RGC Commission Votes Down Mayor’s Proposal; Voting Open for New Members

In its first election since the Yandrasevich staffing agency scandal broke last October, the Rye Golf Club Commission has seven candidates vying for three seats.

All promise to reflect the voice of the membership and prevent any chance of further corruption. Members can vote today until Sept. 8 online or in the membership office. Members should receive an email with online voting information, according to candidate Leon Sculti.

Sculti is one of the seven running for three available seats. Angela Sposato is running for her own seat because she was not officially elected last year, but was appointed to fill John Duffy’s seat when he stepped up to serve as Chair after Rich Verille stepped down. Duffy’s term is up and he is running again this year as well. Commission member Frank Adimari is not seeking re-election so his seat is also open. 

The other candidates are Akhil Kumar, Barry McGowan, Bob Dimaggio, Leon Sculti, who can be credited with bringing the Rye Golf Club staffing scandal to light, and Mack Cunningham, a former City Council member who has been vocal about problems at RGC. Read their statements here. 

Currently, the Commission consists of nine members with one non-voting city council liaison.

The candidates and current Commission members were unanimously against the mayor's proposal to change the Commission's membership by adding three mayor appointed, council approved members -  one a city council liaison, one from the club's finance advisory committee and one additional appointment, in addition to the nine member elected members, according to Sculti’s LausDeo10580.com blog.

He writes:

"Many commissioners had a laundry list of gripes with the lengthy document but found that clause most offensive, interpreting the power grab as a the mayor's way of scape-goating the commission as being responsible for the fraud committed by City of Rye employees at RGC.

Before the commission meeting, the mayor's plan was universally rebuked by candidates running for three open seats on the commission, as well (which includes your humblest correspondent). The common theme among candidates and commissioners was that more time was needed to review such a comprehensive overhaul of governance, and that the outgoing disgraced mayor–who refuses to run for re-election–was not the man for the job.”

Over the last few months, the Commission and City Council have held workshops on how to run the club and on how much authority the Commission should have. Here are the Commission's proposed changes submitted in June.