Residents in a New York suburb seeking to report issues like potholes or trash will now have to do so in person, as a local village is no longer allowing electronic complaints. Islandia, on Long Island, has ceased allowing grievances via email or its online portal, requiring submissions to be made directly at the village’s government offices.
The policy, adopted last month, comes after officials claimed they were besieged by online grievances that have turned out to be unfounded. While the online portal is no longer an option, a village spokesperson informed Newsday that complaints sent via certified or registered mail would also be accepted.
Mayor Allan Dorman stated the measure was necessary after the village, situated approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan, experienced an inundation of complaints through its digital channels.
He and other village officials say they’ve tried to block problem accounts and even tried to launch a new online complaint portal but continued to get spammed by anonymous users.
“It’s just harassment,” Dorman complained at an Oct. 21 meeting in which the policy was adopted by the village board of trustees, Newsday reported. “Every time you check out the complaint, it doesn’t pan out. So, you’re just wasting the resources in the village office (and) taking people away from their jobs.”
Village spokesperson John Zaher said Friday that the “orchestrated campaign” of hundreds of “bogus complaints” from anonymous email addresses began in January.
“We believe the spam emails are from one or two individuals who have an axe to grind with the Village,” he said in a statement. “This effort was designed to harass the Village Administration and its residents, requiring the use of government resources, including those of code enforcement and public safety in attempts to investigate these complaints.”
Zaher said the village is taking down the website complaint system. Residents who file a complaint in person do not have to provide contact information and will instead be given a control number to follow up on it anonymously.
Another Long Island community, Patchogue, also recently changed its policy to allow only in-person complaints or those submitted through registered or certified mail, according to Newsday.
