A Message from Mayor Sharon Torres

After an April meeting of the Board of Trustees (BOT), many emails were sent to the village officials.  This was Mayor Torres’s response to residents concerned about one neighborhood, but the information is important to all residents.  This message, originally an email and then posted by others on social media, has not been edited.

I have read all of the incoming messages regarding the rats and the flooding.

I understand your anger and frustration and I am sorry that this has been your life in the Village for years without proper attention.  That is unacceptable.

Kathleen and Dennis are working hard to address as many issues as they can, as quickly and professionally as they can. 

Rather than continuing on this path which is becoming unnecessarily combative, I propose the following:

We should all focus on improving the lines of communication so that information is flowing more consistently to those who are affected regardless of the concern.

There needs to be clarity about the root causes of issues so that those can be fixed, and we are not just throwing taxpayer money at short term solutions.  No one wants the tax increase that would be needed if we keep doing that.  The village staff will work with residents, staff, and experts (as needed) to identify and address the root causes.

Concerns should be brought forth as early as possible so they don't become so bad that they can't be addressed.  

The Village is not legally responsible to handle every issue and so we should clarify for all the responsibilities of the government vs. individual residents. (we are not going to make promises we can't keep or do projects before an election to get votes - that is irresponsible and short term)

I have asked Laura Abbate to set up a meeting with the WNA so that we can listen to your concerns and also present where we are with multiple projects.  I suggest we set up more than one meeting.

I have spoken with Kathleen about adding code enforcers, and perhaps having them work a different schedule (maybe part time overnight as an example).  There is a union so we may have to work through that first.

We are looking at addressing the landlords directly and creating minimum fines (meaning the court can't change the fine) and increases for multiple offenses to get compliance faster and more consistently.

We are considering addressing the laws around how garbage is handled at the curb and if we can provide proper containers and charge back landlords if they are not following the law.

Please, please, please - do not say that we are not responding if we are responding and you do not like the answer.  Not responding and saying something that is contradictory to what you want to hear are not the same.

Dennis has reviewed the SLR report for the Sheldrake/Mamaroneck Rivers and the Army Corps.  He has a list of 117 projects that were identified.  He still needs to reconcile the two lists to see if there are any duplications and he will also add on the SLR report for Beaver Swamp Creek.  This all takes time.  If you have seen the size of the reports then you know how much effort he is putting in. I believe there will be between 100-150 individual projects that we will need to implement over time and with funding.  Addressing the flood mitigation projects should also have some impact on the rat issue.

We have been reaching out to legislators about funding since we are losing almost all federal funding.  We are working with the state and county.  We also are working with ACE to try to take over one project at a time, but that involves immense cooperation and paperwork with 4 municipalities (ACE/Federal, DEC/NYS, Westchester County and the Village)

The new Board and the new VM and AVM, have all been focused on addressing the flood concerns and also fixing problems we are finding along the way.  All of us have been not only open to hearing about every issue, but also communicating with all residents respectfully and professionally.

This is not the prior board or administration.

We are doing the best we can with the resources we have.  Sending berating, rude emails that attack the staff and board will not affect the outcomes, however, it might affect how many of us are still here to see these projects through.  We have a very talented and experienced VM and AVM - and if you were here for the last 7 years, you understand what a difference that makes.  They didn't know the prior staff and they didn't know what they were walking into -BUT they are committed to getting us back on track.

Please work with us to improve communication and address the major issues that are still plaguing not just Washingtonville, but the whole Village.  I truly believe we can turn things around, but we will have to do it together.

We look forward to presenting a long term flood mitigation plan and also changing both building codes/laws and enforcement to improve your quality of life in the Village.  We already downzoned Washingtonville.  We still have drainage, property acquisitions, widening the river, floodbenching and many more projects on the horizon.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend and we will keep in touch with further updates until we meet you in person.

Sincerely,

 Sharon Torres