We Critique The Paul’s Self Evaluation

Each year The Paul insists on his continuing campaign for reelection by trying to prove either how involved or instrumental he has been. We see it more as yearly intrusion of interference and illegal obstruction. In fact, if he just stepped aside and let his department heads run things, we would have a much more efficient and smoothly run Town.

Because he has not only posted this information on his blog, but he also sent a letter out to many people on the “Towns dime”, we found the need to comment almost mandatory. So, as part of our yearly wrap-up, here’s our take on how The Paul performed.

• TOWN COMPLIES WITH TAX CAP The town approved a budget that complies with the new tax cap approved by the NYS Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. A Citizens Budget Oversight Commission, consisting of about 25 dedicated volunteers, worked day, night, and weekends all year long helping the town identify ways to save money.

- Deflection at its best! While the governor did sign a 2% Tax Cap into law in NYS, all municipalities and taxing districts are easily finding ways around it through exemptions. Plus, the pension payment and salary increases were everyone’s biggest complaint. They are exempt. So, for all the ballyhoo made of staying within the 2% Cap, our taxes will be increased by about 3.5%. Not much compliance at the end of the day.

• FLOODING-REMOVING DEBRIS FROM RIVER. Greenburgh and the Village of Elmsford public works departments cleared debris from the Saw Mill River to reduce flooding problems in the future. United States Senator Chuck Schumer came to Greenburgh and endorsed our initiative to clear debris from the river. Our hazardous mitigation plan was approved by FEMA and the state - enabling the town to become eligible for flood mitigation efforts (elevating homes, buyouts, drainage enhancements). We hired a consultant to help us apply for grants. Other communities are following our lead and are also clearing debris from both the Saw Mill River & Bronx River.

- First, it was Elmsford Village Trustee William Zimkin who initiated and led the campaign for the Saw Mill River cleanup in the southern portion of Elmsford near the Babbitt Court area of the Town. Second, all The Paul offered was to tell residents and the media he would ask FEMA for buyouts. Third, it’s the other communities’ leadership offering solutions, not stale and unworkable ideas. Fourth, the Bronx River, and the Manhattan River on the opposite side of the Town have been ignored for cleanup. Why? Because they are in the Unincorporated Area of the Town, where The Paul typically chooses to ignore those residents. Fifth, the Town is surrounded on the west and east by two rivers; the two rivers are in the Unincorporated Town. All the building and over-development mostly takes place in the Unincorporated areas – under the (mis)guidance of The Paul and his Stepford Board, rubber-stamping every project presented to them. You can also read more about the Hazardous Mitigation plan, the company hired by the Town to supply it and their self-recommendation to be hired to seek grant money for the Town.

• CREWS CLEARING UP DEBRIS AFTER HURRICANE, STORM. After Hurricane Irene our town cleared significant debris from our roads. 6000 people were out of power. The Theodore Young Community Center’s first floor and gym flooded. In 2011 Senator Gillibrand helped the town secure over a million dollars in FEMA reimbursement for the 2010 storm - money we had hoped to receive but hadn't. We hope to get reimbursed for the 2011 storms. Our CERT volunteers volunteered their time during the storm and opened up emergency shelters for neighbors who needed a warm place to stay overnight.

- Under new Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi, the Town’s crews did an exemplary job cleaning up the Town after both storms. Left to his own devices, we believe Carosi will do an excellent job. Interference from The Paul will thwart that effort, as seen with The Paul’s cancelling of a recycling day for leaf pickup.

• ARTS BEING FUNDED PRIVATELY. The Lanza Foundation will be donating private dollars to pay for many town programs. The entire arts and culture budget in 2012 will be paid for by the Lanza Foundation. In the past the arts program was paid for by taxpayer dollars.

- We like the arts and support the arts. We like the Lanza Foundation’s help. What we don’t like is the fact that the Lanza Foundation fixes much of The Paul’s mismanagement by financing things his other bad economic decisions hurt, bailing him out whenever there is a financial shortfall.

• EQUAL RIGHTS. Greenburgh was one of the first localities in NYS to comply with the new state law providing same sex couples with the right to marry. Marriage ceremonies were held at Town Hall on the first day (a Sunday).

- Other than costing the Town money by opening on a scheduled closed day for publicity, this was nothing more than the masterful manipulation of The Paul’s media machine.

• 911 WALL RESTORED. We restored the 911 Memorial Wall on Central Ave. 1,711 tiles painted by individual artists from around the county are located on the wall. An artifact from the World Trade Center will soon be placed on the wall. The tiles that had been placed at the wall after 9/11 had fallen. The wall restoration was paid for by private donations.

- Shoddy workmanship aside, taking 45 minutes out of a Town Board meeting to recognize volunteers was nice, but a waste. In particular, recognizing the person who led the effort, while being paid (!), is an insult to those other people who donated their time.

• WESTHELP. Westchester ended the contract with WESTHELP, the homeless shelter that provided transitional services to 108 families, in September. The town had received $1.2 million a year from the contract (we’re the landlord). We are currently negotiating a lease with Ferncliff (an organization that provides housing and educational services to the developmentally disabled). It is anticipated that the town could receive close to a million dollars a year in revenue if the lease with Ferncliff falls into place. However- we probably won't receive the rent dollars until 2013.

- WestHelp’s location is a good one, on the Westchester Community College campus property. The $1.2 million dollars a year would have been a good thing if it had been done legally. Robert Bernstein and Herb Rosenberg sought relief for the Town against this illegal action and won! We so tire of hearing The Paul say if we don’t like something he does, sue him. Well done Robert and Herb.

• NEW BUSINESSES. During the past year we've attracted some new businesses to town. Among them: Blinds to Go, Bio Med, Acorda Therapeutics and new bio tech companies, Shoprite (Stop & Shop is under construction), Captain Lawrence, 5th Ave. Chocolatiere, a new green energy store on Central Ave. near the A & P, the Yoga Station, Cari Blue Cafe, Bosphorus Restaurant on E. Hartsdale Ave., Weight Watchers at Crossroads Shopping Center and much more! H Mart will be replacing Pathmark on Central Ave. and is expected to open in February.

- Wow – what chutzpah! It’s great to highlight the businesses that come to the Town, through the efforts of real estate agencies and their collective efforts, not The Pauls. Why doesn’t The Paul mention how many businesses LEFT the Town?

• NEW RENTALS. Avalon II on Taxter Road is building over 400 new apartments. They have already started renting their apartments.

- We discussed the flooding throughout the Town via over-development earlier. This simply reinforces our point. All the water that might have been absorbed into the ground will now become runoff into the Saw Mill River and the Rt 9A corridor.

• ENERGY CONSERVATION. We have a new website: www.renewgreenburgh.org, a one-stop resource for energy conservation tips and incentives to reduce home and business energy expenses. Country Club Ridge in Hartsdale is saving $200,000 a year in energy consumption.

- This is a private organizations website, making money off the Town. The Paul’s friends might have been tapped to update our Town’s extremely outdated and cumbersome website. But that wouldn’t have gotten The Paul anything. And, the Country Club has the resources most small businesses and homeowners do not. It’s an unfair example.

• VETERANS. Over 60 veterans of World War II have been interviewed for our living history project by Alan Hochberg (Steve Wittenberg has helped produce the shows). Their stories will be remembered for generations to come. The Greenburgh library is archiving the living history videos. We sponsored our 2nd annual veterans appreciation barbeque this summer.

- We have a problem with a convicted felon running anything for the Town.

• FISHER LANE BRIDGE. We re-opened the Fisher Lane Bridge which connects commuters to the North White Plains train station. Bridge was closed for many months and had to be replaced.

- If our infrastructure was maintained and not ignored, replacement may not have been necessary for many years to come. But spending money on dog parks, movie nights, parades, swat and technical rescue teams and other things don’t help us in the long run.

• NEW FARMER'S MARKET. After the A & P closed on Tarrytown Road we set up a new farmer's market at the location. The A & P building remains vacant.

- Former Town Councilwoman Sonya Brown was the only Board member who tried to address this with the community. The Paul is correct, the location is still vacant – no thanks to him. And, because it’s an extension of the Hartsdale Farm on Hartsdale Road, there isn’t that much food available, mostly plants, flowers and other non-essential items. It’s not their fault as the food service is not their market.

• PROPOSED NEW REZONE COULD CREATE 1,000 TEMPORARY JOBS. The owners of the Landmark at Eastview want to rezone their property for a hotel, stores, retail. 100 acres of vacant land. The proposed development, if approved, would create $2 million in taxes, 1000 new construction jobs and 250 permanent jobs. We are reviewing the application.

- More flooding. More traffic. No infrastructure improvement. See you at Babbitt Court after the next storm.

• SHARING SERVICES. The Town Assessor assesses properties in the six villages. The villages also have their own assessment unit. A number of the villages in Greenburgh decided to eliminate the duplication and to have the town assume the responsibility for this service.

- Again, others showed initiative and took action, not The Paul.

• LICENSE PLATE READERS. We secured from the District Attorney's office a license plate reader to help us reduce the possibility of burglaries from taking place. The readers are placed on major roads and provides the police with license plate numbers of cars driving on the road. The Town Board is supportive of a funding request for additional license plate readers that can be placed around town.

- We don’t have an opinion on this yet, but by his above statement, the license plate readers will not STOP robberies, only allow the tracking of cars AFTER the robbery. We’re leaning more toward Big Brother and Robocop rather than prevention and deterrence.

• FEDERAL LAWSUIT DISMISSED. A federal lawsuit by a former department head who lost his job was dismissed, shortly after a series of depositions.

- Finally, The Paul wins one! How much did we have to spend to fight this one?

• LOIS BRONZ CHILDREN’S CENTER WON’T CLOSE. The Lois Bronz Children's Center won't close. Early in the year there was a good possibility that the center would be forced to close. I participated in a campaign to keep this center open - one of the first child care centers in the county geared to low income families.

- A necessary organization that provides to those in need. We hope they teach self-reliance, not just dependence. For The Paul, it’s just a great way to get votes.

• STUDENT INTERNS-BERKELEY COLLEGE. Student interns from Berkeley College have helped the town collect back tickets and have helped the court increase revenue. Other student interns work in other departments. This initiative is being run out of the Citizens Budget Oversight Commission. The students are paid for by a federal grant and provide the town with 20 hours of free service a week.

- Part of the reason Regina Hill left the Court Clerk position was after asking for the Town to hire help, The Paul gave her interns. Internship should be about teaching young people or people new to a particular profession, not to augment a lack of hiring.

• FRANK'S NURSERY. The town acquired Frank's Nursery and we plan to generate revenue from the property. After we issued a request for proposals for plans for the property from the business community - we expressed interest in leasing the property to a sports facility (indoor sports/dome).

- While there is a fixed brick and mortar Sports business and building being constructed in Ardsley, The Paul took the first lousy offer made for the property. There had been talk about moving the Police department to that location which ABG believes would be a better one than the current location. The Paul’s mismanagement is exemplified by bad, knee-jerk decisions such as this!

• SNN. During the first six months of the year a new initiative was started: SNN-Student News Network. Students learned about journalism and produced their own show. Alan Brody, a resident of Edgemont, organized the initiative.

- Again, someone else took the initiative and implemented the program, not The Paul.

• TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE. President Obama and state officials announced that they will be expediting the construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge. I have proposed that the old bridge be saved and used as a suburban version of the NYC high line or walkway across the Hudson (Poughkeepsie). I also suggested that wind turbines and solar panels be placed on the bridge, an initiative previously proposed for bridges by NYC Mayor Bloomberg.

- If the bridge isn’t safe because it needs a never-ending, countless amount of maintenance, does The Paul just wave a magic maintenance-wand and everything is now okay for it to stay in place and be used for people? Hardly. He will probably offer to pay the maintenance expenses by the Unincorporated portion of the Town - his favorite dumping ground.

• VALHALLA LOSES LAWSUIT AGAINST TOWN. A Supreme Court decision denied the Valhalla School District’s request for funding from WESTHELP. The Judge ruled that the school district owes the town $1.8 million. This decision is being appealed by the school district.

- Again, our thanks go out to Robert Bernstein and Herb Rosenberg for taking care of yet another debacle illegally created and perpetrated by The Paul.

• POPHAM ROAD BRIDGE PROGRESS REPORT. The Popham Road Bridge, which links Edgemont to Scarsdale, has been under construction for the year. Have been working with Scarsdale officials trying to minimize overnight noise and construction related problems.

- Why don’t our contracts with other agencies we utilize have a performance clause as well as other stipulations to allow minimal impact on the residents? Because The Paul is financed by these same developers.

• DOBBS FERRY ROAD/WEST HARTSDALE AVE. TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENTS AND SIDEWALK COMPLETED. The sidewalk, drainage and road improvements finally were completed this year.

- This is a tip on the proverbial iceberg. While it is good to have it finished, there is so much more that could have been done. Piecemeal repairs to the infrastructure are not the answer. We can’t maintain the Town through minor grants, tepid repairs and a break/fix mentality. We need a comprehensive strategy to improve the Town’s infrastructure.

• GELSPRAIN. Construction started on a new housing development off of Ardsley Road. 24 new homes to be built.

- Which river will this property be draining into? Enough said.

• MULCHING-LOVE ‘EM AND LEAVE ‘EM. The town is working with the Nature Center and Irvington environmentalists trying to encourage people to mulch their leaves. This would save the town significant dollars. It is anticipated that In 2012 the town will change our leaf collection policy and require bagging of leaves.

- See our December 17th online post about this.

• NATURE CENTER. We approved the construction of a pre-k playground at the Nature Center (using developer escrow funds, not taxpayer dollars). We're supportive of an initiative of the nature center to build a high tech trail for disabled adults.

- We agree with access for the handicapped and disabled. Since the Nature Center only shares the name Greenburgh, private funding should be used for this.

• PLASTIC CAPS ON JARS/BOTTLES NOW ACCEPTED FOR RECYCLING.

- This should have never been an issue with our recycling. More importantly, when will the Town return to taking plastic bags for recycling? There are more bags damaging our environment that bottle caps. Metal bottle caps will degrade after numerous years. Plastic is forever.

• NEW YORK SCHOOL FOR DEAF WON'T CLOSE. At the beginning of the year there were reports that the state would not fund the New York School for the Deaf and the school, located in Greenburgh, would close. I helped the school with their lobbying efforts and the school has been saved.

- While most people said the school shouldn’t be closed, as did The Paul, this again was an issue out of his control and simply a media event to which he contributed nothing.

• JOB CLUB. Over 3 years ago I started a job club. Almost every day I send residents who are out of work job leads. I estimate that I have helped over 80 people find employment during the past few years. I have also set up a site: www.linkedin.com (greenburgh jobs group) with job postings.

- While we hate to see anyone unemployed, surely there are better uses of a supervisors time than posting a job on his campaign website.

• HELPING VICTIMS OF JAPANESE EARTHQUAKE. After the Japanese earthquake the Town Clerk, Judith Beville, organized a fundraiser to help the victims of the earthquake.

- What does this have to do with what The Paul has done this year? He did hold a Close Indian Point rally at the Town’s expense. The Town building is not his private playground to use as HE sees fit. It’s the people’s building and he should pay to use it just like everyone else.

We had hoped for more from our elected officials, such as protecting the residents, reducing taxes, reducing spending and having a true open government. Instead, we got just the opposite. And, since newly elected Town Councilman Ken Jones was hand-picked by The Paul, it’s apparent to ABG that we’ll be right back this year with more, hoping for A Better Greenburgh.