Westchester trustee accused of politicking for tax increase votes

By Jean Lotus Staff Reporter
Retired ER nurse Don Mitchell believed Westchester officials were not transparent about a tax increase referendum Nov. 8. (Chronicle Media)

Retired ER nurse Don Mitchell believed Westchester officials were not transparent about a tax increase referendum Nov. 8. (Chronicle Media)

Whether or not an elected official should openly campaign for a local referendum was questioned before the election by a Westchester resident, who filed a citizen complaint with the rarely convened Westchester Ethics Commission.

Retired ER nurse Don Mitchell, 64, said he observed and photographed a pile of signs promoting the referendum outside the doorway of a hot dog stand on Westchester Avenue owned by Trustee Frank Perry.

“Mr. Perry has long utilized his place of business, Joe’s Place, as a tool to promote his political agenda while identifying himself at that location as a Village Trustee,” Mitchell wrote in a complaint to the ethics commission. “[Perry] has campaigned openly to prospective voters to vote positively for this referendum.”

The commission, made up of three village commissioners, and moderated by village attorney Michael Durkin, met Oct. 29 to consider whether to proceed with Mitchell’s complaint.

Residents of Westchester will vote on whether to raise the limiting tax rate in the village by 0.23 percent, which would generate around $1 million in increased property taxes. The ballot language says the purpose of the tax increase would be “public safety, police, fire and other municipal purposes” but Village President Sam Pulia has said that the village wants to hire three police officers and three firefighter/paramedics and fund their pensions. The money is also proposed to staff a second ambulance.

According to the village, the cost of the tax hike would be around $65.31 per year for a house worth $100,000. The median house value in Westchester is $224,100, according to Zillow.com.

The signs Perry was allegedly distributing from his restaurant contain the slogan “Back the Badge” to urge voters to support the referendum.

This isn’t the first time Mitchell and Perry have clashed over property tax hikes.

Pro-referendum signs lie in a stack allegedly near the door of Joe’s Place, owned by Westchester Trustee Frank Perry. (Courtesy: Don Mitchell)

Pro-referendum signs lie in a stack allegedly near the door of Joe’s Place, owned by Westchester Trustee Frank Perry. (Courtesy: Don Mitchell)

The two had a run-in back in February when the issue of home rule for Westchester was on the March 15 ballot. Mitchell said he believed the village had snuck the item onto the ballot without proper publicity. He personally printed 100 signs urging locals to vote against home rule, which went out to friends and neighbors. Although home rule was eventually shot down by the voters of Westchester, things got tense before the election.

Perry and Mitchell got into an argument in front of Mitchell’s house, when Perry passed walking his dog, and Mitchell allegedly saw him staring at the “Vote No Home Rule” sign on Mitchell’s lawn, according to Mitchell.

The two became “engaged in a conversation regarding the political views of the Village of Westchester,” according to a police report. The argument escalated and Mitchell admits he called Perry a “scumbag politician” and a “crook” as well as using stronger epithets.

Perry called police and accused Mitchell of “chest thumping” him, which Mitchell denies. A 911 dispatcher asked if either party was drinking, according to a recording of the 911 call Mitchell obtained by Freedom of Information Act Request. Mitchell clarified that he himself had not been drinking and Perry told the operator he hadn’t either. The incident ended up with a local ordinance violation for assault charged against Mitchell, for which he paid a $250 fine in March.

“He attacked me,” said Perry when contacted by phone. “I told him I was an elected official and he attacked me with strong language. He was completely out of line. I think [the ethics complaint] is personal on his side.”

At the ethics commission hearing, Oct. 29, the board heard that village employees and officials were not allowed to politick during “compensated hours,” Durkin explained.

But Mitchell argued things were different for elected trustees.

“The public expects a village trustee to be a village trustee 24/7,” he said. “I know that you’re a trustee I your sleep because you probably stay awake at nights trying to figure out what to do about something.”

Westchester Trustee Frank Perry (Courtesy: Village of Westchester)

Westchester Trustee Frank Perry (Courtesy: Village of Westchester)

“It’s pretty plain that Mr. Perry is using his place of business to promote a referendum and utilizing his position as a village trustee to validate that this referendum was in the interests of the citizens of Westchester,” Mitchell continued.

Westchester trustees are considered part-time employees and earn $2,400 per year. Pay will more than double to $5,000 annually starting next April when the next village president, trustees and clerk are elected. Pulia has said he will not run for re-election.

But commission members did not agree that Perry was working on compensated time. The commission ruled “no probable cause” existed that Perry was distributing political materials under his capacity as a trustee or “under village control.”

Describing a tweak of the rules that’s unique to Westchester, ethics board Chair William Buikma also warned Mitchell that the commission could impose penalties on persons filing a meritless or frivolous complaint.

“Penalties can include incarceration up to 364 days,” Buikma said. “[Penalties] can also include monetary fines not to exceed $2,500.”

Those penalties seem extreme and aren’t in the state Ethics Act, said Maryam Judar of the Citizen Advocacy Council. She said state laws would supersede local ordinances since Westchester was not a home-rule municipality.

Mitchell said he still believed the village was not transparent enough on the future uses of the additional tax money. He pointed out the village had already hired three firefighters at their October meeting, before the citizens even got a chance to vote.

“At this point it’s not about Trustee Perry, it’s about the village not informing citizens what the referendum is really about,” Mitchell said.

Reached later, Perry insisted he was showing his support for the referendum as a “private citizen and business owner.”

“There’s strong support for this referendum,” Perry added. “It affects everyone from senior citizens to children,” he said.

As for the hearing, Perry called it “Ludicrous. It was a massive waste of money for our town. There was no reason for [the hearing] to even happen.”

As of press time, it’s unknown whether the referendum passed in Westchester.

 

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