To the editor:

As your Town councilman and one of the largest investors in our Main Street (Liberty Theater) I feel compelled to make a statement. Full disclosure, I am not a Village resident, but I pay taxes to the Village for the multiple properties we are rehabilitating there.

After attending many village board meetings over the years and dealing with most of the departments I have found a broken system. The village’s lack of budgeting procedures is very alarming. Must municipalities publish a tenative budget on their website or newspaper to be reviewed by the public, and then public comments are encouraged at a meeting. It is only after public comments that the budget is voted on and adopted. As a Town elected official, I know we have a fiduciary obligation to have open meetings for our constituents, which are done for transparency and the good of all. 

Over the last three years, I have not witnessed this in the Village budgeting process. Village leadership is extremely lacking in many other areas as well: planning, capital improvements, building maintenance, and infrastructure funding. There have been almost no RFPs for purchasing other than the sewer plant. Every department has been understaffed for extended periods of time and in my opinion morale is at an all-time low. This creates undue stress on all the Village employees.

The first thing the board will say is that they didn’t have the funding to provide a good working Village operation. I disagree. The board needs to take some time and start planning for the Village. This is the obligation of a paid municipal board, and we do this at the Town level.

Village board, please be so kind as to answer these questions in a public statement:

• Please show the public the line-items on this budget that you are rushing to adopt without posting it publicly. Where does the board plan to spend our tax dollars?

• What plan does the board have for staffing each department?

• Please show the public a five-year plan for capital budgeting for infrastructure.

• Every organization needs working systems to be successful. What plans do you have to update and modernize your policies and procedures?

• What is the plan to update the Village’s information technology infrastructure?

Please call your Village trustee or Mayor to voice your concerns about the plan or lack thereof. http://www.libertyvillageny.org

Most of you know our family has lived here for over six generations, and we love our Town and Village, which is why the Davidson family have decided to fight the blight in our Village and Town and have invested in our community.

You can contact me at bruce.davdison@townof liberty.org or follow me on Facebook via Bruce Davidson Liberty Town Councilperson for taxpayer updates.

Bruce P Davidson

Councilperson, Town of Liberty