I will be the first to admit that I do not enjoy constantly calling out our village board. It takes time and energy, and like most people I would much prefer to see the Village of Wappingers Falls running smoothly, transparently, and in full compliance with the rules.
But as residents and taxpayers, we cannot address problems we are kept from seeing. I speak out because our community deserves to understand the important local issues , and we cannot expect better unless we hold our board accountable to the facts.
Lately, the lack of open government in our village board has moved past simple oversight errors and turned into a serious pattern of mismanagement and secrecy. We need to look at four recent actions that show that the village board is trying to keep residents uninformed.
1. The Failed 2023 Audit Mandates and the Missed 10-Day Law
On June 5, the New York State Comptroller released a scathing Follow-Up Report regarding our village’s finances. The state’s conclusion was clear: out of 13 recommendations to fix the villages crumbling financial system in December 2023, the village board failed to implement 11 of them. For over two years, the corrective action plans to avoid a financial crisis were neglected.
Compounding this failure, the board completely bypassed any public acknowledgement or accountability for their failure. NY State mandates that the village publish a formal public notice within 10 days of receiving a state audit so residents know it is available for inspection. To date, it appears that no notice has been published, The board has remained completely silent on these 11 failed financial mandates and the follow up audit through two consecutive public meetings.
2. The Deletion of Public Financial Records
While remaining silent about their failing grade from the state, the administration quietly changed the village website. Immediately following the release of the new state report, all past municipal budgets, the original 2023 state audit response, and the Corrective Action Plan were completely removed from public view.
Removing public files right after a critical state review doesn’t make the financial mismanagement go away. It looks like a direct attempt to hide the paper trail from the taxpayers who fund this village.
3. Secretly Overhauling the Water Board
While staying completely silent on the failed state audit, the board redirected its energy toward an entirely different plan: a public hearing to completely disband our local water board and take over the utility.
The board held the public hearing while flatly refusing to provide the public with the text of the proposed law, and refusing to share any data or rationale behind why they feel this takeover is necessary. Holding a hearing while withholding the text of the law and refusing to explain why they want to remove water board oversight created a complete mockery of public participation.
4. Playing Scavenger Hunt with Public Notices
When the board posts mandatory meeting notices, the choice of locations makes a joke out of the phrase “public awareness.” Instead of utilizing easily accessible municipal spaces, their own public bulletin boards, or—most obviously—the village’s own official website, notices have been posted in a local deli, a gas station, and an auto repair shop.
When our village board buries legal notices in commercial storefronts instead of publishing them clearly online and in dedicated public areas, they aren’t trying to inform the public; they are trying to check a legal box while ensuring as few residents show up as possible.
Rather than answering for these failures, board members have chosen to target and attack the citizens who stand up and ask for transparency. When elected officials turn their anger on residents seeking honest answers rather than simply being accountable for their own administrative actions, it shows a profound disregard for public service.
The board frequently complains about community speculation and rumors on social media. But let’s be perfectly clear: the board cannot complain when citizens speculate, because the board’s own lack of transparency breeds that exact distrust.
True leadership requires the courage to be accountable, especially when things go wrong. Failing to implement state financial guidelines from 2023 is mismanagement. Scrubbing the website to cover it up is a serious breach of public trust. Hiding meeting notices and pushing through a water board overhaul without documentation is unacceptable.
I don’t point these things out to be divisive; I point them out because this is our home, and we fund this government. It is time for this administration to put the financial records back online, comply with NYS transparency rules, properly publicize meetings, and give us the real reason behind their plans for our water system.