Too Much of One Thing

The political pundits are transmitting in high gear now that the elections are over. Republican wins have shifted the balance of power once again – although not here in Greenburgh. In fact, when nothing changes things usually seem to get worse for the electorate, just as we’ve seen in Greenburgh. Without a balanced Town Board, Ethics Board, Planning Board (insert the Board of your choice), we do not get the best of what the Town (cities, villages, hamlets, etc) could offer. There is no creative thinking, no new ideas, little variety, limited progress and never any challenge to do more or better for the taxpayers. Quite the contrary.

Mr Feiner decided to discriminate against the Fortress Bible Church when the Church purchased property near Dobbs Ferry Road. While his reasons to discriminate may have only been known to himself, his attack on the Church was not only morally wrong, but after a protracted court battle and opportunity to settle, finally cost the taxpayers $6.5 million. Had the first Town Board had a mix of parties and personalities when Mr Feiner’s crusade against the Church began, and the subsequent Town Boards had more of a variety of members with a backbone to stand up to Mr Feiner, perhaps this disaster could have been averted. It’s one tremendous black-eye for Greenburgh.

Mr Feiner, convicted for discrimination, decided to not renew the lease at WestHelp on the Westchester Community College campus, costing Greenburgh taxpayers $1.2 million per year. This project for affordable housing was the brainchild of then HUD Chairman Andrew Cuomo, who was appointed to the position without any “housing” or management background. After insulting the NY public with several derogatory comments during his now-forgotten first gubernatorial campaign, he was told to accept the job from President Clinton, keep his mouth shut and in a few years they would let him be governor. He needed to make a name for himself and did so offering subsidized housing in Westchester for those in the DSS system. It was supposed to transition into senior housing after ten years. The state made the project happen and construction was done. Cuomo now had something to show on his HUD resume. The County gifted it to the Town. And for years, the Town raked in $1.2 million per year with little or no effort on our part. Cuomo towed the line and was anointed governor. You have to love New York.

But Mr Feiner decided to try to win votes from the Valhalla community by not renewing the contract when it came due, allowing it to languish into disrepair, in hopes of necessitating the demolition of the facility and delivering what Valhalla had wanted. Mr Feiner hoped for said votes. But by doing this, he stopped the largest non-tax income-producing revenue stream to the Town, forcing taxpayers to make up the difference. Had any of our Town Board members been of another political party and not dependent on Mr Feiner for re-election and feared being “Sonya’d”, we may have seen this move curtailed or at least brought to the public’s attention and be stopped before the damage was done.

According to County Legislator Alfreda Williams, the County subsequently told Mr Feiner and the Town Board to rent the apartments or else the County will terminate the lease with the Town, take back the facility and do with it what was planned. The Town would continue to lose $1.2 million with no chance of ever getting that money back. Currently no action has taken place but Mr Feiner’s repeated attempts to gift the management to unqualified companies (see Cuomo above) who promised more than could be delivered and tried to re-negotiate the contractual terms. Eventually, he was dropped as Mr Feiner’s preferred management vendor.

Mr Feiner insisted on green-lighting the Brightview Assisted Living (and Stop and Shop, and Westhab, and Deli Delicious, and the Central Avenue car dealerships special treatment, and Ferncliff, and Taxter Ridge, and well, you get it) project on what is considered by many as an inappropriately-sized piece of land. And now, as the construction of the building glaringly hovers over the intersection of Rt 119 and Benedict Avenue, we think they were right. Not only did Mr Feiner endorse and promote this project, he knowingly allowed them to turn Greenburgh residents on Medicare away from this upscale and private organization!

The point is a simple one in that having elections is part of our heritage and is a good thing. As the saying goes, too much of something isn’t always a good thing. We’ve had twenty-two years of Mr Feiner’s mismanagement, illegal actions and not enough creativity, open government and new ideas. It’s time for a change. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.