Keeping Our Elected Officials Accountable

Keeping our elected officials accountable

• Can the Town Board make decisions behind closed doors?
• Do Board agendas have to identify what topics are being discussed in a closed session?
• Does the Board have to notify the public BEFORE it holds a special meeting?
• When you submit a FOIL (Freedom of Information Request), how long should you have to wait before receiving the document/s?
• What can you do if the Town says a document you want doesn’t exist — but you have reason to believe that it does?

The New York State Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law give us powerful tools to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions. But it’s up to us to see that our elected officials abide by the laws.   

When our elected officials make decisions behind closed doors that affect our lives, taxes and property values, all too often it’s because our silence lets it happen.

On Thursday, Feb. 28, learn about how both laws can foster a more accountable, open and transparent Yorktown town government from Robert Freeman, Executive Director of the New York State Committee on Open Government. Freeman has been advising citizens of their rights under the Open Meetings Law and the Freedom of Information Law for over 30 years.

The meeting begins at 7pm at the Mahopac Public Library, on Route 6 in Mahopac. (The library is on the left, just north of the intersection of Route 6 and 6N.)

Citizens for an Informed Yorktown is proud to be a co-sponsor of the meeting, along with Halston Media and other community groups in Yorktown, Somers, Mahopac and Carmel. For more information about Citizens for an Informed Yorktown, visit www.ciyinfo.org.