Foiling the scalawags

A scalawag, the dictionary says, is a someone who switches political parties when it's convenient to do so. Another meaning may refer to officials or lawyers who bend the rules to protect their cronies.

At issue is a Monticello restaurant which records say is three years behind on its taxes. The family of owner Patricia Croissant of Swinging Bridge aided the Republican dominated board in a campaign last spring to take over village government, where Republicans now control the board 4-1.

Sources say Croissant owes upward of $40,000 in back taxes. Records confirm she is three years in arrears. Yet, contrary to advice from the state, officials this week remained adamant in refusing to release two payment plans -- one of them Croissant's.

Robert Freeman, executive director of the NYS Committee on Open Government, said the documents should have been public. At the advice of village attorney Michael Davidoff -- who was said to be unavailable at the end of the week -- officials still refused to release the documents. By press-time, an appeal was pending.

Roots for government openness date back to the Declaration of Independence, when listed among reasons for secession from the King was that, "He has called together leglislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose fatiguing them into complaince with his measures."

Likewise, Monticello has for years seemed to set up false barriers -- making public access to records harder than it ought to be. "...[G]overnment is the public's business and ...the public, individually and collectively and represented by a free press, should have access to the records of government," state law demands.

Following Sullivan County's example in allowing installment tax payments shows responsive leadership. In hard times, taxpayers deserve every fair break possible from government. But public watchdogs must be able to ensure that fair and equal treatment is available to all.

The village's decision to release some approved plans, while holding on to others, is poorly supported by an assertion that they just can't be released until signed. What if the documents remain forever unsigned? Or what if the current version is amended? Who would know? The fact remains that a vote was taken at a November 4 public session, for particular payment terms. Those terms should have been immediately available to anyone.

Monticello should revamp its information disclosure policy to make life easier for all. The Freedom of Information Law was designed as a tool of last resort for the public and press, not the first line of defense for government to keep rightfully public records under lock and key.

-- Tom Rue, contributing editor

Related links

Your right to know -- New York State's open government laws (government booklet)

NYS Public Officers Law Laws 1909, Chap. 51. (NY statute)

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