Mamaroneck Split Over Board Meeting Scheduled For September 11th

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- There's a controversy in one Westchester village recently over how to best honor the victims of 9/11.

Village officials are split on whether they should cancel their board meeting slated for Monday the 11th and reschedule it.

As CBS2's Jessica Borg reported, the events 16 years ago are still fresh in the minds of many in our area, including Carmela Kinally of the Village of Mamaroneck.

"We lost 13 friends and my husband was in the towers," she said.

Kinally's husband survived, but nearly 3,000 didn't. With the anniversary approaching, a controversy in the village is brewing over whether a regularly scheduled board meeting should take place.

Village Mayor Norman Rosenblum wants the board to push the meeting back a day or two, but the board has made it clear that it won't.

Rosenblum says he finds it "egregious and disrespectful."

"Their argument is it's a scheduled meeting and you don't change it," he said. "It's not a holiday. I agree it's not a holiday, it's a commemoration."

CBS2 spoke with board member Leon Potok on FaceTime.

"I think elected officials honor the memory of 9/11 by conducting the business of government and continuing carrying on," he said.

The Town of Mamaroneck is holding a ceremony on 9/11 at Memorial Park to honor the victims. The ceremony gets underway at 5 p.m., a half-hour before the board meeting is scheduled to start.

The mayor says he won't be attending the meeting.

It'll be open to the public at 7:30 p.m., but residents will have to miss it if they want to attend other ceremonies at that time in the area.

"As it's not a holiday, we should actually take time to salute the people that passed," Mamaroneck Fire Chief Tracey Schmaling said.

Residents are mixed about whether or not the meeting should be held.

"I think it would be insulting to many people," one woman said.

"They should move it," resident Bernie Wildenburg says, but he adds he wouldn't be offended if they don't.

The conflict on 9/11 has never come up before in the Village. One thing is for sure, the meeting has been on the books now for nine months.

Officials now have days to decide whether that'll change.