ISLANDIA, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Have a complaint about potholes or trash? Take it up at village hall. Just don鈥檛 email. Or call.
A village in the New York City suburbs is no longer allowing people to make complaints electronically after town officials say they鈥檝e been besieged by online grievances that have turned out to be unfounded.
Islandia on Long Island now requires complaints be submitted in-person at the village’s government offices.
The policy, which was adopted last month, even prevents residents from using its online portal for complaints, though a village spokesperson it will also accept complaints sent via certified or registered mail.
Mayor Allan Dorman has said the policy was necessary after the village, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Manhattan, was inundated by complaints by email and through its online portal.
He and other village officials say they鈥檝e tried to block problem accounts and even tried to launch a new online complaint portal but continued to get spammed by anonymous users.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just harassment,鈥� Dorman complained at an Oct. 21 meeting in which the policy was adopted by the village board of trustees, 草莓传媒day reported. 鈥淓very time you check out the complaint, it doesn鈥檛 pan out. So, you鈥檙e just wasting the resources in the village office (and) taking people away from their jobs.鈥�
Village spokesperson John Zaher said Friday that the 鈥渙rchestrated campaign鈥� of hundreds of 鈥渂ogus complaints鈥� from anonymous email addresses began in January.
鈥淲e believe the spam emails are from one or two individuals who have an axe to grind with the Village,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淭his 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.鈥�
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 草莓传媒day.
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