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.

Fear of Flooding Makes Fighting HUD Difficult

The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lawsuit and settlement by former County Executive Andy Spano, has two, maybe three distinct camps whose feelings are absolute. One camp has people vehemently against the settlement, stating it’s a matter of economics that has segregated our neighborhoods; the other camp is in agreement with the settlement and feel there is housing discrimination against certain people of the lower income scale. Finally, there are those who have no clue about the settlement and insist on keeping their proverbial heads in the sand regardless of how it may affect them. Even though this group is a significant one, they are rarely involved and are easy and unwitting prey for the likes of politicians such as Mr Feiner and their schemes, lies and trickery.

This post is not about those groups of people. Rather, its about a splinter group which maintains the land usage in their community is “maxed” out, with no appreciable land onto which they could even build affordable housing. Per the HUD settlement between then Democratic County Executive Andrew Spano and the federal government, Westchester County agreed to participate in the building of 750 affordable housing units in what has been referred to as “white” communities. ABG believes the color is wrong. They should be referred to as “green” communities – segregated only by the ability to afford the housing prices and more importantly the ever-growing taxes in those communities. Simply because someone wants to live somewhere but cannot afford to do so does not constitute discrimination.

The Village of Scarsdale is already congested with existing buildings and claims little to no developable space throughout the village. Regardless of the amount of units mandated by HUD for the Village to construct, the rallying cry has always been, “We have no room to build any affordable housing units.” Whether the assumption of this statement is correct or not, whether the residents who would move into these apartments could afford to live in Scarsdale or not, and whether their children would be ostracized in school for not being able to “keep up with the Jones” or not seems immaterial to the federal government.

The federal monitor only wants units built. The federal government wants Westchester County to supersede local zoning to be able to force localities to build where they see fit. New York State is a home rule state which allows individual communities to determine their destiny. But the federal monitor doesn’t care as these communities took HUD monies and now they want payback. They will probably win by shear size in another case of “might makes right”. And you thought you finally outgrew the school yard bullying syndrome?

Scarsdale is not the only community making the “no room” argument. Yet, Scarsdale with the others, continue to entertain new buildings proposals, new designs and ultimately new buildings to be built. The Town of Greenburgh, ghettoized by Paul Feiner during his 22-year reign, was allowed to be exempted from having to add more affordable housing units. One down side to Mr Feiner’s affordable housing ghettoization that is witnessed in the Fairview area is that businesses are not able to be supported by the residents, close their doors and leave or are driven out by continued crime either directly or from the surrounding area. In the Manhattan Avenue area of Fairview for instance, Caldor’s closed their doors, the A&P closed theirs and this past week Lash Kia across the street closed as well. The deli one block away had a murder committed in it a while back and the apartment buildings have gangs, guns, prostitution and drug activity. Not very inviting and to the general public, a good place to stay far away from. But’s it’s acceptable according to Mr Feiner because he’s been able to control it to one area of the Town and keep it out of the others. That’s what wrong with the settlement’s “pass” for Greenburgh.

Back in Scarsdale, the KOS Building Group, is working with others to gain a six-lot subdivision in an 8-acre site at Cushman, Garden and Woodland roads. The Church of St. Pius X in a bid to renovate classrooms and create a new sanctuary entrance with other expansions, sought and received site plan approval for a house at 2 Brittany Close, a lot created as a result of a cluster subdivision. Two existing houses, at 119 Cushman and 1 Woodland, are slated for demolition. A subsequent subdivision will create four new lots and result in a net gain of two houses. Another two-lot subdivision that would create four new lots at 2 Ogden Road was on the agenda but removed and held over. Two more lots are adjacent to area wetlands were the property buffers the wetlands into the neighborhood. The argument of no space in Scarsdale doesn’t really hold water (pun intended). And that seems to be the various Scarsdale neighborhood’s argument against the increased housing: flooding. Just as is seen in the Fulton Park area with the Bronx River and the Saw Mill River area throughout the opposite side of Greenburgh, nothing is being done to alleviate the flooding for those people while Mr Feiner routinely “green lights” every developer’s proposal.

ABG is not saying Scarsdale (or any other community) should be required to build affordable housing. Greenburgh has mandated 10% of all new housing be required to include affordable housing, we’re just not sure this as a viable solution toward increasing housing options throughout any of our communities. Just having affordable housing, utilizing either DSS (welfare) to pay for the housing or Section 8, where the low wage worker/resident pays up to 30% of their income toward housing and then the balance is subsidized again by DSS (welfare), continues to perpetuate dependencies and never-getting-out-from-under government assistance syndrome.

But the argument that there is no room to build in a community, this time easily exemplified by Scarsdale’s own actions, makes it difficult to say, “No” to HUD and be convincing. Other communities are suffering from the same lack of room problem as well as other issues. In northern Westchester, ABG is told that much of the land which readily appears available is actually considered watershed property that is part of the ecosystem that supplies water to the New York City region. Simply saying there is developable land there just isn’t so. Current County Executive Rob Astorino has been fighting the HUD monitor tooth and nail. We think some of his arguments may be a bit extreme and are election scare tactics. However, it is good that someone is standing up to the schoolyard bully known as HUD, even if for the wrong reasons.

Residents To Lose To Outside Developers

There was a new organized proposal about two Town Board meetings ago that had an immediate buy-in from The Paul from Homes for Westchester, a consortium of six affordable housing groups that work toward “streamlining” the affordable housing projects process in Westchester. Their aim is to speed up the approval process and get their affordable housing projects sped through the system. Their claim is that it takes much too long for them. They cite not-for-profit as well as for-profit companies having to spend so much time time for approvals that it can make affordable housing unaffordable. Really?

The process in the Town is extremely convoluted sometimes but more complicated than other communities. In Greenburgh for instance, to re-roof your home doesn’t require a permit. But if you use more than one sheet of plywood during the renovation, a permit is required. Approvals for homeowners require plans and their submission, attendance at zoning and planning board meetings, etc. The process can go for as long as a year and may be more. And, there’s no guarantee that your project will get the green light from the Town. There are some good things that come from this process from a safety perspective.

Tony Hoeltzel, the “front man” for this consortium, along with Joan Arnold, gave examples of the supposedly difficult process he’s been a part of in numerous communities. In Greenburgh, The Paul and his go-along Stepford Board will rush affordable housing projects through the system in the blink of an eye. Planning Commissioner Thomas “Can’t Say No” Madden will even meet with and assist developers with their planning. Residents don’t get this same hand-holding. In fact, if they miss something on their submission applications, they are denied, told the application is not correct and sent to the back of the line to start all over again. This doesn’t often happen with affordable housing proponents. Residents are seeking changes to their largest investments while the outside developers are simply coming in to make a buck!

Hoeltzel claimed of one project that took thirty three meetings to get approved, thus his comment about the unaffordability of affordable housing. ABG is sure this project was not in Greenburgh. Perhaps he should seek another line of work if he doesn’t like having to participate in the same processes the residents and taxpayers must to protect and cultivate their Towns and Villages. In particular, in our Town where The Paul will rubber stamp all projects from a select group of developers as affordable, ABG doubts this service really needed? The Paul with his complicit Board, along with Thomas “Can’t Say No” Madden and in concert with Building Inspector John Locido, approve every project, no matter how inappropriate, as long as the developer mentions a few buzzwords: affordable, low-income, workforce, municipal workers and of course veterans and senior citizens.

This effort is nothing more than a special interest group seeking to circumvent the rules and regulations of the Town for their own gain. They are playing the “not for profit” card like its some sort of panacea for housing. Its not. These “not for profit” owners garner extremely attractive salaries. Many of their more senior employees, such as their attorneys, engineers and designers also make very enviable salaries while living under the “not for profit” moniker. So, at the end of the year, when their well-paid accountants are preparing their books to show “no profit”, their balance sheets may not show a profit but everyone was handsomely compensated. That is the only significant difference between them and a “for profit” developer. Well, that and the various tax breaks afforded to them that the “for profit” developer doesn’t receive, increasing the playing field to be even more disproportionate.

The Paul favors this action. Why wouldn’t he? Its right in line with his continued “ghettoization” of the Fairview section of Greenburgh which is currently running on all cylinders. While the Town did not have to participate in the Westchester County HUD Housing Settlement because there was, to quote The Paul, “An over abundance of affordable housing in Greenburgh,” the reality is he’s over-saturated this one area while protecting votes in others. It’s time for the residents to be heard! We do not need special interest groups with their own agendas having a special line that allows them to get their own dispensation for their projects while the owners of the Town, the resident taxpayers, are forced to wait on longer and slower moving lines. This must be stopped! We can only hope.