work session

February 12, 2015

By:  Progress For Westhampton Beach

In enacting the Open Meetings Law, the New York Legislature sought to ensure that public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. N.Y. Pub. Off. Law § 100.     New York Court of Appeals, 2005

The village trustees held a public meeting on February 12th at 5:00pm that was a work session. The Southampton Press had mistakenly reported in its print version that the trustees would field suggestions, and although the Press made a correction in its online version, the Mayor reiterated at the start of the meeting that this was a work session, and as with all other work sessions, there had been no time designated for public comment.

Mayor Moore immediately proceeded to the purpose of the meeting, to determine where the Board of Trustees stood on the adoption of the local law to create the position of Police Commissioner…

The Mayor advised the public that she would not request that the local law to create the position of Police Commissioner be adopted. Then, upon inquiry by the Mayor, each of the Trustees concurred.

Trustee Urban agreed with the Mayor that, in view of the vocal opposition to creating the position of Police Commissioner, an alternative would have to be sought to obtain accreditation and make certain the department was properly staffed.  With this palliative care, the local law to create the position of Police Commissioner was laid to rest.

Provisional Chief Gonce said he was enthusiastic about getting the department accredited and he endorsed it as an appropriate measure of professionalism.

Most importantly, he reported that the officers in the department have “bought in” and are prepared to learn the new protocols.

There does appear to be a sea change in the department.  More marked cars can be observed doing speed enforcement in the village, and the appearance of arrests by the village PD on the police blotter is further evidence.  This bodes well for Provisional Chief Gonce, for all of the officers in the department, and for our village.

The discussion turned to the best means to achieve accreditation, and while it was agreed it did not need to be accomplished immediately, there should be a timeline for completion.  The paperwork for accreditation is an important starting point, the biggest part of this job will be done by our police officers as each becomes accustomed to the new procedures.

The Mayor then moved to enter executive session1)The Southampton Press mistakenly reported in its print version of this week’s paper that the purpose of the executive session was to discuss the public feedback (a violation of  the Open Meetings Law) but corrected it in the online version to accurately reflect the nature of the executive session.  See corrections here. to discuss particular candidates with Provisional Chief Gonce as to whether any had credentials that could provide support to him as the work towards accreditation progresses.  The public portion of the meeting was concluded and the Trustees stayed to continue their work.

 

 

 

References   [ + ]

1. ↑ The Southampton Press mistakenly reported in its print version of this week’s paper that the purpose of the executive session was to discuss the public feedback (a violation of  the Open Meetings Law) but corrected it in the online version to accurately reflect the nature of the executive session.  See corrections here.