Glenn was at a New York State Bar Association meeting in New York City at the time, so he did not have the opportunity to get back to the reporter in time. As an attorney and someone who prides himself on his work ethic, Glenn did not take kindly to Mayor West’s accusations.
Part of his statement included this response: “We have three regular meetings a month, and for the more than 19 months that we have been in office, I have not missed a meeting. While the trustees hold part-time positions, they are tasked with being liaisons to many boards and commissions. The trustees have worked diligently with their assigned groups, and have carried back important information to the board. The boards and commissions have been pleased with our work. I know I have taken quite a bit of time away from my law practice to carry out this important public service.
“Therefore, I believe that there has to be some other agenda behind the mayor’s complaint. I believe it has something to do with the fact that the trustees ask questions about certain projects and actions of the mayor and at times disagree with him. This is the job we were elected to do. The trustees have tried to work with the mayor and support his projects even when we would have done them in a different manner.
“The mayor is one vote on the policymaking board and should not act harshly against board members who have legitimate concerns about what is going on. Anger, bullying and wild accusations have no place in this democratic process.
“The voters who elected the trustees had confidence that they would act diligently in carrying out the tasks of local government, and the trustees will continue to work hard to continue to earn that trust.”
Kimbiz and trustee Ariana Basco also chastised the mayor for similar “bullying”-type behavior. “Jason West is not a leader,” said Basco to the New Paltz Times after the meeting. “He uses aggression to intimidate colleagues and staff through negative e-mail correspondence. He’s mean-spirited, alienating and polarizing. He tries to bully by storming out of meetings. Then he uses manipulative wordsmithing to rationalize his unprofessional behavior. This is the opposite of what New Paltz is about. We need community-minded, supportive, collaborative and positive leaders.”
West responded by saying that he has great respect for Glenn. “I like him very much, and I’m sure that he has an incredible work ethic in other areas of his life. But I was approached by a member of the Fire Department to ask why they’ve had no liaison at their meetings. I asked Stewart, who asked to be the liaison, and his response was that he didn’t know what the schedule was. He and Ariana have sat on a half-million dollars worth of revolving loan fund that businesses and upstart businesses in this village desperately need for the past 18 months, and they’ve accomplished nothing. It’s not personal; it’s professional. I care about trustees doing the work and bringing policy to the table that improves the quality of life for village residents.”
He also said that he had every right to ask if there was anyone interested in running for office. “This is a democracy. The calendar is clicking; we have two available seats up; and I wanted to know if people were interested in running.”
West offered no apology to Glenn for his statement on lack of work ethic. “He said when my ‘behavior’ changes, he’ll apologize. I find that quite ironic, since his behavior has been to malign and attack his colleagues. Anyone who knows me would never question my work ethic. And unfortunately, these types of attacks make it very unattractive for good, well-meaning people to step up and serve their community.”
“Stewart is a gentleman and someone I admire and like very much. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t have professional disagreements with him. This board is unlike any board I’ve ever been a part of. With the exception of Sally, the only work they do is at our Village Board meetings, and the majority of that is to level attacks on myself or our staff. That’s a sad way to spend time when we could be moving this village forward, taking it off the grid through environmental initiatives, saving mortgage payments. But I’m only one vote. I can bring all the policies I want to the table, and both Brian and Ariana have stated that they’d vote against them, regardless of their worth to village residents, because I proposed it. I’d love for them to start proposing policy, well-researched policy, so that we could get the work done that we set out to do.”
As for the deputy mayor position, West said that “everything at that meeting came as a surprise to me. I’m saddened that Sally is resigning. I chose her as my deputy mayor for very good reasons. But that position is a luxury, and I’ll have to think about it. If something happened to me, there are provisions in the law for the board to appoint a deputy mayor. So there is no rush.”
Glenn said that he will continue to “do the work I was elected to do, and be the public servant that I’ve always been,” despite West’s comments. “I find it sad. We started out with such great desire to make changes. But if you disagree with Jason, then he’ll malign you. That’s not the way to lead.”
