Donation or Tax Dollars?
Thanks to the volunteer efforts of Rich the Village Videographer the Wappingers Falls Village Board meetings can be viewed on his Wappingers Falls Vimeo Site.
Boardwatching or boarding is the observation of public meetings from a remote location while maintaining the ability to comment, share ideas and inquire by using blogs and social media referenced to the related tape time .
Wappingers Falls Village Board
January 11, 2012
Deception: Caught On Tape
Reference:
January 11, 2012 Meeting
December 14,2011 Meeting
At the January meeting Mayor Alexander was asked to explain how an additional $15,000 made its way into the 2011 Summer Arts Program. His explanation was different from what the Village Board told citizens one month earlier. Were the Mayor and Wappingers Falls Village Board trying to mislead the public?
It Was a Transfer of $15,000 in Public Funds
At the December 14, 2011 meeting the board voted to accept a $15,000 donation to the 2011 summer arts project. What they actually approved was the transfer of $15,000 of tax funds into the arts project. They did not approve the acceptance of a $15,000 donation as they led the public to believe. Although the Board did their best to talk in evasive terms the Mayor exposes their deception (and his own) at the January meeting when he offers a different explanation of where the $15,000 came from.
What a Tangled Web We Weave
There was deception by our public officials at the December 2011 and January 2012 meetings. The Board told the public that there was a $15,000 donation. The Mayor told the public that there was an agreement where the grant-writer was forced to pay $15,000 for the arts project (absurd).
In reality the Mayor and Village Board transferred and spent $15,000 of taxpayer funds to pay for an over-budget arts project. They gave credit to an unnamed grant-writer for raising funds that he never raised – and probably a $15,000 tax break for a donation he never made. They gave no credit to the taxpayers who worked hard to pay the $15,000 in taxes!
Questions for the Mayor and Village Board
- What is the Summer Art’s Project?
- How many village youth participate?
- Why is it so expensive?
- Why has is gone way over-budget the past 2 years?
- Where is the art that the participants produce?
- Who is the generous “grant-writer” ?
- What tax funds is Tr Alfonso talking about at the Dec 14 meeting when he points to a paper and says “move it from this account to this account”?
- Why did you all try to hide this fund transfer from the public?
Posted by The Village Voice
on January 14, 2012. Filed under Boardwatching,Government.
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