Mamaroneck REVIEW THE
March 24, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 12 | www.mamaroneckreview.com
Village manager, attorney candidates narrow By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
of the
Luck Irish
The sixth annual Sound Shore St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held on Sunday, March 19 on Mamaroneck Avenue. The event brought hundreds of onlookers out to the Sound Shore community. For more, see page 11. Photo/Charlie McLaughlin
Rye lawsuit over Playland thrown out by judge By JAMES PERO Staff Writer A lawsuit filed by the city of Rye seeking to overturn Westchester County’s authority over capital projects slated at Playland was thrown out by a state judge this week. The suit, filed by the city in
August 2016, sought to overturn the county’s status as lead agency under the State Environmental Quality Review Act, SEQR, which would have given Rye a greater say in the approval of millions of dollars in improvements slated to take place at the park this year. The historic amusement park is lo-
cated within the city. “We gave it our best shot, but we didn’t prevail,” said Rye Mayor Joe Sack, a Republican. “One thing that has not changed is that the residents of Rye bear 100 percent of the quality of life impacts at Playland.” Sack added that the city will not appeal the judge’s de-
cision due to cost and time constraints. While the city has consistently argued that projects at the park—which abuts Rye’s residential neighborhoods— should fall under the scrutiny of the City Council, a state judge PLAYLAND continued on page 7
As the search for a new village manager continues, a temporary replacement may come internally in order to keep the post operating on an interim basis, according to village of oMamaroneck officials. According to Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, in order to ensure a “smooth transition” with the village’s administrative helm—which will be vacated by current Village Manager Richard Slingerland on April 1—the role will be filled temporarily by someone “in house.” While Rosenlbum declined to say who exactly that replacement would be, the closest staffer in the administrative hierarchy would be Assistant Village Manager Dan Sarnoff. Slingerland is leaving Mamaroneck to accept a similar position with the village of Tarrytown. His resignation comes in the wake of an initiative by board Democrats to audit his performance in the role; a review process that has since been scrapped. According to Trustee Keith Waitt, a Democrat, the village received 27 applications for the village manager opening and has narrowed those options down to nine potential candidates. He said the Board of Trustees will conduct another round of inter-
views on March 24. Waitt acknowledged that until a final decision is made, current staff may be required to fill in the gaps in the village administration for the time being. Though the process of vetting a new village manager has moved forward mostly unabated, a concurrent search for a new village attorney, according to trustees on both sides of the political aisle, has riled some tensions on the board. Rosenblum, who said he “disagrees” with the process of seeking a new attorney to replace current Village Attorney Charles Goldberger, characterized the decision to seek an attorney and manager simultaneously as shortsighted. “I strongly felt this to be negative; the fact that we are taking the top administrator and legal advisors at the same time,” he said, “resulting in no transition whatsoever.” According to Waitt, Rosenblum has consistently advocated for keeping Goldberger—who has filled the role as village attorney since 2012— despite a push by board Democrats to shake the position up. Rosenblum said he plans to make a public statement regarding the process—which is currently being debated behind closed doors due to ongoing contract negotiations—at an SEARCH continued on page 9