Court Dismisses Feiner Suit for Uncontested Election

We received this Press Release from the Bernstein Campaign offices. In the interest of fairness to other candidates, we have chosen to post it as the local media only prints Mr Feiner’s releases and his points of view.

“A state supreme court justice today dismissed an attempt by current supervisor Paul Feiner to run uncontested in the September 10 Democratic Primary by having Bob Bernstein removed from the ballot.

“Today’s ruling means Greenburgh Democrats will have a choice on September 10, and an opportunity to discuss the real issues plaguing the Town under Paul’s 22-year reign of error,” Mr. Bernstein said. “Paul enjoys wasting taxpayer money by going into court without facts, evidence, or credibility on his side. From being sued for violating the constitutional rights of a church, to unlawfully giving away millions of dollars in town revenue to residents opposed to a homeless shelter for single women, Paul’s constant mismanagement of the Town has cost taxpayers millions of dollars and its time voters had a chance to say ‘enough is enough.’”

Mr. Feiner alleged Mr. Bernstein should be removed from the ballot on grounds of fraud, including using the name “Bob” on the designating petitions. State election law allows nicknames like “Bob” and a formal opinion of the state board of elections actually states using the name “Bob” for “Robert” is perfectly acceptable.

The court’s action today followed two and a half days of testimony in which there was never any evidence introduced to show fraud of any kind by Mr. Bernstein. “This trial was a gross waste of taxpayer money engineered by a 22-year incumbent clinging desperately to power,” Mr. Bernstein said. “It was a politically motivated malicious attempt to smear me and keep me from meeting voters and discussing the very real concerns they have about our Town. I hope voters will find these tactics just as distasteful as I do.” ”

Lawsuit Tossed! “I Welcome Competition” (Except Against Me)

It’s a telling example of Mr Feiner’s fear of losing his only “real” job. The position of Supervisor, should be an upper managerial position for someone with experience running an organization. Unfortunately, what we have gotten is a poor substitute for management at best. It’s similar to a new person joining a department and the existing co workers incredulously wondering what lies were told to get the position?

Actually, lying seems to be one of the hallmarks of Mr Feiner and his administration. We’ve written about it before and won’t rehash it again here. We did receive a satirical photo (below) that had been doctored by a reader some time ago, of Mr Feiner in a photo he uses regularly for his press/campaign releases as his “stock” photo. Our talented reader added “I Lied”. It gave us a chuckle and we thought we’d post it again in hopes you will too.

Comedy aside, it’s beyond sad that a 22-year incumbent and career politician would stoop to lying by outwardly saying “This is great. It’s democracy at work. I welcome the competition.” Specifically, his competition would be challenger Robert “Bob” Bernstein of the Edgemont part of the Town. And then Mr Feiner quickly attempted to disqualify Mr Bernstein’s petition ballot signatures in a lawsuit that has become one of Mr Feiner’s hallmarks. You may recall in the last election he had Councilman Morgan, by means of his daughter, challenge then-Councilwoman Sonya Brown’s ballot petitions and ultimately disqualify many, forcing her off of the Democratic party line and sadly from the election. She called him out on that several Town Board meetings ago and said she forgave him for what he did to her and her family.

It’s fairly well-known that Mr Bernstein has challenged many of Mr Feiner’s decisions and the legality, or rather illegality of his actions. Of course Mr Feiner routinely tells everyone if you don’t like what he’s doing, sue him. Mr Bernstein has followed Mr Feiner’s mandate on several occasions, initiating several lawsuits against Mr Feiner and the Town. Regardless of the lawsuits or their outcome, ABG believes Mr Bernstein has always acted in the best interests of the Town and not in a self-serving capacity. We can’t say that about Mr Feiner. 

At the Democratic Committee Nomination meeting, several nominations garnered many salutations from various individuals in the audience. The barely-18-year-old young man who nominated Mr Feiner for Supervisor had been hired as an intern with the Town years prior. What he didn’t realize then was that Mr Feiner had craftily co-opted his vote those several years earlier with the position. And naturally, he would only have good things to say about Mr Feiner. ABG suggests he purchase property in the Town or start a business to see first-hand how things are in the “real world” of the Town of Greenburgh.

Today, Mr Feiner and his challenger went to court regarding the lawsuit brought by Mr Feiner against Mr Bernstein (and indirectly the Democratic Party). Challenging Mr Bernstein’s petition ballot signatures as well as his use of the name “Bob” as fraudulent instead of Robert on his petitions is a petty and yet common move by the “Tammany Feiner Conglomerate”. He also challenged Councilman Sheehan’s residency and validity as a witness of ballot signatures stating his primary residence is not where Mr Sheehan claims. Apparently, Mr Sheehan’s break from the Feiner camp with his contrary votes as the election cycle got nearer, really infuriated Mr Feiner. Hence, the attack on one of his stalwart confidantes. ABG believes now that Mr Sheehan has been “Sonya’d”, and if he wins re-election, Mr Feiner will make sure this is Mr Sheehan’s last.

Once again, Mr Feiner, a non-practicing attorney, was beaten again in court. This time it was based on a technicality of the law. While Mr Feiner went after a few fellow Democrats to shore up a victory for himself in November, he screwed things up again. Our sources inform us that everyone who was involved in the suit needed to be served subpoenas to show up to the trial but a few were not. The judge dismissing the case didn’t say anything about Mr Feiner not being a credible witness. He didn’t say Mr Feiner should try to stay out of court and run a fair campaign. And he didn’t say that 22-years is too long. He didn’t say Mr Feiner should try doing the heavy lifting and the dirty work himself instead of having others do it. With the lawsuit tossed, Greenburgh residents now have an opportunity to vote differently than they have for the past 22-years because the system gave them a choice. They finally have an opportunity to create A Better Greenburgh!