St. Paul's

Mayor's Message on the St. Paul's Public Opinion Poll

Thank you to all the Garden City residents who came out for the St. Paul’s Public Opinion Poll on Saturday, October 21st. 4,339 residents participated, with 2,635 (61%) choosing Option 1 in support of continued efforts by the Board of Trustees to save part or all of the building, and 1,704 (39%) choosing demolition. Your voices have been heard! This was an important first step towards making a decision on the St. Paul’s Main Building, and there is much more work to be done. That work will include hiring experts to assist us in assessing community needs, evaluating the affordability of different options after uses have been determined, and assessing the value those options would provide to our community. These steps will take time, but we will apply the same rigor and momentum to the process that we applied to the implementation and execution of the Public Opinion Poll last weekend.

I would like to thank our Village Clerk, the election workers, and our police officers for all the work on this very long day with the polls being open for 13 hours. It was great to see so many residents participating, and the parking plan put together by Commissioner Jackson worked perfectly with no complaints of difficulty finding a parking spot. In spite of the large turnout, wait times were minimal during most of the day. I would also like to thank the Board of Trustees and our Village Staff for all the work that went into educating residents on this issue prior to the poll. A special thanks to Trustee Michael Sullivan for working with our paid consultants to present clear and accurate information on the preliminary cost estimates, and to our Village Clerk and communications consultant Carisa Giardino, who helped make sure this information went out to all residents so they could be informed. The Board of Trustees looks forward to presenting plans to preserve part or all of the St. Paul’s Main Building, supported by data. An engaged and supportive community is critical to successful execution.