For the better part of the commissioner’s two-plus years on the council, it has been difficult to characterize exactly what Mike Curry stands for. He campaigned on promises of transparency, and on zoning reforms that would make it easier for property owners to make improvements to their homes. When he was chairman of the zoning board he encouraged robust discussions from all sides of the room – and sometimes for hours at a time. This was the Mike Curry that our editorial board endorsed back in 2007. This was the Mike Curry for whom we had hopes of leadership.
Sadly, the Mike Curry who sits on the village council is almost unrecognizable.
Our motivation for singling out the commissioner in this editorial is not to administer any sort of tongue lashing or demand that he fall on the sword. Instead, this is a rallying cry. Mr. Curry, you need to show some leadership.
For roughly a year, the Department of Public Health and Safety has been in a state of such turmoil that Review readers have learned far more about property regulations than they probably care to know. We’ve seen two commissioners – Curry included – skirt the rules. One condo building had water pouring in from all sides and a restaurant owner turned his concrete fence into a fully-enclosed addition. And then there’s the hush-hush “resignation” of the department head whose silence was paid for.
Meanwhile, there have been no zoning reforms. Meanwhile, Curry has never once offered taxpayers some assurance that problems are being solved. Meanwhile, Curry has remained silent while others around him answer the questions he seemingly would rather ignore.
It isn’t that we expect the commissioner to take the blame for anything and everything that has happened in his department. Determining who screwed up and when is part of assessing and correcting mistakes, sure. But the damage to Curry’s reputation is self inflicted and it may be too late for him to try and explain himself. It’s a matter of trust, and he’s done little to earn it.
Now, though, taxpayers need to hear how the village is moving forward. Curry needs to show some of the candor that made him such an attractive zoning board chairman. The community needs to hear something both genuine and actionable from the man who asked to be a leader.
Paging Mike Curry.
