Second Times A Charm: The Scam Continues

We wrote on July 6, 2015 that Mr Feiner and his Town Board were opting-in all residents and businesses in the Town to automatically be enrolled in an unproven, unverified and unvetted startup energy company. This was done by a group of attorneys looking to develop a model they could use throughout the country to sell utility transmission of their existing ConEd power. They came up with a catchy politically correct name and the scheme was hatched as, naturally, a not-for-profit company called Sustainable Westchester and they named numerous political leaders to their Board of Directors. What could go wrong?

First, when we first posed this disaster waiting to be approved after getting a tip from inside 177 Hillside Avenue, we did some digging. We came to find out that many area politicians we in an enviable position to further the Sustainable Westchester agenda which simply was to enlist as many unwitting and unknowing participants as possible from their communities. We had maintained then, as we do now, that if it were truly worthwhile and on the up-and-up, the Town Board would have advertised this and had residents opt-IN. But it wasn't a good deal for residents no matter how much lipstick they smeared on this pig!

Here are the Board of Directors as of the initial offering as we reported back in 2015:
- Noam Bramson (Mayor, New Rochelle)
- Chris Burdick (Supervisor, Bedford)
- Joe Carvin (President, One World United & Virtuous): a hedge fund lawyer, was the former Rye Town Supervisor who recently ran against Kristin Gillibrand for her Senate seat and lost.
- Dan Chorost (Environmental Attorney): He is a law partner who regularly litigates complex Superfund matters. Dan blocked construction of a natural gas pipeline through critical environmental areas of Westchester County on behalf of Cortlandt. ABG wonders if he does this to foster more returns for Sustainable Westchester?
- Sara Goddard (Founder, Rye Sustainability Committee): She authored the report on sustainability for Rye.
- Mike Gordon (CEO, Joule Assets): He is responsible for conceptualizing and developing products and services for Joule Assets. He specializes in serving end users in deregulated wholesale electricity markets.
- Peter McCartt (Media and Marketing, Business Development): Peter sits on the environmental committee for the Town of Eastchester.
- Herb Oringel; Is the Treasurer and one of the founders of the Northern Westchester Energy Action Consortium as well as Sustainable Westchester.
- Camilo Patrignani is the CEO of Greenwood Energy. Greenwood is in the U.S. and seven countries in Latin America. They are part of the privately owned international Libra Group which controls over 30 subsidiaries operating across six continents. Libra has substantial renewable energy interests as a prime operator in Europe. Greenwood has a strategic relationship with EuroEnergy which undertook the Libra Group’s first solar investment in 2005 through the acquisition of a local developer. Other Libra subsidiaries are involved in shipping, aviation, hospitality and real estate as well as a range of diversified investments.- Tom Roach (Mayor, White Plains)
-Laura Rossi: is the Executive Director of the Westchester Community Foundation. Prior to her career in philanthropy she practiced law in New York City and Westchester, and worked for local and statewide nonprofits on behalf of women’s rights and farmworker rights.
- Nancy Seligson (Supervisor, Town of Mamaroneck)
- Mike Spano (Mayor, Yonkers)

Sure we know that people come and go. Politicians get elected or ousted from office all the time - except in Greenburgh, so we reached out to what was then Sustainable Westchester and is now known as Westchester Power, A Program of Sustainable Westchester and wondered why the name change? We couldn't find out. We did get a response to an email inquiry we sent Westchester Power (below). The two questions we asked Westchester Power were simple: What is the difference between purchasing the transmission of ConEd's energy supply from ConEd or Westchester Power and who are the Board of Directors for Westchester Power? Going to the website link they provided (below), not much has changed regarding their Board from two years ago. 

"Sustainable Westchester is a member-based non-profit corporation.
Our members are the municipalities
of Westchester (all but 3 at this point) and the board is made up of
representatives of those municipalities
and some private individuals. The board make is shown
at https://sustainablewestchester.org/board-of-directors/.

As for comparing with Con Ed, we are insignificant in comparison.
They are a  huge public utility and we are
a community non profit. The Westchester Power electricity
purchasing program that we administer has a
significant number of customers (around 100,000, or
approx 1/3 of the residential and small business accounts
in Westchester), but we have 5 full time and 4 part-time
staff working out of our Mount Kisco officce to cover
that and all of the other Sustainable Westchester activity
(electric vehicle, energy efficiency, waste and
recycling programs). Con Ed covers Westchester and
NYC and has over 15,000 employees. 

Hope that's helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Wishing you and yours a great Thanksgiving,

Dan Welsh

Program Director

Westchester Power

A Program of Sustainable Westchester

914-242-4725"

As an aside, we find it interesting that City of Rye,with Sara Goddard as their sustainability leader and Westchester Power Board of Director, has now implemented a plastic bag ban and a 10-cent fee for paper bags from merchants. And a separate law was also passed in November requiring food establishments to hide plastic straws and not offer them to patrons unless requested. I wonder if they realize that chipping away at their tax base can have more negative consequences to their business community and ultimately their Village than a couple of biodegradable plastic straws in a landfill? 

After two years and constant monitoring by the Sprain Brook Civic Association President Ken Stahn, he has repeatedly reached out to Mr Feiner and his Board seeking clarification as to the savings, or in this case the lack thereof, that Mr Feiner promised of $400-$600 per homeowner should they enroll in the ESCO. Not only have no homeowners reaped any substantial savings if they switched from ConEd to Sustainable Westchester, rather there were months that saw ConEd being less costly for the transmission of their own energy than Sustainable Westchester. Whenever Mr Stahn would push Mr Feiner even more for answers, Mr Feiner would forward the questions to Sustainable Westchester, Now Westchester Power to either be ignored or answered with non-conclusive jargon.

Below are the rest of the documents that came out in this mailer that has the Westchester Power logo as well as the Town logo. While we believe it is an illegal use of the Town's logo, gimmicks, con-games and questionable actions out of the corner office never cease to amaze. The hope is that you, the overwrought junk-mail recipient, looked at this mailing, thought it was junk and put it in your recycle bin. This is exactly what Westchester Power and Mr Feiner want you to do. If you respond as they hope, you are automatically enrolled. Why is Mr Feiner so keen on this shady method of operation? It's the same as locks, which are said to be designed to keep honest people out. Don't fall for this scheme. Opt-OUT by going to the Westchester Power website (www.westchesterpower.org) or calling them (914-242-4725) and tell them you want out! It's the only way we'll get A Better Greenburgh.

Scarsdale Synagogue's Brotherhood Launches New Series Of Dinner Discussions For 2018-19

All of these dinner discussions are open to the community.  We request an RSVP sent to programs@sstte.org.  For more information on any of these events, please contact Dan Alpert by sending an email to brotherhood@sstte.org or visit www.sstte.org/upcoming-events.html.

Extra Biblical evidence of Jewish life at the time of Genesis and Exodus featuring Ed Bleiberg

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2019

6:15 p.m. - Dinner; Pricing TBD

7:00 p.m. - Speaker and Discussion.  Ed Bleiberg, senior curator at the Brooklyn Museum will discuss extra Biblical evidence of Jewish life at the time of Genesis and Exodus

8:00 p.m. - Chavurah Service

Letters written to the New York Times featuring Tom Feyer, Editor at the NYT

FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2019

6:15 p.m. - Ma'ariv Service featuring Chai Notes

7:00 p.m. - Dinner; Pricing TBD

7:45 p.m. Speaker and Discussion: Our own Tom Feyer, editor of the NYT Editorial Department will discuss letters written to the New York Times

Influence of a Jewish Background on Activism and Parallels between Jewish and gay activism featuring Avram Finkelstein

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019

6:15 p.m. - Dinner; Pricing TBD

7:00 p.m. - Speaker and Discussion; Activist, artist, writer Avram Finklestein, creator of famous Silence = Death AIDS  campaign will discuss influence of his Jewish background on activism and parallels between Jewish and gay activism

8:00 p.m. - Chavurah Service

Technion by Tova Kantrowitz

FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2019

6:15 p.m. - Speaker and Discussion:  Talk given by Tova Kantrowitz on Technion , the MIT of Israel and their incredible influence on Israel’s development in science, medicine, agriculture, military.

7:00 p.m. - Dinner; Pricing TBD

8:00 p.m. - Shabbat of Simcha Service

About Scarsdale Synagogue

Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El is a Reform Jewish congregation committed to creating, with and for its 400 member families, a covenant community of shared lives and real relationships. Founded in 1961, the Synagogue was joined by the memberships of Tremont Temple of the Bronx in 1976 and Temple Emanu-El of Southern Westchester in 2008. For further information, please contact:

Fawn Mendel, Temple Administrator

Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El

Tel: (914) 725-5175

Email: fawn@sstte.org

Happy Thanksgiving

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.

Open Letter To The Supervisor and Town Board

Dear Mr. Feiner and Town Board members,

I would like to share my concern about the development issue that is before you this Wednesday November 14th, namely the proposed development of the Elmwood Country Club.

The developer is granted an as of right for 119 homes on the property, but is seeking a zoning change (downzoning) so they can build a 175 unit Townhouse development.

My neighborhood (Hilltop Farms) is the first neighborhood east of the development, after the Sprain Parkway. I have several issues of importance about this, but my primary concern is the increase in density and the impacts of traffic on our neighborhood.

As I’m sure you are well aware, there is already significant rush hour congestion around the Dobbs Ferry Road / Hartsdale Ave intersection, as well as on E Hartsdale Avenue, all the way down to the 4 corners area. Adding the anticipated number of commuter cars to our already busy roadways will decrease the quality of life in our town. The traffic jams on these roads have already added to the commute times for residents. There will also be consequences for the traffic on Dobbs Ferry Road heading to both the Sprain, and into Ardsley.

The developer is claiming that an over-55 community will not have as many people heading out to work in the morning, but I think that might only be true when the residents reach full retirement age, and at that point, they might even seek to relocate and be replaced by a younger household. I am also concerned that a developer faced with slow sales of their $1,000,000 townhouses might move to create rental property on part of the parcel, and I don’t know if they would be prohibited from doing that. Speaking of the demographics, Senior communities are less likely to support bond issues such like the one currently proposed by our district.

The proposal by the Greenburgh Central School District to consolidate onto a campus that would have E Hartsdale Avenue as its primary egress/entrance, and that will also create traffic nightmares for people traveling our roads at least for 2 periods in the morning and
afternoon. Add into that a new Assisted Lving at Metropolis, and a proposed Assisted Living at Maplewood Swim Club and you can see where there can be serious problems.

There is also the problem of creating a zoning precedent if you were to down-zone Elmwood, and you would leave the door open for anyone else to demand equal treatment. We have several other large country club parcels that are ripe for development.  I don’t want to see our town so packed with housing, that we will see people looking to move away, rather than come here.

Now, passing over the myriad other issues brought to light with this proposal, taxes, cost to the town for upkeep of parkland with dubious suitability, loss of tax revenue due to townhouse vs. single-family homes and loss of revenue to both the school district and fire
district.

I am quite disappointed with the attitude and stance taken on behalf of the developer in this matter. They are trying to pressure the surrounding homes with scare tactics by threatening to remove any buffer between the neighboring homes. Indeed, if you look at their 119
home proposal, they have purposely not only placed a swimming pool behind every home, but they have drawn the bordering homes to the north in a disproportionate manner, making the backyard tiny and the front yard huge so as to place the homes as close to the setback as possible. I don't think this type of tactic escapes notice, and furthermore, this developer has no future interests in the town, seeking only to pave the way for another company to come in and build, and that builder might have no interest in any kind of “vision
statement” proffered during the permit process. The object here seems to be to generate the maximum profit possible with little regard for the effects on the surrounding community.

On the practical side, I think that the 119-home proposal that cost a million dollars on this parcel would be a potential great benefit to the town. It will attract business to the Route 119 corridor and hopefully we will see an increase in quality shopping and dining. Those 119 homes will pay full freight to our tax rolls, and hopefully not add as much traffic to our roads.

Thanks for taking the time to hear my thoughts. I urge you to disallow a proposal that would lead to a request to downzone the Elmwood property.

Sincerely,

Paul C.
(Full name and address of writer intentionally withheld.)

Veteran's Day