NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Iona College has announced that New Rochelle City Clerk Bennie Giles will present its annual Constitution Day Lecture on Thursday, September 18th.
Mr. Giles topic will be “Civic Engagement, Community, and Democracy”.
It would be hard to imagine a worse choice by Iona College than Bennie Giles as a Constitution Day lecturer.
Bennie Giles is, far and away, the biggest threat to Democracy in the New Rochelle municipal government. The idea that Iona College would honor him by naming him as any sort of Lecturer at the school, let alone to honor him with selection as the their Constitution Day Lecturer, is disturbing.
No municipal employee in New Rochelle has done more to undermine the Constitution than Bennie Giles — not even close.
As someone who has done a great deal to protect and defend the rights of citizens under our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and been recognized for that many times, and been a DESERVED lecturer on Constitution Day at many prestigious venues including the National Archives in Washington, DC, the home of the Constitution, I find it sickening that Iona College would ask Bennie Giles to speak and disappointing that he would accept given his very clear track record of interfering with the public’s right to know, blocking access to public records and his flagrant disregard for the New York State Freedom of Information Law, New York State Open Meeting Law.
It can only be hoped that Mr. Giles will reconsider speaking at this event and leave it to some other speaker, a person who actually gives a damn about the Constitution, to speak at this event.
Giles has been instrumental in the cover up of reports on toxic dumping in Long Island Sound, financial and hiring improprieties and much more. He has routinely held up public records requests by citizens for months and even years, often denying the very existence of records later shown to exist.
Below follows just a few examples of the utter contempt New Rochelle City Clerk Bennie Giles has shown over the years towards the Constitution:
New Rochelle City Clerk Bennie Giles Failure to Follow Freedom of Information Law
I have gotten a series of confusing, contradictory replies — some via emails, some in person and none resulting in my getting these records. What I do not seem to ever get is what is called for in the law — a confirmation of receipt of my request and a decision whether to grant or deny my request BASED ON THE LAW.
Mr. Giles has offered up all manner of excuses none of which justify his failing to make available these records…This entire FOIL process has turned into a sick joke. Meanwhile, Mr. Giles is sending emails providing me assurances about the City’s commitment to transparency
Why is City of New Rochelle Stonewalling on Army Corps of Engineers Report?
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the residents of New Rochelle have been lied to by their local government regarding a serious matter involving significant risk to human life not to mention negative consequences for property owners in and around Echo Bay (Sutton Manor, Premium Point, Davenport Neck and the Mill Pond area of Larchmont) and taxpayers who were quite nearly put on the hook for millions (if not tens of millions) in environmental clean up costs.
Likely implicated in what amounts of a conspiracy is senior officials from the New Rochelle Development Department, the City Manager and the Mayor of New Rochelle, and possibly more.
Below is my most recent email exchange with the City of New Rochelle regarding their six month-long failure to comply with the New York State Freedom of Information Law and the withholding of records related to the Army Corps of Engineers Report on a proposed (and rejected) aquatic restoration effort at Echo Bay. This study was requested by Rep. Nita Lowey and undertaken in 2005. The final report was issued in March 2006. The corps found large amounts of Mercury, Lead and Barium in the soil in and around Echo Bay along with other toxic metals and oil. To the best of our knowledge, this report was never made public, discussed at a City Council meeting, made available to ALL members of City Council, not included in the Forest City DEIS or FEIS and withheld from the current City Council members prior to voting on the proposed Land Disposition Agreement. Fortunately that agreement was rejected by City Council last month.
There can be no other conclusion but that City officials buried this report and are now engaged in a coverup.
How Come No One in New Rochelle Knows Nuthin’ About Army Corps of Engineers Study of Echo Bay?
The City of New Rochelle claims to have no knowledge whatsoever of the study or subsequent reports.
I submitted multiple Freedom of Information request to the City Clerk, the public records officer for New Rochelle. The Clerk claimed there were no records whatsoever referencing the reports or the study.
To date, the City has not provided a SINGLE document under my FOIL request, initiated in July. Further, the City Clerk has repeatedly put forward demonstrably false claims in an attempt to convey the idea that the City has no knowledge of any studies or reports related to the Army Corps of Engineers study from 2005-2006. You have put forward a statement intended (in my view) to convey that a reason the City has no record of or no knowledge of the reports is that there was a flood in City Hall even though, according to the Corps, the report was delivered on a CD.
Subsequent to these many false and misleading claims, I was able to get the Corps on record stating that their report was delivered to the Development Department on or around March 2006 on a compact disc.
The following is a part of what I was put through by New Rochelle City Clerk Bennie Giles in obtaining what turned out to be 3 pages of records from the Parks & Recreation Department. I believe it provides a good example of why it should be required of anyone working in the City Clerk’s office including the Clerk themselves. It is clear that Giles does not understand the Freedom of Information Law. The law is too important to be in the hands of someone who does not understand it so this needs to be fixed. Going forward, the City Council ought to make it a requirement that the City Clerk have a demonstrated understanding of the New York State Freedom of Information Law and the New York State Open Meeting Law.
It is a sad day when an up-and-coming college like Iona chooses to honor a person who is the very antithesis or what they intend to honor.