To the Editor:

The Berne Town Board remains unchastened by its legal defeat in firing, without cause or required procedure, a planning board member to appoint a new chairman. Determined to proceed, with little public notice, the board has proposed expanding the size of the planning board from five to seven members.

The town’s website announces the proposed law and the time of the next meeting (by video) — this coming Wednesday, April 22, 2020 — but fails to provide any rationale for this maneuver.

But what is far more irksome is the fact that, while many if not most of the town’s residents are trying to figure out how to navigate their lives while not contracting COVID-19, the local government offers little help.

While the town’s website does provide links for information on the virus, unemployment, and small business assistance, there is not one shred of information or assistance offered by the town for the locals. 

Why isn’t the Berne Town Board concentrating on how to assist residents who find themselves without work and in need of assistance? What about sick and elderly locals who need help in getting food and supplies?

The town is certainly well aware that many people locally have poor or  no internet access — what is being done to assist them in getting information and helping students continue their studies?

Instead, the town board members persist in a mission that is far from urgent in a time of great urgency.

Helene G. Goldberger

Berne

Editor’s note: See related story.