John Buckley recuses himself from Chappaqua Crossing case
See “Read more…” to view the seven-minute board meeting during which Buckley recused himself.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
by Christine Yeres
Last night, in a brief town board meeting preceding the scheduled info session on the redevelopment proposal for the former Reader’s Digest property, town board member John Buckley announced to a standing-room-only crowd that he would recuse himself from consideration of the matter.
Buckley explained that although he had worked diligently and long on the project—and had not yet received a final determination from the board of ethics on whether he should recuse himself—in the best interests of the town, he would not participate further in consideration of the matter as a town board member. The town board meeting immediately adjourned.
Fifteen minutes later, three board members—Supervisor Barbara Gerrard, Robin Stout and Michael Wolfensohn—returned to open what had been billed as an “information session” on the latest iteration of developer Summit Greenfield’s proposal for redevelopment of the Digest property. Buckley and board member Elise Mottel, who recused herself last March, took front row seats in the assembly room. Residents filled the meeting room—walls had been folded away to make one large meeting space—and some listened from the lobby, its inner doors propped open.
The first speaker was Rob Greenstein, a resident who had called for Buckley’s recusal in a letter to the editor in NCNOW.org on September 24, 2010. See “Letter to the Editor: Town Board member Buckley should recuse himself from Chap. Crossing issue. Greenstein presented a petition to the town board with around 800 signatures announcing that residents were prepared to fight “the current proposal for residential rezoning at Chappaqua Crossing.”
About 20 residents commented during the three-hour meeting. The vast majority of the speakers—including board of education Vice President Gregg Bresner, speaking for the board of ed—voiced skepticism or outright opposition to the plan and were roundly applauded by the audience.
In the New Castle Community Media Center video below, Buckley’s recusal occurs at the 5-minute, 15-second mark. Place your cursor on the video screen to have control of play, both forward and back, with time markers.
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From NCNOW’s archives: “Letter to the Editor: Buckley waiting to hear on conflict regarding Chappaqua Crossing,” September 27, 2010.
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For NCNOW’s complete coverage of Chappaqua Crossing, dating from 2007, click HERE.
I came to town hall and couldn’t even get in the door. A lot of people came up and walked away. I think if there’s another meeting like that the town has to have it at the high school auditorium. I went home and watched it on TV. The sound system was not good, by the way.
As Mr. Buckley stated last night, his decision was “in the best interest of the community a whole”. For doing what’s best for our community, John Buckley deserves our appreciation and thanks!
Better late than never I suppose. Mr. Buckley’s recusal came four years after it should have. I’m surprised that he participated in any phase of the Chappaqua Crossing project or that the Town Supervisor, Town Administrator or Deputy Town Administrator did not see any problem or conflict.
Mr Buckley did the appropriate and honorable thing. Thank you sir! Now if we could just get Supervisor Gerard and Attorney Clinton Smith to behave in the town’s best interest we might all be able to relax a bit. Based on the standing room only attendance (many left because of no room at all) it should be clear that many in our town do not trust those in charge and people are now getting pro-active. Lets keep the pressure on on let the Boards know that this is our town and they work for us.
Let us now hope that Supervisor Gerrard and Town Board Counsel Clinton Smith finally get the message.
As many have pointed out, Mr. Smith is particularly worrisome.
His statements and arguments on behalf of Summit Greenfield are deeply disturbing.
He appears to want to please SG’s lawyers.
Is he that worried about SG litigating?
He only appears to fear litigation from Summit Greenfield, whereas the real threat of litigation comes from the people he is supposed to be serving—the residents of this community.
Perhaps, he should recuse himself as well.
Town legal counsel serves at the pleasure and direction of the Town Board, under the advice of the Town Administrator and the Deputy Administrator. Don’t blame Mr. Smith.
We are aware of Mr. Smith’s position as legal counsel to the board.
We refrained from asking for his resignation, but do not trust his legal advice to our administrators on the Summit Greenfield application.
We also wonder why,in his role as legal advisor, he has more than once tried to control the meeting. His assumption of that position was most obvious at the August 10 meeting.
That is not his function.
Many thanks to Mr. Bresner for his mathematically sound fiscal report
and his relevant and incisive testimony at this meeting.
We are fortunate to have his expertise in this field and his generosity in spending the time and effort on behalf of the community.
Kudos to Mr. Bresner!
The school board deserves our thanks in coming forward to serve and protect the interests of the community.
Many thanks to the School Board!
