IT'S TIME TO
TAKE BACK OYSTER BAY IN 2021
Oyster Bay voters deserve honest leadership that ends the culture of corruption, nepotism and waste that has permeated town government for decades. Our community is ready for leadership that tackles the hard issues with integrity and accountability. The Town of Oyster Bay government has betrayed voters trust for decades with wasteful spending on self promotion, crumbling roads with no clear plan to fix them, unethical practices and pay to play contracts to friends and family. We will give residents the future they deserve. After decades of mis-management and business as usual, it's time to TAKE BACK OYSTER BAY.
A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE
Listening to the Community
For decades, the Town of Oyster Bay government has functioned in a vacuum, denied residents’ freedom of speech, violated open meets law, and ignored requests for information. They have become notorious for backroom deals, doling out raises and promotions to their friends, unscrupulous accounting and general financial mismanagement.
“The community at large remains disenfranchised, underrepresented and silenced by a machine that is more interested in photo ops and political propaganda. The people deserve strong competent, courageous leadership open to public input.
The goal of the “Oyster Bay Strong” Campaign is to engage the greater community and proactively give those our community a voice in shaping the future of their Town.
“This is the first formal program in Oyster Bay dedicated to truly listening to the vision and concerns residents have for their neighborhoods, continued Field. “The community deserves to be heard and the “Oyster Bay Strong” Program will do just that.
The Program creates opportunities for community participation to solicit input from residents of varying demographics and across all hamlets. “Oyster Bay has historically been a bright light of opportunity, yet today resources remain inequitably distributed, and access to information granted predominantly to the politically privileged,” says Reema Rasool, Candidate for Town Supervisor. “The Listening Campaign is an investment that is integral to a successful community.”
The “Oyster Bay Strong” Campaign will launch the following opportunities to penetrate the communities through multiple channels in ways they feel comfortable engaging:
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In-person Small Groups
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Virtual Issue-oriented Sessions
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Community Interest Questionnaires
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Information Collection Surveys
A Path to Paved Roads
Oyster Bay residents should expect excellent road conditions. To date, the public has not been provided with a plan to let them know a timeline for when their individual roads will be repaved. While a supposed plan was set forth in 2018 to grade the roads, that plan was never given to taxpayers. This information has been kept a secret. Political deals have neglected our roads and made the fixing of streets more expensive. We must remove political considerations from procurement and make the process transparent. Day in and day out, your roads crumble and with no straight forward plan in sight. It's time a straight forward plan with a clear rating system and timeline is presented to the people.
Town Finances
This is not a time to proclaim success. The Town of Oyster Bay needs leaders who will be honest with the community about what we are facing and how we will plan to come out ahead in the long run. Voters deserve leadership that has experience with balancing a budget and recovering from significant financial distress, guiding toward economic recovery.
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Our Town's Finances are still in worst financial shape of any Town on Long Island. Decades of fiscal mismanagement in Oyster Bay have been highlighted by the NYS Comptroller report. The report doesn't lie: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/local-government/audits/pdf/oyster-bay-2020-74.pdf
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The town has the highest fiscal stress score of any town on Long Island: http://wwe1.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/fiscalmonitoring/fsms.cfm
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While debt keeps spiraling out of control, the Saladino administration paints a fraudulent picture by using fuzzy math to argue a nonexistent surplus.
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2019 Audit showed Severe Fiscal Distress - TOB has been operating under the shadow of corruption charges and fiscal mismanagement for far too long https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/audit-comptroller-internal-controls-ethics-oversight-1.34755510
Freedom of Speech
Meeting Participation: Currently, there is no way to participate in Town Meetings virtually and it is difficult for most residents to attend meetings given their location and times. When residents do attend, they are often cut off while speaking and spoken to in a condescending manner.
It is time to make participation in government top priority. If Covid has taught us anything it is that we can include and reach more people with online Technology. Therefore, and therefore cannot hold elected officials accountable, speaks volumes about the government ruling Oyster Bay
Environment