Feiner Lies About Fairview Fire Department

As could be expected, Mr Feiner sent out an email blast from his personal email list – oh wait, it’s the Towns email list. No matter, its used by him as his own. He sent out the blast stating the Fairview Fire Department is creating a $160,000 position and how they shouldn’t do it, it will affect the 2% tax cap and more. He also asked residents to attend the Commissioners meeting this Thursday night.

Here’s what he said (Mr Feiner’s comments in black; ABG’s in blue:

FAIRVIEW FIRE DISTRICT TO VOTE ON APPROVING NEW POSITION THAT WILL COST YOU $160,000+A YEAR---EXECUTIVE DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF.  MEETING THURSDAY NIGHT AT 7:30 PM  FAIRVIEW FIRE HOUSE  19 ROSEMONT BLVD, WHITE PLAINS YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR TAX REBATE FROM THE STATE IF TAX CAP IS OVERRULED BY FAIRVIEW FIRE DISTRICT, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS--- 
The Fairview Fire district Board of Commissioners is proceeding with plans to approve a new position that will cost taxpayers at least $160,000 a year. The position: Executive Deputy Fire Chief. The position never existed before. Some residents have contacted me and  have asked me to encourage residents of the Fairview Fire district to attend the next meeting of the Fire District: THIS THURSDAY February 13 at 7:30 PM--- 19 Rosemont Blvd.  It is possible that the Fairview Fire District Board of Commissioners could finalize their decision to fund this position this Thursday night and to hire someone. They had previously indicated that they would create the position.
This is simply another lie from Mr Feiner! The position has always existed and is not new. It has simply not been filled. If you understand the hierarchy within our paid fire department, you have (working upwards) firefighters, captains, deputy chiefs, one executive deputy chief and the chief. Not all paid fire departments mirror ours and may have other levels, such as lieutenants. For instance, in the Scarsdale Fire Department, they don’t have deputy chiefs, but simply have captains. Their function is the same firematically, but their pay is less. You could argue Scarsdale has a better financial control over their budgets with personnel. And, all of the ancillary costs that go with a captain versus a deputy chief position would be less as well.

Residents whom have contacted Mr Feiner are being lied to by him. Mr Feiner HAS NO CONTROL, INPUT or IMPACT on the fire department. Like us, he is on the outside looking in. 

You may also recall that the Fortress Bible Church refused to be coerced into donating a fire truck to the Fairview FD for approval to build on their property near Dobbs Ferry Road. Actually, its also alleged the church was refused permits and approvals to help out then County Legislator Thomas Abinanti, who lived in that neighborhood and didn’t want the church there and is a friend of Mr Feiner. He has since become a NYS Assemblyman and moved to Tarrytown, possibly to distance himself from all of this. Fortress Bible Church sued Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and the Town for discrimination and won! Mr Feiner appealed and lost the appeal. They were found guilty on seven counts, including lying under oath, destroying evidence and well, you get the idea.

The Fairview Fire district is totally independent of the Town of Greenburgh.  Commissioners are elected to their positions (elections are held in December) and commission meetings are not televised.  Very little scrutiny by the public.  Some people incorrectly think that the Fire district tax is part of the town taxes. The fire district tax bill is included in the town tax bill--the town acts as a collection agent. It's interesting -- most people now pay almost the same for fire district taxes as they do for town municipal services even though the town offers many different services.
The Fairview Fire District is a separate taxing district that does NOT fall under the auspices of the Town – at all! They operate independently from the Town and are funded solely by taxing us independent from the Town taxes. They receive no money from the Town whatsoever! What they do receive from the Town are fire truck donations from developers when Mr Feiner informs them that to get approval for a project, they must donate a truck to the Fairview FD. 

As for scrutiny, look at the pot calling the kettle black! While the Town taxes may equal the fire district taxes, the Town taxes also provide a police department, garbage and trash removal and highway services (snow removal, water supply). If an argument can be made for a disparity in a tit-for-tat exchange between taxing entities, it apparently doesn’t matter to voters as they just keep going along with it by voting the same people back into office.

I share the concerns people have. The position never existed. I doubt that it is needed.  The cost to the taxpayers will be enormous: over $160,000+ a year (new position).   If the position is funded it will make it more difficult for the Fairview Fire district to comply with the tax cap next year (some of the fire districts have over-ridden the tax cap in previous years).
THIS IS A LIE from Mr Feiner! THE POSITION HAS ALWAYS EXISTED but not been filled. The last time it was filled was when the current Chief Anthony LoGiudice was being “groomed” as then-Chief Robert Mauro’s replacement upon retirement. The decision to not fill the position until now was a financial one. This position is already in the budget but IS NOT a new $160k position! Deputy Chiefs in the Fairview Fire Department are union members and make $140k. The reality is that this is a $20k stipend to offset whomever gets appointed to the position due to their relinquishing of union membership and more significantly, overtime. The position is in actuality the ASSISTANT Chief’s position. In this position, the person will be required to attend more meetings, deal with personnel and confidentiality issues and will make less money than if they stayed as an acting deputy chief.

There is a proposal in Albany that will penalize communities that do not comply with the tax cap.  State lawmakers are considering a plan that will reward citizens who live in communities that comply with the tax cap with a tax credit or check from NYS. If your local government entity overrules the tax cap you will not get the tax credit from NYS or a check from the state to help reduce your property taxes. Among the proposals: Governor Andrew Cuomo's state of the state address on January 22 recommended a two year property tax freeze for homeowners if their local school districts and local governments stay under the tax levy cap for two years and share services or consolidate with other districts to save 1% of the levy a year for three years. The rebate would likely be between $150-$350 a year per household.
Governor Cuomo’s refund will be based on Town property taxes, not taxing entities who tax for their funding such as the Fire District. While ABG is not happy about the tax increases and and expenses that the Fire District is saddled with, Mr Feiner is only posturing. For all the bragging about staying under the NYS tax cap, Mr Feiner raised our taxes 3.4%, above the 2% NYS tax cap!

If the Fairview Fire district creates a new position that never existed before (and some people feel may not be needed) the tax bills of every Fairview resident will go up to pay for the costs. And, your future tax credit could be in jeopardy.
THIS IS A LIE from Mr Feiner! Again, the position has always existed but not been filled. Your tax bill will be unaffected by this change. And, your future tax credits are not in any jeopardy by the FD filling this position!

If you reside in the Fairview Fire district you should attend the meeting on Thursday, February 13 at 19 Rosemont Blvd (Fire house) at 7:30 PM.
If you can't attend the meeting you could write to the Fairview Fire Commissioners at 19 Rosemont Blvd, White Plain, NY 10602.   Ask for justification about the position.
I will be attending a meeting of other municipal officials on Thursday night and will not be at this meeting  but will be expressing my concerns about the position to the commissioners and will invite the Board to appear before a Town Board meeting to discuss ways we can all chip in and cut costs.

Yes, you should come out to these meetings. You should attend the Town Board meetings to see how poorly the decisions are coming from there.

Mr Feiner has gotten all the “play” and attention he can from this issue by sending this email out. He will not attend because he doesn’t have any control over the meeting or frankly, matter. His fire protection for his multi-million dollar home is provided by the Hastings-on-Hudson all-volunteer fire department. He is trying to create a stir over something he doesn’t pay for and has no control or involvement over. The firematic tax rate between what he pays, approximately $10 per thousand is quite a bit lower than what Fairview residents pat, about $140 per thousand.

If Mr Feiner wishes to cut costs and chip in, perhaps he can start by stepping down as Supervisor. We would save $150k per year in his salary with his $10K medical benefits buy-back for using his wife’s NYS health insurance. It would stop the $6.5 MILLION verdicts against him. It would allow us to rent the WestHelp property for $1.2 MILLION a year. Thie list of what Mr Feiner has cost us is close to $40 MILLION. His stepping down would allow a reassessment that would stop the certiorari adjustments made at every Town Board meeting. BTW, the fire district must pay back close to $1 MILLION because Mr Feiner has not done a Town-wide revaluation! If Mr Feiner steps down, then we might begin to see A Better Greenburgh!

Power Brokers Destroy Town Assets & Trust

What’s going on with the Town administration is not only reprehensible, but wasteful. The Town Board has looked the other way and perhaps initiated the the censorship and altering of official documents. They have sanitized documents to deflect attention from Mr Feiner and Ms Juettner’s guilt with the Fortress Bible guilty verdict. At the last Town Board meeting, with one goal of voting to pass resolution AT-1 as hastily as possible, Mr Feiner changed the order of the agenda so the altered documents could be adopted as quickly as possible and leave to visit his hospitalized father. AT-1 was the resolution authorizing the Town to pay the fine of $6.5 million as settlement for being found guilty of lying under oath, violating the civil rights of a church and more. If Mr Feiner had left prior to the rushed vote, it would have been a tie vote with Councilmen Morgan and Jones voting in the affirmative and Juettner and Sheehan (who was delayed by traffic) voting nay. Sheehan explained while speaking with us after the meeting that they felt the decision to settle was a hurried one and a less costly amount might have been had with better negotiations.

Back in 2012, computers used by the Xposure program at the Theodore Young Community Center (TYCC) were stolen from the facility. The public was told that security cameras in the facility recorded some of the theft but not enough to make an arrest. The stolen computers were never recovered. The Police Department investigation, led by our new police chief, then Captain McNerney, said they could find little if any real evidence of the theft and let the matter drop after questioning employees there. The entire issue was slowly allowed to slip from public consciousness. The excuse used was insurance that had been purchased by the Xposure Program’s organization for the computers will pay for their replacements. As far as Mr Feiner is concerned, “no harm, no foul”.

During the floods from Super storms Irene and Sandy, flood water damage affected the TYCC. The flooring in the gymnasium buckled and warped, looking like an undulating floor in an amusement park. Almost immediately, the Town claimed there were no funds available in the capital budget and that FEMA funds would pay for a new floor. Ironically, residents throughout the Town would be forced to wait months for a simple determination on their own FEMA claims. It would then take several more months to actually receive a check if qualified to even receive money from FEMA insurance claims. Normally, those who had flood insurance and did receive FEMA payments did not receive replacement value costs, as promised, had a $5k mandatory deductible and did not receive enough to replace their damaged homes or businesses. While residents languished, funds for the TYCC were doggedly pursued by Mr Feiner.

But why is the TYCC is different. Because it’s Mr Feiner’s personal campaign tool in Fairview and he had to take care of them immediately. So while this and other special interest groups of Mr Feiner’s were taken care of, taxpaying residents were ignored – until Mr Feiner learned the media would be in those neighborhoods. Then he made a beeline to be there promising to have FEMA purchase their flooded homes. He knew the Town would be required to institute a host of changes to receive consideration for this and his were lies of false and empty promises. What did he do to help them? After the TV cameras and reporter left, so did he, never to be seen or heard from again in those neighborhoods.

During the cleanup of the flooded gym at the TYCC, Town officials made the decision to store the TYCC bleachers at the Frank’s Nursery site. While its an interesting, albeit stupid idea, there must be other spaces available they could have been taken? But whomever made this decision somehow thought it was a smart move to store them in, to quote GameOn 365’s Martin Hewitt and cohort, Mr Feiner, “A dilapidated building”. It was only smart if the intent was to “lose” the bleachers or have them get additionally damaged so they could justify replacing them, creating another media event entitled, Look What I’ve Done For You Today. After all, they replaced the floor, the lights (unscathed by flooding), added solar panels and more. Who is authorizing these bad decisions?

The G10 and other residents have consistently question the Town Board at meetings as to what happened to the bleachers from the Theodore Young Community Center. They would never receive an answer. It begs the question as to why the bleachers were stored at the former Frank’s Nursery location to begin with. If it was simply because of the size and quantity of the bleachers, why not rent a few CONEX storage containers to put them in and place them in the parking lot at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road? Too much common sense seems to be wasted with this Board. So why Mr Feiner and his Board schemed with taxpayer assets yet again, intentionally forcing their ruination, Mr Feiner’s next press conference/release will be that FEMA money (our money) will be replacing the bleachers damaged by the flooding. Another lie? You decide.

The Town Board has implemented numerous methods of skirting, ignoring or simply “blowing off” constituent taxpayer questions. The most common is to never engage the public in discussion, unless it’s someone sympathetic to one of Mr Feiner’s causes, not a G10 member, or will allow Mr Feiner to discuss a topic such as our triple-A bond rating, mulching leaves, installing solar powered garbage cans or staying within the NYS 2% cap with only a 3.4% tax increase – which may go higher due to the $6.5 million Fortress Bible guilty verdict levied against Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner, et al. Almost all other Town and Village Boards engage the taxpayer in conversation at their meetings, taxpayers they represent.

The Power Brokers at the top level of our Town government are seemingly untouchable, unaccountable, virtually invincible, and they know it. They are routinely hiding information from the public, moving equipment and assets from one location to others ill-suited to store anything in hopes of destroying it. As Mr Feiner and his administration continues to cost us money through “lost” equipment, he will send out press releases, watch for the mailings that advertise the Town has purchased new bleachers for the TYCC. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad. This is one of the problems that might be cured with term limits.  Things must change in Greenburgh and fast. Otherwise, we may never see A Better Greenburgh.

Feiner-gate: Deleting Public Information!

One of ABG’s contributors pointed out that Theodore Young Community Center (TYCC) Commissioner William “Bill” Carter spoke at the November 26th Town Board work session. And then he didn’t. At the meeting, Mr Carter was critical of Mr Feiner’s insertion of the Xposure program, heavily subsidized by the Town, into his budget. The net amount proposed for the 2014 budget is $115K. The Xposure program is based out of Brooklyn, NY, and was foisted upon us by Mr Feiner in 2009 to teach the youngsters about finance, the stock market and more.

When Mr Feiner was first espousing the Xposure Plan and seeking to “sell it” to the community, and knowing his Town Board would rubber stamp whatever he instructed. He sidestepped the TYCC Advisory Board completely and never did any kind of Return On Investment (ROI) justification. Many residents questioned the cost, noting that the Xposure program was already offered in several other area schools and YM/YWCA’s at no cost, questioning why we would be paying for it? Mr Feiner simply pooh-poohed them and did what he always did with his bad ideas. He implemented it.

A visit to the Xposure website provided us with a variety of what’s offered by Xposure. We’re just not sure if all of these items are offered at the TYCC version of the program. We’ve condensed about three paragraphs into one to explain what they do. For learn more, you can visit their website at (www.xposurefoundationinc.org). Students learn the basics about savings and investment, deposits and withdrawals, checks, and interest and lending as they deposit their earnings into savings accounts on a regular basis. Students also learn fundamentals about the stock market, including ownership, stocks, research, and investing. They also learn about the scientific methods, the invention process, computers, the internet, and major office software skills, which are used in most jobs. In addition, students use SmartBoard technology, an interactive classroom tool that is used in many colleges and professional schools, to reinforce spelling, comprehension, and reading. An ABG staffer commented that this sounded like what you go to school to learn. Why are they getting this at the TYCC and not from their schools?

Mr Carter was openly critical of Mr Feiner and his budget as there have been cuts made to the TYCC operational budget. When Mr Feiner has a budget shortfall, he simply steals what he needs from the Fund Balance and raises taxes. This year’s tax increase is 3.44%, with Mr Feiner bragging that he stayed under the NYS 2% Tax Cap. Huh? Additionally, when Mr Feiner needs money for another harebrained campaign strategy germinating from the TYCC, he will contact the Lanza Foundation for a funding lifeline. The Lanza’s regularly sponsor/contribute/bail out Mr Feiner’s lack of management knowhow and quite often financially perpetuate his bad ideas year after year.

At the work session meeting, Mr Carter sat in the proverbial hot seat and was questioning the Xposure program as a line item in his budget as well as the needs of the TYCC. He stated that the program utilizes the TYCC space to operate, keeping him from offering other income-generating programs from the TYCC. Rather, could the program use the Greenburgh schools for its operation and free up the space in TYCC and the use of their first floor for their needs? They would actually be able to make money for the TYCC as well as staying within the mission of the TYCC.

Since Mr Carter made the mistake of openly criticizing Mr Feiner and his Board by telling the truth at the November 26th meeting (beginning of part 3) and not drinking the Feiner Koolaid, Mr Feiner needed to act swiftly. When Mr Carter arrived to the meeting being run by Councilman Sheehan, he sat down saying he had a few questions. Then there is an obvious jump in the online post and next see Mr Carter going through his portion of the Town’s proposed/tentative budget. Once the meeting ended, was the Town Video Department instructed to remove the beginning portion of Mr Carter’s meeting before posting it to the website as the official record? This might become known in Greenburgh history as the “missing 18-seconds” similar to what haunted President Nixon for the remainder of his tenure – before he finally stepped down from office. Wait a minute... this might work out for us. Mr Jones, defended the Xposure program saying the Xposure program was within the mission of the TYCC but didn’t comment about the Boards request for the TYCC to generate income. 

In the end, which apparently is nowhere in sight, the Town needs Commissioners and leaders who do the right thing, question what they don’t know and stand for what is right. Mr Feiner stands with four others, dauntless. Mr Carter did the right thing by questioning what he didn’t know. That entire portion of his visit to this meeting was deleted. When Mr Jones erupted in anger against community activist Hal Samis and hollered for him to, “Sit the F*** down!” the Town Video Department left the outburst on it’s website archive. They did later bleep the F-bomb out. While that too was disappointing, it seems censorship is becoming a hallmark of the untouchable Feiner administration. 

In a true open government, information provided by the people who run the various departments should be welcome. Whether the information is what you want to hear or not, it may be what we need to hear. ABG has stated before that having singular party representation in the Town will stunt growth, limit the good that can be done, different ideas, and in the end, fail its constituents by not having a give and take from different points of view. For those in office to blindly follow along with what they are told to do for their own political expediencies, they keep us from having A Better Greenburgh.

Opaque Transparency

The Merriam-Webster definition of transparency is shown below. We purposely decided to show it rather than type it out so as to, ahem, be transparent.

A screen capture of the definition of the word, transparent, from
the Merriam-Webster digital dictionary.

Staffers at ABG thought the most accurate definition was #2a: free from pretense or deceit :frank. As in the nursery? Seriously though, free from pretense or deceit accurately sums up the machinations taxpayers have been punished with as Mr Feiner seeks a way to steer the multi-contaminate property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road to his chosen beneficiary GameOn 365.

Mr Feiner routinely espouses transparency whenever the topic is broached, usually at a Town Board or similar meeting. His online “go-to” guy is Councilman Francis Sheehan. You’ll recall during Mr Feiner’s preliminary attempt to remove his then-opponent for Town Supervisor Democratic Primary candidate Bob Bernstein, he threw Mr Sheehan under the proverbial bus. Mr Feiner alleged Mr Sheehan’s listed home address on the ballot signature petitions was a lie. Mr Feiner went forward with this accusation knowing that Mr Sheehan and his family had moved into a temporary residence while his home was being remodeled to make it handicapped accessible for his aging mother, who has since passed away. While its unfortunate that Mr Feiner engages in such unscrupulous behavior, this time his wrath fell upon Mr Sheehan. Mr Sheehan’s more recent actions and conversations have caused speculation by some that he might be positioning himself to run for Supervisor against Mr Feiner in the next election. Although at last night’s Town Board meeting he reverted back to saving Mr Feiner from himself as he spoke. The answer might become apparent if Mr Sheehan gets “Sonya’d” by Mr Feiner.

The previous Town Board meeting found several topics discussed by the G10 and others. Mr Feiner and crew also let everyone know that he postponed the Frank’s Nursery “auction” from the previously posted date of December 3, 2013 until some time in 2014. He declined requests to specify a date or explanation as to why he has delayed this again. Ah, transparency. He subsequently mentioned that two other parties have expressed interest in possibly purchasing the property for more than the Town-stipulated minimum bid of $3.5 million. This means he is in communication with others, possibly affecting the outcome of any sale. But what of Mr Feiner’s goal to create a recreational zoning category to ensure limited bid participation for 715 Dobbs Ferry Road? He needs a way to ensure delivery of the property to GameOn 365 and this would certainly keep the amount of participants to a minimum. Ah, transparency.

Residents and taxpayers have said if this property’s sale were properly advertised and marketed we might get more than the paltry $1.7 million (with the Town “carrying” $1.3 million spread out over 13 years at a rate of 2.6%) from Feiner-annointed developer GameOn 365. Ardsley’s House of Sports upped the ante by offering $3.5 million dollars for the property, thwarting Mr Feiner’s easy gifting of the property to GameOn 365. In fact, numerous FOILed emails between Martin Hewitt, a principal for GameOn 365, and Mr Feiner, found them agreeing to cease sending emails and only have verbal contact to avoid having their communications FOILed by outside parties! They agreed to that strategy. Ah, transparency.

One concern highlighted by several residents was that they repeatedly asked for a Request For Proposal (RPF) for the property after Mr Feiner attempted to illegally enter into a lease with GameOn 365 for the 715 Dobbs Ferry Road property. Why an illegal lease you might wonder? Any law Mr Feiner doesn’t like is simply ignored under the old adage to beg forgiveness rather than seek approval. Under Westchester County and New York State law, any property acquired by a municipality must either be developed for the municipality’s use, such as a park, office or other facility (police station and library being the most obvious). If that is not done, the municipality is required to sell it. Mr Feiner’s excuse for the lease was so the Town could keep the property and fifteen years from now be able to “take it back” when it is worth more and do what they will with it. That’s simply not legal to do. We often heard, “If you don’t like what I’m doing, sue me!” from Mr Feiner. So, once again, several neighborhood organizations sued Mr Feiner to stop another illegal action by him. Days before scheduled to go to court Mr Feiner, realizing he would be losing yet another lawsuit, dropped the lease scheme.

Needing to deflect attention away from his illegal actions, he made an announcement that he would put the property up for a referendum and let the voters decide what should be done with the property. Knowing the predictability of Greenburgh voters, he worded the referendum in such a way that would almost guarantee passage. He was right, it did pass. He followed up with a non-stop barrage of hallelujahs that the voters had spoken. What he always purposely avoided saying (as in the truth) was that only the minuscule portion of voters who voted in this election favored the referendum. Disingenuous? Sure, but it took the focus away from Mr Feiner’s illegal lease deal with GameOn 365! Ah, transparency.

So now there is a new sign on the property that says the property is For Sale. No other information is posted, such as whom to contact if one is interested in purchasing the property. The sale has been purported by Mr Feiner to be sold “as is”, referring to the known multiple contaminations on the property from a heating oil spill, carcinogens from being used as a dump for the White Plains Urban Renewal, herbicides, pesticides and whatever else. The fill was placed near the rear of the property, where the property historically floods. Concerns have repeatedly been made about water runoff and the spread of contaminates and carcinogens. Town Attorney Tim Lewis, the “unofficial expert” repetitively informed concerned citizen taxpayers that the contamination was not that bad without conveying specifics. Ah, transparency.

A forthcoming surprise announcement of the sale of the property by Mr Feiner should be entertaining if nothing else. Many have bandied about different ideas and directions the Town might take to make the favored GameOn 365 sale happen. Mr Feiner has often displayed his own brand of shrewdness and misdirection to get what he wants and is probably working on a new plan without input from the Town Board to ensure GameOn 365 success. Unfortunately, this is what we have often come to receive from Mr Feiner.

We’re hopeful, but not confident, that the Town Board will do the right thing and abandon the scheming to ensure only one purchaser for the property. Having an auction with sealed bids is not the spirit or intent of an auction, although legal. Postponing the sale to have time to change the zoning is not the spirit or intent of doing the right thing for the taxpayers and the Town.

The Town Board and Mr Feiner have a fiduciary responsibility to get the largest amount of money for this property. Period. He should abandon these games - pun intended - to award GameOn 365 the property and figure out how to pay back the money he has continued to cost the taxpayers: $8M (Fortess Bible Church), $1.2M/yr (WestHelp), $21M (tax arrears), $3.5M (Frank’s Nursery property), $4M (water meters), 10% salary increases, the list goes on. Mr Feiner rarely respects what is right for the neighborhoods, ultimately degrading the quality of life in those neighborhoods. He should embrace honesty and tell the truth about why he is doing what he does and maybe we can start to see transparency in A Better Greenburgh.

Punishing Residents

The average homeowner in Greenburgh pays their property taxes without much fanfare. Many have chosen to include their taxes in their mortgage payment and never really “see” the tax increases and simply pay their increased mortgage payment without much thought. Most residents are also “headline readers” or willfully uninformed as to what is going on with their local government and its officials. Greenburgh taxes have risen exponentially in many cases and are only realized if and when the homeowner sees or pays their bill independent of their mortgage. Property taxes for municipal services in Greenburgh have soared by 54 percent in Unincorporated Greenburgh, and 145% in the villages.

Case in point? Our increased water bills for the last three years. To soften the blow of an under-financed water department (there’s really more to it), Mr Feiner took it upon himself to raise the water tax two years in a row for a total of 102%! And while the rate change addressed the immediate shortfall, he insists new water meters be installed throughout the Town, claiming faulty meter reading amounts were the cause of the financial deficit. Since we were able to quickly address the deficit in two years, perhaps we’ll see a reduction in our water rates to an evened-out amount and an end to the water meter folly? Not likely.

Additionally, Mr Feiner ignores the real estate tax increases punishing residents for the various districts when he makes his speeches about staying within the 2% tax caps “imposed” by the state. The Fairview Fire District had released its proposed 2013 budget in excess of the NYS 2% cap. The district’s proposal would increase homeowners property taxes by 4.95%, with the bulk of the increase being retirement and salary costs! Add to this the ever-increasing school taxes – for the children – that each year are supposedly going to new and improved programs that ostensibly need to be created/replaced/tuned-up/increased/expanded, etc., with correspondingly dismal results. The taxpayers wallets are seen as an endless source of revenue by each taxing district. And for those not working, working part-time or not making the money our Supervisor does, they have all they can do just to get by.

We all know that having a job is a good way to help our community flourish, unless it’s the Fairview section of Town. This has been Mr Feiner’s dumping ground for low and no income people, DSS recipients, Greenburgh Housing recipients, displaced people and so on. He has ghettoized this area to “protect” other areas of the Town and Villages from it. Hmm, do you think that’s why he always gets the Villages vote in the elections? It couldn’t hurt.

Go to some of the buildings in the Manhattan Avenue area without an escort and report back to us how it felt. The police department spends a concentrated amount of their time there for criminal activity and the fire department mostly for ambulance and some fire calls. While these people may need or even want a job, you never see Mr Feiner and his job bank working to employ them. Why not? They are expendable to him except at the voting booth. Watch for another Lanza-funded program to be offered to them at the TYCC so he can boast what he’s done for them this time.

Every politician promises jobs to their electorate at every election, even Mr Feiner. Yet, we all know government doesn’t create jobs. What government does, in particular Greenburgh government under 22 years of the Feiner Administration, is desperately seek new ways to tax, fee, and regulate business to death. The Town Board’s recently failed attempt to add a hotel tax as part of their revenue stream was introduced and pushed by Feiner friend and sidekick in Albany, Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti. He claimed that this tax was justified because the hotel patrons utilize our highways and roadways, free parking and beautiful landscapes. What Mr Abinanti, Mr Feiner and others don’t understand is that the tax they seek to impose will not be paid by the hotel. It will simply be passed along to the customer. Eventually, the customer or more importantly their company will say, “Enough!” and stop going there. Most of the other politicians have been equally disappointed because they just cannot understand the real world of business. For Mr Feiner, never having been in the private sector, this is strictly an abstract concept. The hotel managers on the other hand are relieved the tax never passed into law.

Dan Conte, president of the Westchester Hotel Association and Manager of the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, stated most of Westchester’s hotel business comes from corporate clients. Even a minor room tax can mean the difference in a choice of hotels, he said. “Every penny does count when it comes to the decision makers,” he said. “The misnomer is that it’s a victimless crime.” They are competing with hotels from White Plains, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and Northern New Jersey. These are more readily accessible to public transportation and a broader range of dining options. He noted that the county already charges its own 3% tax on hotels in addition to the sales tax. “We don’t understand, again, why they continue to single us out as an industry,” Conte said. “The economy has gotten a little bit better, but it’s not better.”

The New York State 2% tax cap that Mr Feiner knowingly boasts of adhering to can easily be overridden when necessary and is fraught with exemptions. With his mismanagement of the Town’s finances, his false tax cap savings and ever-increasing certiorari refunds, other taxing districts are forced to compensate for their respective shifting revenues, blowing any tax cap savings out of the water! This last Town Board meeting (8/14/13) approved over $2 million in certiorari refunds. The 47% non-tax-paying-not-for-profits operating in the Town, the twice-monthly certiorari adjustments the Town Board authorizes at each Town Board meeting, are choking the rest of the tax-paying residents of the Town and must stop! We pray Mr Feiner doesn’t decide to start a Greenburgh BID. Even though they are proven losers, he seems to embrace one bad idea after another.

The Greenburgh electorate is primarily comprised of democrats and they have the ability to change the Town. The Democratic Primary for Town Supervisor and Town Clerk are the two contested positions in the September 10th Democratic Primary election. Mr Robert “Bob” Bernstein and Sharron Fantauzzi, respectively, are running against the incumbents for Supervisor and Town Clerk. ABG urges all registered democrats to vote in this primary and help to create A Better Greenburgh.

Opening Acts

Town Board meetings are cyclical. When the Town Clerk fails to book an opening act, the meetings might start on time. We’re actually unsure what time Town Board meetings start since they rarely begin at the appointed time. This was the case Wednesday evening as the audience sat through the requisite video shows (there were three) and The Paul’s ramblings like a drunk uncle at a wedding everyone tries to avoid. The audience started out with a few more than the regular attendees but eventually whittled itself down mostly to the G10.

FEMA was the opening act for the meeting with several FEMA representatives going to the podium to state what they can do for homeowners and business residents that have been affected by Hurricane Sandy. While The Paul asked a few questions and Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan chimed in, the result of the twenty or so minutes was if you don’t apply for assistance, you won’t get help. Having witnessed many nearby residents who were flooded in Hurricane Irene be turned down by FEMA for assistance, we aren’t expecting newly affected residents to fare any better.

After the Veteran’s video and the Boy Scouts’ video, the meeting haphazardly got under way. There was a representative from the Friends of the Greenburgh Library who spoke during the first 3-minute public session. She commented on the use of the library during the storm and then pleaded for the Town Board to not cut their funding in this year’s budget. The Paul commented about the 2% Tax Cap from the state, so we still don’t know if the library is able to purchase any new books this year. Interestingly, every time the issue of money comes up and it’s not one of the pet projects of The Paul, we’re limited by the 2% Tax Cap. Otherwise, the Town is spending like there’s no tomorrow – which may be closer than we know.

A representative from the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association got up and asked if the timer could not be started as she wanted to compliment the library for their participation in Hurricane Sandy before she began what she came to discuss. Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan said, “No, you get three minutes like everyone else.” There’s that fostering of community spirit if we desperately long for, shot down again. At one point The Paul began to converse with a resident during their public comment session. During resident Ed Krauss’ 5-minute public speaking session, he stated that maybe this dialog with a resident was an epiphany. But once a dialog started, Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan stated, “We’ve already violated our policy of not commenting during the public sessions,” and stopped it before it materialized into something productive. Finally getting some feedback from the silent Board was refreshing. “Back Pocket” knows The Paul will get them in trouble if he’s allowed to ramble for too long.

Many speakers got up and commented about numerous topics. Most residents that spoke, however, seemed to focus on either the referendum or the GameOn 365 sports bubble debacle. After getting pummeled by so many, The Paul exploded and gave his usual dissertation of his skewed view of democracy in action. Many of the points were salient ones that made his comments moot. Uncustomarily, the Board began spouting off many of the same issues and points they had ignored from residents prior to the referendum and The Paul’s signing of the contract with GameOn 365. He seemed frustrated that his supporters abandoned him during this assault. In fact, even most of his commissioners were not in the room, while Tim “Remediation” Lewis kept his head down during most of the meeting unless to tell a speaker their time at the microphone was up. Maybe he was feeling shameful or possibly repentant for lying to residents as to the clean up costs for the 715 Dobbs Ferry Road site. ABG is confident The Paul had mandated Lewis’ behavior with this deal and is now Lewis is reflecting on his time as the Town Attorney and that it too may need “remediation”.

This meeting was perhaps one hour long if you stripped out the opening acts. The Board made themselves the lead agency for a number of projects The Paul wants pushed through for developers. Several gas stations applied to pay the new “fees” (really a penalty tax) for the recently adopted service station law benefitting Cumberland Farms’ “new” gas station on Central Avenue. Many believe this will be crippling to existing service/gas stations in the Town. The low applications prove the Board’s revenue-generating scheme has backfired. For a change, there were no tax certiorari refunds. ABG guesses you could say we broke even this night. Don’t get overconfident just yet – ABG knows it won’t last. It would be nice to think residents were witnessing a new path with Town Board meetings that are conversational, constructive, purposeful and leave us with a feeling of accomplishment. It could have been a great opening act. We can only hope.

Our Residents Need Relief

A Sunday story ran about Industrial Development Agencies in New York and the “positive” affect they are having on business. While ABG doesn’t agree with IDA’s for numerous reasons, the article highlighted one company in particular, noting that they are the “Poster Child” for IDAs. That company is Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical developer at the Eastview campus of the former Union Carbide site on Old Saw Mill River Road. It has the hidden beauty of a Tarrytown (mailing) address while being in the less glamorous Town of Greenburgh.

Back in the heyday of Union Carbide, the site had several mansions on it, a holdover from the Rockefeller days when many parcels of land were owned and utilized by the Rockefeller Empire. But as we’ve previously posted, the site has been a hot bed of building activity with the projected blessing from The Paul and his Stepford Board to increase the traffic and flooding by encouraging 400-plus new condominiums be built at the location, in addition to the newly erected office buildings to the west of the “spine” that links the two sides together. Additionally, there will be another 400-plus condominiums built as part of Avalon 2 on Taxter Road. Across and farther down Rt 119 near Benedict Avenue will also see the 90 unit Brightview Senior Living Center* begin construction.

Do the prospective tenants of these condos realize the site was a chemical development and testing site many years earlier? It was replaced with the MSG training facility, occupying a larger footprint than the previous building. One of the biggest fires the area has seen was when the automotive products testing building ignited and exploded in the early evening in the late 1970’s – early 1980’s. Can you hear the gasps and outrage after the new condo owners find out they may be exposed to toxic automotive chemicals? They can query Town Attorney Tim “Remediation” Lewis as to how much testing and cleanup may cost based on his SuperFund knowledge.

One of the tenants across the street from the projected condos is Regeneron, a medical testing and creation laboratory. They have been touted as “one of the most successful IDA-backed projects in the region with nearly 1,000 employees in Greenburgh and annual revenue of $446 million,” said former Entergy Public Relations Officer and current Westchester Economic Development Director, Laurence Gottlieb. He went so far as to say Regeneron is “the poster child for a great IDA project”. Maybe it’s great for everyone at the IDA and at Regeneron, but what about the Greenburgh residents? Gottlieb claims they “just keeping adding employees left and right.”

Are the employees working at the Regeneron location in Tarrytown, actually Greenburgh residents or are they people relocated from Regeneron’s other locations in Basking Ridge, NJ, or Rensselaer, NY? If they are transferring from these other two locations, do they really “count” as adding jobs “left and right” and do they know about The Paul and how he is slowly reducing Greenburgh to nothing but affordable housing without any supermarkets near the populace? The question remains are Greenburgh residents being hired by Regeneron?

There is always an economic upside when businesses move to an area, bringing increased purchasing and property tax income to those communities. Tax income is a hot topic in the Town because of the misguided actions of The Paul. But doesn’t the IDA bring jobs and spending to an area? Sure – at the expense of the existing residents through property tax abatements, reductions and other tax incentives! In the case of Regeneron, their pharmaceutical failures frequently found them at the brink of and even in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. So are we to marvel at a company that seems to often be at the edge of insolvency that finally scored big with their macular degeneration drug or just shrug our shoulders? ABG is glad they’ve survived. Can Greenburgh?

There are millions of dollars shelled out every year by Westchester, Rockland and Putnam’s ten IDA’s that many believe could be better used to rebuild crumbling infrastructure or invest in our schools. Even with the artificial 2% Tax Cap the State passed this past year, practically every municipality has seen increases in their school taxes. Not to be outdone, County Executive Astorino recently created his own Westchester IDA because apparently his rhetoric of cut, cut, cut, is catching up to him politically as he cannot dole out money to various special interest groups in hopes of maintaining existing voters and “purchasing” new ones. Could The Paul be far behind?

Critics of IDA’s say IDA tax exemptions often temporarily lower the sales and property taxes those companies will pay, reducing revenue to the localities, county and state. This creates shortfalls that must continually be offset by residents. It’s also argued that IDA’s are said to help New York state compete with lower-costing states, as New York has a recognizably higher cost of doing business. Could it be that New York’s massive taxes (and regulations) are overburdening business in general, any of which politicians are quick to bail out, make concessions for, and promise a virtually rent-free existence? Of course they are! These same politicians do nothing of substance for the existing businesses who may find themselves silently struggling. Yet they turn their collective backs on the rest of us who could use a break but continue to pay our mortgages, rent and taxes as well as all their other bills on time! It’s disingenuous and needs to change! 

We want to see our Greenburgh companies succeed as well as our residents. We are happy that Regeneron was finally able to turn things around through the IDA’s help. The Paul, his Stepford Board and his administration continue to help his developer friends. And, IDA recipients are doing very well for themselves while Greenburgh constituents are suffering through some of the worst economic decisions made in the last twenty years. Regeneron and others continue to receive lower sales and property taxes, forcing the Town and it’s residents to pick up the difference of the reduced revenue to the Town and school districts. It’s time for companies who we have helped for so long to step up and make it on their own. We don’t want them to be abandoned, but stop dipping into the residents’ pockets that have been carrying them for years and then rubbing it in our faces. The residents need an IDA to help them! Vote; and vote differently for a better outcome. Our residents need relief. We can only hope.

* A meeting for this will take place at the Marriott Hotel, Thursday, Oct. 18th, at 6PM.