Mt. Pleasant Candidate Charges Town Fiscal Mismanagement
By Janine Bowen and Martin Wilbur
Tensions rose at Mount Pleasant Town Hall earlier this week when the insurgent town board challenger in next month’s election charged that the municipality’s finances have been mismanaged.
John Casario, who is challenging Republicans Denis McCarthy and Laurie Smalley on the independent We The People line, held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to publicize a state comptroller’s report from earlier this year that listed Mount Pleasant as being “susceptible to fiscal stress.”
Casario reiterated recent claims made by his running mate, supervisor candidate Anthony D’Aria, that the town has one of the worst financial records in the state and is awash in debt. He provided a list of materials that showed Mount Pleasant as being just one of two municipalities in Westchester and 38 in the state to be under one of three levels of fiscal stress.
“Although the situation we find ourselves in is very troubling, I’m confident [that] with proper leadership we can take corrective action and put the town back on the right track,” Casario said. “I know that my strong financial and accounting background will help us find a solution.”
His appearance got off to a rocky start when Supervisor Joan Maybury emerged from town hall and engaged in a heated discussion with Casario’s campaign manager, Frank Morganthaler. Maybury threatened to stop the assembly from being held on town property and questioned Casario’s motives in running for office.
“Nobody knows what his platform is,” Maybury said. “This is a phantom candidate. This is two days before election, and the gentleman has not campaigned.”
Casario, who also alleged that Maybury has spent the last two months trying to keep him off the ballot, proceeded to tell about a dozen supporters that he plans on reforming the town’s finances.
He said the following day that the town’s excessive use of fund balance and officials’ decision to exceed the tax cap for 2013 with a tax levy increase of 5.7 percent is an example of poor financial management. He cited Moody’s Investors Service’s January report that downgraded the town’s bond rating from Aa1 to Aa2 with a negative outlook and listed the town as having $41 million in general operating debt as sufficient proof to justify his statements.
“I decided to run for office because our town’s financial situation is deteriorating. I believe my background and experience can help lead to a better future,” Casario said.
Brian Butry, a spokesman for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, said the town was listed earlier this year as being susceptible to fiscal stress based on indicators such as fund balance, debt and cash on hand. Moody’s downgrade was due to the town’s weak financial position caused by the reliance on reserves, Butry said.
“We are in deep financial trouble. The truth has been kept from the public for too long,” asserted Morganthaler, although Maybury interjected that his statements weren’t true.
“We need to change course to send Mount Pleasant on a sound financial footing, however, we cannot accomplish that goal with the current officials who ignore the facts,” he continued.
Maybury said the town faced a severe decline in mortgage tax revenues by 2011, falling to about $1 million, down from pre-recession levels of about $3 million. However, there was only one portion of the three-part budget that was referenced by the comptroller—Budget A, which includes all town hall staff, including parts of the building department, which will total nearly $5.1 million in 2014. She said the fund balance in that portion of the budget now stands at a healthy $1.6 million. At one point it had fallen to below $500,000.
Maybury added that through diligent planning and layoffs, the town has been able to return to strong financial footing. She said the debt ratio for 2014 will be a strong 9.77 percent. This year it is 11.09 percent.
She said the town does not need Casario’s help.
“Regardless of what [Casario’s] experience is… the future of Mount Pleasant will be bright because it has elected leaders, and will continue to have elected leaders, who make the business of the town their everyday bit of work,” she said. “They don’t come out of subterranean places two days before an election when nobody knows who they are.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
