The Governor signed the two bills to update Village Incorporation law, with the proviso that chapter amendments would be made.
BAD NEWS
The chapter amendments (S8001 and S8007) contain language that is even more specific to exempt the current effort by Edgement, as well as any future efforts, through the year 2024 (twenty-forty). Stewart-Cousins also gave a financial gift to Edgemont: the required fiscal analysis is being funded by taxpayer dollars. In addition, this specific exemption was added to the Skoufis bill, which previously had not contained an exemption for the Edgemont effort. S8001 and S8007 were passed by the Senate and immediately forwarded to the assembly where, as of the writing of this update, they have not yet been voted upon.
Stewart-Cousins attended a work session of the Greenburgh Town Board on Jan 11. In her remarks she made it explicitly clear that Assemblymembers generally vote according to the wishes of the person representing the area involved. As the Edgemont section is represented by Amy Paulin (and the remainder of the Town by Mary Jane Shimsky) Paulin's support of the incorporation effort is expected to result in passage of the bills. There is no precedent for a Governor to veto chapter amendments negotiated as part of the initial approval process.
The Greenburgh Town Board on January 11 resolved to hire an attorney to litigate these egregious amendments. They have selected the Honorable O. Peter Sherwood who, in addition to serving as NYS Supreme Court Justice, has served as Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, where he was the City's chief legal officer, as Assistant Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., where he litigated precedent-setting civil rights cases, and as Solicitor General of the State of New York, overseeing appellate litigation on behalf of the State and State institutions.
The Town is also partnering with the Catskill Mountainkeepers, an environmental organization who opposes these amendments, to fight these bills.