Why Was Sharon Lindsay Denied a Seat on the Planning Board?

The announcements of appointees to Village Boards and Councils on Tuesday night April 12th, omitted one important appointment. It had previously been announced that former Village Trustee Sharon Lindsay would be given a seat on the Planning Board. In fact, Lindsay, who was also a write-in candidate for Mayor in the last election applied for the spot and was told that her appointment to the Planning Board was approved by the entire Board and Mayor Carolyn Stevens in early March. However Tuesday night’s agenda did not include her name and the former Planning Board Chair, Beverly Sved, was asked to continue to serve until another person is nominated.

Below please find the story from Sharon Lindsay, with comments from former Mayors Carolyn Stevens, Peter Strauss and Beverly Sved:

Here is a note from Ms. Lindsay:

“I submitted my CV for consideration for the position opening on the Planning Board in late January. I have an extensive interest and background in the type of land use and zoning issues that Board deals with and, frankly, have always wanted to serve the Village in this capacity. I studied planning and land use at University level and, while at Harvard Law School, worked part time with the Harvard Land Use Task Force at the Graduate School of Architecture on a wetlands evaluation project in the southeastern Boston suburbs. In Scarsdale, I have served as a member of the Board of Appeals for 4 years and went on to Chair that Board for another 4 years. I then became a Village Trustee and was a member of its Land Use Committee for 4 years and its Chair for 3 of those. During my years as Trustee, I also served as Board liase to the Board of Architectural Review and the Board of Appeals for one year each, and the Planning Board for the last three years of my term. This past Fall, I participated in Pace Law School programs on land use planning.”

“I felt I was qualified to apply to serve on the Planning Board and was delighted to hear that my appointment had been agreed upon by the entire, then sitting, Village Board in early March. I subsequently attended Beverly Sved’s retirement dinner on March 16th, at which it was announced that Jane Veron had been nominated by the Board of Trustees to serve as Chair in the coming year and that I had been nominated to fill the position created by Beverly’s retirement.”

“Having served on the Board of Trustees for the past four years, I am well aware that the nominations to Village Boards and Councils that were approved by the then sitting Board are routinely and unanimously ratified at the first meeting of the new Board. Frankly, it would be impossible for the new Board to fill the extensive roster of appointments that must be made at their first meeting in the few days they would have since being sworn in – just as the Village Budget is adopted at that first meeting, in trust that the prior Board had done its homework.”

"So, suffice it to say that I was shocked and surprised when I heard that Mayor Flisser had made efforts in the past weeks to remove my name from the roster of candidates who had been previously approved by the Board, of which she was a member at the time, and substitute someone else … and then, presumably because that effort failed, just remove my name altogether and make no appointment until some later, undetermined, date… which was apparently what the Board voted to do last night."

"At no time, before or after the March 16th announcement, did any then sitting Trustee who approved my nomination – including Mayor Flisser – or either of the two new Trustees sitting on the new Board – discuss with me my qualifications or my nomination. Had they, I would have been happy to discuss any concerns with them. This absence of communication is particularly surprising, since I have had several conversations with Mayor Flisser and several of the Trustees in the past several weeks at various Village and social functions, all of which I thought were quite amiable and during which this subject never was raised. I certainly had no reason to bring it up since I was under the distinct impression that I had been duly discussed and vetted and would have my suggested appointment ratified."

"I have no idea what has gone on here.”

Former Mayor Carolyn Stevens was asked to comment as well, and here is what she said:

“The Personnel Committee met in February and in early March (before the Village election) with the entire Village Board present – including Dr. Flisser. A few candidates were considered and eventually the Village Board selected Ms. Lindsay to fill the vacancy on the Planning Board that would be left with Ms. Sved’s term ending and Ms. Veron was selected to serve as chair. Dr. Flisser told me and the trustees of her intention not to appoint Ms. Lindsay several days before she was sworn in and informed her and the others of her intention to name Dan Hochvert to the post, but he was not appointed either.”

“What is at the root of Dr. Flisser’s failure to appoint Ms. Lindsay? Ms. Lindsay is clearly qualified .The entire Village Board agreed and she and the Planning Board as well as staff had been notified as is custom so that there can be a smooth and easy transition. One can only speculate about the motives.”

Former Mayor Peter Strauss added the following:

“It is certainly unusual to have appointments vetted and tentatively approved by an outgoing Mayor and Board changed by the incoming officials. However, since it is the responsibility of the new Board finally to approve the appointments, that is where the final decisions are made.”

“To miss the opportunity to utilize in a very critical role the service of an extraordinarily qualified and talented person such as Sharon Lindsay would be a terrible loss for the Village.”

And last, here is input from another former Mayor Beverly Sved, who just completed her term as chair of the Planning Board:

“I'm disappointed the Mayor did not appoint Sharon. With her extensive land use experience, she is a natural choice and would be a valuable addition to the Planning Board. Any thoughts on Mayor Flisser's action -- or inaction -- would be speculation on my part.”

No one is certain why Lindsay was denied the spot. It could be that she was the unfortunate casualty of a contentious debate about development at the Five Corners during her last term as Village Trustee, or perhaps Mayor Flisser has personal reasons for denying her rival for Mayor a position in the Village Government.

Whatever the origins of the decision, it should be resolved when the Board of Trustees convenes a Personnel Committee Meeting on April 27th. More to come….