Hartsdale Neighbors Association (HNA) Hosts Forum

 Public Forum With The Commissioner of Public Works

 

Have questions about sanitation & recycling, road safety and repair, flood zone management, sidewalk installation, winter snow removal, or zoning in Hartsdale?

 

On April 6^th at 7:30PM, the Hartsdale Neighbors Association (HNA) will give you a chance to ask them during a virtual public forum with Greenburgh’s New Commissioner of Public Works, Richard Fon.

 

The event will be hosted on Zoom, with live streaming on HNA venues. 

 

Send your questions for Rich via email by April 2 to info@hartsdalenighbors.org/

Please put “Questions for Rich Fon” in the subject line.

Hartsdale Neighborhood Association Announces Change

Fellow Community Members,

We are writing to inform our community members, leaders and partners that our President Stacy Fisher has moved out of the area and will no longer be able to lead HNA. We wish Stacy well and thank her for the great work done under her leadership.  Moving forward for the remainder of the year, past President Eric Zinger has graciously accepted the role of HNA President after being unanimously voted in by the Executive Committee.

The mission of the HNA remains unchanged, we are committed to fostering neighborhood awareness and engagement and driving community led solutions. 
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We are always looking for engaged volunteers to help drive HNA priorities and initiatives. If you would like to be more involved in the HNA please email us at info@hartsdaleneighbors.org.  We have a number of committees that need additional volunteers, and we are also interested in hearing about issues you think deserve attention and would be willing to help HNA work on.  And please feel free to forward this communication to all interested Hartsdale residents and small business owners. 

Like our FB page at https://www.facebook.com/hartsdaleneighbors  for frequent updates.

Best regards,
Diane Ueberle, HNA Communications & Engagement 

Candidate Debates For Supervisor

There have been two debates (links below) this past week between 28-year Democrat Town Supervisor Paul Feiner and Independent challenger Lucas Cioffi. The first debate, while cordial, was held at the Greenburgh Library in the large conference room. There were about 50 or so people in attendance for the League of Women Voters (LOWV) led evening. As an aside, this is not the first event run by the LOWV but it sure seemed like it. While their moderators claim to not live in the Town, they still allowed Mr Feiner more time to speak than Mr Cioffi, a clear bias that has be seen at other events in our Town run by the LOWV.

All questions were forced to be censored by having attendees write their questions on 3" x 5" index cards. This control of questions, limits the information flow to voters and is counter-productive, ensuring a safety net for incumbents. Since Mr Feiner boasted of his 28-year tenure as valuable job experience, he cut off those critics who either believe he has been in office too long or favor term-limits. Mr Cioffi favors a three-term limit as a maximum. 

Ironically, at the Town Board debate several months ago between the two annointed Democratic candidates running against Democratic Hartsdale resident Eric Zinger (we believe a better choice), Councilman Jones stated that a candidate needs 12 years to get anything done if elected. His neatly-crafted and yet absurd explanation was that it takes 4 years to settle in and get past the previous position-holder's issues. The next four years to introduce his issues while working on other Board member issues and the final four to get his issues addressed. If that were truly the case, when will he seek to change the term for Greenburgh Council persons to 12-years? It seems very convoluted to us.

So with Mr Jones into his third term, he should be leaving us soon. As an aside, Mr Jones also has two pending ethics complaints brought against him during the summer months that have languished. Why have they languished? As you know, Mr Feiner, vis-a-vis’ his Town Board, chooses and appoints all members to all of the Boards he creates or sustains.This Board is no different. They had been operating for over a year with one less member than “required”. That member, supposedly a Republican for balance on the otherwise Democratic Board, had been AWOL for about a year after being appointed. Since then, two members resigned and one is out on sick leave. This is known within the Town’s various Boards as falling on the “Feiner sword” whenever necessary. By doing so, Mr Jones gets to seek re-election unencumbered by the “Ethics Complaint Albatross” overshadowing his candidacy. After Mr Jones is re-elected to his Council seat, Mr Feiner will appoint new members to revitalize his Ethics Board.

The first evening’s debate had no real drama or fireworks. Mr Cioffi mentioned early on that he had told Mr Feiner that he would keep the campaign civil and courteous. He also said that after 28-years, it was certainly time for a change. Mr Feiner said that his 28-year experience, contacts in state and federal governments have helped him get things done for Greenburgh. 

One thing that he didn’t mention was his ability to get laws changed that benefit him, such as the one he asked his cohort Assemblyman Tom Abinanti to introduce in Albany to change the incorporation laws to slow, stop or thwart the Edgemont incorporation effort. Or, like the one he asked Mr Abinanti to introduce to alter the Finneran Law. Why is this significant? Payback. Mr Feiner did Mr Abinanti a favor by blocking the Fortress Bible Church from building on property that was behind Mr Abinanti's home and neighborhood. Mr Feiner would subsequently be found guilty of lying under oath and destroying evidence by a Federal Court and fined $6.5 million dollars. That was one helluva a price for Mr Feiner to pay, but in reality, we are the ones paying! By the way, Mr Abinanti has since moved out of Unincorporated Greenburgh!

The second debate, hosted by the Hartsdale Neighborhood Association, would find an equally stifling environment of 3" x 5" index cards and a lack of community engagement. This one would offer a slightly different environment. The opening statements would be five minutes instead of two and answers would be restricted to two minutes instead of one and a half. Mr Feiner was allowed to go first, reading his accomplishments from prepared text in a loose-leaf binder with topic tabs. So there was literally no change in content this evening from him with the exception of going longer. Interestingly, he kept touting the Towns AAA Bond rating, which does little for us since the Town floats few bonds. It really only highlights the taxpayers ability to dig deeper into their wallets every time he raises taxes. He also claimed that the Town has stayed under the 2% tax cap. But if you take away the allowable exceptions when calculating the actual tax increase according to Mr Cioffi, we have seen an average 4% yearly tax increase over the last 20 years!

Mr Cioffi stated that Mr Feiner has a reputation for answering phone calls and emails at all times of the day or night. He has billed himself as the problem solver. He also said that Mr Feiner claims the Town is running well and our various departments are doing a fantastic job. That may be, at least according to what Mr Feiner says, but since Mr Feiner is the only one person receiving and responding to emails, we’ll never really know. In fact, Mr Cioffi said that this is a failed model because there is only one point of contact for 90,000 people, which is inefficient, provides little to no accountability and no open or accessible records that could be studied and quantified by residents. 

Another interesting proposal by newcomer/fresh voice/outside thinker Lucas Cioffi is a two-year tax moratorium once he takes office. This idea, which has several reasons behind it was copied by Mr Feiner who has recently started saying that the Town will have a 1-year tax moratorium this coming year. This exemplifies why we need to have term limits and why it’s time for a change: different ideas, different thinking, different solutions. 

Want another idea that highlights different thinking? When his opening 5-minutes started, Mr Cioffi said that he would address all questions from where he was seated but would go in front of the crowd for this one part. “This one part” turned out to be him saying to everyone, “Think about what it is that brought you here tonight?” The second question is, “What does Greenburgh need right now and going forward?” Then he asked everyone to introduce themselves to the person next to them and tell them why they were here. This was a powerful and creative gesture, the likes of which we promise will be copied and reused by Mr Feiner.

After this unique opening, Mr Feiner and Mr Cioffi danced around the issues. Mr Feiner read most of his answers from his playbook and Mr Cioffi comfortably responded to the questions without a prepared set of answers. Now, we don’t believe for a minute that Mr Cioffi wasn’t prepared, but he seemed thoroughly knowledgable with the information he was putting forth. He also said that this election was about building bridges across our neighborhoods.

The first debate spent a lot of time, questions and answers about the Edgemont Incorporation issue gnawing at the Town. The second debate did not. Mr Feiner spoke often about the unsanctioned Hartsdale 4-Corners revitalization. He has already spent an unauthorized $400,000 dollars on purchasing two properties behind the old DairyDel corner store. He also mentioned that there are many priorities throughout the Town, including storm water and traffic issues including at the four corner area. What he didn’t mention was that he has ignored those problems especially in that area during his 28-year tenure and only got interested in them when rumors of a Hartsdale Incorporation began circulating.

Mr Feiner also mentioned a food scrap recycling program. He didn't discuss getting our taxes under control. Mr Cioffi did. Mr Cioffi said the budget is 220 pages with only three charts. He pointed out that Mr Feiner said Mr Cioffi’s two-year tax freeze wasn’t a good idea, and then a week later copied the Cioffi campaign’s idea with a one-year freeze. Feiner supporters will justify this as smart - taking a good idea and running with it. Realists, however, will be critical and wonder why he never did this before? 28-years of complacency.

We can go on but won’t. As Mr Cioffi said in his summary remarks at the second event, “Mr Feiner talks about how he can get Albany to listen but he can’t get Edgemont to listen.” This election is not about who is the best candidate, but to quote Mr Cioffi, “It’s about what is the best system to run Greenburgh?” Mr Cioffi has a lot of good ideas, something we have not had in years. This might just be the change we need to make for A Better Greenburgh.

Learn more by watching the debates for yourself (links below). Or, come to the next debate to be held on Monday, October 28 at the Theodore D. Young Community Center (32 Manhattan Ave, White Plains) @ 7pm.

Debate Links:
https://youtu.be/1qW4O4tdXnE
https://youtu.be/6h0_skPh7Tc

Eric Zinger For Greenburgh Town Council

Dear Greenburgh,

My name is Eric Zinger and I am asking for your vote for Greenburgh Town Council at the 6/25 Greenburgh Democratic Party Primary Election. Let me introduce myself to those of you who may not know me. I was born in East Meadow (Long Island) and attended the University of Maryland where I graduated with a degree in Finance in 2006. I returned to New York, spending a few years in Manhattan, before moving to Hartsdale in 2013 with my wife Megan to purchase a home and start our family. We live there now with my son and daughter and you will see us walking our dog Pete around the neighborhood. I work for a Financial Technology company in our Treasury department and I hold the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

I have been an active member in my community since moving to Hartsdale. Some of you may know me from my role as President of the Hartsdale Neighbors Association (HNA). HNA has recently led initiatives that have included successfully advocating to close down illegal massage parlors in Hartsdale and leading the citizen’s movement to revitalize the Four Corners intersection. What I am most proud of in my time with HNA is our work to get people more involved in the community. HNA members have been appointed to several important local Town and Municipal Boards and we now have a Hartsdale that is more informed and engaged than at any point in recent memory. As we have seen in the past year of the Blue Wave, a new generation of political leadership is emerging in the Democratic Party and I want to bring that fresh energy to our Town.

I have been attending Town Board meetings for years and I know firsthand the problems that Greenburgh residents face in working with the Town. It is important that we have someone on the Town Council who has a financial background in order to help guide the Town in the new uncharted era of capped SALT deductions. Now more than ever, we depend on our local governments to respond to the needs of the community.

I have many specific ideas and policies that I think Greenburgh residents could benefit from. Here are some of the many ideas that I would work to implement in my time as Councilman:

1. Controlling property tax growth in the new, uncharted era of the SALT deduction cap; in my first two years I will only vote for budgets that hold the property tax rate flat. Greenburgh residents need tax relief while the town assesses the impact of the SALT deduction cap. This is possible with the right combination of fiscal discipline and planning.
2. Hiring a Business Development officer whose focus will be attracting business to Greenburgh, helping new and existing businesses navigate our regulatory landscape, and applying for grants to help bring jobs and development to our Town. We need to expand the property tax base by encouraging (not frustrating) responsible development;
3. Term limits are a vital reform that would encourage public participation in our town government. The lack of term limits gives rise to an insular culture that makes politicians complacent and reluctant to tackle tough issues. I am calling for 12-year Term limits for all elected Greenburgh officials.
4. Increasing Community Involvement- Our residents are our greatest asset. Greenburgh is a place filled with educated professionals in a wide variety of fields. We need to get people more involved in local government. We do that by respecting them and their time. Resolutions should be posted in detail online 24 hours prior to any vote and Public Comment should be prioritized at Town Board meetings to occur earlier in the agenda.
5. Edgemont Incorporation- As many people are aware, Edgemont is trying to become the 7th village in the Town of Greenburgh. I believe that Unincorporated Greenburgh is much stronger united, and hope that Edgemont does not incorporate into a village. Edgemont represents 17% of the population of Unincorporated Greenburgh and 27% of the tax revenues. If Edgemont were to incorporate, we would have to take a hard look at every aspect of Town Government to see what is most necessary to preserve. It is hard to see a future with an Incorporated Edgemont that does not result in some combination of service cuts and tax increases. I am running because I want to repair the relationship between the Town and the Edgemont community. I believe eventually, there will be a vote on incorporation and when that vote happens, I hope Edgemont residents choose not to incorporate.

I believe that civic engagement has never been more important than it is now.

If you have questions on these or any other topics, please email me at eric@ericzinger.com. You can also go to my website www.ericzinger.com or my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EricZingerForGreenburghTownCouncil/. Thank you for your time and make sure to get out and vote!

Eric Zinger

Only $166 MILLION To Consolidate With No Guarantees

In the summer of 2018, the Hartsdale Neighborhood Association (HNA) had a regular meeting at the Highview school on Central Avenue next to the Empire College and behind Webb Field. That’s the field on Central Avenue with the 9-1-1 Memorial that keeps falling apart. The Highview school is a grammar school with mostly younger students in attendance at the rear of the property.

During this particular meeting, Greenburgh School Superintendent Tahira Dupree Chase was a guest speaker and there to talk about a few things school-centric. One of them was related to recent school shootings and the safety of the kids at our schools. Everyone agrees that these horrible shootings should stop but for every one idea that can be implemented there’s an argument made against it. It seems to be a vicious cycle that will likely continue. Regardless, we learned that Safety Officers were being hired amongst other things that were being done to protect the students. Of course, this is good. But with the increased security presence becoming more well-known and pronounced, it tarnishes the reputation of an already tarnished school system. As a parent, many wonder if sending their child to Greenburgh schools is a good idea or if private school is the better way to go? Obviously, there are many families who cannot afford the private school route regardless of any safety concerns they have. But many residents have chosen the private school route.

Superintendent Chase indicated, as do so many who want the public to buy-in to their consolidation proposals, that the cost wouldn’t be much, about $97 per family per month. Broken down even farther, she equated it to $3.50 a day for a premium cup of coffee (for the next 30 years)! While the coffee analogy may make her plan more palatable (pun intended), the reality is our taxpayers are already hurting as we continue to pay off (and anticipate) guilty verdicts against Mr Feiner and his administration. We’re into year two of the Fortress Bible Church guilty discrimination verdict for $6.5 million with pending law suits in connection with the Shelbourne, Dromore Road and Ferncliff projects. And while a daily cup of premium coffee is not a problem for the extremely well-paid Dr Chase, many residents don’t make that kind of money and struggle to merely get by, glad when they can afford a deli coffee.

But consolidation for what purpose is the nagging question? To simply say we would have all grades on one campus is not enough. To also say that we would sell two current schools that are either in disrepair or needed repair begs the question why weren’t they maintained to begin with? Or is this a page from Mr Feiner’s playbook with WestHelp. Let the buildings intentionally deteriorate so such a dismal picture can be painted showing the need to jettison them? Possibly. And by bringing the younger grades to this campus, what of security and threats to them in our ever-burgeoning active shooter world. Somehow the separation seems like a viable alternative.

The Greenburgh Central schools have a more surmountable problem of education. They are now teaching the Mandarin language from kindergarten through the high school senior class because studies show it’s an up-and-coming language. It used to be that French or Spanish were the two more popular foreign languages to learn. Frankly, after hearing some of these students speak, the school probably needs to be working on speaking better English. And, with all of the special programs and remedial classes that are maintained, the lack of a fundamental education seems to be absent. Our suggestion to Dr Chase is instead of trying to apply lipstick to make it look pretty, fix the glaring problems before undertaking such a major expense and cost to the taxpayers.

Since we never see the school budget get lowered – as we are always told to vote for it “for the kids” – raising our taxes and moving all of the kids to one location solves little. Let’s not forget that 49% of the Fairview district is tax exempt so the other 51% are carrying them – in effect paying twice the amount they should have to pay. So now, instead of $3.50 per day or $97 per month, it’s more like $7 per day and $194 per month. That’s significant to seniors on a fixed income, low income families, out-of-work taxpayers and others just struggling to get by. Even more significant is the lack of proof of savings by executing this multi-year change should voters elect to approve it. Dr Chase needs to get her house in order before she looks to build a new one and then move in. While this seems like a great exercise for a resume update, we need more tangibles before we decide to go along with this. While the budget increases are touted as “for the children,” the reality is it’s for the teachers and other personnel costs. We don’t need to speak Mandarin to know that this system needs attention before we start raising taxes for this expensive game of chess. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.