Rye Mayor Joe Sack has bagged Otis in the latest tangle with former Rye Mayor and current State Assemblyman Steve Otis. In a note to MyRye.com, Sack says Otis "thinks he knows better than us" and "his move was at best premature" and "he is engaging in scare tactics".
Note a love note.
Here it is (movie clip added by MyRye.com):
Jay.
I feel like I'm watching that movie "A Few Good Men", and watching Tom Cruise try to get Jack Nicholson to admit that he ordered the Code Red.
It should be evident to any honest observer here that Mr. Otis thinks he knows better than us. Maybe he does, who knows? However, we are not ready to make that decision yet.
But because Mr. Otis thinks he knows better, he used his power to push through the legislation allowing the sale of the public land to the private school. Trying to evade responsibility for this by doing cartwheels about the absence of a formal vote, does not change the fact that the council majority conveyed to him that we did not support his move at this time.
And what about now — does Mr. Otis still not understand that we think his move was at best premature, before we could have a full and fair process? Why doesn't Mr. Otis now acknowledge this, and pull back from the legislation, and chalk it up to a possible miscommunication? Because he still thinks he knows better.
We have stated publicly that we want and need Mr. Otis to be a positive factor in this essential public process. Based on his repeated protestations, unfortunately it is hard to say he is reciprocating.
Worse, he is engaging in scare tactics, which partisans like his Democratic Party chair and the Rye Record are shamelessly promoting, that we have already decided to move public works facilities to the site. This could not be further from the truth. But those who may be watching only casually are susceptible to accepting these inflammatory misrepresentations. And this is regrettably damaging to the process.
As mayor, my responsibility is to stand up for all of Rye, regardless of politics. That's why I've stood up to the Republican County Executive regarding Playland. Because it was the right thing to do for Rye, even if it was perhaps not good for me personally.
And that's why I've called out the Democrat Assemblyman on the Thruway property. Because I'm looking out for all of Rye, and not rushing to side with one perspective.
That's how I've always tried to serve Rye, and I always will.
Mayor Joe
Rye residents: do you want a playing field costing
$50+ million? Over ten times as much as any previous City borrowing? More than the City’s entire annual income? Nope, we don’t either. Nor do we want a Mayor deflecting attention from his mistake with misdirection, attack and distraction.
If you are persuaded by the Mayor’s statement, please read this before you make up your mind: http://nyassembly.gov/member_files/091/pdfs/2017_76419.pdf
Another thing that is not in Rye residents’ interests is the Mayor’s attempt to limit public commentary on Disbrow.
*He refused Councilwoman Danielle Tagger-Epstein’s request (made on behalf of a resident who could not attend for health reasons) to have the June 26 Disbrow meeting videoed, telling her by email, “We’ve heard by email from lots of folks recently who have registered their particular views. I suspect many of those folks may show up at the next workshop. I’m not so certain that it is productive to have the workshop serve as a vehicle for those folks to record a video version of their emails.”
*At the July 12 City Council meeting he moved the opportunity to comment – Item 8 on the agenda – from the middle of the meeting to after 11 pm. A number of people who had come to comment saw that he passed over Item 8 and left, not realizing residents could still comment at the end of the meeting.
I keep saying it, but I do not understand why once the HUGE cost of this was revealed, ($39 million, before we buy a site) that wasn’t the end. It is patently ridiculous to imagine we would purchase this site adding another $7.5Million before the ground was leveled to move DPW, to add one more playing field to Disbrow. It just makes no sense. Steve’s bill is written to allow us to veto any plan of RCDS’s we don’t like. It is a win/win. Let’s take this gift and run with it instead of continuing to attack good people who are just trying to do what is best for Rye. The whole this has turned into a huge unnecessary mess. I really don’t understand why this is still going on.
I am stunned by the fiscal irresponsibility of Mayor Sack and the majority of the city council including Terry who without doing an environmental feasibility study of what the cost to MOVE DPW to a site we don’t even own and remediate 100 years of dumping at Disbrow which could easily be tens and Tens of million dollars would still push blindly ahead with this 50++ Million dollar absurd plan.
Mr. Glickenhaus’s premise here, as in his recent late night speech at City Hall, is very well founded. In the mid 1960’s, when Mr. Sack’s adjacent residential cul-de-sac was primal woods, the Rye DPW ran an open air general dump located under the raised rear playing field at Disbrow (Sterling?). We spent many pleasant days getting chased out of that dump by city employees who caught us scavenged for mini-bike engines and assorted parts among the discarded lawn mowers stacked next to broken bags of pesticides layered among television sets and on top of mounds of home shelving and acres of discarded clothing. The pervasive chemical smell near the piles was sharp and nauseating but Joe at the guard shack had a kindness for us and told us to be quick, and he secretly saved the best upright mower engines in the tall weeds near the guard shack for us from the scrap dealers who paid the city for the right to harvest the discarded household detritus of Rye. What my friends and I saw and smelled leaking into that ground in that era would likely get it qualified for superfund site designation today. Mr. Glickenhaus is right. Best not to disturb even a teaspoon full of it.
Ted,
You are correct about sterling. In the late 90’s Sterling field was created with money given to the city by the Osborn home. The reason for this was because they eliminated the playing field behind Osborn school to build the residential living on the Osborn grounds. When they built Sterling field I don’t believe it was ever built correctly. I remember truck loads of fill Coming in and thats why the field is so high up and It’s not a level field at all. Always has been a mud field. Not only that any talk of making that field turf is ridiculous because with having a landfill under that I can’t see that being safe. Should there be vents to release gasses? I don’t think the field now is safe for kids to play on. Who’s to say after 20 years nothing has risen to the surface. Moving the DPW is irresponsible. Sure sounds good but the clean up of the entire site would cost millions. Who the hell knows what has been leaking into the ground there or dumped. I agree with making changes to Disbrow park. Make the road safer or relocating it so that maybe there is no road between Founder and Grainger field but the DPW should stay where it is with perhaps some modifications. The thruway site should be sold to RCDS so that nothing else is put there and on weekends I’m sure rye organizations can use that field. I ask anyone on here from the council why not spend all this money you seem to have to fix existing field space no longer used in Rye. Like Midland school where when I was kid Rye Little League games were played. It’s a shame that Rye has become so overcrowded and all open space is gone -trees have been cut down due to the greed of the council and builders and everything subdivided. I definitely believe corruption is rampant no matter what party is in control. Greed created the new Rye and its why so many are angry and the average joe can’t do a thing. Maybe a FBI investigation needs to be done at city hall.