Dorothy Finger Explains Her Resignation from the BAR

This letter was sent to the Mayor and the Board of Trustees by Dorothy Finger, a former member of the Board of Assessment Review.
DOROTHY M. FINGER
27 Sheldrake Road
Scarsdale, NY 10583

July 20, 2016

Dear Mayor Mark and The Board of Trustees of the Village of Scarsdale,

It is with great sadness that I hereby tender my resignation from the Board of Assessment Review. Although I am personally and professionally qualified and believe I made a significant contribution to that board, the events of the last several months, precipitated by the unprofessional conduct of Robert Berg who also sits on the Board and who should also resign, have forced the Mayor into the position of requesting first my recusal from this year's deliberations and now that a replacement has been found, my resignation. I chose not to answer the various critics before this time because I did not want to embarrass others. However, now that ilie matter is being formally resolved I believe it is important to do so

I have lived in Scarsdale for 47 years (one could say my entire adult life) and I have loved Scarsdale all of that time. I raised three children here and they have all chosen to make their homes here. I have six grandchildren in the Scarsdale school system. I guess I am lucky. I have enjoyed my service on many boards and councils, as Chairman at one time of the Scarsdale Democratic 'Committee, and as Trustee myself. Many of my fellow Trustees have since moved from Scarsdale but while I have dedicated myself in recent years to other causes, I have continued to give of my time to continue to serve the community, most recently on the Board of Assessment Review.

With all of that in mind, I need first to reflect on a few broader issues. The Non-Partisan System has, in general, worked well even though I admittedly criticized various aspects over the years and recall that I was in the forefront of a movement to admit women into the Town Club, the repository of the system. I have known most of the "players" in Scarsdale over the years until recently as younger people moved into the community and I became more of a "grandma" and less active in community affairs. I have known Bob Harrison for 40 years, give or take, and never publicly criticized him even though I offered him advice privately and certainly had many opportunities to offer public statements about his conduct. I mention this so that whatever I say here is not misconstrued with regard to Bob Harrison or Bob Berg whom I only met last year while serving on the BAR. I have no personal animosity but with regard to the present issues they have overstepped many lines.

Thus, it is with some historical and personal perspective that I am qualified to comment on recent events and conduct. It is important to discuss the "reval" and the second "reval" in connection with the issue of my resignation. I obviously had nothing to do with either "reval" and last year's Board of Assessment Review process seemed to proceed in an orderly and fair manner. There were times when it was difficult to get a quorum then because members planned vacations and did not attend every meeting. That was the case again this year when Mr. Berg was on vacation, a fact which escaped mention during his recent public comments about scheduling meetings during which I understand I was disparaged. Similarly, there were other Board Members with scheduling issues. The implication that the only reason a recent meeting was rescheduled was my recusal is simply untrue as it was scheduled after my recusal and it was never anticipated that I would attend. Other Board Members, such as Bob Berg were unavailable and that is why there was no quorum. As long as I am resigning the record should be set straight. I would suggest that. in the. future members do not schedule vacations during the period that they will be needed to review grievances.

While I was serving last year, there was a second "reval" being done the results of which came out in time for this year's grievances to be filed. (Meanwhile, Bob Berg has continued his public attacks on the second reval and on me despite never even contacting me to discuss the matter.) I believe that he is entitled to his opinions on this matter but he should not then sit on the BAR which is sitting in judgment on those very cases assessed by the method he has repeatedly impugned. He has an obvious and blatant bias about the whole process and cannot look at individual cases on their merits. In fact, the presumption that BAR members are suppose4 to be guided by is that the assessment is valid until a grievance has been filed in an individual case and a determination made on the appropriate evidence. While we all harbor personal views, Bob Berg's views demonstrate the antithesis of what his perspective should be as a member of the BAR. Admittedly the job of the BAR is more difficult this year given all of the various reviews of the "revaluation" and the analysis by some very bright individuals in the community. However, a BAR member should not be prejudging based on his or her view of the matter which is clearly what has happened.

I harbored no such predisposition about the reval but just as Grievance Day was about to begin the Mayor and Village attorney asked me to recuse myself from this year's proceedings. I believe that this was a result of the pressure being brought by Bob Berg and Bob Harrison. I agreed to do so even though I did not believe it was necessary or required. There was no reason to question my judgment and I had made no comments about the "revaluation" either way. I was impartial. However, since I was asked I agreed to as they asked. I did think they should have asked the same of Bob Berg but as far as I know they did not. When thereafter the BAR did not have a quorum due to Bob Berg's vacation and/or other personal commitments, I was unavailable to serve as I could not undo the recusal which had been requested of me. It was suggested that I "unrecuse" myself so that I could appear and there could be a quorum but not vote on the cases. This was simply untenable if not impossible and would only lead to more confusion and issues. Nonetheless I have observed that Bob Harrison has seen fit to publicly criticize me evidently without knowing the facts and without so much as calling me to ask. A simple phone call after 40 years would have certainly provided him sufficient information to assess the situation accurately. I leave it to others to determine his motivations. The same is true of Bob Berg whose vacation plans were just as responsible for the lack of a quorum.

While I certainly regret the inconvenience caused to residents by these events, I understand that there was nobody to fill my seat on the Board of Assessment Review until now. I suppose it should not be a surprise that no prior member of the Board of Assessment Review was interested in being reappointed, given the tenor of the events and the recent public meetings. In my many years in Scarsdale I have seen most people conduct themselves in a direct yet polite and respectful manner, understanding that we all want what is best for Scarsdale. It is with disappointment that I see recent events and conduct to be substantially less civil at best and with little regard for the consequences or impact on our volunteers who have always been the backbone of Scarsdale. Volunteerism in Scarsdale has been a hallmark of our community but I cannot help but wonder if we continue to treat our neighbors in this way whether we will be able to rely on that spirit in the future. I also must comment that I am most disturbed by our present tendency to respond to those who "scream the loudest" rather than on substance which, I submit, may have changed the entire course of these events.

Respectfully submitted,
Dorothy M. Finger