There’s been some controversy over what exactly happened at the last city council meeting on July 13, 2009 in the wake of interim city manager Dwight Douglas’ resignation. The Record states Douglas blamed “‘personal criticism’ and a divided council,” while Mayor Nick Valentine places the blame solely on Councilwoman Christine Bello. The paper went further in an editorial on July 23, which is riddled with factual errors and hyperbole.
For starters: which department heads did Bello get rid of? McGrane was the city manager, not a department head, and her contract was terminated by a majority vote including Marge Bell and MaryAnn Dickinson. Robert McKenna retired in December of 2008, and Lourdes Zapata recently resigned. Both served as department heads of the Economic Development Department, and both share some responsibility for the appalling 2007 Industrial Development Agency audit that was recently released. No standoff with Bello prefaced either move.
The Record writes,
The temporary city manager announced this week that he is quitting after Bello launched a personal attack against him at the last meeting, an outburst that was inappropriate and unprofessional but, considering the source, not surprising.
Really? Let’s go to the videotape.
Resolution 105 – Mercer Group Contract Part 1 of 2
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Resolution 105 – Mercer Group Contract Part 2 of 2
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Resolution 106 – City Manager Contract Extension
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Closing Comments by Councilwoman Marge Bell and Councilwoman Christine Bello
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Closing Comments by Councilwoman MaryAnn Dickinson and Mayor Nick Valentine
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Lourdes Perez put the IDA back together?!?!?! WTF? She couldn’t even account for her time spent on IDA business when she was getting about half her salary from it. Let’s say she did put it back together… why did it need to be put back together? Because Nick Valentine was the chair of the IDA for 8 years. 8 years of ZERO economic development initiated by the IDA and the ED department. And when a group of citizens replaced the politicians, they asked questions. But they were roadblocked by Jean McGrane, Dwight Douglas AND Ms. Perez in getting the information they needed to function. Ms. Perez spent the last six months looking for a job, not doing the job she was being paid for. Why? Because what she learned under the tutelage of Mr. McKenna would not fly with an accountable group of people running the IDA. And instead of cooperating to fix the IDA, Perez and Douglas worked furiously to reorganize the CDA- which has already been doing business illegally for two years- to go around the accountable IDA. There’s a lot of the word “professionalism” being loosely thrown about in numerous email chains regarding Mr. Douglas. Where are the emperor’s clothes?
Several letters to the editor have run in the Times Herald-Record following the initial editorial. These include a 7.28.09 “My View” rebuttal by Councilwoman Bello, who writes “Saying that your editorial of July 23 was off the mark would be an understatement…”
Roger Wood wrote a letter to the editor, also printed on 7.28.09.
And today Nicholas Angelo writes, “It’s rare and controversial when a newspaper takes a stand against transparency and ethics in local government. Your recent editorial slamming Newburgh’s City Councilwoman Bello did just that…”
Another letter to the editor today, “Newburgh politics anarchy,” from Richard F. Peterson Sr., who writes, “Bello, adopting the mantle of watchdog for the spending and use of our, the taxpayers’, money, is sitting on a high moral plane, despite criticism. With millions of dollars being lost, squandered or abused, the people who are responsible for the stewardship of that lost millions should have been fired…”