Letters to the Editor August 1, 2025

Writer: ‘Wheel of change turns by the will of the people’

To the Editor:

There are seasons in the life of a town when inaction becomes complicity, when silence serves only those who mismanage and obscure. Pound Ridge now finds itself in such a season. And let it be said with clarity and without hesitation: the time for comfortable acceptance has passed. The time for change is now.

We are not a people content to be governed in darkness, nor shall we be lulled by polished words and half-kept promises. When financial records vanish, when projects stall for years while money flows without account, and when our seniors are made to wait while vanity projects proceed — this is not the conduct of a government fit to lead.

Some will say, “Things are not so bad,” and ask us to wait. But those who suffer the consequences of mismanagement do not live in delay — they live in rising taxes, closed services, and shuttered transparency. What is government, if not a steward of the people’s trust? And when that trust is squandered, it is not only our right — it is our duty — to seek new hands to carry the torch.

Let no one say this call is partisan. It is not loyalty to a party that compels action, but loyalty to truth, to transparency, to fairness, and to Pound Ridge itself. We must, with conviction and without apology, declare this Nov. 4 a day of reckoning, and let our votes speak plainly: we demand better.

The wheel of change turns by the will of the people. Let it turn now, before it is rusted by neglect.

Michele Braun

Pound Ridge

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Pound Ridge mom grateful to day camp staffers, organizers

To the Editor:

I just wanted to extend the biggest of thanks to Jeff Nurenberg, Lena Nurenberg, Jackie Grasso and everyone else involved in running the incredible Pound Ridge Day Camp. Daily, my girls come home buzzing about the fun and exciting things that happened at camp: field trips! Bike day! Animal visitors! They climb into the car after pickup happy, slightly exhausted (yay, early bedtime!), a little bit messy and sometimes even with leaves and sticks in their hair … frankly, just as they should after a day with friends outdoors and unplugged. 

I can only imagine how much care, attention, organization, communication, teamwork and, quite frankly, love, goes into running such an incredible effort, and I really want to commend everyone involved. Jeff, Lena, Jackie, all of the incredible staff and counselors, and of course, the Rec. Department — I see you all, and I thank you all! Thank you for making my girls’ summers so consistently awesome. 

Kate Jordan Chanpong 

Pound Ridge

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Pound Ridge ‘spends freely on lawyers, but not on accountability’

To the Editor:

At the July 15 Town Board meeting, Supervisor Kevin Hansan proudly announced that “we’re pleased to share that the lawsuit brought against the Town and Town Board by resident John Nathan has been resolved in our favor.” He followed that with a startling detail: the Town spent $49,075 in legal fees defending itself.

While Hansan spun this as a “positive outcome,” taxpayers should ask, what exactly is positive about burning nearly $50,000 on legal defense rather than addressing the root cause of the dispute? Moreover, those costs will mount further because the plaintiff is appealing, and the town will need to defend against that appeal.

It doesn’t end there. Besides the $49,000 spent defending the Nathan suit, the town is also incurring additional legal fees to intervene in the water project case against the state. That intervention was entirely unnecessary, the state is defending itself and the fees are mounting.

Let’s be clear: the combined legal costs of these two cases will likely rival what it would cost to buy the senior bus outright, without the need for any grant funding. And if Nathan appeals, as he stated he intends to, even more legal fees will be spent on opposing the appeal.

Meanwhile, for five years in a row, this administration has failed to file annual financial statements on time. It has not disclosed a financial summary for the Transportation Enhancement Project completed about four years ago. And it has not accounted for the costs or tax losses associated with the misguided purchase of 7 Old Pound Road, a parcel now deemed unfit for the wastewater project it was bought for.

Pound Ridge residents deserve transparency and leadership, not just legal bills and political spin.

Richard Schlesinger

Pound Ridge