Recent Port Washington News and Newsday articles and a letter on the Manorhaven Village website regarding Comptroller DiNapoli’s report labeled Manorhaven as being one of only four villages having “significant fiscal stress.” Mayor Giunta told reporters that the report did not account for Sandy’s impact and that more than 80 percent of those expenses would be reimbursed. The truth, as reflected in the financial report the village submitted to the state, is that the village had in fact received $648,000 from FEMA during the fiscal year upon which the report is based.
Because the facts were revealed in a postcard distributed by the Manorhaven Residents Party, the mayor’s Letter to the Editor in last week’s issue of the Port News now admits that FEMA has reimbursed the village for Sandy expenses.
The mayor also slyly twists information. She correctly states that the comptroller’s report covers three years. What she neglects to mention is that all nine indicators that determined the negative fiscal stress level in the report were based solely on the fiscal year when Mayor Giunta was in office.
The mayor also continues to blame previous administrations for the cell tower lawsuit that cost the village $600,000 in damages and legal fees during her administration. While the case began before she took office, Mayor Giunta could have settled the suit before damages came into play, thereby saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The mayor neglects to reference three current lawsuits against the village that were initiated during the current administration’s terms and as a result of their actions: a broken sewer contract, commercial property taxpayers, and a purported unlawful moratorium on privately owned property.
Instead of making decisions that are in the best interest of the taxpayers, Mayor Giunta instead chooses to deflect blame to previous administrations. It is time for the mayor to bear responsibility for her and her board’s actions.
—Jim Avena
