Nepotism & Patronage Appointments in Scarsdale Should End

Letter Sent to the Scarsdale Mayor and Trustees

11 April 2018

Dear Mayor and Board of Trustees,

I write to express my incredible disappointment at the way you all have treated Ms. Jane Curley. I find it incomprehensible that you did not ask her if she wanted to return to the Town Board of Assessment Review (BAR). You have not responded to her email. You did not answer the email of the sitting members of the BAR, who all described her significant contributions to the BAR. You did not respond to Bob Berg’s comments or mine about her last night. What is your radio silence telling volunteers in Scarsdale? Have you even sent Ms. Curley a thank you note for her service?

Mayor and trustees, is this the best way for you to start the 2018-2019 year? Mr. Ross, you were in charge of personnel? Why have you not explained why Ms. Curley, a smart volunteer was tossed aside? Why did you appoint your wife to the Council on Technology? No doubt that Ms. Ross is more than qualified to be on that Board, but she is your wife. Why is Mr. Finger’s relative on one of the boards? Is nepotism the way that you want to run Scarsdale? I have worked in over 30 emerging market countries. Trust me, nepotism is terrible for governance and fiscal stability.

Mr. Mayor, you have not addressed why Ms. Curley is being treated like she is. You have not explained why anyone else can provide more contributions to the BAR than she. Dan, I have worked with you as your Co-Chair in the Forum’s Education Committee. I saw that you were decent and inclusive. Have you changed in one year as mayor? Please tell me that I am wrong.

Is this how you, Ms. Crandall and Mr. Arest, want to start your elected positions? When you ran for office you claimed that you love Scarsdale and wanted to serve ALL Scarsdale residents? Is how you are treating Ms. Curley, an example of love and of serving all Scarsdale residents? Are you planning to carry your irregular practices and conflicts of interest that you had at the Scarsdale Forum’s Nominating Committee into the way you will act as trustees?

Scarsdale has never had such an expert on the BAR. She is not only very smart, decent, and ethical, she is highly quantitative. For her profession, she validates a wide range of complex financial models for one of the world’s globally systemically important banks. I can attest to the aforementioned, because a lot of my profession involves creating financial models and helping auditors and validators with their roles in model risk governance. Moreover, Ms. Curley has a background in real estate. When else have you ever had anyone with all of these skills and expertise at the BAR? And, she joined the BAR at a time that Ms. Dorothy Finger, Mr. Finger’s mom, recused herself from the BAR, and the remaining BAR members were drowning in grievances created because of the disastrous J.F. Ryan reval. She rolled up her sleeves and worked hard. Isn’t that the type of work ethic you should celebrate?

The BAR is probably the most important volunteer Board in the Village. The members have a serious impact on the tax situation of residents when the Assessor, or a contractor like J.F. Ryan, incorrectly assess a resident’s property. This Board is not one where residents, even if they are civic minded and might have good intentions, turn up to learn on-the-job.

I have been at the Forum for over three years and have had numerous conversations with Ms. Crandall. She often told me ‘that it is so difficult to find volunteers’ and she complimented Ms. Madelaine Eppenstein and me for all our hard work at the Forum. Ms. Crandall, have you stood up for Ms. Curley? Have you told the other trustees and the mayor that this is not the decent and honorable way to treat a volunteer like Ms. Curley?

It would be good if all trustees and the mayor could show residents with numbers or other information how you pick residents to be on all of these boards, councils, and committees. Do you reach out to a wide variety of residents, including outside of your network of supporters of the Citizens Non-Partisan Party? Please provide evidence as to why you jettisoned Ms. Curley’s volunteerism. Did you not reappoint her, because she is a Voters Choice Party supporter? Did you not reappoint her, because patronage appointments are more important to you than having expertise and talent in your boards and councils?

Are your actions sending a very chilling message to Scarsdale residents? Are you telling residents to fall in line behind the Citizens Non-Partisan Party or else risk being cast aside?

I look forward to your answers, and I know that all Scarsdale residents deserve answers as well.

Regards,

Mayra Kirkendall-Rodríguez