Time to Move Forward With a New Carmel Master Plan and Show Vision
Okay, the honeymoon for the new Master Plan project is over. Carmel cannot afford to wait any longer.
Supervisor Mike Cazzari said that “decisive leadership is what is called for.” To be fair, he has been in office nearly eight weeks and he has a lot on his plate. But a word on what the status of the new plan is would be helpful.
I know he is a huge fan of this project as he told me during his campaign. We are tired of Suzy McDonough’s answers “soon, very soon.” She is the head of the task force, and as such, has responsibility to communicate to the public what the status is.
The vision is fading at Town Hall. The chamber white paper was called Carmel Vision to call forward dreams. From my task force sources, the Nelson group is dragging their feet! They were paid more than $100,000 of taxpayer money and I, along with other townspeople, are tired of it. Bad business. No accountability. Inferior performance.
A draft of the Master Plan has been on the town’s website since October. There was no communication of this, and except for my sharing it with a group of concerned voters, I do not believe there has been any announcement to the public to review it or encourage any conversations. Once more the criticism that the town does not know how to effectively communicate with the public rears its head.
It has been five years since presenting this to the Town Board. Enough already. Even with a pandemic, we should be further down the road. Like the movie “Network,” it is time for all to go to a Town Hall meeting and yell “I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.”
You are probably thinking “I told you so, this town never follows through.” I cannot do this alone and do not expect chamber leadership to step up to the task. So, I am releasing this project to you, the public. Continue putting up with high taxes, how the town looks and no growth of this municipality or start holding the Town Board accountable.
I leave you with Supervisor Cazzari’s words after he was sworn in: “We have all these great ideas, but it’s been all talk and nothing ever seems to get done with these long-winded politicians.” Contact him at 845-628-1500 or msc@ci.carmel.ny.us and let him know your thoughts. He needs your support to unclog the process.
Thom Ianniccari
The letter writer is a local insurance broker and former chair of the Mahopac Chamber of Commerce’s Legislative Advocacy Board.
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