To the Editor,

On Sunday, Croton United Party’s Mayor Schmidt called me at home to tell me that, after the May issue, he no longer wants me to write the Village’s monthly Newsletter you receive. He wants a staff person to write it and is “rethinking” its frequency. While many people could certainly write it, given the 30 to 40 hours each one takes, his decision is a very costly one to taxpayers; basically a week’s worth of some staff person’s time. This is apparently a unilateral decision as the future of the Newsletter was not discussed by the Board at any meeting, budget or otherwise.
Two weeks ago, Roseann Schuyler, Chair of the Croton United Party, FOIL’ed all copies of the personal message I write to give my insights, based on years of active involvement in village affairs, on the matters to be discussed at Board meetings. It is called Decoding Village Agendas and many of you may receive them as I send it to everyone who asks. Ms. Schuyler wants the list of recipients as well.

This past week, Ginny Calcutti, 2014 Croton United Party candidate for Trustee, has FOIL’ed my Village paychecks from June 2014 to date. These only include the amount I receive as a Trustee ($250/month) and the amount I receive for writing the Newsletter ($400 each), all of which is public information and has remained the same for many years. One has to wonder what she is seeking.

Is this the “civility” the Croton United Party campaigned on? It is hard to construe this as anything other than a concerted and politically motivated campaign of harassment.

Ann Gallelli