A routine Village Hall meeting held last Tuesday night was briefly interrupted by a disagreement over appointment decisions to the Historic District Board. At the meeting, appointees to both the HDB and the Zoning Board of Appeals were duly sworn in. They included Marta Genovese as chairman of the HDB and Wayne Marr as chairman of the ZBA and Michael Dorsky as a member of that board.

Board of Trustee member Marshall Bernstein, however, used the occasion to protest the decision not to appoint Andrea Kauffman, an HDB alternate, as a member of that board. Both Mayor Janet Galante and Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson declared Trustee Bernstein out of order and also charged him with "campaigning" for Ms. Kauffman. While Mayor Galante expressed her disappointment with Trustee Bernstein, the BOT member, in turn, said he was "dismayed" with the mayor's action.

According to Trustee Bernstein, a vacancy on the HDB came up when Craig Westergard left the board to make his successful run for the BOT. Ms. Genovese was appointed to fill Mr. Westergard's position, but Trustee Bernstein felt that Ms. Kauffman was qualified to fill the vacant seat. Trustee Bernstein claimed that Ms. Kauffman had been "very dutiful" in her role as an alternate member. She had, he added, gone to meetings, "done her homework" and voted on pertinent issues.

After this year's March elections, Trustee Bernstein hoped to have Ms. Kauffman appointed to the HDB. It didn't happen, and he attempted to express his displeasure at the Oct. 17 meeting. In an interview with The Roslyn News, Trustee Bernstein said the decision not to appoint Ms. Kauffman was "based on animosity and rancor." Trustee Bernstein noted that Ms. Kauffman had served as chairman of the Roslyn Community Party, the political organization started up after the Clock Tower Party refused to endorse Trustee Bernstein's re-election bid. Trustee Bernstein said Ms. Kauffman had not done any active campaigning against the mayor last spring. He added that he had no objections to the ZBA appointment of Wayne Marr, one of Trustee Bernstein's opponents in the last BOT election. "No one is more qualified [than Ms. Kauffman]" to sit on the board, he said. Trustee Bernstein also said that Ms. Kauffman had tendered her resignation to the village and no longer sits as an HDB alternate.

Mayor Galante issued her own statement on the entire matter. The mayor said that while her office makes all appointments concerning department heads and non-elected officers and employees of the village, BOT members must eventually approve them. The mayor added that there are "no litmus tests or political paybacks associated with the appointees that I recommend." Mayor Galante further cited various board nominees as "qualified individuals who have the integrity, capability, experience and dedication to perform the duties of their respective appointed offices."

On the matter of general village policy, the mayor remarked on the commitment "to the preservation of the historic character of the Village of Roslyn while continuing the smart growth policies compatible with protecting the environment and sustaining the Downtown Business District. The appointees I select for serving the village share similar goals for the progress of our local government."

Referring to the public hearing incident, the mayor criticized a "disgruntled board member" whom she said "decided to make a feeble effort to politicize this appointing process." While again expressing her disappointment with the "distraction" that took place at the meeting, Mayor Galante said she remained "confident that the appointees I selected will perform their duties in an admirable fashion for the benefit of all the residents of the Village and not just for the political cronies of a selected few."