Bringing Sunlight to Carmel Government

I moved up the line to Mahopac in 1998 in search of affordable housing and good schools for my growing boys. I found the affordable housing. My boys have thrived in school.

But as I’ve sunk my roots in the town I’ve come to love, I’ve discovered a town government that’s geared toward serving the friends and political contributors of the ruling party. I’ve discovered a town government that turns a blind eye to mismanagement. And I’ve found a government more interested in preserving the status quo and its own power than serving the entire town.

That status quo under Ken Schmitt is costing us dearly. Keeping the town’s cell-phone logs from public view cost taxpayers $13,000 in legal fees. He urged the county Legislature to kill a public works project that left Carmel taxpayers with a bill that could rise as high as $400,000. And last week he proposed a 7 percent property-tax increase for the town.

It’s my first time running for public office. I’d like to put my talents to use in public service, after spending more than 25 years covering municipal government for newspapers, with my last 21 years at the Journal News, and several years as a regular contributor to the New York Times and the Boston Globe. That training brought me into the trenches of municipal government, where I learned the nitty-gritty of public policy. It taught me how to ask the tough questions that reveal how government works and how it doesn’t work.

Since June, I’ve gone door-to-door in my campaign to be Carmel’s next town supervisor, stopping at hundreds of homes in Carmel and Mahopac, talking to residents from Lake Secor to Lake Gleneida, from Ivy Hill to Weber Hill, and from Kingsway to Queens Way. I listened to residents who feel disenfranchised by the clique that runs Town Hall. I heard from residents burdened with an ever-spiraling tax burden. And I rallied residents to oppose the town’s efforts to restrict access to the Putnam Trailway, that jewel of public recreation for young and old that winds for eight miles through our town.

My first interaction with Town Hall came in the late 1990s when I inquired about a four-acre parcel of town-owned land on my street, which was dedicated as recreation land. The parcel had lain vacant for years. The town’s initial response to my request? To put up “No Trespassing” signs on the public land.

That response seems to characterize its response to those outside of its privileged inner circle – that our input is not welcome here, and our concerns aren’t a priority.

I’ve found that attitude carried forward into the current administration, which sets the bar very high for citizen involvement. They just don’t want to hear our voice.

Last month I asked to see a Town Board resolution that was to be voted upon that night. It seemed like a simple request. But I was told that I could only view the resolution after it had been voted upon. That policy then explained the Town Board regulations that only allow citizens to address the board on the printed resolutions after there’s a vote. Only then does the public actually know the details of the public policy that has been enacted.

They like to keep us in the dark. That’s wrong for democracy in Carmel. But when the town is ruled by a 5-0 Republican majority, those kinds of practices become policy, and the public suffers.

My administration will bring sunlight to Carmel government. I’ll welcome citizen input as we face the tough challenges ahead. My administration will develop recreation programs to encourage healthy lifestyles for kids, families and seniors. We’ll balance development with concerns for our environment and the town’s infrastructure. We’ll work with the schools and county government to share services and save tax dollars. I’ll work to make sure that public works projects in Carmel aren’t abandoned, so we can win our fair share of state and federal transportation dollars. And I’ll do that as supervisor for all residents of Carmel, not just a select few.

Mr. Wilson is candidate for Carmel Town Supervisor.