Opinion: Peekskill Democrats Decry Court Ruling, Mayor's Statement

Democrats on the Peekskill Common Council issued a statement Thursday in response to Mayor Frank Catalina over the issue of the court ruling overturning the city's 2016 budget,

The budget, with a 3.6 percent property tax rate increase, was passed Dec. 1, 2015 in a hastily-called meeting the night after the Common Council had met and voted twice on the same budget resolution, the Peekskill Post reported.

That meeting was illegal, said Catalini, who posted a statement on the city’s website after he walked out of it. Two city residents sued, saying the vote was improper.

Now the Westchester County Supreme Court has ruled that the special meeting notice did not follow procedure..

The Democrats say they unknowingly did not conform to parliamentary procedure the first time.

They also castigate Catalina for "polarizing statements, press releases, emails and online postings that constantly divide and distract the Council."

The Democratic majority of the Peekskill Common Council expressed disappointment today in the recent Court finding that overturns the City’s 2016 budget, increasing the 2016 tax hike from 3.59% to 5.9%. This decision nearly doubles the tax increase for city taxpayers.

In an email to Councilwoman Vivian McKenzie, Mayor Catalina stated that he “felt good” reading the 17 ­page decision. Councilwoman McKenzie stated: “We don’t feel good about this disappointing outcome. Unfortunately for our taxpayers, Mayor Frank Catalina and Councilmen Vincent Vesce and Joe Torres actively encouraged the Article 78 and supported its Petitioners by filing affidavits against not only the City of Peekskill but our city staff as well.”

When the budget was negotiated last year a majority of council members, including two of the Republicans on the council, had agreed to pass a compromise budget that would have held the line at a 3.59% increase in order to ensure city residents did not face an almost 6% increase. When the vote was taken, some Republicans on the council switched their position and voted against the 3.59% increase, knowing that failure to pass it would mean the city would revert to the City Manager's proposed 5.9% hike ­­ a tax hike the GOP had been advocating for. Democrats made a motion to reconsider the budget vote that unknowingly did not conform to parliamentary procedure. They then called a special meeting to once again vote for a reduced tax increase. According to the court's finding, the special meeting notice did not follow procedure.

Since Frank Catalina has been in office, he and his Republican colleagues have attempted to increase taxes every year. The Democratic majority has consistently been able to hold the line on tax increases until this year. While Mayor Catalina recently stated that the Democrats “bring politics into the chamber”, it is his polarizing statements, press releases, emails and online postings that constantly divide and distract the Council, which negatively affect not only the city taxpayers but the reputation of our community. We can disagree on policy, but we can do so in a tone locally that does not reflect what we see playing out at the national level.

Councilwoman Kathie Talbot stated: " Given that the city ended last year with a $1.4 million dollar surplus, due to a mild winter and the aggressive work of our finance department collecting overdue taxes, this excessive tax increase is a real slap in the face to our hard working taxpayers.”

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