I attended Rye’s August 9 City Council meeting and was reminded of how well run our city is. Presentations on the City’s financials and capital improvement plan show remarkable progress. The professionalism of the senior staff is impressive, and we are especially lucky to have Greg Usry as our city manager, one of the best I’ve seen in my forty years as a resident.
Of the current Council, Josh Cohn, Julie Sousa, and Ben Stacks showed foresight in appointing Mr. Usry. It was a bold decision for which they faced criticism. It was also an extremely consequential decision, and I was reminded of that at the Council meeting.
I believe Councilmembers Cohn, Souza, Stacks, and Carolina Johnson made a mistake in suing the Board of Ethics. They have now withdrawn the suit, and it’s time for a reset. The way the mayor conducted the August 9 meeting seemed to reflect his realization of that fact.
A true reset, however, requires two additional actions by Mayor Cohn, which I urge him to consider:
*Stop litigating the suit in the press and on the dais. Let’s hear nothing further about the BOE or New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM).
* Postpone any review of the BOE. I suggest doing it next year when a new Council can oversee a thoughtful, deliberate, and non-partisan discussion to determine if any guidelines need be updated.
Let’s aim to be the thoughtful, fact-based, and consensus-seeking enterprise we know we can be.
