Do. The. Right. Thing.
Ethical comes from the Greek ethos "moral character" and describes a person or behavior as right in the moral sense - truthful, fair, and honest
The Amherst Town Board is really… something else. Before we dive into the latest deceiving news from them, lets take a walk down memory lane.
Within just the last 6 years, the Amherst Town Board has:
proposed to override the NYS Tax Levy Cap 4 times,
voted ‘yes’ to override the cap 3 times by 16.6% in total (with Bucki being the only one to ever vote ‘no’, likely to help with the senior base and as a lame duck in 2023 to help set the stage for Marinucci),
increased the tax levy by 26.6% from those three years of overrides alone,
increased the tax levy by 33.2% in total,
Also,
years when they didn’t override the tax cap, they increased the tax levy within 0.07% and 0.14% of the ceiling & had only one year of no increase to the tax levy which was conveniently their reelection year,
in Oct. 2023, they had the Amherst Bee publish an unsearchable 2inchx1inch jpeg public legal notice of the budget hearings (all prior years they published normal written text), in what would appear to be a tactic to all but eliminate public awareness or participation in their budget hearings,
voted to delay the tax cap override decision until after the Nov. 7, 2023 election for Szukala & Marinucci (the special meeting was moved to Nov. 9th),
Jacqualine Berger was 10 minutes late to the special meeting and the override vote was first on the agenda. The Board knew Bucki was a ‘no’ vote so they reconfigured the agenda schedule to vote without Berger on the CIP budget, but wanted her to vote on the tax cap override and the amendment to the budget to ‘Enhance Financial Transparency’, a dog whistle to everyone that the board voted ‘yes’ for a superficial headline,
2023’s antics alone increased the tax levy by a staggering 11.42%.
And that is just the briefing points. A long list of flip flopping of why taxes keep going up could give your scrolling skills a workout.
However, the latest news that threw many for a side splitting laugh was when residents received an email quoting ‘Together, we can make our town a beacon of democratic engagement and responsible governance’. This email came from a self claiming ‘friend’, Councilmember Shawn Lavin - promoted to Mr. “Transparency” after 6 years of silence, overrides, and fiscal irresponsibility.
Below are Shawn Lavin’s most spectacular transparent moments:
Shawn Lavin has voted ‘yes’ to override the tax levy cap every single time (3 for 3) in only 6 years.
Shawn Lavin didn’t publicly call for community clarity on the budget before it was a done deal.
Shawn Lavin didn’t publicly ask or call attention for community input/participation in the 2023 budget hearings (or in any other year per extensive online research and prior board meeting notes).
Shawn Lavin didn’t mention taxes are going up (11.42%) before it was a done deal.
Shawn Lavin didn’t even look like he wanted to be at the 12/4/23 standing room only town board meeting as he was slouched in his chair in a position a high schooler would take on while trying to sneak a text in during class.
Now all of a sudden Shawn Lavin says transparency and public involvement is crucial and his mission. Lavin wants you to sign his petition for a law to reform the board to be more transparent and involve the residents. This leads to the question… why do they need a law for this? They should’ve been transparent and working with the public from day 1, Jan. 2018, and not just involving the community during their election years. They shouldn’t need a law to make it seem as so.
With 6 years of proven track records of immense disregard for transparency & public involvement, dismissive behavior to residents, voting ‘yes’ every time (3x in 6 years) for cap overrides, and the recent events that happened between Sept. - Dec. 2023, residents have no reason to believe that this petition is genuine, that the town board would create any such law without a way to maneuver within it using more smoke and mirrors to push their agenda, or that the board wouldn’t turn this into an accountability push onto residents.
However, this law/petition (or stunt) is in fact a clear cut case of gaslighting residents that just got blindsided by a 11.42% tax hike for projects they don’t want, in an attempt for Lavin & the Town Board to save face.
Residents don’t want some concocted law by the very town board that has conducted despicable behavior and fiscal irresponsibility over the last 6 years. Residents want the town board to simply… DO. THE. RIGHT. THING. Be ethical.
The next town board meeting is Monday, December 18th, 2023 at 7pm at 5583 Main St.