Welcome The Worthington Woodlands Civic Association

A newly formed civic association meeting was held Monday evening in the Town Hall’s main meeting room. Uncharacteristically for that room, this meeting started on time at 8PM on the dot. So, to The Paul and his Stepford Board, it can be done. With so much going on throughout the Town, as well as issues concerning their neighborhoods specifically, neighbors reached out to each other and decided to join together. About fifty or so residents from several neighborhoods converged upon Town Hall.

Other meetings were also underway in other rooms throughout the Town Hall facility. Several members of other civic associations joined this newly formed association as guest speakers, and to help aim the group toward accomplishing several goals. First thing was to fill several positions such as President, Vice-President and the like. That went remarkable well as neighbors eagerly stepped up to help out. Because time was short, the guests guided several conversations and suggestions toward the newly elected officers and members.

Next was a discussion about the GameOn 365 Sports bubble that The Paul and his Stepford Board have already voted on and signed a lease for on the contaminated, formerly owned Frank’s Nursery property on Dobbs Ferry Road. For many residents, this was the first time many were learning of this. They asked about the referendum The Paul has be talking about? One member explained that The Paul is opening up actions to be taken in their neighborhood to the entire Town to decide through this referendum. Another civic association guest speaker explained what The Paul will say regardless of the outcome. If the referendum passes, he’ll say, “This is great! Democracy works and the people have spoken. I’m so happy.” If it fails to pass, he’ll say, “It doesn’t matter, we’ve already signed the contract, so the deal proceeds and the vote really doesn’t matter. I’m so happy.”

Another guest speaker was from the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations, the umbrella group for all the Town civic associations. She expounded on the history of the Fortress Bible Church lawsuit and subsequent guilty verdict against The Paul and his previous Town Board. She also explained the appeal process that the Town just lost as well – guaranteeing more tax increases for Greenburgh residents! The decision holds The Paul and the Town guilty of discrimination, destroying evidence amongst other verdict findings. Some in the audience welcomed the explanation of the entire process while still amazed and disgusted by the behavior of Town leaders. As a note, Town Attorney Tim Lewis had repeatedly refused to discuss Town strategy for their appeal with the public. Perhaps if he had, greater legal minds within the Town may have been able to help gain a more favorable outcome.

A brief discussion of The Paul’s failure to renew the $1.2 million Westhelp contract with the County took place and the impact this loss of revenue is having on the Town. They didn’t discuss the $4 million loss from the water department or the 19 laptops stolen from the Theodore Young Center. They didn’t discuss how the Teamsters have been without a contract for four years. They didn’t discuss the spot zoning performed by the Stepford Board while ignoring recommendations of the Planning and Zoning Boards. They didn’t discuss the reshaping plans for Central Avenue or Rt 119. There will be other meetings and plenty of other topics to discuss down the line.

They did touch on the reduction in curb-side leaf pickup and the supposed savings taxpayers will “enjoy”. Really? The Town is keeping the equipment and the same highway crews will now pick up bagged leaves left at the curb by homeowners or gardeners (for additional fees). No savings there. There is no personnel reassignment or hourly savings with this change and no waste removal cost savings – nothing! The Paul cannot tell us how much taxpayers will save as there really are no savings. It’s The Paul’s routine deflection tactic. To quote one of the G8, we currently pay for these services and they should be maintained or our taxes reduced to match the reduction of service!

As you can well imagine, the meetings and conversations were spirited and ran past the official end of the new civic association’s first meeting. The organizers should feel they’ve earned the right to claim success based on the turnout! Welcome to the new Worthington Woodlands Civic Association and best of luck in the future.