week's meeting, but note that some of those figures have been found to be inaccurate and are currently under review by Patch. Check back tomorrow for updates.)

"Our proposed reforms are meant to open up to public scrutiny the finances and operations of WJWW," said Sid Albert in the statement.  "We hope that the mayor of Mamaroneck  and the supervisors of the Towns of Mamaroneck and Harrison, who comprise the WJWW Board, will act quickly to implement these basic reforms."

Trustees Ryan and Hofstetter asked Mayor Rosenblum to retract his claim that the increase in the water rates is based on the "facts and financial conditions that had long been ignored by the previous Boards of Trustees in the Village of Mamaroneck."

The village's board approved a 17 percent increase in water rates in April of last year to "close the projected gap between revenues and expenses," according to the statement.