Ossining Mayor Responds to Former Trustee

I am writing to clarify and correct a number of misstatements that have been made on Patch about the resignation of former Village of Ossining Trustee Janis Castaldi:

I received an email from then Village of Ossining Trustee Janis Castaldi the evening of September 20, 2011.  I read it and responded at 11:00. The text of the e-mail indicated her desire to resign from the Village of Ossining Board of Trustees.   Since I was the only indicated recipient on the email, I communicated the information from the e-mail to the other Village Trustees and to the Village administrative staff the following day. I was subsequently informed by Village counsel that the Village Charter, which governs in these situations, indicates that any such resignation is to be tendered to and is subject to the acceptance by the Board.  

Ms. Castaldi clearly indicated her desire NOT to be contacted.  So I was hampered in my ability to inform her of the procedural requirements of our Charter. In an effort to respect her wishes, we asked a staff member with whom Ms. Castaldi was already communicating about other Village-related matters, to have her prepare a resignation letter in hard copy, directed to the entire Board, so that her resignation would comply with the requirements of the Village Charter for the Board to act upon.  Ms. Castaldi dated her letter September 22, 2011 to conform with its date of submission, and immediately upon receipt of same, a Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees was scheduled and held and her resignation as Village Trustee was accepted by the Board. 

These are the simple facts of the process by which Ms. Castaldi’s resignation was offered and accepted by the Board of Trustees in the Village of Ossining.  The information concerning the procedures for the appointment and election of her successor were researched following her resignation.  The initial question of when the newly appointed trustee would run for election was ultimately found to be a decision of the Board of Elections of Westchester County, and that decision was communicated by the Board of Elections to the Village of Ossining on September 26, 2011.    

William R. Hanauer, Mayor
Village of Ossining