Dear Editor,
I want Village of Owego residents to know that the village did not approve of or pay for this “survey “on options to policing that was mailed out. The board was not informed of it until Monday and it was delivered on Tuesday.
The village board and clerk/treasurer were unaware that this mailing was going out. The person who mailed this out used the name of the “Village Public Safety Committee” without authorization.
The figures used and options listed should have been seen and approved by the full board before a survey goes out in the village’s name. If a trustee or someone working for a trustee paid for its production and mailing it is a campaign piece and needs to comply with New York State Election Law.
This is clearly a campaign piece designed to influence the outcome of the March 18 village election by misleading the public to think that this is an official “survey” and that the options and figures in it came from the village board.
The address to mail the results of the “survey” is 25 Delphine St. That is not a village office. It is the address of seven corporations that donated $1,000 each for a total of $7,000 to the Positive Change Party (source NYS BOE).
There is a serious error in the cost listed for option 4. The five-year figure for Option 4 should be $3,387,830, not the $2,691,967 shown in the “survey”. The difference of $695,863 was said to be due to a math error, but it is a convenient one that will certainly mislead residents.
Option # 4 has been discussed many times by the village board and has contract and labor law problems that severely limit its implementation.
The “survey” has no controls to make sure that multiple returns cannot be made by anyone including non-residents. There is no information to the village board about whom this “survey” was mailed to. Was it mailed to all residents, all voters, a select sample or a random sample?
The “Village Public Safety Committee” has not given any reports to the village board since it was formed. I have requested dates of committee meetings and their minutes from its Chairman Trustee Steve May and have not received them.
One committee member, Police Commissioner Karl Jantz, states that he has been to no meetings after the initial meeting with the Tioga County Safety Committee on Feb. 6 and he was unaware that this “survey” was going to be sent out.
The labels on the “survey” are identical to the labels on four campaign letters that were sent to residents in the past few weeks from trustee candidates Ann Lockwood, Lisa Curatolo, Rob Manville and Village Public Safety Committee Chair Steve May.
I do not know who is responsible for this mailing, but I do know that the Positive Change Party paid for $5,000 to the firm of Brightside Communications LLC, staffed by Bijoy Datta, for campaign services (source NYS BOE).
This “survey” and the campaign letters have been sent to the New York Sate Board of Elections, Division of Election Law Enforcement for their review.
Sincerely
Kevin Millar
Mayor
Village of Owego
