On April 26 at the Roslyn Village Hall there was continued public discussion on the proposed 1999-2000 budget. As the budget called for significant tax increases and a raise in salary for Mayor Galante from $1,800 to $12,000 per year, the meeting room was filled to capacity and then some.

Interest in this meeting was also stirred by an open letter that Mayor Galante had distributed into the mailboxes of the residents of Roslyn Gardens co-op. In this letter she described how she was responsible for having their parking lot paved at a cost of $70,000 and promised more street paving on Edwards Street in exchange for the co-op resident's support on the budget proposal. The letter went on to say "...There is an organized effort by the Pines Civic Association to discredit the proposals in the working budget. It seems that the Pines Civic Association demands services but does not want to pay for them."

The divisive tone of this letter clearly rankled some members of the audience and in my opinion is in keeping with Mayor Galante's increasingly partisan style of governing. Comparisons to the mayor of the metropolis to our west are inevitable. Loyalty, not competence seems to be the number one priority as evidenced by Mayor Galante's request for Craig Westegard's resignation from the Historic District Board after he had the audacity to run against her last month. My own wife was disinvited to participate as a volunteer in the Arbor Day Committee because she was suspected of voting for Mr. Westegard. And while Roslyn Village Hall is not yet barricaded as is its counterpart in New York City, Mayor Galante felt it necessary to have a police presence at the budget hearing.

No one disputes that Mayor Galante works hard and puts in long hours. And no one should dispute that if we want quality personnel and services we must be prepared to pay for them. The budget that was passed that night was amended to include cuts in many areas, including reducing the increase in the mayor's salary to $5,400. This allowed the budget to go through with no tax increase for this year. However, if a tax increase is necessary to pay for vital services such as re-paving many of our village streets, large increases for fire protection and salary increases for our elected officials (in addition to the creation of a village administrator) then I think the voters would appreciate a discussion of these issues before the election, not the following month.

Michael Kauffman