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Dear Members of the Board of Trustees:
I appreciate that you have listened to my recommendations in regard to the 2015-16 budget the past few months. We have had numerous conversations on the same subject at the Citizen’s Advisory Committee meetings with the recommendation that part, if not all, of the savings be passed onto the Real Property Tax Levy.
To date, we have not received any comments or acknowledgement to these recommendations and this truly disturbs me.
I am also deeply concerned the taxpayers of Putnam Valley have not been privy to the discussions and presentations from the board meetings in February and March (Feb. 12, March 12 and 19). As of today, neither the minute meetings nor the videos from these meetings have been posted for public review. Transparency of the school district's discussions and proposals of the 2015-16 budget must be a priority as is outlined in PVCSD Policy 2360 regarding minutes to ensure the taxpayers of Putnam Valley can vote as an informed taxpayer May 19.
In accordance with PVCSD Policy 2360, which is quoted below, these minutes should have at the very least been posted as drafts on the PVCSD’s website and the videos should have been made available immediately.
The board of education believes open and accurate communication regarding its internal operations enhances the district's public relations program and provides a record of the district's progress towards its annual goals. Therefore, the board will maintain a complete and accurate set of minutes of each meeting, in accordance with law.
The minutes shall constitute the official record of proceedings of the board and shall be open to public inspection within one week of executive sessions and within two weeks of all other meetings. Minutes that have not been approved by the board within this time frame shall be marked, “draft.” A draft of the minutes of each meeting shall be forwarded to each member of the board no later than the time the agenda for the next meeting is disseminated.
In addition, the Open Meetings Law, Public Officers Law Sec. 100, Sec. 106 Minutes clearly states the minutes must be made public or remedies of relief can be sought under Sec. 107 Enforcement.
According to Dr. Wills via e-mail to me, the Feb. 12 meeting minutes will be posted Monday, March 30. The meeting minutes from the March 12 and 19 meetings are scheduled to be approved at the Thursday, April 9 meeting (I assume this as the agenda has not been posted).
At the Thursday, April 9 meeting, the board will be asked to approve the 2015-16 budget. It is unfair to the taxpayers of this town to vote on a budget without being informed of the past meetings and discussions. Furthermore, the details of this budget that will be presented to be voted on will not be divulged. Specifically, that the savings found by the district are being reallocated to additional expenditures rather than a reduction of the Real Property Tax Levy.
The schedule of all of the events and information I have described above gives the appearance of hiding the facts and truth about the 2015-16 budget rather than the use of the taxpayers' money being transparent.
I am asking you to consider rearranging the current schedule for approval of the meeting minutes from the March 12 and 19 meetings and have them posted for the public’s review. I also am asking the videos from these two meetings be posted immediately. This all must be done before the April 9 meeting, enabling the taxpayer to at the very least, be aware of the board’s approval. I will await your immediate response.
An informed voter is a smart voter.
Daniel P. Vera
Member Citizen’s Advisory Committee
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