Rye Mayor Steve Otis provided MyRye.com the following comments with regard to the police/couthouse facility and Disbrow Park and Councilman Joe Sack's op-ed on this subject.
There is no possibility that the police/courthouse facility will be located at Disbrow Park. I have long opposed placing such a facility there and at least four of my fellow City Council members support my view and are against such a siting. Disbrow Park was one location studied and rejected by the City in the mid-nineties. I would like to see the police/court functions remain in the central business district, not near any residential neighborhoods.
In his contact with you, Councilman Sack has intentionally mischaracterized the discussion. Councilman Pratt opined that Rye residents will expect the Council to review all options where the building could be built on vacant land in order to fully compare costs and savings of various alternatives. Disbrow was mentioned by Councilman Pratt for illustrative purposes only, as one of a number of hypothetical examples of vacant land. He also mentioned the Metro-North parking lot, the former Biltmore Jeep dealership, and the Avon property lawn. To have this general due diligence/fiduciary responsibility discussion cast as an attack on a neighborhood was inaccurate and completely disingenuous. In fact, it was Councilman Sack who requested that the City staff compile a list of all vacant parcels for this very purpose this past July.
I have strongly opposed moving the police department and courthouse to Disbrow for many years and am joined by a clear majority of the City Council to back up that view.
-Rye Mayor Steve Otis
Rye has a City Manager government. The City Manager is paid $198,500 + a year. This does not include a car, a cell phone, possibly being reimbursed for the cost of what the City would have paid him in health insurance as well as other benefits and perks. So why is it that Shew rarely takes the lead on any issues facing Rye or respond to any inquiries? I realize that Shew may not have been around much the last 5 years or so, but why pay this guy all this money and why have a City Manager government?
The mere fact that someone on the Rye City Council even mentioned Disbrow Park as somewhere to look at for a new Police Station, Shew being M.I.A. again and Otis trying to turn this into a political issue for his own personal gain, makes Rye government dysfunctional.
It seems to me that Otis is already gearing up for re-election in 2009. Let’s hope we do not have to suffer as Otis continues to do what is best for his own political gain rather than what’s best for us.
No matter what Otis, Shew, Plunkett and Connors all need to go in 2009. Nothing will change until they are out of here. If Ball and Cunningham want to continue this status quo of dysfunctional government, vote them out too.
http://www.ryepba.org/_Docs/NoConfidence043008.pdf