To the Town Board of Greenburgh:

This mediator better be really good, really independent and not tainted in any manner with leanings one way or the other.  The process must be fair and in the open---no closed door sessions.

Otherwise, Greenburgh residents and taxpayers may well ask why the Town is spending our money on a mediation process when we have a Town Board, Town Supervisor, and a highly competent Town Controller and Town staff to do the job they are hired [or elected] to do.

Will it ever be possible for some courageous official to make a decision which may alienate some constituency?  Greenburgh residents are not so inane that they can't see what is happening here.  We are a rather nice bunch of people who want to know they are being taxed fairly; that means, they can accept the fact that the villages might be "due" some tax relief [or vice-versa], yet the unincorporated area must be treated fairly as well---even if we do not seem to have the political clout of the villages.

This remains to be seen.  Meanwhile, I am not convinced that this whole mediation process is not a sham to avoid your individual political and elective responsibility to Greenburgh residents.

If unincorporated Greenburgh did not have its Bob Bernstein, I am afraid we wouldn't even get this far.

Carol A. Wielk
Resident of Unincorporated Greenburgh

STATEMENT ON TAXTER RIDGE LAWSUIT FROM COUNCILMEMBERS BARNES, BASS, JUETTNER, AND WEINBERG

Since Town Council members represent the residents of the entire Town of Greenburgh, we feel it is important to keep the town together and find a fair and equitable solution to the legal challenges being raised to the way the town taxes its residents.  We must do everything we can to get people to negotiate before we appeal.  Therefore, we will ask the court to extend the deadline, for 60 days to perfect the town's appeal of the Taxter Ridge decision and we intend to immediately engage the services of a professional mediator who hopefully will be successful in negotiating a resolution.

We believe the mediation process is the most productive way to resolve the differences between Greenburgh's villages and unincorporated area. This is a great town and it is important to bring people together to discuss issues which have the potential of dividing us.  We look forward to resolving these issues quickly and fairly.

Eddie Mae Barnes, Councilwoman
Diana Juettner, Councilwoman
Steve Bass, Councilman
Timmy Weinberg, Councilwoman