Unify Piermont (unifypiermont@live.com)
Democracy is not Welcome in Piermont
Some of you may have received a letter in response to our recent posting on the Democratic Caucus. Just so we are clear, Unify Piermont has never advocated turning “our Village into another Nyack”. We are not surprised at this recourse to scare tactics by those desperate to hold onto power. Apparently, our suggestion that registered Democrats actually participate in the Caucus and make their opinions known was seen as a potential threat. The terrified response proves the point we made that Democracy is not welcome in Piermont.
They should have read it more closely. It was clear that no judgments have been reached, no candidates officially named, no positions made public and it was too early to form opinions and give endorsements. A day or so later, we also posted information for the Republicans.
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, dammed lies, and statistics.” Benjamin Disraeli
The mailing also claimed that village taxes have increased an average of only 2.58% during the past two years. As is so often the case in statements by this Village Board, this is only approximately correct. The actual increases average 3.13%, but let us not quibble over this minor error.
Of more importance is the selective use of the past two years as the time frame for the measurement. There would be no Unify Piermont if Village tax increases had averaged 2.6%, roughly inflation, over the past ten years. An average increase of 2.6% would be acceptable to most village residents assuming that it wasn’t coupled with an even more massive debt load. And, our current taxes would be $2.7 million rather than $3.8 million.
As the author of the letter knows full well, the 6.2% over two years is comprised of 5.5% in the first year and 0.7% in the current budget. The current budget reflects unrealistic assumptions regarding police salaries, a large appropriation of surplus built up in the past to be used in an election year, the pressure of Unify Piermont against another large tax increase and a somewhat belated recognition of the recession.
“Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
The lawsuit mentioned in the letter and linked to Unify Piermont by implication has nothing to do with Unify Piermont. The lawsuit substantially predates the formation of Unify Piermont and was driven by broken promises by the Village Board to provide all residents with the same services for the same level of taxes. To do otherwise would not be “fair”. Ironically, the author of the letter suggested that Piermont Landing sue the village if the village did not provide full services with the revaluation.
For Unify Piermont, the entire Village includes “the hillsiders”, the “Landing people”, indeed all of the Village, not just selected roads and streets. So, yes we do have a fine, well equipped DPW, but they do not keep all of the streets in the village “free of snow & ice” nor do they maintain “the entire Village’s appearance.”
This message was prepared by Unify Piermont which is dedicated to returning responsible, representative government to Piermont.
Unify Piermont is a group made up of village residents from all areas of the village, and from all political parties. We need to create a local village government that will address the problems created by the current and previous administrations.
