Scarsdale Does Not Have Anti-Nepotism Policies

Last year, the night that the over a century year old Citizens Non-Partisan Party defeated a nascent seven-week party, I approached Seth Ross to congratulate him. He smiled and said ‘the funny thing is, that I now work for you.’ Trustee Ross, one year later, I ask you, and in fact, I ask all the trustees and mayor, do you really work for me and for all residents in Scarsdale? How do we know? How many residents have you spoken to about our priorities? How often? Where? Do you have any data to show what Scarsdale residents’ priorities are? Two weeks ago, I encouraged you to do a survey or to find some method to quantify what people want. I also encouraged you to create a long-term financial model and plan, since Scarsdale does not have one.

Personally, I have seen no data to show that spending three years amending and editing the proposed tree code is the top priority for residents. What I do see on surveys that my husband and I designed, distributed and analyzed is that residents want better roads, fewer potholes, a decrease in aggressive drivers, and safer traffic conditions around our schools. The data also show that people in this town find the tax burden too heavy. I have also seen data that residents want revitalized retail in Scarsdale. It would be helpful if you tell residents, what your plans and timeline are to reach these top resident objectives.

In addition to the aforementioned, I also want to know when you are going to have a revaluation so that all residents are assessed fairly and all of us pay our fair share of taxes. The hundreds of households adversely impacted by the Ryan reval, due to poor decision making in the Village Assessor’s office and lack of mayoral and trustee oversight, have not forgotten that they bear a higher tax burden than they should.

And most importantly, I urge you to have transparency in this administration. What do I mean by transparency? For example, I recommend that you have a written policy and processes on how you choose volunteer residents for volunteer boards, councils, and committees and that the information be easily available on Scarsdale.com. I have been sending questions to you and unfortunately, they are not being answered.

This afternoon I received an email from Village Attorney Essanason that stated “Other than the online application for appointment to the Village's boards and councils, there are no Village records that govern the appointment process.”

I have started to research Open Meeting Law, and I believe that it is NOT prohibited for a board to discuss what transpired in Executive Session unless some other statute prohibits is, which is unlike the case here. The Board of Trustees is free to make public, its deliberations

Mr. Ross, you were in charge of personnel until two weeks ago, why have you not explained to the public why a smart and talented volunteer, Jane Curley was tossed aside? Why did you appoint your spouse to the Council on Technology? 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. Nepotism is terrible for governance and fiscal stability.

Mr. Mayor, you have not addressed why a volunteer is being treated like she is. You have not explained why anyone else can provide more contributions to the BAR than she.

Ms. Crandall and Mr. Arest, when you ran for office you claimed that you love Scarsdale and wanted to serve ALL Scarsdale residents? Is how you are treating a talented volunteer currently, an example of love and of serving all Scarsdale residents?

Ms. Crandall, you have often said ‘that it is so difficult to find volunteers.’ Ms. Crandall, have you stood up for a volunteer that is being badly treated? Have you told the other trustees and the mayor that this is not the decent and honorable way to treat a talented volunteer?

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.

It would be very useful 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?

Are you sending mixed messages? On the one hand you say you vet residents for the different councils. Yet, if there are no written policies and procedures that you follow to pick volunteers, then what are these appointments based on? Will residents wonder whether they are patronage appointments?

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

Mayra Kirkendall-Rodriguez is a finance professional and volunteers in a number of civic and educational organizations in Scarsdale and the New York area.