tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521092612847585726.post5402791248773833879..comments2024-03-01T03:36:34.353-05:00Comments on A Better Greenburgh: The Curse and Growth of Spot ZoningUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521092612847585726.post-7580428081717285842016-06-23T11:19:01.132-04:002016-06-23T11:19:01.132-04:00part the second
So I ask ABG and its handful of re...part the second<br />So I ask ABG and its handful of readers and I ask those "powerful" (In their minds only) Civic Associations and their umbrella organizations, how come you can't field electable candidates -- not for the highest position which is entrenched -- but for Town Council jobs which could tip the balance and in three years they could collectively send Feiner to the nearest solar-powered garbage can.<br /><br />Here's how it would work. Next election, elect both of the up for re-election two Council member slots. As insiders (or even one insider) with big mouths a seated on the dais, they can alert voters to how influence is being pedaled. If this is not enough challenge to the remaining Feiner majority (3), then in two years time the other two Council seats are up for re-election while the previous two seats remain in place for two more years. Elect but one and A Better Greenburgh is underway. With a three vote majority (remember, just three votes) Feiner's misdeeds and mismanagement are history and probably himself as well. <br /><br />Stop complaining; start electing. A Town Council position pays extremely well (currently around $40,000 with health benefits) and is eligible for NYS retirement benefits. And, that reward is for a part-time job! While the nation struggles to adopt a living wage of $15 an hour stat, do the math. Part time (20 hours a week) @ $15 an hour times 52 weeks = $15,600. Can not one of those bloggers with the loudest mouths find and convince a competent person and thereafter go "all-in" to support that person's run for office. <br /><br />Here's how the Help Wanted ad should read.<br />Earn $40,000 vs. $15,600. Qualifications: None other than a commitment to serve the people; not the office. Experience: None (witness Feiner who has 6 months experience repeated 25 times. Full Compensation during on the job training. It only took Ken Jones, the newest nodding head, less than three months of absence, tardiness and inattention to learn the ropes; now in his second term the ropes take on the appearance of a noose.<br /><br />So if you really seek A Better Greenburgh and not just a snide pulpit (i.e. postage stamp sized plot), again, I remind you to stop preaching and start electing. Just three votes.hal samishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10633763018583611795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6521092612847585726.post-22311997172809844232016-06-23T11:17:16.606-04:002016-06-23T11:17:16.606-04:00part the first
ABG needs to hazard a second look a...part the first<br />ABG needs to hazard a second look at what it has penned. As it has adequately documented itself, disregard for or the interpretation of local zoning laws is not unique to Greenburgh. With this in mind, I urge ABG and its readers to desist from responding to the flavor (issue) of the day and instead focus on the underlying issue common to all the provocations that arise weekly: the Town government is legally installed. All these provocations are not the work of a dictatorship holding office "liked" by "developers" pulling hidden strings. It is "we the people" who have failed at the voting booth to form a "more perfect union".<br /><br />And as I have oft said, the problem is not just the media-wise Town Supervisor Paul Feiner. He has but one vote on the Town Board and his term of office is but two years while those holding Council seats are elected to four year terms. To pass any legislation, three votes out of five are needed. "Just three votes". So, despite the fact of Feiner's quarter century rule, there has been substantial turnover in the make-up of the Town Board: enough for checkmating the evil that is attributed solely or soullessly to Feiner -- if anyone cared other than a handful of residents whose words, not deeds, are seen on these pages and on other blogs or, in 3 and 5 minute soliloquies at Town meetings.<br /><br />Yet all these "activists" do is complain; the only instances of someone troubled enough to make a half-hearted run for office are those by Mr. Bernstein of Edgemont and Ms. Berger, chair of the local Democratic Party machine: both of whom (despite knowing the process) campaigned as though they had but recently arrived from their homes on Mars and Pluto and had never witnessed an actual election underway. One knew too much about Greenburgh; the other knew too little yet both avoided meeting the electorate as though it had the plague.<br /><br />Then there's the sad case of an incumbent Council member who hinted that she could upset the apple cart, had a file of names and dates a la J. McCarthy which she failed to produce and thus failed to get re-elected.<br /><br />hal samishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10633763018583611795noreply@blogger.com