I am a former eight-term (two years each) Town of Greenburgh elected official. During my fifteen-year tenure as Greenburgh Town Clerk, I served as a Fairview District Leader on the local level, on the Executive Committee of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association (county level), the Advisory Council of the New York State Mentoring Program (state level), and as the New York State representative to the National Democratic Municipal Officials Organization on the national level. This broad range of government exposure and experience increased my knowledge, awareness, and assessment of leaders who intentionally lead and operate based on honesty, truth, independence, and integrity, and those who intentionally lead as “operatives” of the political machinery, no matter how corrupt. Such individuals will twist, distort, and misrepresent the truth simply to undermine, sabotage, and attempt to “politically lynch” those whom they cannot control.
Paul Feiner is not, nor has he ever been, a political operative. This is precisely why there have been numerous attempts over the course of his tenure to remove him and replace him with someone who is “hand-picked” and endorsed by the local political party “machinery.” It is not surprising that his current opponent received “83%” of the vote from the local Democratic District Leaders; they are told by the Committee leadership who to vote for during the “convention” that is held before each local campaign and election process. Reportedly, Paul has recently been approached with statements such as, “I regret that I didn’t vote to endorse you.”
This most recent campaign against Paul has been really deep-down-dirty with blatant and flagrant attacks on his professional image with the use of false and misleading accusations intended to challenge the public’s trust in him as their Town Supervisor. For example, to “jump-start” the smear campaign against him, Council members launched their own internal “misbehaving” campaign by throwing public temper tantrums and speaking to him in a harsh, cruel, and disrespectful manner – often attempting to shut him down in mid-sentence during public meetings. This strategy, which appeared deliberate in an attempt to suggest that Paul was not able to manage public meetings of the Board, only revealed four Board members who were out of control, and Paul maintained a professional demeanor. Such occurrences are not a reflection of Paul’s ability to “get along with his peers,” they are simply uncontrolled outbursts by individuals who “should know better.” As Town Supervisor, NYS law requires that Paul and others in his position, “…preside over public meetings of the Town Board.” The law does not require him to administer behavior modification meds or manage the behavior of elected officials who “act out” in public. There is a closed-door meeting option called “Executive Session” that Board members can call at any time, and where they may appropriately share their differences of opinion. Perhaps the voters should require these Board members to enroll in workshops on how to better behave at public meetings.
Attacking his management style is another example of the “deep-down-dirty” tactics. His management style is not to “micro-manage” but to remain thoroughly aware and knowledgeable of the daily operations of each department. Alleged issues with internal management are bogus and misleading. During my tenure, 2008-2023, and even after, I never heard complaints from Department Heads about Paul. He was and remains accessible to his Department Heads beyond the standard 9-5 workday hours as well as on weekends and holidays. All worked as close, dedicated, and committed allies of Paul, and many remained part of his team for over ten years. Several excellent and highly effective ones, however, reportedly left Town Hall due to alleged harassment, extreme overreach, and attempts to control their departments by a particular council/board member. Furthermore, each Board member is assigned as a liaison to several departments. If they have been meeting regularly with their respective departments, then, certainly, they would be aware of any management concerns and address them accordingly.
With regard to this “Forensic Audit,” approved and launched by Board members in an effort to allege that there has been mismanagement of the budget by Paul, the public should know that a Board member deliberately removed the portion of the report by the auditors, shared with the public, that stated, “No malfeasance…” meaning that there was no wrongdoing by the public official. Over the course of Paul’s tenure, he has never been accused of financial mismanagement. Further, all Board members participate routinely and are involved in the budget management and oversight process. They approve budget transfers and all matters having to do with the budget. The uncollected taxes related to unscheduled foreclosures are the responsibility of the entire Board, as the foreclosure process is very detailed, requiring their awareness, monitoring, and approval. During the two years of COVID, the Board placed a moratorium on foreclosures to allow anyone potentially impacted to “remain in place.” This was, indeed, a humanitarian decision. All Board members are responsible for relaunching activities to schedule foreclosure auctions and reignite this tax collection process.
Yes, Paul has been Town Supervisor for many years, and he has been more visible and accountable to the residents of the Town of Greenburgh-Entire (including the Villages) than any other known elected official in this town. He has brought about unprecedented civic engagement and public involvement compared to any other elected official in Unincorporated Greenburgh, and there has never been any evidence that he has mismanaged the town departments or the town’s budget. Please keep in mind that he is fighting to prevent Edgemont from becoming a village because he knows the devastating financial impact that such incorporation will have on Unincorporated Greenburgh, which includes Fairview. Most importantly, he has been honest, truthful, and integral, and does not deserve this atrocious campaign that has been launched against him. It is a campaign based on distorted and misleading information. I have voted for Paul in this election, and I encourage all eligible voters to do the same. I highly recommend that his opponent, Barry McGoey, spend a few years working with Paul to explore his own vision of what he proposes to do if he were Town Supervisor, so that he can experience the obstacles and challenges to implementing major changes.
Respectfully yours,
Hon. Judith A. Beville
Greenburgh Town Clerk, 2008-2023
Judith, thank you for your well-written letter and for sharing both the facts and your personal experience. It’s also important to remember that the Greenburgh Town Board consists of five voting members—one Town Supervisor and four Town Council members. The Supervisor has only one vote, just like every other Board member, and cannot unilaterally enact changes or pass measures without the support of a majority of the Board.
Judith,
Thank you for this clarity. I support Paul and will do my work to continue the work for Racial equity and human rights for Greenburgh. That hope won’t have a moments chances if Paul does not remain. This change would be dangerous and would consolidate the town board in a direction that we do not want.
There is no indication that Barry has invested any time in thought and learning about human rights…or.. His own gender unearned privilege. I’m rolling my eyes. If he did such an investigation, he would show up differently on the campaign trail and if he did this work, we would all know it. we would back him. We would organize with him, and there would be no question about a new direction and election, but there isn’t any evidence and there isn’t any hope that we will see greater human rights or equity in the Township of Greenburgh with Barry as Supervisor