With a new party, the Roslyn Community Party, being formed to oppose the Clock Tower Party in the upcoming village election, those of us who had a part in founding the Clock Tower Party are having a severe case of what Yogi Berra called "Deja vu all over again."

The Clock Tower Party was founded in the late '50s by new residents attracted to the village by its natural beauty, historic flavor and charm. My husband and I were among these. Shortly after moving here, we were horrified to learn that there was a plan emanating from the county and apparently supported by the village, to change the zoning to apartment, demolish the old houses, widen the roads and fill in Silver Lake for parking. When we went to the village to object, we were further horrified to find out that the board regarded us as enemies, refused to give us any information and closed the meeting. We discovered that this was standard procedure on the part of this board, which had been in power for 50 years and operated in executive session where all decisions were made. (Illegal but done!) You could wake up one morning and find a gas station being built next to your home. If you went to a board meeting, you were treated with contempt and often attacked verbally but never told anything. In fact the village clerk wore a hearing aid and turned it off when he was asked a question - a very effective way of stonewalling we can only hope no other politicians copy!

Obviously we had no recourse but to start a new party, the Clock Tower party. Our platform stood for the preservation of the old village and open meetings with open discussions and decisions. We stood for respect and courtesy to the people at the meetings. They were to be heard in full and given the information they wanted. We stood for a friendly and welcoming atmosphere with representation on the board from every area - the Pines, Marchant Park, the Apartments and the old village.

We walked all over the village, knocked on doors and talked to people. We won an overwhelming victory with the largest vote in the history of Roslyn. Rob Bell became the first Clock Tower trustee and two years later the first Clock Tower mayor. The Clock Tower Party fulfilled its goals and has been in power now for over 40 years.

Unfortunately, however, there are alarming signs of a growing attitude similar to the one when we first started the Clock Tower Party. The board meetings are anything but friendly and welcoming. They are run rather like a military court. Anyone who wants to speak must go up to the front of the room, give his or her name and face the board while speaking. This is not only intimidating but it means the people at the meeting are looking at the back of the person and often can't hear what is being said. There is no interchange between the board and the people attending, no friendly "town meeting" give and take at all. Sometimes there's a policeman on duty at the door. What in the world for? We are not two opposing sides facing each other, "us and them!" We are all residents of the village or have business to do with the village and should be working together in the best interests of the village.

At the Memorial Day parade last year, for the first time in the village's history, the fire department marched separately to Roslyn Park and a few people led by the mayor marched to the Clock Tower. A ridiculous and rather sad situation.

There is further pitting of one group against another such as apartment dwellers against homeowners nor is there broad representation of each area on the boards. Furthermore, Trustee Marshall Bernstein was not re-nominated to run again by the Clock Tower Party after he had voted against longer terms and more money in an independent vote on the board.

There is an arrogance in the way people are notified of policies. Homeowners told the village would no longer maintain sidewalks, were then told their sidewalks were dangerous and if they weren't repaired within a certain time by the homeowners, the village would repair them and bill them with their taxes and if this bill wasn't paid in a certain time they would be fined. It was threatening and punishing and made the homeowners feel like criminals. Nor was there any flexibility in determining whether the sidewalks were dangerous or any concern whether the cost was hardship for the homeowners, some of whom are on fixed incomes.

This kind of attitude in many aspects of the governing of the village makes us feel we have come full cycle.

"Deja vu all over again!" We are very sad to have to say that we can no longer give the Clock Tower Party our support because it is no longer the party we helped to form.

We do have high hopes that the candidates of the Roslyn Community Party, Marshall Bernstein and Craig Westergard, will bring back the democratic ideals of the original Clock Tower Party.

Elise and Bob Bell