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Ramapo Supervisor Returns to Town Hall Amid Protests and a Tightening of the Political Screws

Posted on 19 April 2016 by Editor

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence returned to work Friday, trailed by a News 12 Hudson Valley camera crew and many, many questions.

In fact, St. Lawrence’s sunrise Thursday, April 14 arrest set into motion a whole series of actions and events around Rockland County and beyond, from calls for St. Lawrence to step down to New York’s political class moving in to scrutinize Ramapo’s municipal machinations and the town accounting repercussions on taxpayers.

(Chris St. Lawrence exits the White Plains courthouse late Thursday afternoon, April 14, and enters a white sporty Hummer with not a lot to say. Video by Mike Donofrio, LoHud News.)

Since the Thursday afternoon press conference by US Attorney Preet Brahara and Rockland County DA Thomas Zugibe that elaborated on some 22 charges of federal securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges, St. Lawrence has faced censure near and far, from the streets of Ramapo to the court houses of Manhattan and halls of Albany. 

The after effects of the securities fraud allegations have echoed through New York media and government, tagging Ramapo as the epicenter of a public and municipal financing scandal.

Public money through taxes and fees have financed all sorts of Ramapo and Rockland services and improvements, from parks and common properties to law enforcement, sewage, public works, recreation. As Ramapo Supervisor St. Lawrence has had a hand in steering spending and policy since 2000 of essential Rockland and Ramapo services and authorities. The calls for the supervisor to separate from important leadership positions has been clear.

Tuesday saw St. Lawrence resign his chairmanships of the Rockland Solid Waste Authority and Rockland Sewer District while still retaining his memberships. Town supervisors and village mayors all have seats on the Waste Authority and Sewer District, and are responsible for naming members and electing the chair.

St. Lawrence’s alleged cost shifting via a municipal bond and Ramapo general fund scheme has inflamed the public’s perception that public monies continue to be misused as patronage. Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann, who also sits on the Waste Authority and Sewer District, has called for a forensic audit of the Rockland County Sewer District #1.

Agitated tax-paying people eventually bear the burden of public corruption in increased costs of living that impact household budgets and a community’s bottom line. Taxes increase though rarely go back down while the municipal machine is ever hungry.

 

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