Printed From Acorn-Online.com
Editorial
Apr 24, 2008
A needless delay
The fact that the Town Board, and Town Supervisor Edward Brancati in particular, has not appointed someone to chair the Committee for the Disabled is baffling and a bit disconcerting, because it has rendered the committee useless so far this year.
The committee is about as apolitical as is possible in town government. Its non-partisan mission is to explore ways to make the town more accessible for disabled residents. And it is guided by a federal mandate, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), that has been around for more than a decade. There is no place for politics to come into play here.
However, that seems to be the case. How else to explain why the former chairwoman, Melissa Cunniffe, a Republican who has criticized Democratic officials in the past, has not been reappointed despite being seemingly active and productive while leading the committee the last two years? The Town Board traditionally appoints people to chair the many town committees and boards at its first meeting of the year following a town election. And it did so again on Jan. 3, naming 11 different chairman but failing to do so for the Committee for the Disabled.
The failure to have many of the town offices and buildings meet ADA standards has become so egregious in Lewisboro that the Justice Department has threatened town officials to become compliant more than once. This is such a pressing need that all of the Town Board members, including the town supervisor, have previously mentioned achieving ADA compliance as one of their primary goals while in office.
But such plans will have to wait for the committee’s input because it has been four months since it has met to discuss town matters. This is due to a lack of an appointed chairman to instruct it to review matters regarding the Onatru farm building, proposed camps for special needs children and other matters that would fall under its purview.
Mr. Brancati has had a lot on his plate since taking office in January, and he spends long hours at the Town House and is regularly in meetings discussing town matters. And it is a common practice for new administrations to try to advance their “own” people into more powerful positions in Lewisboro.
However, the town can wait no longer to restart this committee, and needs to empower it with a competent and qualified chairman. The board needs to make that decision without playing politics and it needs to make it now. The town has already been in violation of federal act for 14 years. There is no reason to delay any longer.
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