It was not so long ago that the Rye City Council had Rye PD cars drive around the city Friday nights before a council meeting with relevant meeting papers.
Now, Rye Mayor Doug French has taken to YouTube. The Mayor's updates – which we usually run here at MyRye.com under a heading "Speaking French" are now available in video format. Well, at least one is. Provided the mayor keeps this up, we'll carry them here on MyRye.com for your viewing and commenting pleasure.
A Heal The Harbor.com Response to Mayor French’s last update “Moving On.”
Mayor French States –
“Once again the Council heard complaints by a Purchase resident about conditions on Hen Island which is off the coast of Greenhaven. The Westchester County Health Department regularly tests the Long Island Sound in and around Hen Island and those tests continue to show that water quality meets the County’s health standards and there are no violations of any regulations.”
http://vimeo.com/31183663
“The County and the Courts have ruled that no action is required with respect to mosquito control. And
finally, the seasonal cottages on Hen Island are not considered permanent dwellings under the New York State Building Code, and are therefore compliant with potable water requirements.”
http://vimeo.com/25489439
“However, the Purchase resident continues his assault on the Rye community in hopes of developing the island. He has tried to embarrass some members of the City Council to include Richard, Peter, Suzanna, Paula, Catherine and me – by publishing and displaying rude, mocked-up photos. While that is
his right, Rye’s children find it most troubling as they try to reconcile such behavior. He has tried to intimidate my family and neighbors by towing and leaving his distastefully decorated van in front of my home at all hours of the day and night. He has shown great disrespect to our community, businesses and institutions as his van and crude costumed character parade in our downtown, in front of our historical society and at City Hall. And as he has in the past, he continues to try to make his case personal against Rye’s Mayor whoever is serving – this time broadly distributing communication defaming my wife and me with false claims in order to advance his own personal case. This Council is about representing Rye and will continue to do its work to address the issues that are important to you, the residents of Rye.”
Heal The Harbor.com replies:
Mayor French refuses to place a name in this update because he has been advised by council that he would be sued for libel because he cannot back up his above statements with facts. We on the other hand have no problem using HIS name in our reports – because we based our investigation here on PUBLIC RECORDS.
Mayor French also strangely represents himself as a ‘voice of the people of Rye,’ when in fact we have received many many calls from Rye City residents urging us to continue publicizing the Mayor’s personal illegal actions. In actuality it is Mayor French himself that makes this issue personal. Our efforts have only been to expose Rye City council persons and a Mayor that have failed to protect the health and safety of Rye residents by consciously not enforcing Rye’s laws and codes. We have done this thru the use of satire, satire that does in fact point out elected officials’ shortcomings.
Mayor French is using his position as Mayor, with its natural access to the media, to incite residents to act out against our clean-up efforts. Additionally, we believe that he has directed the Rye City police not to arrest people that were caught red handed vandalizing our protest vehicle because this particular vandal just happened to be one of the Mayor’s neighbors on Meadow place (should anyone be interested we would be happy to supply the photographs and the related official police report).
Our recent investigation and press release has pointed out the Mayor’s shortcomings as an honest, law abiding citizen of the City of Rye. Its findings are based on PUBLIC RECORDS and they clearly indicate that Mayor French has cheated the Rye City treasury out of thousands of dollars in required permitting fees and building fees – as well as the additional “improved property” related property taxes he would have had to pay the City of Rye over the last TWO DECADES. That’s quite simply, disgusting.
The Mayor’s youtube videos seem to be an attempt to increase transparency between the City and the public. It will be interesting to see if this continues. “We’ll carry them here for your viewing and commenting pleasure”- Thanks Jay.
Here is another video on You Tube brought to you by Mayor Doug French.
http://healtheharbor.com/video/HenIslandMosquitoInfestations.html
You really need a life Ray. Cant you harass your own town? I heard there was a septic leak at Manhattanville College. Go get them!