WOODBURY – The contentiousness between
the Town of Monroe, Village of Woodbury, and the Village of Kiryas Joel
continues with little hope tensions will ease over issues including access
to water, and annexation.
Assemblyman James Skoufis (D, Woodbury) is targeting Kiryas Joel for causing
a big part of the problem.
“Right in our back yard, the Village of Kiryas Joel has proven time
and time again that they have no respect for the Open Meetings Law and
for the Freedom of Information Law,” Skoufis claimed. “They
are flagrant violators of both of these laws.”
Skoufis: “No respect for the Open Meetings Law”
Skoufis assembled several municipal and county officials from areas surrounding
Kiryas Joel, at a news conference in Woodbury Monday morning.
Village of Woodbury Trustee Neil Crouse detailed one case involving a
request by Woodbury for information that dates back seven years. It began
with a fax request, a two-week wait, then a visit to the KJ office and
another two-week wait with no response.
“We then sent by certified return receipt mail, request for the
same information and we’re still waiting seven years later,”
Crouse said. “We’re still waiting for a response. I don’t
hold out too much hope that we are ever going to receive a response.”
The Committee on Open Government, which has been around for almost half
a century, can issue only advisory opinions. It has no enforcement power.
The bill proposed by Skoufis would create a state commission with the
power to fine elected officials that flagrantly abuse the Open Meeting
Law or ignore FOIL requests. Citizens who believe they have been illegally
denied access to information can file a complaint.
The first step would be mediation, followed by proceeding conducted by
the commission in which testimony and evidence is gathered. One outcome
of that could be an order from the commission compelling release of the
information.
Presently, citizens have little recourse other than to file an “Article
78” proceeding, an option Skoufis says is unrealistic for most people.
“Especially for the flagrant abusers, those, that small minority
that flagrantly violates these laws, someone can’t afford to file
an “Article 78” and sue a municipality each and every time.
That’s just not realistic, it can’t happen, people can’t
afford that.”
Skoufis said while KJ “… is certainly on the high end of the
spectrum in terms of violations of these two laws …” his legislation
would have a general application statewide, in any situation where an
“Article 78” might be filed.
The Democrat assemblyman said they are working to line up cosponsors.
He added an unnamed Republican, in the state Senate, who is a longtime
advocate of open meetings reform, is reviewing the legislation.
Kiryas Joel Village officials, meanwhile, issued a statement after Skoufis’
announcement. “Simply put, the village believes the introduction
of this bill is less about the assemblyman’s commitment to integrity
and government, and more about his opposition to a request by residents
of the Town of Monroe to join the Village of Kiryas Joel and access its
municipal service. Many of the participants in [Monday’s] event
have long histories and political agendas that are clearly in opposition
to those held by the village. As a result, one must cautiously evaluate
the true motivation and intent behind [Monday’s] actions.”
