Is Langley OUT OF CONTROL ?

The following is the most recent from the Times Union.   It appears that the  SWF is falling apart at the seams .

"Mary Ann Matters changed her mind. She was for the proposed East Greenbush casino — before she was against it.

That doesn't seem like such a big deal. The $300 million project, after all, was foisted on town officials without much warning. The deal sounded good to Matters at first, but the Town Board member later began to question the details.

Fair enough. Our opinions aren't set in stone, right? And many of us have mixed feelings on casinos.

But some in East Greenbush are acting as though Matters committed the betrayal of the century. She's being blasted — and threatened — in a blog created to criticize her. And she's being blackballed by the town's political establishment, she says.

"It's been really tough," Matters told me. "I've been completely ostracized. The supervisor doesn't speak to me, and I'm totally out of the loop on town business."

Ostensibly, Matters is part of a three-member Republican majority on the five-member board, along with Supervisor Keith Langley and Town Board member Deb DiMartino. But Matters no longer considers herself part of the group.

"I'm so opposed to the way this supervisor is conducting himself in the job that I've split from the majority," Matters said. "I see myself as the lone conservative on the board."

Her issue with Langley? Secrecy.

Hmm. There might be something to that.

You'll remember that East Greenbush officials — Matters included — sneakily voted to approve the casino without providing notice to residents, including those living near the proposed site on Thompson Hill Road.

It was a last-minute add to the meeting agenda, though Langley was aware of the project weeks earlier. (The board later held a public hearing and endorsed a site-specific casino proposal.)

Matters says the secrecy extends beyond casino wheeling and dealing. Langley, she claims, doesn't provide any information to anyone he considers a potential opponent.

"The supervisor has Town Hall locked down tight," Matters said. "Unless he wants people to have information, they're not going to have it."

I would love to have Langley's take on all this, but he didn't return my phone calls.

None of this is how town government is supposed to work. Votes shouldn't be taken without public notice — especially for something as momentous as a casino. Elected officials should have access to information they need."