“Fear Monger!” he cried.
Not once, but on multiple occasions, the mayor (seated high on the dais) directed these words towards me at a Board of Trustees meeting.
You would be correct in surmising that there were few witnesses to this cringe-worthy scenario. Isn’t that what the act of bullying is all about?
A serious injustice has been perpetrated by Village of Great Neck government against its citizens. Yet, only a scant half-dozen residents know about it.
With round-the-clock coverage of our national government’s failings, isn’t it high time that local village government received the same level of scrutiny?
Question: How is it possible in a community of college graduates, MD’s and Ph.D.’s that the majority of citizens have limited, or no understanding of the lawsuit initiated by a Great Neck resident against village government?
Answer: Only a well-informed resident, knowledgeable of hard facts and aware of his/her legal rights will initiate a lawsuit against their own local government.
But why should any resident have to? Why should any resident have to dig deep into their personal savings, fighting to receive the justice that should have prevailed at open meetings?
Why is it that citizens of incorporated villages, have no recourse when the Mayor and Board of Trustees authorize poor choices — with known, 100 percent guaranteed poor resident outcome? (The LED streetlamp debacle, for instance.)
Where is the oversight? Where are the checks and balances?
What if the Mayor succeeds in undermining the checks and balances?
When elected mayors fail to hold public hearings, fail to conduct postal mailings, fail to demonstrate public inclusion in the decision-making process – the citizens suffer.
And when elected leaders fail to pay attention to resident submissions of 1. peer-reviewed articles linking blue light exposure to retina damage or 2. nation-wide protests and LED streetlamps or 3. ground-breaking research linking blue light with potential breast cancer — the citizens suffer.
It is already a proven fact that blue light leads to disruption of the human biological clock, otherwise known as circadian rhythm.
And it is proven fact that young children and the elderly are most vulnerable to blue light exposure. These timely health issues should not be dismissed by elected leaders who come to the table with their own agenda.
The Village of Great Neck mayor and Board did as they pleased, precisely because they could get away with it under the current regime.
Under the current regime, elected mayors are accountable to no one.
In the case of Village of Great Neck government, the deception was so meticulously calculated that less than a half-dozen residents regularly witnessed shocking testimony at 2017 Board of Trustees meetings.
No surprise here, village government repeatedly blames residents for not attending village meetings – articulating that residents are responsible for checking the village website.
Not so fast.
Isn’t it the responsibility of elected leaders to keep citizens informed?
Likewise, is it responsible to hold a critical meeting at 5 p.m. in August to approve a $600,00 LED streetlight purchase?
It feels like democracy and transparency have failed in the Village of Great Neck.
We have 800 naked, unprotected LED streetlights that contradict safe practices. The American Medical Association and peer-reviewed studies say so.
They are blindingly bright and painful to look at. They disrupt our quality of life. But it is so much more than that. Our village government failed us.
A young family with bedroom windows facing the new LED streetlight has announced that they are selling their single-family home.
Had village government responded appropriately when Ms. Glass and I advised that the preliminary sample streetlights on display were too bright – no one would be engaged in a lawsuit or moving away.
I strongly urge all citizens and elected leaders to mark their calendars for Wednesday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Join us at the Great Neck Library (Main Branch) where Patti Wood will give a talk entitled “Is our Technological World Putting our Health at Risk?”
Get the latest scientific facts on health hazards of wireless technology, LED exposure at night-time, and 5G technology.
Patti Wood is a well-respected advocate for public health and the Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education.
If you want to be an informed citizen, don’t miss this event. You will not hear this factual presentation elsewhere – least of all a Board of Trustees meeting – lest you be labeled a Fear Monger.
Judy Shore Rosenthal
Great Neck
