New Neighborhood Association to Form in Worthington & Dobbs Ferry Roads Area

Each effort by The Paul to cater to a developer is typically met with resistance or protest from a select group of residents we affectionately refer to as the Greenburgh 8, or G8 for short. They are usually at every Town Board meeting to scrutinize The Paul’s actions, whether the Town Board meetings start with Town business or the campaign circus The Paul and his Stepford Board are so fond of. They are the speakers at every Town Board meeting, reading staggering facts and information to an aloof, unengaged and seemingly bored Board. Is it possible that there no other residents are concerned with the costly, illegal and unethical actions of The Paul and his Stepfords? ABG thinks not.

Apparently, there are others trying to affect changes for the benefit of the Town via neighborhood civic associations. Another in the never-ending list of The Paul’s debacles is the GameOn 365 sports bubble that has been proposed to built on contaminated Town-owned property “for a song”. We’ve posted before about the reasons this “done-deal” developer-centric deal should not happen. Most of the Town’s assorted civic associations are against this project for a host of valid and discernible arguments. But, it doesn’t matter to The Paul, as he keeps this project moving forward at full-steam. Knowing he has done so many things with this project which are either illegally or morally wrong, he has decided to do what he does best: deflect! Ever the shrewd politician, he decided to take the moral and legal onus from his shoulders and dump it in the lap of the public by offering the GameOn 365 for public referendum.

To the uninitiated, you may be thinking putting this to a referendum is a good thing for the Town and democracy at it’s best. Had it been done first, ABG might agree. Most are not seeing or realizing this is still a bad project for the Town because of all the issues, problems, illegalities and future considerations that have been raised about this project. They will not go away just because the project was put out for referendum. Here’s the kicker: The Paul knows he will get a minimum of 7k votes for this project at the next election and perhaps even more because it is a major election and more people will be voting. He knows this because when he ran unopposed for supervisor he received about 7k votes! That means that 7k voters will either blindly vote the party line and whomever is running on it as the endorsed candidate or for whatever the “project” or referendum is, without bothering to investigate the facts or look at other factors simply because they maintain differing party affiliations and ideas. ABG would hope this time might be different. We can only hope.

Worthington and Dobbs Ferry Roads’ residents had gone to the meetings about “The Bubble”, concerned about the 8-story (83 ft tall) sports bubble to be installed as a temporary(?), 15 YEAR, structure on the contaminated dump, formerly Frank’s Nursery on Dobbs Ferry Road. Prior to Frank’s Nursery it was Flower Time Nursery. Prior to that it was used as a dump for the city of White Plains. When Frank’s Nursery defaulted on their taxes, the Town assumed ownership of the foreclosed property and left it to languish. Then, as The Paul began costing the Town more and more money through guilty lawsuit verdicts, expired income-generating contracts and the like, he began doing what he always does, putting more and more hare-brained, off-the-wall ideas “out there” in hopes of making back some of the money the Town is hemorrhaging through his incompetence and bad actions.

After seeing how incredibly dysfunctional and problematic our Town’s operational government is, an incredulous group of neighbors tried reaching out to each other and began to see that they were not alone. Deciding to formalize and create a Worthington & Dobbs Ferry Roads Civic Association, they sought a location to meet and were instructed by other civic associations to use Town Hall for their meeting venue. They began distributing flyers for their first meeting and have decided to meet this Monday evening on October 1st, at 8PM at Greenburgh Town Hall on Hillside Avenue in the main meeting hall. We hope they are successful in having their neighbors participate. While The Paul’s bubble fiasco is certainly one topic for concern, there are many others requiring discussion. This promises to be an interesting evening, regardless of where you may stand on Town issues. We hope they start at the appointed 8PM time, unlike the other meetings held in this hall and the neighborhoods respond and support this effort. We can only hope.

Campaigning To Empty Stores

Dated September 18th, The Paul’s pre-end-of-the-month campaign advertisement holds little substance. As usual, we could have lived without this mailing as his media compatriots have already published this press release “article” and will probably run it again anyway. In it, he bemoans the Crossroads Shopping Center on Rt 119 and the possibility of a new supermarket and how many of you have decried the need for a supermarket. Thanks to The Paul, it’s gotten so supermarket barren in Greenburgh, we’ve taken up learning Korean just so we can shop knowledgeably at HMart, the replacement Korean market at the former Pathmark site on Central Avenue.

While The Paul claims to have no hand in the demise of the A&P at Crossroads Shopping Center, most residents in the neighborhood have been reduced to shopping for staple goods at the $1 Store and K-Mart. The Paul claims he had nothing to do with the A&P’s disappearance in Crossroads. The Paul claims he wasn’t responsible for the double-digit tax increases for driving away the A&P, as well as the other stores. The Paul claims he wasn’t was responsible for the 102% water bill increases driving away the A&P. Have you noticed how much water is used cleaning meat, fish, deli, produce and dairy departments each day? It’s no wonder these seemingly innocuous taxes would promote the demise of many businesses – and residents – in our Town!

Let’s not forget about other contributing factors when doing business in Greenburgh. Factors such as required insurances, rent, salaries, OSHA requirements, local taxes, county taxes, state taxes and federal taxes, estimated tax, the union contracts and theft to mention a few things before a tenant even puts a key in the door. The increasingly widespread low income of area residents are struggling to hold onto their homes while financially challenged, don’t own transportation and must walk or take a bus to go to a supermarket for what they need. How much can they purchase and easily return home?

Soon however, residents will be able to get all their party needs at the new Party City, even though they must go to a different location for everything else for their party. The Paul’s campaign piece states that, “Party City is under construction in the former Barnes & Noble space and has targeted early December 2012 for a grand opening.” This is good news for that space and the shopping center. Let’s just hope the ever-billing, always-requiring Town Building Department, along with his ever-taxing Stepford Board, doesn’t hold up the grand opening because a $200 permit fee wasn’t paid and they miss the holiday party season, only to open to an empty store.

The Paul’s campaign piece touches on the struggling economy and tenants filing for bankruptcy, such as A&P, Marty Shoes, Jembro (still in business, just not in Greenburgh), T-Mobile, Barnes & Noble Bookseller and Avenue. He doesn’t go too far back as he tries to paint the picture, again ignoring the aforementioned contributing factors to these businesses’ demise. He doesn’t mention Pergament, Caldor, or the previous Party Store that left the current Home Goods site. And, as if Crossroads doesn’t need more competition, he doesn’t mention the new Sports Authority that will be going into the site of the former Sym’s store across from the Greenburgh Library. We still like and shop at Modell’s Sports store, but how long can they last with competition right around their proverbial corner?

The Paul claims the leasing staff at Heyman Properties, and Arcadia REIT are working hard to find interested tenants. Why he has failed to advertise for a supermarket on his blog, which has had apparent success finding a tenant for the formerly uninhabitable  Frank’s Nursery site? Partnered with the environmental knowledge Town Attorney Tim Lewis seems to have for environmental cleanup and related costs, perhaps Attorney Lewis can assist The Paul in adjusting for the square footage issues we’re told is the reason the former A&P space is not rentable to supermarkets.

There are reasons that brick and mortar businesses fail. Sometimes it’s the business model, the products offered, outside factors, poor management (our Town?), as well as other factors. With the County and State offering concessions to so many businesses to (re)locate or just stay in our area, perhaps it’s time for The Paul to do the same. Here’s a few ideas that may make tenancy more viable in Greenburgh. First, make the certiorari adjustments before the business opens and keep it in place for at least five years. As an aside, the new Stop and Shop on Rt 119 applied for their certiorari grievance the first day they opened their door and got it. Second, waive the permit fees required for any business trying to open in the Town. If not waiving them, at least combine all of them into one more manageable one. Third, have the building department assign an inspector to work closely with the prospective tenant to facilitate renovation work and not delay work, ensuring opening the store for business as projected. Fourth, work with the owners of the property to facilitate the opening as well as a long-term, economically viable relationship for both. Frankly, we don’t think The Paul is capable here and should utilize Tim “The Magic Attorney” Lewis for this.

There are other ideas ABG has but realizes good ideas are rarely embraced by the Town administration. The Fairview area residents and businesses are being crippled by The Paul and his Stepford Board. It’s time for The Paul and his Stepford Board to go. It’s time for The Paul’s campaign mailings ($2,000 Mailings or AAA Rating?) to stop. We can only hope.

New Deflection Tactic: It’s Not Me, It’s Them!

ABG has bemoaned The Paul’s deflection tactics quite often. The latest “game” is his tactical switch regarding The Paul’s abandoning of the WestHelp property and contract. The contract would have generated a guaranteed $1.2 million in revenue if The Paul had simply signed the renewal contract between the County and the Town. Traction of The Paul’s inaction is spreading, and even The Paul’s allies in the lamestream media are now starting to say he cost the Town $1.2 million a year. Imagine how different the stories might have been had The Pauls’s media cohorts actually reported instead of regurgitating his press releases?

The Paul’s newest tact is that Westchester County is not moving fast enough for The Paul and his Stepford Board in making a decision with possible usage of the former WestHelp site on the Westchester Community College campus. So now, instead of recognizing and being associated with inaction to the loss of $1.2 million in contracts with the County, The Paul wants to be seen as trying to use that property right away, that it is languishing even though he has a prospective tenant for it. Apparently, his lead agency mentality with the ability to ramrod through any he decision he desires has taken hold. ABG believes if feels if he can deflect the conversation away from his inaction about not signing the contract to making the issue about the County Executive’s inaction with the property, he’ll shine again, the clouds will part and everyone will forget his bungling of the no-brainer contract. ABG will not let that happen.

He’d like us to forget that the facility is vacant and falling into disrepair because of his refusal to renew that contract. He’d like us to think then County Executive Andy Spano’s office delayed the contract to renew and it’s because of them the facility is vacant (its always someone else’s fault). He’d like to convince us that the Spano administration was seeking to repurpose the property anyway and his inaction was not the reason Greenburgh no longer is being paid for a contract he chose to abandon.

The contract with the County-owned property was to manage the facility for low income people. ABG is not concerned with who specifically lives there, rather, that qualified and/or deserving and people needing housing are provided help. The Town’s Greenburgh Housing Authority has a waiting list of about 250 people seeking low income housing. The amount of homes this could provide to some of those people could reduce that number by 108, the amount of units at the facility. ABG feels The Paul should bite the ego-bullet, admit he screwed up – again – and take real action providing homes for those on the waiting list. ABG doesn’t want to see more press releases about building a new school for a Yonkers school when Greenburgh residents need a place to live! The needs of our own should be what is motivating The Paul. Unfortunately, they’re not!

The Town officials may be tired of waiting for the Astorino administration to submit legislation to change the venue of the property. Too bad. The Paul and his Stepfords can solicit proposals all day long. There is a contract in place that says Greenburgh, through the Greenburgh Housing Authority, shall run this facility for it’s intended purpose - housing. The Town is breaking the lease by not providing low income housing at this site. Stop making up numbers about how much the property could generate with a school versus affordable housing and put those in need under a roof. ABG realizes The Paul has lost the $1.2 million for this year and should move on. Literally. Just go. We can only hope.

Stop Playing Games With Their Livelihood!

Two of the signs protesters wore and held up at the Town Board meeting.

ABG was at the Wednesday night Town Board meeting, also referred to as the Greenburgh Employees and Teamster’s Protest, held on September 12. There was the obligatory movie and other campaign-centric fodder from The Paul. By no means is ABG lessening the value of what these presenters have done, merely maintaining this should not be the venue for it. Most of the G8 was in attendance and assumedly relieved to see a sea of people filling the room. The Town’s Teamster union members, sporting matching red tee shirts, are Town employees working for the Highway, Recreation and Repair Departments. There were about fifty members there to protest their treatment by The Paul and his Stepford Board regarding their still-absent contract after four years.

You may recall our post several weeks ago where the union inflated their now infamous “rat” near The Paul’s home in the gated, well-to-do and exclusive Boulder Ridge community (Can You Smell A Rat?). The following week they placed it outside of Town Hall to protest his flip-flopping and new position against building the new Tappan Zee Bridge – costing the area and union much needed jobs! It seems The Paul and his Stepford Board is waging a personal vendetta against our Town employees.

The Teamsters are protesting The Paul’s unwillingness to bargain regarding their contract between the Town and our employees. ABG knows they have been played by The Paul for too long; longer than should be necessary by any stretch of the imagination or truth, and want action! When he asked them to agree to freeze their pay because times were tough, they went along with him and abandoned a raise. But for the last four years The Paul has refused to come to the bargaining table for serious negotiations. When he does offer to meet, he violates the law by adding new stipulations to the contract. Once the contents of the contract are established, additions cannot be made. As we’ve witnessed so many times before, if The Paul doesn’t like a law, he feels compelled to disobey or ignore it. He’s at it again, adding insult to injury.

The issue is not the union members. The issue is not revenue, per se, or insufficient taxes for the Town. No, the issue is The Paul and the financial “Three Card Monty” he’s continually shuffled during his twenty-plus years tenure. Greenburgh is not the most expensive place to live in Westchester County, but it certainly is expensive. Yearly double-digit tax increases, 102% water rate increases, WestHelp contracts left to languish and disappear are only the tip of the iceberg. The financial problems besieging the Town have been self-induced by The Paul! It is squarely on his shoulders. That’s why he’s scrambling to push every hare-brained idea he can think of to offset the Town’s dwindling fund balance.

Patronage abounds in Greenburgh if you are in the right clique; The Paul has tried to supply his friends, similar to the Friends and Family Plan run by the City of Yonkers, with “do nothing positions” in the Town. He has repeatedly tried to gift his friend and supporter Alan Hochberg with positions for more pay than any of these employees make! Each time The Paul tries to slip a job to Hochberg, the G8 and others protest. Given Mr. Hochberg’s criminal past and The Paul’s political slight of hand we owe the G8 a big “thank you”. But, how long will they continue to be successful?

Money that should be used toward the Town and especially the Town employees’ contracts goes to other uses. First and foremost are the oft-used outside attorney and litigation fees The Paul racks up with lawsuits. An example of an unnecessary expense because of The Paul’s ego would be the yet to be announced financial penalty of the Fortress Bible guilty decision. That decision promises to go as high as $8 million once it is rendered. Then there’s the $4 million dollars lost with the Water Department. Had the water costs correctly been passed on to the users, the Town would not have had to raid its fund balance to cover these costs. If you’re counting, the tab is up to about $12.5 million because of the illegal and incompetent actions of The Paul. Still, no contract for our neighbors, the Town’s employees.

These problems that are costing the Town exorbitant amounts of money are not the employees fault. In fact, it’s because of their actions in spite of The Paul that the Town is doing as well as it does. As The Paul tries to find financial relief for the Town, his failures become more intensified. He laid off two workers almost a year ago. Scott Uzzo, a former Town employee became distraught after the layoff and committed suicide off the Tappan Zee Bridge (Ex-Greenburgh Worker Jumps From Tappan Zee Bridge). We grieve with his family, friends and coworkers because this was nothing more than a power play by The Paul. This isn’t how you run a Town.

Not running a Town properly seems to be The Paul’s main strength. He blew the WestHelp lease deal with the County to counter with an alternate deal worth half the revenue with a Yonkers School. He paid off Valhalla’s School district and Mayfair-Knollwood Civic Association to the tune of more than a million dollars. The Paul’s actions were proved to be illegal and he was again found guilty! Michael Smith, the newly elected County Legislator for that district was part of those shenanigans, and his reward was to move up to a higher position in County government. Then there’s the GameOn 365 Sports Bubble deal that will net the Town over $5 million dollars in rent over 15 years. Wow! We mean really, Wow! When you break down the numbers, its peanuts. The property is contaminated and must be cleaned up. Sure, GameOn 365 will dribble some money into that fee until it gets too costly. Then ABG believes they’ll back out and walk away, leaving the Town to pick up the entire cost - again.

The action The Paul and his lackey Stepford Board should have taken when the Town received ownership of the property after the Frank’s Nursery default on their taxes, was to have it cleaned up and sold. The sale would generate a cash influx and a future tax paying property owner for the Town. The sales money could have been used for many things in the Town, including a contract for the Town employees. They deserve a raise. The one sticking point The Paul and his Stepfords want is for these employees to pay 12% of their medical insurance coverage. We won’t discuss the right and wrong of this point. Give them a raise and agree to an incremental health insurance increase come the next contract and meet with them in earnest to work this out in the next contract if it’s the direction the Town needs to go. Kevin “The Henchman” Morgan stated that the other union members pay a percentage of their health care. While technically correct, he ignores the fact that the other employees make significantly more money than these employees. It’s not an accurate comparison.

The Frank’s Nursery sale could have generated enough money to pay for the cleanup of Frank’s Nursery (how about super-fund grants to assist with the cleanup?). Or, the revenue could have been used to improve the infrastructure in the flood-prone areas of the Town. Our infrastructure continues to decay and each time a developer is gifted their project from The Paul through spot zoning, variances and the like, the existing infrastructure remains the same. For instance, Old Kensico Road seems to flood when it gets cloudy out because there are only six storm drains on the entire street that now gets water from numerous neighborhoods. Twenty and thirty years ago when there weren’t condominiums on Old Tarrytown Road and other developments, the water was absorbed into the ground or was aptly caught up by the storm drains. Not any more. Now the houses in the area constantly flood. These same Town employees came through after Irene and carted away everything that wasn’t disposed of in dumpsters. They did a terrific job. In fact, they did their usual exemplary performance everyone has come to expect of them. They are that good!

This is an outstanding group of employees that are part of the entire family of employees whom have all gotten contracts. They weren’t threatened with privatization as these employees have been by The Paul. They are an integral part of the heartbeat of the Town of Greenburgh. When The Paul touts the outdated Money magazine Best Places To Live article, it wasn’t because of The Paul. Rather, it’s because of our employees – our people are our greatest asset. These employees are the gears that mesh the machinery that runs the engine that makes Greenburgh great! Give these employees a raise; stop playing games with their livelihoods and treat them with the respect they deserve! We can only hope.

September 11 - May We Never Forget!

It’s still difficult to imagine the surreal attacks that took place against America on September 11, 2001. Many of us still discuss it and recall where we were on that fateful day - the other day - that will also live in infamy. Many of us lost friends, loved ones and neighbors during these attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the foiled attack in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. While the attacks against us were horrific, our resolve is resolute! America will never forget. God Bless America and our Fallen Heroes and Victims of 9-11.

End of Month Campaign

Each month promises several things from The Paul. His usual deflection, under the guise of “open government” aside, is only effectual through the lamestream media that awaits his buzzword heavy regurgitation with poised pen. Beyond his bi-weekly media-machine press releases, typically discussing a topic of no involvement or interest to the Town, are his Town financed individual mailings. This time, the mailing is so he can provide our US Senators and Congressional representatives with feedback as to the experiences residents and businesses experienced just over a year ago after Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. His letter is below:

In our May 2 post, entitled, $2,000 Mailings or AAA Rating?, ($2,000 Mailings or AAA Rating?) we discuss how The Paul uses Town resources, within marginally legal acceptability, to do monthly and bi-monthly mailings for campaign purposes. Oh sure, they’re not official campaign literature as that would require an expenditure of his own money and a filing with the Board of Elections. However, they are at our expense for his benefit. Another mailing saw the announcement of his contacting these same legislators and urging them to do something about flooding in the Town. Not him, them!

In January, five months after the flooding and destruction on both sides of the Town along the Bronx and the Saw Mill Rivers, the only two waterways in which water is exited from the Town, there were countless interviews by The Paul on TV and “advertorials” in The Paul-friendly papers. The big news was when the Town hired/contracted Jonathan Raser, a Hazard Mitigation Program Manager from Tetra Tech, for possible future actions regarding flooding in Greenburgh. His company had been previously hired by the Town to study the flooding problem in the Town and draft a Hazard Mitigation plan with the police chief and then act on the Towns behalf to try to acquire flood relief funds. At least Raser is seeing an increase in his bank account from the Town’s flooding.

The Town now has a Hazards Mitigation Plan. Apparently, its sole purpose is to allow the Town to apply for flood related funds. It doesn’t address the dire issues our residents experience each time we experience a heavy rain. It also doesn’t guarantee the Town or it’s residents (homeowners and businesses) will receive any help or assistance. In a letter from Jonathan Raser, shown to us from one homeowner, he stated that he and the Town have exhausted all the avenues and we will be unable to secure funds for purchasing homes (by FEMA), raising homes or making repairs nearby to homes and businesses in the flood prone areas. This was the extent of The Paul’s assistance and for a fee!

This mailing, pictured above, highlights that The Paul hasn’t done much, if anything, to help the residents in the Town with flooding. ABG believes the residents are certainly capable, perhaps more so than The Paul, with providing feedback to our representatives. As everyone with flood insurance knows, FEMA, which underwrites the policies, is like every private insurance company and not interested in paying out money if they can avoid it. He also asks for suggestions to improve the process for the next storm. Multiple posts here, multiple speakers at Town Board meetings, and letters to The Paul and his Stepford Board have detailed much of what’s needed, which would only be a rehashing of those suggestions submitted. 

ABG has repeatedly witnessed The Paul and his Stepford Board’s ignoring of information and assistance provided by residents. This mailing is simply his public strategy to seem to care. He doesn’t. Greenburgh got a break this year with a mild winter and lack of snow, reducing seasonal flooding from the usual winter thaw. We’ve also had an unreasonably dry summer. Now would be the time to address many of the flooding issues throughout the Town. Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi has been trying, in spite of The Paul. We suggest everyone having received his letter answer it. It will remove his next mailing where he tells us he didn’t get enough of a response to formulate a plan. The Paul has got to go. We can only hope.

Correction Addendum Re: Personal Attacks Endorsed By Supervisor

In a previous post, entitled, “Personal Attacks Endorsed By Supervisor”, some information was misconstrued and subsequently misrepresented in the post. We apologize for the error to those affected and hope this post rectifies that error. 

We’d like to clarify in this post that Tamika Rose, the person accompanied to the Greenburgh police station by Attorney Robert Bernstein, was never a “suspect” in the investigation of the stolen laptops from the Theodore Young Community Center. She had said she could identify the one person caught on the surveillance video throughout the nine days of video capturing people going into and out of the secured area where the laptops were stored.

It turns out, contrary to what was told that the police claimed they already knew who was on the video, and didn't need to have Tamika come in to do any identification. The person on the video was Commissioner William Carter's nephew. The police insisted Carter’s nephew had been cleared of any wrong-doing without saying how they arrived at that conclusion.

The police had no explanation for why they didn’t secure the video and allowed Commissioner Carter to have it screened before it was turned over to the investigators. Several days transpired which resulted in several days worth of tape being erased.

We’ve also learned that the woman who “blew the whistle” on the improper goings on with respect to the swim teams at the center was, like Tamika, also fired for speaking out. So much for The Paul’s open government!

ABG and others think that The Paul should be more concerned about the lax internal controls throughout the Town and specifically the Theodore Young Community Center as well as the apparent nepotism at the community center. It must end. We can only hope.

Undoing A Done-Deal

The Paul had made his usual back room deal with “newbie-player-wannabe, investor-free, money-free and hands-free GameOn 365 for the foreclosed upon and Town owned contaminated former Frank’s Nursery property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road. The Paul had Tom “Proclamation” Abinanti and Andrea “Platitudes” Stewart-Cousins secret an amendment to the Finneran Law through the Albany legislature during the cover of night, covertly sandwiched between numerous other bills to remain unread but passed through their respective legislatures. This change now allows The Paul the ability to put “bubbles” throughout the Unincorporated sections of the Town. 

Done-deal done, the only hurdle left for GameOn 365, and The Paul, would be to slip the deal past the G8 in a resolution in a Town Board meeting while the crowds would be thinner than Jennifer Hudson at a Weight Watchers event. Not on their watch - they met his challenge. He moved for approval during the summer months, after which he would wink and nod, instructing his Stepford Board to approve the proposal for the residential to commercial property for a fifteen-year temporary structure, or at least a 15-year variance for an 8-story bubble. Sorry, but fifteen years cannot be considered temporary for anything except maybe a teenagers shoe size. The G8 protested vociferously. Locked and loaded, The Paul didn’t care. In fact, he would soon be handing out silver shovels to his cohorts for the ground breaking ceremonies, posturing positive media coverage, espousing the financial saving of Greenburgh and maybe even a few weeks worth of pictures “above the fold.” Forget about stopping the building of the new Tappan Zee bridge, this publicity is worth so much more.

ABG and others have maintained a public referendum be held to see if this proposal is what the residents want with this property before signing any contract with GameOn 365 or anyone else. One concerned resident mounted his own campaign against the bubble and started a website called helpburstthebubble.com. Others are initiating lawsuits to try to stop what they believe are still more of The Paul’s illegal actions regarding this proposal. But The Paul is a shrewd politician. The Paul is knowingly closing the barn door after all horses have exited by claiming to want a public referendum for the GameOn 365 bubble proposal after voting to sign the contract! Why would he proceed this way? When he ran for office unopposed, he garnered 6k-plus democrat-line votes. Knowing that, he’s presuming many voters/supporters will automatically pull the lever in favor of “his referendum”, thereby giving him the ability to claim victory “from the people”. Since November’s election is a major one with a major democratic turnout, he can practically ensure victory. This isn’t about party lines, or is it. It is for The Paul. Can the opposition to the proposal get more than 6k or 7k votes against the proposal? Time will tell.

Once the referendum is voted upon, The Paul will have two avenues to cavalierly stroll down all the while touting success. If the referendum passes, he’ll contact the media, send press releases, emails, blogs and the ever-present free campaign letter via a Town Hall paid for mailing stating, “The people have spoken and approved what I and my (Stepford) Board knew all along. This is going to be great for The Town, the kids (after all, we do everything for the kids), soccer players (with cash for rentals) world-wide and of course, my newest business buddies, GameOn 365.” If the referendum fails to pass, he’ll simply state, “The referendum doesn’t matter because the (Stepford) Board already approved the contract and we’re moving forward with the proposal regardless of the referendum. So sad, too bad.”

So like an overflowing penalty box bursting at the seams with hockey players looking to hit the ice, attorneys are processing the paperwork for lawsuits ready to deliver another attempt to stop one of many bad actions made by The Paul. The Paul’s antics are costing the Unincorporated residents more money – again. The Town cannot continue to afford his illegal actions and must be stopped. The Paul must be unseated from his throne. We can only hope!

Personal Attacks Endorsed By Supervisor

At the start of every Town Board meeting, the agenda states that there will not tolerate personal attacks. And then, at some point The Paul will attack one or more residents. In fact, to prove the Stepford Board means business, they have the Police Chief in attendance in case someone gets out of line. He’s occasionally called upon to answer softball questions when it is complimentary to The Paul or his Stepford Board’s convenience. One evening, Greenburgh activist and G8 member Hal Samis was actually escorted from the meeting for making a comment misconstrued as a personal attack against Kevin “The Henchman” Morgan Irish heritage (was that a personal attack?). While Mr. Samis’ facts are rarely, if ever, in question, his methods can sometime resemble those of a Turrets patient. (Wait, was that a personal attack?) Eventually, even the G8 gets tired of going to Town Board entertainment extravaganza’s as well but continue to endure.

The Paul has had twenty uninterrupted years to foster his “woe is me”, simpleton persona. Dressing as if he oft-times purchased his clothes from a thrift store (was that a personal attack?), he also knows how far he can go if he crafts his words correctly. And, since he sometimes suffers from “verbaria” (diarrhea of the mouth) (was that a personal attack?) and cannot control what he says, Councilman Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan (was that a personal attack?) will often interrupt The Paul after sighing and shaking his head ever so slightly and politely try to rescue his lord and master from himself. You can usually hear him say under his breath to Councilwoman Diana “Sleepy” Juettner (was that a personal attack?), “Do you believe what he’s saying now?” To which, a rustled Juettner will awaken and mumble, “ Huh, what, what’d he do now?” (was that a personal attack?).

How does somebody walk out of a reasonably open facility with 19 laptop computers? The front desk is staffed pretty much anytime the facility is open. There is a sign in sheet that only seems to only be utilized for “outsiders”, while regulars seemingly come and go unimpeded and unchallenged. Is it any wonder these 19 laptops disappeared? Many corporations have GPS trackers in the laptops. Why aren’t these so equipped? They also have locks for their devices. Why didn’t these? ABG supports our police department and knows there are many fine officers in it. Bob Bernstein, the recipient of more personal attacks from The Paul, raises some interesting and unanswered points in his brief, published comments about the case.

On The Paul’s blog, he posted a statement. Our comments to his blog’s points are in color: The blog is titled: “Postings on ECC page by Bob Bernstein about police investigation could be inappropriate”. The Paul is amazingly discussing appropriateness?

The Paul’s entire post is below in case you missed it:

“Bob Bernstein has been trying to stir up some controversy over a police investigation taking place in town. A theft took place on Town property of Town property and Bob Bernstein is the stirring up controversy but questioning it’s investigative progress? He has encouraged the Edgemont Community Council to post some stories on the ECC facebook page suggesting that the Greenburgh police are not working hard enough trying to solve the investigation. Bob Bernstein is the former President and one of their legal representatives and merely stated his observations. The post from the ECC provides a link to the Journal News article about the theft and is not posted By Mr. Bernstein.

I think that Mr. Bernstein's (who is an attorney) behavior is inappropriate. Again, The Paul is discussing appropriateness?  He is making allegations about the police WITHOUT having facts about the status of the police investigation. The police do not  provide citizens with day to day reports of the status of investigations. Publicizing allegations WITHOUT any facts to substantiate them is wrong. Bob: Rumors are not evidence.  Repeating rumors publicly doesn't solve crimes. Bob Bernstein made no allegations, simply raised questions based on those observations. Perhaps forcing the TYC and the GPD to actually pursue an illegal act that might otherwise fade away will produce more results than letting it die a slow death.

The Greenburgh police department is a professional department, and will always be independent of political interference. Every lead that is presented is investigated carefully by the department. Bob Bernstein isn’t accusing the police department of not being professional, just asking questions related to a theft of property from a Town facility.

If Bob has facts - he should feel free to report them to the police.  They will be carefully investigated. And, if we find the bad guys arrests will be made no matter who they are.” We’re sure if Mr. Bernstein had facts about this case, he would share them.

Isn’t it ironic that Mr. Bernstein, part of what we refer to as the G8, is at most Town Board meetings, has often offered his civic as well as his legal assistance repeatedly to the Town and the Town Board, but is seen as nothing more than a hinderance to The Paul? In fact, when reading the post on the Edgemont Community Council site, it clearly offers a different picture than what The Paul is presenting in his blog. It’s remarkably similar to the frequently one-sided misinformation we get from The Paul and later prove inaccurate once we get the facts. Another personal attack? ABG believes so.

In an article in the Journal News, titled, “Greenburgh Criticized Over Investigation of 19 Missing Laptops for Kids Program”,  (http://www.lohud.com/article/20120901/NEWS02/309010039/Greenburgh-criticized-over-investigation-19-missing-laptops-kids-program?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage) Interestingly, the Journal News’ “rookie reporter” failed to get The Paul’s pre-release approval and wrote an article that actually reported something critical of Greenburgh. Can you hear the gasps? In the article, Mr. Bernstein is not the only one quoted or critical of the investigation and accompanied a suspect who was also accused of being a whistle blower who was dismissed from her position. 

While the operational integrity of the Theodore Young Community Center has experienced more than it’s share of illegalities, troubles and questionable actions, we were promised a “new day”, a “parting of the seas” and an above-board accounting of every aspect of the center once a new leader, Commissioner Bill Carter was brought in to oversee it’s operation. That didn’t happen (was that a personal attack?). In fact, back in 2009, one resident involved with one of the two swim team programs at the center repeatedly questioned the lack of accountability of (missing) funds, and their different fees to use the pool facilities? She never received an answer and eventually stopped coming to the meetings. This is exactly the methodology of The Paul and his Stepford Board, wearing down the residents and pushing them away (was that a personal attack?).

The Theodore Young Community Center is awash in shady operations and is in need of a major overhaul (was that a personal attack?). It’s begs of the need for transparency and accountability. The TYC is operating beyond it’s budget and is continually bailed out of it’s bad mismanagement by the Lanza Foundation. Once they stop drinking The Paul’s Kool-Aid (was that a personal attack?), and in fact, stop carrying The Paul’s Kool-Aid, everyone will see the operational and financial mismanagement under The Paul (was that a personal attack?). And while posting comments on his blog may be a legally acceptable method for The Paul to criticize Mr. Bernstein and others, he is picking on the wrong person. He should should be more critical of his own actions and that of his Stepford Board. We can only hope!