Why is Cohn withholding from the public the taxpayer paid Rye Fire Department study while having a guy who may not have graduated from high school running the place?

Why not just hire Serrano’s wife. Doesn’t she do most of his work anyway?

Maybe Rye's outside counsel should be Roy Cohn. Any relation to you know who?

Nice investigative reporting Mr. Carroll. Thanks for shining some light onto the City of Rye's suppression of public records. Does Rye's Moving Rye Forward party (the Democrats) do anything to correct this or do they turn a blind eye? Tonight marks their 24th day in office. They have a legal obligation to respond tonight to the FOIL Appeal you mentioned. Let's see what they do. My guess? They will continue to illegally suppress these public records and disregard their legal obligations. Why? I believe to coverup possible illegality by City of Rye officials. .

divman: I think Mayor Cohn and his team are on to this possible scam. I believe Sack and company scammed thru the senior housing project on Theodore Fremd Avenue by saying if they didn't approve it a trucking company could go in there. NONSENSE! Did Sack or anyone on the city council have any connection to the developer or their representatives? This was followed by the developers of 120 Old Post Road coming to Sack and the city council alleging they couldn't fill their office space and wanted to put a hotel there. Of course this was met with community outrage so Sack and company then allowed a very large residential community to go there instead. HUGE project. Was bait and switch the plan all along? Was there really an issue of not being able to fill their office space? Even if there was an issue, why would the City of Rye in effect have to bail out the developer who I believe only paid approximately $1.5 million for the property and now stands to make many $$$ millions of dollars? Did Sack or anyone on city council have any connection to the developer or their representatives?

Serrano's motto seems to be: If you see something, say something. He will then ignore you and/or play(?) dumb. Perhaps he will have his wife, who is a clerk in Yorktown, write an official City of Rye response to you.

Perhaps Serrano has to check with his wife to see what to do. You see despite making $195,000 a year Serrano at times has his wife assist him in doing his job.

To me this sounds like outright thievery of taxpayer dollars. Is this even legal? Can attorney fees be retroactively given at all let alone one year later? Wilson wants her retainer to be retroactively dated January 1, 2017. Why? Is there something that needs to be covered up or concealed from the public that she didn't do that she was supposed to do under the existing retainer? What McCartney said was Wilson is on par with a first year associate. Sack said he wants to fire her but that it's complicated. I hope someone on the Rye City Council has the wherewithal to shoot down this proposal tomorrow night and then fire Wilson on January 1, 2018. After she is fired don't let Wilson leave Rye with all the Rye Golf Club investigative files, the Breen Report, Crown Castle records, the Rye PD ticket fixing investigative records, the Falk investigative records as well as any other records that she wants to keep to herself to perhaps protect herself and other city officials. Keep these records in Rye!!!!!

Mr. Carroll: FYI. The City of Rye has secreted the statement of final costs documents of all City of Rye building projects and are not providing them in response to a legitimate FOIL. Why? Will the new Rye City Council allow this to continue or will they demand these documents be released to the public?

We miss you Bob. We honor your service to our country. It was a privilege to know you.

Yes this project was late but it was still done about 5 years faster than the other Central Avenue Bridge, AKA the "Scott Pickup Bridge". The "Scott Pickup Bridge" is right next to the City of Rye public park that I believe Pickup tried to pave over.

Sara's interview was by far the best out of all the candidate interviews. We would be lucky to have her on the Rye City Council with her vast experience, willingness to serve and selflessness.

My county taxes and many others have gone up 25% since Astorino took office. Thanks to Joe Sack my 2017 Rye taxes went up 7% due to fiscal mismanagement and exorbitant legal fees. 7% increase while our roads are in horrible shape and our infrastructure is crumbling. Sack hired a $195,000 a year City Manager who apparently needs his wife's help just to write simple memorandums. Sack may have fired Pickup but he also hired him with much praise and fanfare when he did. Sack has concealed his Rye e-mails. Why? Sack is concealing the Breen Investigation Report that was paid for by taxpayers to explain to the public how, why and who stole and/or facilitated $5,000,000 from the RGC. Who is Sack protecting? Himself? Wasn't Sack the RGC liaison when $5,000,000 walked out the door? Isn't Rye under investigation for possible insurance fraud for one of their RGC insurance claims? Why won't Sack release the legal fees Rye's lawyers received from the settlement? It seems to me that Sack was less than truthful about the Thruway property fiasco and has perhaps cost our kids and taxpayers free use of the fields that Rye Country Day wanted to build there with their money, not ours. Why no public discussion or other city council input when Sack sent veto letter to Cuomo? Why did Sack drag his feet on a new master plan? Was it so developers could get the zoning changes, variances and other approvals they needed to make $$$$$$$ first?

Well said Ray. Thank you for such a great explanation.

I'm guessing Rye City Hall. Is Sack useing this heavy equipment to bury his City of Rye emails and the full Breen Report on the Rye Golf Club $5,000,000 scandal and now coverup?

Ted, You can now add that Joe Sack is also illegally withholding Kristen Wilson's 2016 City of Rye Conflict of Interest form that was mandated to be filed or to respond that Sack didn't require her to file the mandated form in 2016. . I believe Sack is refusing to release it because Wilson represented Lafferty in Rye Criminal Court in 2016 in addition to also working on the settlement with AIG. Gee, you think there may have been a conflict???? Why does Sack say he wants to get rid of Wilson but says it's complicated? Why did McCartney say Wilson is on par with a first year associate but doesn't move to fire her?

As far as the water emergency there seems to be some relief on the way. A simple communication to Suez water yielded the following: In September 2016 the levels were Greenwich system 33.3% & Stamford System 25.3% These are the two main reservoir systems that SUEZ receives water from. As of 3/20/17 the current reservoir levels are Greenwich System 85.4% (normal this time of year 100% full), Stamford System 75.9% (normal this time of year 95% full). According to Suez the outside watering restrictions (sprinklers) may soon be lifted.

tedc: How is it possible that none of these miscreants have been arrested? In reading your article it is my opinion that this may have been a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain insurance proceeds and there is now a full blown coverup being perpetrated by our elected officials. McCartney has said that Kristen Wilson is on par with a first year associate and Sack has said she has to go but it's complicated. So is it conceivable that she has knowledge of a possible conspiracy/fraud/coverup and this is what is keeping her employed and very handsomely rewarded?

tedc, Excellent investigative reporting. If you add in the $1,000,000 or so in legal fees that Joe Sack authorized in 2016 ($500,000 over budget) we should of had our taxes reduced in 2017. So what was the $1,000,000 in 2016 legal fees for? We may never know. Just like he is illegally concealing his City of Rye e-mails, Joe Sack is refusing to release the 2016 legal fees and invoices. Joe Sack is not running for reelection at the end of this year so I predict he will be on an all out corruption tour in the furtherance of rewarding his land use friends. It appears Laura (Deer in the headlights) Brett wants to be Rye's next Mayor. Sack placed her on the Planning Board the past few years to ensure his personal agenda is carried out and perhaps believing we would all forget Brett's role in the Rye Golf Club mass corruption and the subsequent concealing of public records. We haven't forgotten.

Ted, i find it amazing that Councilwoman Bucci says the only expenses the city council can control is retiree health care costs. She must be an idiot because she and the other members of the city council are throwing our tax dollars away with these tax settlements. What about the $1,000,000+ in legal fees in 2016 that was $500,000+ over budget? Waters Edge is getting a $275,000 refund and a $75,000 annual tax assessment decrease going forward. Why is Rye Corporation Counsel Kristen Wilson's former law firm Harris Beach the attorney of record on the settlement? Did Harris Beach and/or Wilson receive outside legal fees for this? Is there some kind of quid pro quo in place? Sack should stop conducting City of Rye business behind closed doors in executive session.

Dear tedc, Great analysis. This Rye City Council is useless and clueless. BTW I go to bed at night resting easy knowing that Councilwoman Epstein is taking such a strong stance on swastikas being painted on walls in Chicago or wherever. Im guessing it's probably to deflect from Rye's ongoing corruption and her ignoring it.

tedc, What are Joe Sack and Kristen Wilson hiding from the public? The contents of these e-mails must be pretty damaging for Sack and Wilson to pull this stunt in front of a Judge while in Westchester County Supreme Court. Perhaps these e-mails implicate Sack and others and that is why Sack and Wilson will not to even provide one e-mail. Sack said in July 2015that the City of Rye was looking for a new Corporation Counsel and an RFP would be done. Why hasn't that been done yet? It's been 1 1/2 years and no RFP. Is Sack keeping Wilson have something to do with Wilson protecting Sack from exposure to the contents of Sack's e-mails?

Why are there no budget workshops for the Corporation Counsel's office and for the Administrative Pay Group? Rye has already gone a least $500,000 over budget in legal fees in 2016 alone. Shouldn't the public know why, how and whether our taxpayer money is being properly spent? How much in "Outside" legal fees have gone to Corporation Counsel Kristen Wilson in 2016 in addition to her $100,000 retainer? Why is Sack withholding this information from the public? What are the proposed positions, salaries and benefits for the Administrative Pay Group employees in 2017? Sack cloaked the 2016 salaries, salary increases and bonuses in secrecy and appears he wants to do it again in 2017.

tedc, Laura Brett? Are we to believe Brett is some sort of stateswoman now that she served one corruption filled term on the Rye City Council? During Brett's term on the Rye City Council she allowed widespread, unchecked corruption to occur in City of Rye government. Laura Brett as a stateswoman? That is comical. Even more comical is the Rye Republican Party considering her for a run for mayor of Rye next year.