AN IMPORTANT LETTER FROM RESIDENT MARIE YURCHUK

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The following letter appeared in the 6/26/14 edition of THE GAZETTE and is re-printed here with permission.

To the editor:

The June 5-11 issue of the Gazette announced the candidacy of Trustee Ann Gallelli in such glowing front page terms that I couldn’t help but wonder who wrote the article.  The article extols Ms. Gallelli’s accomplishments but fails to enumerate them despite her lengthy service.  As a long time Croton resident, I’m more familiar with her prior costly debacles and disagree with the Gazette’s assessment. 

 

In my opinion, Trustee Gallelli’s stewardship has cost Croton taxpayers in excess of $1,000,000.  This amount is based primarily on 1) legal expenses related to her opposition to a canopy meant to shelter Exxon customers from the weather ($50,000 in legal fees), 2)  the settlement of the Katz lawsuit ($900,000 + legal fees) resulting from prejudicial language she approved in the Village Comprehensive Plan which Mr. Katz and other residents considered detrimental to his business, and 3) a lengthy court battle requiring parts of the Harmon Rezoning Plan to be rewritten (Final legal costs unknown).  

Taxpayers should note that due to the Katz settlement, Croton was forced to buy a useless piece of useless steep slope property across from the Post Office for which there are still no future plans as to how to use this land.   

In addition, readers should know that Croton is currently considered to be 1 of 6 Westchester municipalities in violation of a HUD vs. Westchester County agreement resulting from some of the “exclusionary” verbiage that Trustee Gallelli approved for the Harmon Rezoning legislation despite the advice of other lawyers and residents.  HUD considers this wordage unfair to low income families.  This debate can only result in more legal fees for both the county and Croton taxpayers until resolved.

Also, despite the misleading claims of Trustee Gallelli and her cohorts that there were property owners ready to build 2-3 story mixed use structures in Harmon, not a builder has come forward to implement the Harmon Rezoning recommendations.   Once again, taxpayer money went down the drain.

Now we’re faced with higher taxes due to the Gallelli supported Gouveia property acquisition, the disputed multi-million dollar Croton Point Avenue “bike & pedestrian path”, and more needless expensive  studies. 

I have other concerns about Trustee Gallelli’s tenure such as her support for retaining of a Croton waste transfer station in exchange for a $500,000 payoff to the village and her opposition to the use of Zinc-Orthophosphate in our drinking water to minimize the ingestion of lead and copper by residents.

These are not the actions of a prudent Trustee touting her “accomplishments”.  Because of a series of her poor decisions, lack of common sense and failure to heed the advice of the public, we got nothing but higher taxes.  

Croton can ill afford to be dominated by Trustees like Ann Gallelli.  Length of service should not be a criteria for elected office.  We have far too many politicians who have been in office too long.  Tangible results are what count.  It is my sincere hope that Croton residents will join forces to form a set of bipartisan candidates to oppose future Village domination by current incumbents like her. 

Marie Yurchuk 

YOU MAY ALSO HAVE AN INTEREST IN
1) A 6/26 LETTER FROM JOEL GINGOLD  http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/06/62614-letter-joel-gingold-why-i-support.html
2) AND BY SPECIAL REQUEST IN MAY http://everythingcroton.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-request-examiner-news-2011.html