THE KATZ IS OUT OF THE BAG

THE FOLLOWING LETTER WAS PUBLISHED IN THIS WEEK'S GAZETTE:

The Katz is Out of the Bag--May 31, 2019

To the editor:

The Katz is out of the bag. After months of rumor and speculation, the Board of Trustees have deigned to let a few select friends know what is going to happen with the village property which is the focus of the rezoning. Last week, the plan for development of the Katz property was finally told to the bottom level of citizens.

Croton has three levels of citizenship, as seen in the current re-zoning project discussion. At the peak are people like Ann Gallelli and Richard Masur: the ones whose vision will be imposed. Below that are people like Messrs. Doyle, Brumleve, and Kauderer: those who may whisper into the ears of Party leadership. At the bottom are folks like Mr. Schuerman: those who by the grace of Party leadership are granted a private audience for the purpose of being told what will happen in Croton.

Most readers of this newspaper don’t fall into any of those categories. They may be residents of Croton, but they are not citizens of Croton. They don’t participate in the actual decisions except to dutifully applaud and give a veneer of democracy. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Remember the village meeting a few months ago? Ms. Gallelli told us (The Gazette, week of March 28/April 8) at the time: “last week Croton’s Village Board began a discussion with residents.” We were told of a taxpayer-funded $75,000 consultant study that would seek input. We were treated to a PowerPoint and they humored us with earnest expressions of thoughtfulness as audience members got up and spoke. Remember the consultant firm employee who circled around taking photos of us? READ THE REST HERE.