Chronicle editorial: The Gouveia Park Working Group's recommendations are premature on several fronts. (Updated February 5, 2024)

The recommendations, to be presented at tomorrow evening's Board of Trustees Work Session, put the cart before the horse and involve minimal true public input.

The Gouveia House/ Photo: Michael Balter

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Tomorrow evening, January 31, the Gouveia Park Working Group—which was appointed by the Board of Trustees last November—will present its recommendations to the Board at its Working Session. The recommendations are laid out in a memo prepared by the group’s Chair, Maria Slippen, and Vice Chair, Ken Sargeant, and addressed to village manager Bryan Healy. Presumably they will form the basis of the discussions at the upcoming meeting.

(Maria Slippen is also chair of Croton’s Recreation Advisory Committee, and Ken Sargeant is chair of the village’s Arts & Humanities Advisory Council.)

The memo states that the group met three times, twice at the municipal building and once at the Gouveia House in Gouveia Park. Over the past months, the Chronicle has reported on, and editorialized about, this ongoing process. We have emphasized that the Board has been in the unenviable position of trying to rectify what many Crotonites predicted would be a mistake when the Gouveia property was first purchased by the village a decade ago.

Nevertheless, we have applauded the efforts of those, including former board member Sherry Horowitz, who have worked hard to try to turn the park and the house into something beneficial for the people of Croton, including a center for the arts, music, and culture.

There are several major problems with the new recommendations, however. Let’s discuss a few.

— The Working Group has endorsed the longstanding desire by village leaders, and by the leadership of Croton’s Recreation & Parks department, to move that department’s offices into the Gouveia House. While there might be good arguments for doing this eventually, we have argued before that no such move should be made until the Working Group and the village come up with a detailed, architect-advised design for the entire house. Thus while the new recommendations suggest that the top floor of the house be reserved entirely for programming, and that whatever space is left over downstairs after the recreation department moves in could be used for “gallery-style exhibits,” any move of offices—not to mention an entire village department—into what is supposed to be a cultural center requires a coherent, holistic design for all the spaces. To do it any other way puts the cart before the horse and risks limiting the cultural space that might be available (the phenomenon of bureaucratic spread is well known, and we are not trying to be sarcastic in saying that.)

— The process so far has minimized public input into decisions that affect everyone in Croton, both in positive ways (the opportunity for more cultural space) and negative ways (the long-term expenses of running a park and a cultural center.) The Working Group is almost entirely made up of village staff, political appointees (that’s what members of Croton’s committees are, like it or not), and members of the Board. A notable exception, Sherry Horowitz—who has certainly earned a right to be in the group due to her long advocacy for Gouveia Park—is nevertheless a recent outgoing Board member.

We had earlier suggested that the village hold a series of open houses at the Gouveia House, for example over several weekends, so that any Crotonite who wanted to could tour the house, form their own ideas, and communicate them to the Board. It is not at all too late to do that, and there is no good reason not to do it.

— Finally, what is likely to be the most delicate of the recommendations, the proposal to rename the Gouveia House after former trustee Ann Gallelli needs discussion. But despite the delicacy, plain speaking is required. Notwithstanding the wide admiration that many in the village have for Gallelli, especially Croton Democrats, she has also over the years been a very divisive figure on many issues. While no one is happy that she is ill, the idea of naming the house after her could be seen as slap in the face to those Crotonites—and they are a significant number, despite the current Democratic Party monopoly on the Board of Trustees—who differ from her and current Board members politically. That is especially true in this case, because Gallelli’s role in the purchase of the Gouveia property has been a subject of controversy for many years, and continues to be so today. (It might also be prudent to wait for the project to show itself as a success if Gallelli is to be properly honored; that is not at all guaranteed at this early stage.)

To continue to speak plainly, no matter how much respect any of us might have for Ann Gallelli and her accomplishments and service to the village, we should be very careful about turning anyone into an icon for the purposes of providing political cover for decisions that might not be unanimously popular. We see a danger that could become the case here, and we strongly advise against it.

Update February 5, 2024: In response to some discussion of these issues that took place on the Croton Community Facebook group, working group co-chair Ken Sargeant commented that the decision to move the recreation department to the Gouveia House had already been made by village officials and that this matter was not within the remit of the group. I asked village manager Bryan Healy about this, because Ken’s statement seemed to contradict Healy’s description of the situation in the most recent edition of the village newsletter. Healy responded as follows:

“Yes, Ken is correct that the Village Board had unanimously decided to move forward with a plan to relocate the Recreation Dept. before the working group was constituted. I should have phrased my wording as ‘The working group has recommended a layout for the Recreation Department offices which are to be relocated from the Municipal Building to the Gouveia House.’ Thanks for pointing that out and I will note the correct phrasing in next month’s issue.”

As always, we invite comments, as long as they are respectful and do not involve personal attacks on anyone:

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