Resident Shunned; Town Board & Attorney Postures; Board Fakes Pass

It’s not been a piece of secreted information, nor has it been unknown by many. It’s not been a surprise to anyone, especially our Town Board, since the last two years after notification. What has been troubling to most is the Town Board’s obvious obfuscation of a bill that was written by resident advocate Robert Bernstein, and mishandled by every portion of our Town’s leadership. While it’s also no secret that there is no love lost between Messrs. Bernstein, Feiner and Lewis, Mr Bernstein had, along with members of his Edgemont Community Council, pointed out that numerous massage parlors, alleged fronts for prostitution, continued to operate and multiply throughout our Town. In fact, Mr Bernstein, with help from several resident advocates including Ella Preiser amongst others, crafted a bill to regulate massage parlors within the Town and presented it to the Town Board for adoption.

The Town Board dutifully washed their hands of it, uh, we mean, turned it over to Town Attorney Tim Lewis. Mr Lewis opposes the submitted bill, so it languished in his “not to-do” pile. At numerous subsequent meetings, Mr Bernstein and others would ask about the fate of the bill and get the requisite stare Mr Feiner has learned to use so well. Mr Lewis gave his legal opinion of the bill and why he had not done anything with it. Ever the politician, Mr Feiner continued to say he supported the bill but was waiting on the Town Attorney. As time dragged on, so did the lack of a legal position as the Town Attorney, et al, sought a non-binding determination/judgment from the NYS Attorney General’s office. Mr Bernstein explained that while Mr Lewis may disagree with the law, his presumption toward enacting the bill into law was incorrect and it should be adopted. We can’t help be reminded of the Town’s new slogan: “Why fix it when we can talk about it?”

At last weeks Town Board meeting, Police Chief Chris McNerney told the Town Board that all six massage parlors had been shut down about two weeks ago. Eleven women were arrested that were working at these locations as unlicensed massage therapists. When asked how many have reopened since then, he stated, “All of them.” On March 16, 2015 Chief McNerney, himself an attorney, drafted a letter to the Attorney General’s office detailing that state law gives local governments the legal authority to close down brothels fronting as massage parlors.  “I strongly believe that the Town of Greenburgh’s proposed local law is needed and is not preempted by New York State law,” Chief McNerney wrote.  “The intent of our proposed law is to curtail criminal activity at businesses within the Town and to eliminate businesses which jeopardize the public health, safety and welfare,” he added.

Jeopardizing the public health, safety and welfare of Town residents is a heartfelt concern from the Chief of Police, yet Town officials seem less than concerned. In fact, knowing that Mr Feiner can get scads of publicity out of this quandary, he has done what he does best and flipped the Town’s inaction into a publicity stunt. He sent out an email via his coveted GBList that the Town will be hosting a forum about sex trafficking on Thursday at 7PM, championed by reporter Ken Picard. Other panelists include our Police Chief Chris McNerney and Lauren Pesso, the Director of the Human Trafficking Program at My Sisters’ Place. Noticeably absent are Mr Bernstein who has been championing the issue via legislation to help curb and/or stop human trafficking. We realized this was a publicity stunt because there are many other representatives who could be included from Westchester County Office for Women, Westchester County District Attorney, Hope’s Door, Victims Assistance Services of WestCOP, Pace Women’s Justice Center, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, Empire Justice Center, Westchester County Department of Probation, Westchester County Department of Social Services, Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association and the Interfaith Caring Community of Greenburgh. We could list more but think the point is made. Why have these others not been invited? 

The answer is simple. As we begin the re-election cycle, Mr Feiner will need to have the appearance of seeming to care about the community. It could be our next Town slogan, “We seem to care.” He’ll use this ploy to bring human trafficking to the forefront, as will other local politicians in their bids for re-election. Nothing will come of this venture. Eventually, for the sake of the young girls involved, we hope that Mr Bernstein’s proposed bill comes to fruition and is passed into law. If it is, it will be closer to the elections so as to provide Mr Feiner with more campaigning opportunity. This type of insincere patronizing by Mr Feiner has lost its luster long ago. It’s time for a change in Greenburgh. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Bernstein & Fantauzzi Score Forum “TKO”

Our title for this post is a bit facetious in that there were no real “winners” in last night’s forum. The participants who benefitted were the two candidates and the public who showed up, sans Mr Feiner and Ms Beville. The forum, no longer referred to as a debate because we don’t want anyone to experience failure, was a technical knockout for Mr Bernstein and Ms Fantauzzi as Mr Feiner and Ms Beville chose to boycott the forum and utilize a different strategy. This forum, which began at 7:30PM instead of 7PM to give both candidates time to arrive, was hosted by the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations. The CGCA represents and culls together the leaders of various civic association members and issues throughout the Town and speaks on behalf of residents with issues brought before the Town Board and other agencies. Moderated by the League of Woman Voters’ Susan Weisfeld, the questions asked were only those presented for the one present candidate and not the other. And since Mr Feiner and Ms Beville chose to not participate, the few questions asked were specific to Mr Bernstein and Ms Fantauzzi.

The lack of an opponent for both Ms Fantauzzi and Mr Bernstein appeared to make the moderator Ms Weisfeld appear disoriented. She even stated that she has never experienced this situation in any other forum and was unsure as to how to proceed after the two candidates answered their questions, occasionally adding nervous laughter. Yet, she read off the ground rules that were almost nonsensical given the lack of opposition. Once everything was set up and ground rules laid, the abbreviated evening got underway.

Ms Fantauzzi was the first speaker and gave a 2-minute prepared opening statement, thanking numerous people. She touched on several topics in this statement. One of her big campaign contentions was that the Town Clerk should attend Town Board Work Sessions and Town Board Public Meetings in silence and only speak to clarify information or to answer a direct question addressed to her or her office. The Town Clerks position is to record the information of the meetings. She offered residents real time record-keeping and website posting. She also stated she would bring her managerial experience developed at Chase Bank to add to the professionalism that is lacking in the current Town Clerk’s office. She offered to have a true open door policy and make information accessible to all. 

Ms Fantauzzi seemed to falter several times when presented with random questions from the audience. It was difficult to tell if this was due to inexperience, nervousness or a lack of command of information. She did state that she had so many things she was thinking and was unable to quickly organize and articulate her thoughts. Given that, let’s write it off this time to nerves and hope for a more commanding performance in the next forum. 

Unfortunately, many in the audience were dismayed that a break was taken after the abbreviated time spent with Ms Fantauzzi. Regardless, the forum next returned with Mr Robert “Bob” Bernstein, the second and final speaker for the event. He made an opening statement as well, highlighting the work the CGCA does and how it has remained non-partisan. He promised to bring his own management skills to the Town and if warranted was willing to investigate whether or not the Town should hire a professional Town Administrator, similar to what other Towns have done.

He was asked how and why he got into politics and said it happened 22 years ago; ironically the same time Mr Feiner first took office. Neighbors often complained to him that they could not get answers from the Town or Mr Feiner and he began coming to Town Board meetings on their behalf. He discussed his plans to make the Town more revenue efficient as well as operationally transparent. He offered to develop an attitude of cooperation, civility and efficiency why doing away with back-room deals and secret meetings.

There were numerous questions submitted that were never read and several people were stunned when the moderator ended the evenings event. Many queried why Mr Feiner and Ms Beville were not in attendance. Not only were they given the information in a timely manor, Mr Bernstein spoke about the debate at the last Town Board meeting’s public session. One resident said he saw Mr Feiner campaigning in front of a supermarket just before arriving at the Town Hall forum.

Time was on the side of the residents who attended and while ABG believes more could have been done with questions and answers, we appreciate the time we had with these candidates. The next forum will be held in Hastings-On-Hudson at the Jim Harmon Community Center on Main Street at 8 p.m., September 3. We hope to see Mr Feiner and Ms Beville there as well as you.

Punishing Residents

The average homeowner in Greenburgh pays their property taxes without much fanfare. Many have chosen to include their taxes in their mortgage payment and never really “see” the tax increases and simply pay their increased mortgage payment without much thought. Most residents are also “headline readers” or willfully uninformed as to what is going on with their local government and its officials. Greenburgh taxes have risen exponentially in many cases and are only realized if and when the homeowner sees or pays their bill independent of their mortgage. Property taxes for municipal services in Greenburgh have soared by 54 percent in Unincorporated Greenburgh, and 145% in the villages.

Case in point? Our increased water bills for the last three years. To soften the blow of an under-financed water department (there’s really more to it), Mr Feiner took it upon himself to raise the water tax two years in a row for a total of 102%! And while the rate change addressed the immediate shortfall, he insists new water meters be installed throughout the Town, claiming faulty meter reading amounts were the cause of the financial deficit. Since we were able to quickly address the deficit in two years, perhaps we’ll see a reduction in our water rates to an evened-out amount and an end to the water meter folly? Not likely.

Additionally, Mr Feiner ignores the real estate tax increases punishing residents for the various districts when he makes his speeches about staying within the 2% tax caps “imposed” by the state. The Fairview Fire District had released its proposed 2013 budget in excess of the NYS 2% cap. The district’s proposal would increase homeowners property taxes by 4.95%, with the bulk of the increase being retirement and salary costs! Add to this the ever-increasing school taxes – for the children – that each year are supposedly going to new and improved programs that ostensibly need to be created/replaced/tuned-up/increased/expanded, etc., with correspondingly dismal results. The taxpayers wallets are seen as an endless source of revenue by each taxing district. And for those not working, working part-time or not making the money our Supervisor does, they have all they can do just to get by.

We all know that having a job is a good way to help our community flourish, unless it’s the Fairview section of Town. This has been Mr Feiner’s dumping ground for low and no income people, DSS recipients, Greenburgh Housing recipients, displaced people and so on. He has ghettoized this area to “protect” other areas of the Town and Villages from it. Hmm, do you think that’s why he always gets the Villages vote in the elections? It couldn’t hurt.

Go to some of the buildings in the Manhattan Avenue area without an escort and report back to us how it felt. The police department spends a concentrated amount of their time there for criminal activity and the fire department mostly for ambulance and some fire calls. While these people may need or even want a job, you never see Mr Feiner and his job bank working to employ them. Why not? They are expendable to him except at the voting booth. Watch for another Lanza-funded program to be offered to them at the TYCC so he can boast what he’s done for them this time.

Every politician promises jobs to their electorate at every election, even Mr Feiner. Yet, we all know government doesn’t create jobs. What government does, in particular Greenburgh government under 22 years of the Feiner Administration, is desperately seek new ways to tax, fee, and regulate business to death. The Town Board’s recently failed attempt to add a hotel tax as part of their revenue stream was introduced and pushed by Feiner friend and sidekick in Albany, Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti. He claimed that this tax was justified because the hotel patrons utilize our highways and roadways, free parking and beautiful landscapes. What Mr Abinanti, Mr Feiner and others don’t understand is that the tax they seek to impose will not be paid by the hotel. It will simply be passed along to the customer. Eventually, the customer or more importantly their company will say, “Enough!” and stop going there. Most of the other politicians have been equally disappointed because they just cannot understand the real world of business. For Mr Feiner, never having been in the private sector, this is strictly an abstract concept. The hotel managers on the other hand are relieved the tax never passed into law.

Dan Conte, president of the Westchester Hotel Association and Manager of the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, stated most of Westchester’s hotel business comes from corporate clients. Even a minor room tax can mean the difference in a choice of hotels, he said. “Every penny does count when it comes to the decision makers,” he said. “The misnomer is that it’s a victimless crime.” They are competing with hotels from White Plains, Fairfield County, Connecticut, and Northern New Jersey. These are more readily accessible to public transportation and a broader range of dining options. He noted that the county already charges its own 3% tax on hotels in addition to the sales tax. “We don’t understand, again, why they continue to single us out as an industry,” Conte said. “The economy has gotten a little bit better, but it’s not better.”

The New York State 2% tax cap that Mr Feiner knowingly boasts of adhering to can easily be overridden when necessary and is fraught with exemptions. With his mismanagement of the Town’s finances, his false tax cap savings and ever-increasing certiorari refunds, other taxing districts are forced to compensate for their respective shifting revenues, blowing any tax cap savings out of the water! This last Town Board meeting (8/14/13) approved over $2 million in certiorari refunds. The 47% non-tax-paying-not-for-profits operating in the Town, the twice-monthly certiorari adjustments the Town Board authorizes at each Town Board meeting, are choking the rest of the tax-paying residents of the Town and must stop! We pray Mr Feiner doesn’t decide to start a Greenburgh BID. Even though they are proven losers, he seems to embrace one bad idea after another.

The Greenburgh electorate is primarily comprised of democrats and they have the ability to change the Town. The Democratic Primary for Town Supervisor and Town Clerk are the two contested positions in the September 10th Democratic Primary election. Mr Robert “Bob” Bernstein and Sharron Fantauzzi, respectively, are running against the incumbents for Supervisor and Town Clerk. ABG urges all registered democrats to vote in this primary and help to create A Better Greenburgh.

Ethics Complaint Filed

On August 17, a Code of Ethics Citizen’s Complaint was filed against Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul J. Feiner (“Feiner”) and Judith Beville, Greenburgh Town Clerk, (“Beville”) alleging violations of the Greenburgh Code of Ethics in connection with their having solicited or accepted services in aid of their political campaigns for re-election from Town Attorney Timothy Lewis in violation of Chapter 570-7(A); and against each of them for aiding each other in the violation of such section of the Ethics Code in violation of Chapter 570-13. The allegations of this complaint are supported by the complainant’s sworn statement under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of New York, being filed herewith with the Greenburgh Town Clerk, that the allegations contained herein are true and correct to the best of the complainant's knowledge, information and belief.

It is readily accepted by residents in the Town that Mr Feiner seems to operate, or “play”, by his own set of rules when it comes to what he wants or wants to do, regardless of ethics or legality. One example that comes to mind is his willingness to change Town zoning codes for a developer’s proposal. Not only is this illegal and known as “spot-zoning”, these changes are usually detrimental to the particular neighborhood affected and the Town overall. A recent case in point would be the Affordable Living Facility zoning change enacted by the Town Board which was written by the attorneys for the Brightview Assisted Living Facility proposal in the Glenville section of the Town. Needless to say, Brightview fared extremely well with the enactment of this change while the small Glenville community will be irrevocably changed.

At the Democratic Nominating Convention, held at Town Hall for free/no charge on May 24th, Mr Feiner lost the endorsement of the Democratic Party for Supervisor in this November’s election to Mr Robert Bernstein in what’s known as a weighted vote of District Leaders. Because there are two candidates vying for the endorsement, it forces a Democratic Primary vote which will be held on September 10th. At that time, registered Democratic voters will cast their votes to choose which candidate becomes the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party. ABG urges all registered democrats to come out and vote.

The ethics complaint filed alleges that Mr Feiner (Supervisor) and Ms Beville (Clerk), as Public Officials, accepted contributions from Town Attorney Tim Lewis, who is an Appointed Town Officer, with his collection of ballot signatures for their respective candidacies. The Code of Ethics specifically states, “Chapter 570-7 of the Greenburgh Code of Ethics is entitled, “Prohibited Political Activities” and subsection A thereof is entitled, “Contributions.” Subsection 1 thereof states (in pertinent part) that “No Public Officer ... shall directly, or indirectly, solicit or accept any contribution or money or services or thing of value for any political party, campaign committee or any Candidate from any Appointed Officer or Employee ....” .”

The issue of “any contribution... or services” is the contention of this complaint. Obtaining signatures from an appointed town official in aid of an elected town official’s campaign for reelection is a violation of the code. Collecting signatures takes time and effort and is a service with value. Elected town officials should know better than to accept such services from their appointees, and appointees should know better than to aid such violations by the elected officials who appoint them. Mr Feiner, a non-practicing attorney recently had his last lawsuit tossed NY Supreme Court on a technicality. It’s no wonder Mr Feiner would easily “dismiss” his ethical responsibility to the Town and its residents in a desperate attempt to remove Mr Bernstein’s candidacy against him. 

In a previous posts on ABG, we discussed Mr Feiner’s dismissed lawsuit in more detail and how Mr Feiner disingenuously claimed he welcomed competition and that this was democracy in action. Apparently, he was not telling the truth as he challenged signatures acquired by the Bernstein campaign and even his Town Board colleague Councilman Francis Sheehan, even challenging an order of nuns who had gotten petition ballot signatures for Mr Bernstein! 

Political candidates have many resources available to them from the Board of Elections. When they are in doubt of a proper procedure or interpretation of a requirement mandated of a candidate, they can easily call the Board of Elections in White Plains or Albany for clarification and explanation. In fact, both the Democrats and Republican hold “Campaign Schools” for candidates to discuss the “rules” to help them navigate the maze of paperwork, deadlines, filings and donation requirements. After 22-years in office, Mr Feiner seems to have forgotten or chosen to ignore most of these requirements. Perhaps his time in office has exhausted him. Or, if he intends to remain in politics, he consider returning to school – Campaign School. The electorate has the ability to let Mr Feiner know they are exhausted too. By voting in the Democratic Primary, they might just help the Town be A Better Greenburgh. 

“Campaign Mailing” and Beautification

Mr Feiner recently sent out another campaign mailing under the guise of touting action that is needed to improve the former WestHelp property on the Westchester Community College campus in the Valhalla portion of the Town of Greenburgh. Had Mr Feiner simply renewed the contract with the County for the WestHelp facility when former County Executive Andrew Spano requested it, the Town would still be reaping $1.2 million per year. But Mr Feiner decided not to renew the contract to gain favor (re: purchase votes) from the Valhalla residents in this election and several key Republican politicians. He knew he would be running against someone in the upcoming election, but couldn’t know who. His formidable opponent this year is Mr Robert “Bob” Bernstein, a resident of Edgemont, an attorney and civic leader who has beaten Mr Feiner in other venues.

Mr Feiner sounded nervous during his acceptance speech at the Democratic Nominating meeting held for free at the Greenburgh Town Hall. In accepting the nomination, he proceeded to state that he welcomed the competition and that this was democracy in action and he looked forward to the campaign with Mr Bernstein.

Separately, this is not the first time democrats have been allowed to utilize Town Hall as Mr Feiner’s personal resources at no charge, but never availed to the republicans at no charge. This all-democratic administration obviously has its perks! Another perk he does enjoy is that of being able to lie to the public and have the mainstream media regurgitate it verbatim.

Almost immediately afterwards, during the campaign ballot signature acquisition period, he challenged the signatures submitted by Mr Bernstein for Supervisor, Mr Sheehan for Town Council and Ms Fantauzzi’s for Town Clerk as fraudulent, as well as Mr Sheehan’s residency as fraudulent. The case was thrown out of court after three day of courtroom melodrama by Mr Feiner and his counsel Assemblyman Abinanti, Mr Feiner shrugged off the loss stating he was looking forward to the competition. If he were looking forward to the competition, why the court action?

Mr Feiner’s flawed decision to not renew the County’s WestHelp contract for $1.2 million per year, which would have guaranteed the Town 10-years worth of income for little if any effort, affects more than just our bottom line. The 100+ units of housing that was championed by our now-Governor and then-HUD Housing Chairman Andrew Cuomo(D), was slated to transform from affordable/subsidized housing for the homeless into affordable/subsidized housing for seniors.

Regardless of whether it was subsidized housing or not, the need for it and its usefulness has never diminished. Mr Feiner determined that the Town should not renew the contract. Not the Board, not the Greenburgh Housing Authority, not the County and certainly not the State. And now that the State has finally said “No” to Mr Feiner’s folly to sell the County property the Town doesn’t own to the Ferncliff School of Yonkers, Mr Feiner awarded the property through a falsified bid to an upstart company named MRH. Then he attempted to accuse the public, especially the G10, of bid-rigging. Bid-rigging cannot happen from the public or Mr Feiner’s critics. It will usually have to happen between politicians who set the parameters of the bid and bidders.

Mr Feiner’s letter claims the fire department’s recommendations to increase the paved space to make access of emergency (fire) vehicles more effective is going to ruin the look of the facility. He also claims these are expensive changes. What will the cost be is conveniently not mentioned. Would it be under $1.2 million? Apparently the lives of seniors in their sunset years are not as important as trying to save them in the event of an emergency. His claim that implementing these changes will make the housing less desirable because of the removal of the grass in this “stunning environment” is absurd. The fire department proposal setting senior residents’ safety as paramount should take preference over the look of the facility. His argument to keep the good-looking facility the way it is is amazingly short-sighted, risky to the lives of those living there, and contrary to his actions taken with almost every other project. How so you ask?

When Westhab purchased the property at 22 Tarrytown Road with county, state and federal funding, they requested variances for the setback, seeking to build literally from the curb to the respective edges of the property. To ensure approval of this variance, they promised a green roof in place of the resulting less porous area. Mr Feiner could not approve their request fast enough! Residents clamored about the safety of a recreational green roof, the increased impervious space and flood water runoff. Mr Feiner did not flinch and illogically supported their proposal. When Brightview Assisted Living sought to do the same thing, again Mr Feiner was first in line. The list continues as Mr Feiner chooses whichever side will garner him more votes. It must stop!

WestHelp will eventually begin to change as MRH moves to begin implementing the contract with the Town that they got by lying on their bid application to the Town. Lying seems to be a hallmark of the Feiner Administration. The lies that germinate from the Town’s administration changes as quickly as the headlines do. The public never seems to remember and whatever the Supervisor says must be true. This behavior is finally catching up with the Mr Feiner.

“Would you prefer to live in a campus environment-with beautiful gardens and lawns? Or, would you want to live in an apartment complex that is paved over? We want the parking placed a short distance from the current WESTHELP campus.” Generally, so do we. But we refuse to stay with the status quo while risking the lives of the residents there! If the alternative is being homeless, we’re pretty sure most people will be happy to walk across the paved lot and enjoy the view of the woods some 50 feet away. Drop this facade Mr Feiner and work on undoing the damage done by you and your administration.

While Mr Feiner continues to show interest in green space, solar energy, shutting down Indian Point, saving the TZ bridge, biking to Timbuktu and the like, he should be spending his time administering the Town’s government. He has spent 22-years not doing that and it is why we find ourselves with convoluted regulations, fees and fines against businesses that are increasing the For Sale and For Rent signs throughout the Town. Our businesses need a business-friendly environment. Once we have this, the exodus from Greenburgh will ebb. We need real tax relief for our residents to slow and stop their exodus. We need our infrastructure updated and modernized. We need flooding addressed Town-wide. The list goes on. Speaking of exoduses, it’s time for the Democratic portion of the electorate to make an important decision regarding an exodus on September 10. Please come out and vote. We need A Better Greenburgh.

Hurricane Damage Finally Addressed

Most people can’t even remember when Hurricane Sandy struck (October 26, 2013). Those inflicted with damage can give dates, times and particulars. Then there are those of us who witnessed the damage but luckily went unscathed, watching others get hammered by wind, rain and water. While not as devastating as Hurricane Irene or as costly to as many residents, Sandy walloped us and left quite a bit of destruction in its path.

There needed to be a cleanup period and a reasonable amount of time to allow municipalities time to clean what they could. After all, downed power lines, poles and the like needed to repaired and it takes time. One of the things that always gets discussed during and after a major storm is why “they” haven’t done anything to address preparing for future storms by moving power lines underground, adding drainage capabilities and more. And after a reasonable amount of waiting, many contacted the Town Supervisor, spoke at Town Board meetings, sent the Town letters and spoke with department heads regarding repairs, trash removal and the like that was seemingly unaddressed by the Town.

This broken phone pole on Old Tarrytown Rd was
tied to another quickly-installed pole right after
Hurricane Sandy. It stayed this way 

until the FPCA repeatedly contacted 

Town officials to instigate the correct 

agencies to make a final and safe repair.

Fulton Park Civic Association Vice President Tom Bock met with Richard Fon of the Greenburgh Highway Department to address the many trees on public property impinging upon power lines. Fulton Park easily floods when it it rains, leaving residents on edge when the forecast threatens the loss of power that will keep their pumps from working. Together, they rode through the Fulton Park neighborhood identifying trees that seemed marginally dangerous and those that should be addressed immediately. Mr Fon said he would touch base with Commissioner Victor Carosi to see what kind of schedule could be developed for the removal or trimming of as many trees as possible. Finally, after months of haranguing the Board and getting nowhere, dealing directly with Commissioner Carosi, proved successful for the neighborhood which finally got action!

It should be noted that pictures were provided for the Town employees to use in identifying trees that should be addressed. Mr Fon even stated that they have a “line certified” employee, allowing them to cut limbs near power lines. Mr Fon explained how the Town’s arborist could be utilized to identify healthy trees as well as those that are dead or dying. All of this information provided some hope for the residents and was presented to them at one of their Civic Association meetings. The last couple of minor storms saw flash flooding better controlled by the recently lowered and resurfaced Old Kensico Road. By lowering the roadway the residents now had curbs to direct the water to the two overwhelmed but functioning storm drains. Commissioner Carosi has been responsive to the neighborhood’s concerns. Now speeding has increased on the street and needs to be addressed by the Greenburgh Police Department.

Since this is a campaign year, Mr Feiner’s free mailings have begun. This week we’ve received a new campaign piece from Mr Feiner. Well actually, while we recognize this as a campaign piece, Mr Feiner identified two points in his mailing. First, is that he has complained to the NYS Public Service Commission and Verizon for damaged or neglected phone poles that were damaged as a direct result of Hurricane Sandy. On the back page he lists the poles and their addresses that have been addressed.

Frankly, residents shouldn’t have to complain about these or any other poles to get them fixed. His office, and those of other employees who are “out and about” should be reporting back to their supervisors and letting them know where poles in the Town are and in need of repair are. In fact, when Mr Bock rode with Mr Fon on their “tree tour” in Fulton Park, Mr Fon identified numerous potholes and said he would get to the right people to get a crew out to do repairs. They were fixed in three days! This is what should be going on regularly. Although it would put a chink in Mr Feiner’s “Here I am to save the day!” armor as the problem solver.

The second issue is a common ploy Mr Feiner repeatedly uses. He claims “some people” have been emailing him about proper water filtration and that Greenburgh’s water is properly purified and references John Devany, the Water and Sewer Superintendent. ABG believes one person may have mentioned something and he has transformed it into “some people”. And, his three small paragraphs could have been split into separate mailings, giving him two mailings for his campaign instead of one. Since they were combined into one, we’re sure there will be several more “updates” coming. These mailings, possibly distributed with water bills quarterly, would be more than enough to keep the electorate informed and save taxpayers money. Perhaps Mr Bernstein, the candidate running in the Democratic Primary against Mr Feiner for Town Supervisor has a different take on mailings. We’d love to hear it. It’s another expense we just don’t need given the amount of money Mr Feiner is costing the residents.

We hope every democrat registered to vote will do so in the Democratic Primary this September 10th. For those not registered, please get a registration form from the Board of Elections. If you are a registered Democrat and are unable to vote on that day, here is the link to obtain information about filing an absentee ballot.
http://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/absentee-ballots
We believe your vote will help to provide us with A Better Greenburgh.

Running Scared

A regular reader of ABG recently called to say he had received a phone call from Judith Beville, the Greenburgh Town Clerk. Her call was standard campaign faire and possibly an obligatory gesture on her part as pay back for her benefactor’s largess. Mr Feiner is her benefactor. He typically foots the bill for all candidates that run with him for election (or re-election) paying for mailings, lawn signs and the like from his campaign war chest of over $100+k. The fee for the lawsuit against his challenger for Town Supervisor candidate Robert Bernstein was invariably taken care of by Mr Feiner. Back to the phone call.

Our reader stated that he, a republican married to a democrat, answered the home phone when it rang. Ms Beville stated she was calling on behalf of the Greenburgh democrats running for Supervisor, the Town Clerk position and one Town Board seat. She talked about convicted felon and incumbent Councilwoman/Attorney Diana Juettner, but failed to mention Mr Sheehan who voted against Mr Feiner at least twice this year, creating a political wall that may not be passable for him at this point. It’s also our belief that Mr Sheehan will be “Sonya’d” and won’t be on the Town Board much longer even if he wins the race this time.

Ms Beville proceeded to bemoan Mr Bernstein and that he is not a very nice person, he is an attorney and has sued the Town and Mr Feiner numerous times. She didn’t mention that Mr Feiner invites lawsuits if someone doesn't like what he’s doing. She did mention Mr Feiner has always been the taxpayer’s “Problem Solver”. She didn’t mention that he usually creates most of the problems. She did mention that Mr Feiner was a very nice guy and has been Supervisor for the last 22 years. Being in office that long has yielded the Town a AAA Bond rating. She didn’t say the Town has never taken advantage of that bond rating or ever plans to utilize it.

She then asked her reader if she could count on our reader to vote for her, Mr Feiner and Ms Juettner for the democratic endorsement in the November primary. He responded after she explained why he and his spouse should vote for them in the primary with a chuckle. He told her he can’t vote because he is a registered Republican and voting, as she well knows, is only open to registered democrats. But, he assured her that while his spouse may vote for her, she will most surely not voting for Mr Feiner. She said she has been getting that same response from many of the democratic voters she has called and spoken with. Is it any wonder she is getting responses like that given the shenanigans, back-room deals, spot-zoning, illegal actions and so on geminating from that one corner office?

This coming democratic primary to be held on September 10 promises to be a close one in that Mr Feiner, a 22-year incumbent, has worn out his welcome with many residential and business residents. Mr Bernstein has certainly alienated some with his lawsuits against the Town. But, as we have stated previously, ABG has always believed that Mr Bernstein has always done what was in the best interest of the Town, while Mr Feiner has not. It is for that lone reason alone that we suggest you put aside your personal feelings of both candidates and evaluate them by their words and their actions. ABG has certainly written enough in the past five years to give much of the information rarely printed by the mainstream media and especially Mr Feiner. ABG believes the decision becomes an easy one to make in that context. ABG encourages all Democrats to participate in their Primary to pick a candidate for their party endorsement. You may just be helping to create A Better Greenburgh.

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.” ”

NextG: Another Guilty Verdict

Lately, going to court seems to have a foregone conclusion for Mr Feiner and our Town Board. Perhaps the courts have finally gotten wise to his behavior or his “woe is me” is wearing thin. The majority of the electorate has not paid enough attention to his bad behavior – yet. The mother of all decisions against Mr Feiner, is that of the Fortress Bible Church guilty verdict. Ironically, we await the total sum of damages from this suit against him and his criminal partner Town Board member Diana Juettner. They continue to run for office as though nothing is amiss in the now evolving “Bizarro Greenburgh.” His previous Town Board’s cumulative illegal behavior points to those now absent from our local government, having passed away or been bestowed with a promotion. It’s more proof that bad politicians don’t get voted out, they get promoted and rewarded.

This Fortress Bible Church decision has many residents outraged over the Town’s behavior and actions toward this African-American Church from Mount Vernon, and rightfully so! You’ll recall the church purchased property in Greenburgh, literally in then-County Legislator Tom Abinanti’s backyard. Mr Feiner, Ms Juettner and other Greenburgh politicians led the rally against the Fortress Bible Church to keep them from building their new house of worship and coterminous school on their newly purchased property. This seems to be a case of not in Mr Abinanti’s backyard. Apparently, its not acceptable for the average resident to protest a development in their backyards but those same standards don’t apply to politicians. It may be why Assemblyman Tom Abinanti moved – to distance himself from this neighborhood’s failing NIMBY-ism and Mr Feiner and Ms Juettner’s impending guilty verdict?

Subsequently, Mr Feiner and Ms Juettner were found guilty as Town Supervisor and Board for violating the rights of a church to the free exercise of religion and not receiving equal protection under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. He was also found liable for destroying documents. The federal judge who hasn’t sat in on any Town Board or Work Session meetings and listened to Mr Feiner testify found him to not be a credible witness. Had the judge sat in on a Town Board meeting, or any other meeting with Mr Feiner, he would have already known this.

So, now we learn another decision handed down against Mr Feiner and the Town, that will again be paid for by the taxpayers. This time the courts found in favor of the plaintiff, Crown Castle NG East, Inc., the “new” parent company of NextG Networks of New York, and against the Town. The original petitioner sought to install cell towers on phone poles throughout the Town. Their lawsuit alleged the protracted process began in 2009 with their cell tower installation applications to Mr Feiner and the Town, and took an unreasonable amount of time to receive a decision, based on The FCC’s “Shot Clock” order.

The “Shot Clock” was a supposed important step enacted by Congress to encourage the expansion of wireless networks throughout the nation. The ruling provides that a local jurisdiction must act on an application for the collocation of additional antennas to existing infrastructure within 90 days and an application for the construction of new infrastructure within 150 days. And, at the same time it claims to allow local control, it really does not seem the “locals” actually maintain control. 

The parameters of what the Town needed to do to address the NextG applications from the very beginning seem to have been misplayed by Mr Feiner and to a complicit degree, the Town Board. Based on past performances from Mr Feiner, we’re not surprised. While past performance does not guarantee future results in the financial world, it’s fairly accurate with Mr Feiner’s world and “Bizzaro Greenburgh”.

From the onset, NextG applied to install cell towers consisting of “a small, low-powered antenna, laser and amplifier equipment for the conversion of RF signals to optical signals that is connected to the antenna, fiber optics lines, and associated equipment such as power supplies” on phone poles in November of 2009. The Town insisted that NextG was not a cell provider and consequently did not qualify for approval. But, whether qualified or not, Mr Feiner received communications of application from NextG which he simply chose to ignore and do nothing about.

The decision for the plaintiff (NextG) against the defendant (Town/Feiner) was issued in the beginning of July. Yet, no one from the Town or the public knew anything of it. Why not? Simple. Mr Feiner received the information of the decision and decided not to share it with either his colleagues or the public! Again, why not? Could it be Mr Feiner trying to minimize the negative impact during his re-election campaign? Or, could it be because he has a formidable Democratic Primary opponent with Mr Robert Berstein? Could all the lawsuits coming to fruition at the same time as this election be his motivation to try to keep this secreted from the public? Regardless of his motivation, it’s another in a long list of examples of the phony open government scam Mr Feiner has perpetrated on the public and endorsed by the lame-stream media.

The same taxpaying public that weighed in on the cell tower proposals and insisted Mr Feiner allow the Antenna Review Board and the Zoning Board address the issue of a proposal were also ignored by Mr Feiner and the Board. Mr Bob Bernstein also suggested that the Town allow the laws we have in place be the determinant with the application and that they would provide us with legal validation for cell towers. Issues of public safety, visual appearance, a lack of safety information and specifically a need to fill a gap for coverage all came up in the numerous conversations. Interestingly, the decision handed down and hidden by Mr Feiner in hopes of who-knows-what-?, was made public by Mr Bernstein! Only after Mr Bernstein published a PDF of the decision did Mr Feiner offer it to anyone who sent him an email. 

ABG requested a copy of the verdict from Mr Feiner. In a very deft move by Mr Feiner, he sent a link to his email message as opposed to sending the file as an email attachment, ensuring the inability of accessing his Microsoft Outlook email account and getting the file. When we responded and told him the link didn’t work, he forwarded our email to Town Attorney Lewis where the request has languished for over a week and remains in the veritable Feiner Black Hole, never to be seen again. Open government? Transparency? The public’s right to know? These are empty platitudes bandied about by Mr Feiner and the Board when it’s convenient for a nearby reporter seeking a sound-byte. The reality in Bizarro Greenburgh is something quite different.

In reading the decision by the courts, there was a pattern of consistent delays over three or so years from Mr Feiner and the Town. The chronological actions taken or not taken are detailed below and summarily highlight the lack of a decision for NextG that was the predominant point of their lawsuit.

1. November 13, 2009; Right of way use agreement letter submitted to Town Supervisor. Unanswered.
2. Follow-up letter sent several months later. Unanswered.
3. March 22, 2010; Attempted to meet with Public Works Staff; Unsuccessful.
4. March 25, 2010; Permit Applications sent to Public Works Commissioner; Unanswered
5. March 30, 2010; Met with Town to discuss above mentioned letter.
6. June 7, 2010; Reminded Town of need to meet for negotiation. Unanswered.
7. June 7, 2010; Plaintiff sent a follow-up letter to Town Public Works & Building Commissioners; Unanswered.
8. June 16, 2010; Antenna Review Board (ARB) announces Public Hearing for June 28, 2010.
9. June 29, 2010; ARB rejects Plaintiff application as incomplete. 
10. July 10, 2010; Plaintiff representatives meet with Thomas Madden regarding materials submitted.
11. September 8, 2010; Plaintiff applies to Building Dept., for permits.
12. September 10, 2010; Building Inspector acknowledges receipt of application; Refused.
13. November 10, 2010; Materials submitted determined to not be valid application.
14. October 5, 2010; ARB Chair states Madden doesn’t have authority regarding application.
15. October 19, 2010; Plaintiff requests sample application from ARB. 
16. November 23, 2010; Plaintiff submits second round of applications.
17. December 14, 2010; Plaintiff complains ARB took no action of their applications.
18. February 8, 2011; Plaintiff sends letter asserting Town’s Antenna Law doesn’t apply to their application.
19. March 15, 2011; Plaintiff submits application “template” to facilitate approval process. ARB issues letter of incompleteness without specifically addressing deficiencies. Months of back and forth take place with no resolve.
20. April 4, 2011; ARB identifies deficiencies in template application.
21. May 17, 2011; 7 applications discussed at ARB public meeting. Determined deficient.
22. June 27, 2011; 2nd set of revisions discussed at public ARB meeting.
23. October 26, 2011; 16 of 20 Plaintiff applications deemed complete by ARB. 
24. November 1, 2011; Letter stating same from ARB Chair to Building Department sent.
25. November 15, 2011; Final 4 applications submitted to ARB.
26. November 15, 2011; Plaintiff submits completed versions of applications to Town Board. 
27. November 25, 2011; Letter stating same from ARB Chair to Building Department sent.
28. November 30, 2011: Town Board holds Public Hearing. No vote taken. Adjourned until December 14, 2011. 
29. December 3, 2011; Receipt of letter confirmed from ARB to Building Inspector.
30. December 14, 2011; 2nd Public Hearing held. Town-hired engineering firm submits Engineering Report concluding gap in service. No vote by Town Board taken.
31. January 17, 2012; Town Board discusses Plaintiff request for a special permit in Work Session. Plaintiff agrees to adjourn from the January 25, 2012 meeting until February 7, 2012.
32. February 7, 2012; 3rd Public Hearing held. Plaintiff attends Work Session. No vote on Plaintiff’s request/application.
33. February 23, 2012; New questions arise as to alternate locations for installation.
34. February 29, 2012; Town Board holds Public Hearing. Indicates they would vote on March 20, 2012.
35. March 20, 2012; Town Board decides to hold over the vote for a date to be determined. Town Attorney Tim Lewis tells Plaintiff he expects a decision at the April 11, 2012 meeting.
36. March 30, 2012; Final Public Hearing held. No vote taken.
37. April 10, 2012; Crown Castle acquires NextG.
38. April 11, 2012; NextG applications not on the Town Board agenda. Town Board decides to turn the request over to the Town’s Conservation Advisory Council (CAC). 
39. April 11, 2012; Plaintiff not invited to CAC meeting.
40. June 7, 2012; Plaintiff threatens lawsuit if no meaningful action was taken with their application.
41. June 20, 2012; Town requests additional information from Plaintiff, promising decision in 30 days proving NextG offers telecommunications service, the installations meet the minimum height and aesthetic intrusion requirements.
42. July 24, 2012; Town denies Plaintiff’s applications stating no service gap was demonstrated or that NextG offered telecommunications service, the installations meet the minimum height and aesthetic intrusion requirements.

Motions to dismiss by the Town (defendant) and motions for summary judgement by the NextG/Crown Castle (plaintiff) were subsequently made. The courts ruled for both parties on partial points of the suit. In the end, however, the victor seems to be NextG/Crown Castle. The decision affecting the residents beyond the financial aspects of the suit mean that primarily Edgemont and Scarsdale will soon be seeing these cell towers on 20 or so phone poles throughout their communities. 

An interesting subtext throughout this entire episode is one that continues to be present but seemingly never referenced. About two years or so ago when Ms Sonya Brown was still a sitting Town Board member, the Town Board discussed cell coverage throughout the Town ad nauseum. In fact, after the poor cell coverage issue was highlighted in one particular meeting, each Board member seemed to try to top the other with their own tales of woe as to the spotty cell coverage users might experience throughout the Town. Mr Feiner even said there are times he is driving on the Knollwood Road area of the Town and unable to get a cell phone signal. Perhaps driving should have been more his focus and not phone use. Beyond that, it would have certainly assisted making the case for NextG/Crown Castle. Opportunity lost? Maybe, but the outcome was the same.

ABG is not in favor of the cell tower installations as originally proposed by NextG. There was a proper vehicle in place to handle their application, but Mr Feiner and his Board knew better. While the outcome might have been different had the Town simply let their laws protect us, Mr Feiner again dictates what he wanted and failed. It seems that Mr Feiner attempted to stall* the applicant the same way so many small developers and residents typically encounter from the Town with their smaller projects. Only residents don’t have a Shot Clock law on their side, only against them. Big brother? You decide.

Had NextG mentioned several buzz-words in the application, things would have certainly progressed more quickly for them. Future applicants should consider incorporating some of these buzz-words to ensure Mr Feiner’s help and even promotion: homeless, affordable housing, workforce, developmentally disabled, tax generating, for the children, revenue to the Town, more votes, transparent, Fairview, create jobs, Section 8 and so on. The list is endless. Apparently, so are the lawsuits and guilty verdicts!

* From the decision’s document. Bold text is made by ABG. “The Town Board held public hearings on the applications on November 30, 2011, December 14, 2011, February 7, 2012, February 29, 2012, and March 20, 2012, and did not issue its written decision denying Plaintiff’s applications until July 24, 2012 – 252 days from the submission of the complete applications. This is well beyond presumptively-reasonable 150-day time period set by the Shot Clock Order, and does not even include time spent during the completeness review, at least some of which should arguably count towards the application processing time given that the Shot Clock Order only excludes time that it takes the applicant to respond to requests for additional information. See Shot Clock Order, 24 F.C.C. Rcd. at 14015. The Town has proffered no real explanation as to why its process took so long that would suffice to rebut the presumption. Indeed, from the close of the public hearings, it took over four months for the Town to render its decision, after conducting public hearings on the matter for close to four months. Further, putting the presumption aside, the bureaucratic hoops through which Plaintiff was put, along with the rest of the record, suggest that the Town would be no more interested in a prompt disposition now than it was beginning in 2009. This is a paradigmatic case where remand would only further and unnecessarily delay the processing of Plaintiff’s siting application. Accordingly, the appropriate remedy in equity is an order requiring the issuance of the special permits sought.” 

Open Letter from Former Justice Rosenberg

The letter below, written by former Court Justice Herb Rosenberg of Dobbs Ferry, was a response to an email sent out by Mr Feiner using the Town’s email list. Illegal? No. Ethical? No. Another weapon in Mr Feiner’s campaign arsenal? Absolutely! Mr Feiner has been in a collusive relationship with GameOn 365 to give the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road, the former-Frank’s Nursery, to them for “a song” and then carry the mortgage for 13-years. He now wants to delay the sale with a phony RFP until after the Town’s proposed Comprehensive Plan is approved. ABG is not convinced this will ever happen under this administration.

The Town of Greenburgh acquired the former Frank’s Nursery property through tax foreclosure in 2011, Mr Feiner has battled concerned residents for over two years to illegally lease, and then sell the property to a startup venture named GameOn.

Refusing to publicly disclosed who they are, Mr. Feiner insists he has spoken about the property with potential bidders, offering more money for the property than House of Sports. Why he refuses to inform the Town residents who these people are adds to the shroud of secrecy and back room deals Mr Feiner is so anxious to do.

Here is Justice Rosenberg’s unedited letter:

Paul,

As with your earlier referendum, your letter misstates facts and omits important facts.  While that doesn't seem to bother you, I will comment for the sake of others.

1.  You have said several times that both GameOn and House of Sports have threatened lawsuits.  You know perfectly well that GameOn isn't going to sue because, as the lower bidder, they have no claim, and if they did sue that would be sanctioned by the court for a frivolous lawsuit as part of the quick dismissal of their case.

2.  You say, in your questions, that the site "is currently appraised at $1.6 million but would be worth more if it is rezoned for other uses."  You omit the fact that the property was appraised with GameOn's recreation proposal before the appraiser, including the need to rezone.   Your misleading point seems to be that the property would be worth more if it is rezoned for recreational uses.  In fact, it is worth  more, as House of Sports has shown.  It is the appraisal that was "cooked" so that GameOn could bid $1.7 million and make it seem like a fair price.

3.  Although you state the appraised value, you fail to state the amounts already offered -- $3.5 million from House of Sports and $1.7 million (with a highly contingent additional $1.3 million) from GameOn, which you touted as a fair price.  That kind of information is important for purposes of asking residents for an opinion.

4.  You say that people have been calling you.  You always say that people have been calling you, but of course you can't prove it and nobody can disprove it.  But if true, so what?  People, in general, don't have the financial, legal, or planning knowledge that is required for such decisions, and so you are just using the words "people have been calling" you to justify whatever actions that you want to do, because there is no way to prove that anyone called you.  However, I doubt that this will ever stop you.

4.  Most of the questions -- especially the last eight -- should not be asked of the general public.  The Town Board has been elected to study, consider, research, etc., so that intelligent decisions can be made by responsible elected officials who are expected to understand legal, financial, budgetary, planning and environmental issues -- things that the general public is not trained to understand and does not have the information to understand.  In other words, your questionnaire is unserious.

You are now talking about selling the site in the winter of 2014.  If yours were an honest approach, it would mean a further delay of almost two years.  But you have not shown yourself to be honest.  It is fairly clear that your real purpose -- or strategy -- is to prevent the House of Sports from acquiring the property, probably to enable the GameOn people to get financing.  Or maybe it is just to spite House of Sports.  The public good has been secondary in your actions in recent years.

You have turned a golden opportunity into a mess, and as usual, the Town will suffer.

Herb Rosenberg

Bernstein On WestHelp

We are publishing Mr Bernsteins Press Release as a courtesy as other media sources will only focus on Mr Feiner. This is in the effort of fair play and not an admission of agreement or endorsement with what is said.

Democratic candidate for Greenburgh town supervisor Bob Bernstein said today Supervisor Paul Feiner's proposed 18-year lease of the 108 county-owned apartments at WestHELP – once the Town's largest non-tax source of revenue – is a “complete mess that can't be fixed and won't guarantee affordable housing or revenue to the Town.”

According to its lease with the county, the town is required to use the 108 apartments for low or moderate income rental housing. Mr. Feiner twice failed to respond to a county request to extend the WestHELP lease for an additional 10-year period through 2021 and has kept the premises vacant and deteriorating for the past 21 months with no revenue to the Town.

With the County Board of Legislators threatening to place the town in default for not maintaining the property or using it as required, Mr. Feiner has proposed entering a lease with Group MRH, a start-up company with no affordable housing experience, that previously proposed $2 million in repairs, which it offered to allow the Town to hold in escrow, and a $500,000 a year rent payment to the Town.

The proposed lease makes no mention of the $2 million in renovations or any escrow and provides no protection at all to taxpayers the property will be maintained, properly managed, or even used for affordable housing. Furthermore, even though no school-age children are expected to live there, the lease gives the town the right to divert a substantial portion of the rent to the Valhalla School District in “property taxes” which the Town says it will levy and pay for itself, thus giving the Valhalla School District revenues a court had previously ruled were illegal.

Under Mr. Feiner's proposed lease, all the Town can do in the event MRH fails to pay rent, to use the property for affordable housing, or maintain the property, is demand MRH “cause the Premises to be vacated” and “deliver vacant possession” to the Town.

“This makes no sense,” Mr. Bernstein said. “It means if there's ever a default, the town would have to force MRH to put innocent tenants on the street in order to get a new company to come in and make things right. No municipality would ever do that.”

Under the terms of the county's lease with the Town, no subleasing is permitted without the county's express written consent. Mr. Bernstein said Mr. Feiner's proposed lease is “such a non-starter that the WestHELP apartments will now probably remain vacant and deteriorating for the foreseeable future – much to the delight of the Tea Party Republicans who never wanted this housing built in the first place.”

The town-wide Democratic Primary for Town Supervisor will be held Tuesday, September 10. 

Flooding The Town

The intentional title could be about the flood of emails slowly picking up from a nervous Mr Feiner whose monarchy is being threatened. It could be from the water cascading down the 9A and Bronx River corridors like a spring thaw in upstate NY’s Ausable Chasm. It could be from the soon-to-be-normal campaign blitz to re-elect the current and failed Town administration. Indirectly, its about all of them. ABG was begun and has flourished because of issues facing our Town and caused internally. It is because of this that we felt this post is warranted.

Every election cycle seems to find every politician promising the world and delivering only invoices. There are two candidates embroiled in the race for the Democratic endorsement for Town Supervisor in this election cycle. Those two people are the well-honed, incumbent Paul Feiner and his opponent Robert Bernstein. The similarities and differences offered voters is a starkly wide one based on the issues needed to be discerned. This will only further muddy the decision making choices one must make if they plan to vote in the Democratic primary. On the one hand, Mr Feiner has cultivated the appearance of “problem solver” to the unknowing and uninformed public. Mr Bernstein has pointed out that the “problems”, beyond filling a pot hole or trimming a tree, are usually created by Mr Feiner so he can “solve” them.

Incumbents Diana Juettner and Francis Sheehan, also seeking re-election, continue to try to distance themselves from Mr Feiner’s unscrupulous dealings with GameOn 365. Yet, they can’t stray too far from Mr Feiner’s campaign war chest lest they be forced to pay for their campaign themselves. Mr Feiner has always financially sponsored candidates seeking office with him. Since he must run every two years, its that leash that allows him to easily “pull their strings”. Go against him, as Sonya Brown quickly learned, and be jettisoned with a new puppet on his knee. In this post, we won’t even get into the Fortress Bible Church debacle.

Here’s just a few points that can help distinguish the differences and similarities between the candidates. First, the similarities. Please keep in mind that these are not meant to be disrespectful, insulting or accusatory. Both men are near in age, white, Jewish, lawyers–one practicing, one non-practicing, live in upscale homes, are married with children and have been involved with various social issues in different capacities.

Now a few of the differences.

Mr Feiner illegally paid the Valhalla School District millions of dollars as a payoff for accepting WestHelp’s 108 affordable housing units while offering nothing to other Villages or neighborhoods. Mr Bernstein (with retired Justice Herb Rosenberg) recouped some of that money for the Town residents proving in court that Mr Feiner’s actions were illegal.

Mr Feiner chose to let the WestHelp apartments decay in hopes of tearing them down. Mr Bernstein worked independently as well as in concert with the local NAACP to thwart Mr Feiner’s efforts, halting the ruination of these apartments while the County turned a blind eye. That saga is still unfolding.

Mr Feiner insisted the Town Board do their “due diligence” in choosing a management team to oversee the former WestHelp property. Their choice was a non-experienced, new entrant into the mix, Group MRH, ignoring other qualified applicants simply because he promised a higher monthly fee. After doing his own substantive research and “due diligence”, Mr Bernstein conclusively proved that the Feiner-blessed choice, Group MRH, had misrepresented themselves and essentially lied to gain the contract. Mr Bernstein has repeatedly asked the Town Board to disqualify this firm.

Probably the most important aspect of the entire WestHelp debacle is that Mr Feiner arbitrarily took it upon himself to allow the largest income-producing, non-tax revenue funding and allowed it to expire! The County had “gifted” Greenburgh a most lucrative $1.2M per year lease for the WestHelp facility and Mr Feiner chose to allow it to lapse. Mr Bernstein has often stated that this was one of the largest and most costly blunders of this administration affecting the finances of the Town.

Mr Feiner’s most recent tax that he and his Board imposed was onto existing gas stations on the Central Avenue corridor. Mr Bernstein pleaded with Mr Feiner and the Board not to initiate the fee but they would not heed the advice of Mr Bernstein and proceeded anyway. At the last Town Board meeting several service station owners attended the Town Board meeting and lashed out at the Board and Mr Feiner for hurting their businesses while he catered to Cumberland Farms and a few other stations of choice.

Mr Feiner has focused on non-Town issues, such as turning the Tappan Zee Bridge into a park, similar to NYC’s “High-line Park” created from an old elevated train line. Mr Bernstein may be interested in the Tappan Zee project, but it doesn’t affect the Town. Mr Feiner should be focusing on Town issues, such as lowering taxes, reducing waste, and sitting down with the employees of the Town and working out a contract he let go unratified for 4 years. Mr Bernstein remained focused on Town issues. But since Mr Bernstein is not the Town Supervisor, he can focus on whatever he pleases. Focus seems to be an issue with Mr Feiner. Don’t believe us? Ask him a question and see if you get an answer.

Mr Feiner has a grand plan to overdevelop the Rt 119 and 9A corridors with larger, more “city-like” buildings. Mr Feiner’s Board goes along with everything proffered by job-security-seeking Town Planning Commissioner Thomas Madden. There is currently a move on Central Avenue to build a dance studio that was a little bit of everything: business on the bottom, offices on the top and possibly apartments as well. The push was for a 4 to 6-story building. This would be on one of the corners on Central Avenue near the 7-11 and Hess gas station. Mr Bernstein believes in development within reason and adhering to existing zoning. This project is simply too large for the location. But this is the vision Mr Feiner and Mr Madden have for our Town.

Mr Feiner’s administration has perfected their own “cloaking devices”. One such device is the intentionally curtailed development and lethargic implementation of a Town Comprehensive Plan. A town-wide comprehensive plan would severely restrict Mr Feiner and his Board’s ability to spot-zone properties for developers. While spot zoning is illegal, Mr Feiner has perfected the ability to not be held back by zoning laws. Mr Feiner has had 22 years to appoint members of the Planning and Zoning (among others) Boards, virtually assuring agreement and passage of any plan that comes for review. Mr Bernstein may want to consider removing zoning capabilities from the Town Board.

Finally (for now anyway), Mr Feiner has never worked in the private sector. As such, he has no management experience and terms such as Return On Investment (ROI), evaluation metrics, and performance reviews are abstracts to him. Most unqualified people in a significant position would invariably learn while on the job. Yet reviewing numerous projects throughout the Town, morale of our workers (our greatest asset), flooding throughout, spot-zoning, illegal leases, illegal referendums, over-saturation of group homes, developer-centric decisions, over-sized buildings throughout the unincorporated Town, WestHelp, GameOn 365, out-of-control Board members (“Sit down! Sit the F*** down”) keeping the public from speaking and more has proven this is not the case with Mr Feiner. Mr Bernstein brings management experience to the Town and a level-headed sense of what is in the best interest of the Town. Mr Feiner abandoned this quite some time ago. Mr Bernstein has also suggested he would investigate the benefits of hiring a Town Manager/Administrator as that seems to have worked well for the Villages.

There is clearly a difference between the candidates and we look forward to hearing them at several forums prior to the Primary election.

A Night For Apologies

Greenburgh residents learn of more and more decisions (re: deals) made in back rooms not open for public consumption. The “working relationship” Mr Sheehan touted at the Democratic nominations for the Town Board in his nomination acceptance speech was, frankly, just good speech-writing that pandered to an already compliant crowd. What we learn over and over is that the Town doesn’t really need a Supervisor for life when there is a bureaucracy in place for life. Of course only having people of the same ilk, referred to as inbreeding in other circles, begets the abnormalities nobody claims to find acceptable. And yet, it’s the chosen course of Greenburgh politics under Mr Feiner’s administrations.

But the Democratic majority experimented and veered down a different road soliciting new leadership. With a wide percentage difference and mired in the same political rut for years, the District Leaders chose to divert their political vehicle, down a different and albeit better road for the Town. With a gap of almost twenty percentage points, they decided to endorse Mr Robert Bernstein of Edgemont for Greenburgh Town Supervisor. While we missed Mr Bernstein’s acceptance speech, we are sure it would have been an inclusive, honest and forward-moving offering a better future for our Town. And while Mr Bernstein seemed the clear leader in this race, other “wagons” were becoming unhitched.

There was a race for Town Clerk that pitted Mr Feiner’s hand-picked and cultivated choice, Judith Beville against County Legislator Alfreda Williams’ hand-picked candidate, Sharron Fantuzzi. Ms Fantuzzi had previously lost the nomination once before to Ms Beville. Williams was the Greenburgh Town Clerk prior to being ousted by Mr Feiner and replaced with Ms Beville. Could this be a revenge scrimmage? You decide. While there is no track record for Ms Fantuzzi or any reason to vote for her, Ms Beville has a track record. One of the things ABG has consistently bemoaned is Ms Beville’s inability to only do her job during Town Board meetings. The Board condones her active participation during these meetings. She is not a Town Board/Council member, should not be discussing issues pertaining to the Board and should remain silent. Obviously, since she unequivocally supports Mr Feiner, she is encouraged by him to speak. What no one has told either of them during all this entire time, is that hers is a non-speaking role!

The Town Board meeting on Wednesday night hailed more participants than just the G10 in attendance. Mr Feiner’s campaign presentations delayed the start of the meeting by about a half an hour. Once the meeting began, and got past some of the usual crowd-thinners, they opened the 3-minute public speaking portion of the evening. It was led by Mr Tom Bock, whom you may recall was the evening’s final speaker at the last meeting when Councilman Jones shouted at another resident who approached the dais to, “Sit down! Sit the F*** down!” To which, several Board members said in unison the meeting was over – actively limiting the public’s free speech. They had unsuccessfully tried to end the meeting earlier without allowing Mr Bock his time to speak and this gave them the excuse they wanted! In fact, at the following Work Session these same purveyors of “open government” discussed multiple ways to limit and even do away with the public involvement and comments – a very sad state of affairs.

Mr Bock asked the Board for answers he posed to them from at least three previous meeting about the possible set back violations by Westhab? He then asked how much money the Democratic party was being charged for using the Town Hall for their nominations meeting on Tuesday night? He stated he was waiting for an apology from Mr Feiner for calling him a racist at the previous years Democratic meeting, to which several Democrats in attendance took exception to Mr Feiners statement. Mr Bock was also waiting for an apology for being cut off during his allotted five minutes at the last meeting. He then continued to discuss a letter Mr Feiner sent to residents on Old Kensico Road in which Mr Feiner attacked Mr Bock and asked slanted questions as to the neighborhoods desire to install sidewalks suggesting Mr Bock wanted it only at their expense. Mr Bock stated this letter was in the identical format of the illegal referendum Mr Feiner filed for the last election seeking a specific result for the desired outcome he sought for the GameOn 365 deal.

Mr Hal Samis, whom you may remember was the cause of the outburst of profanity from Mr Jones, took to the podium and apologized to Mr Jones and the Board for any stress he may have caused them by his actions. He offered to shake hands with Mr Jones and began approaching the dais with his outstretched hand. Mr Lewis, Morgan and possibly the entire Board loudly told Mr Samis not to approach the dais, and stayed short of yelling, “Sit the F*** down!” While the entire episode last week may have been blown out of proportion and Mr Samis rebuffed, at least Mr Samis offered an apology and a gesture of civility. Why would the the Board not accept it?

The repetitious points of subsequent speakers seemed to find fault with the amateurishly proffered contract the Town claims to have written. In fact, Town Attorney Tim Lewis stated he had a major part in the contract. Retired Justice Herb Rosenberg, held up the contract while at the podium and asked Mr Lewis to confirm that he had participated in the writing of the contract. Mr Lewis corroborated that he had in fact worked on the contract. Then Justice Rosenberg highlighted that GameOn 365’s law firm’s name was on the document where law firms usually put their identifying information. Mr Rosenberg said it was shameful that this was the product of our law department. Mr Lewis sat silent.

Ms Lynette Bass, a Director with the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, who was unable to attend the meeting, submitted a letter requesting it be read into the record during the public comment session. This is something that happens with regularity Town Board meetings. But since Ms Bass has challenged Mr Feiner and the Board for not responding to her numerous requests for the Board to meet with the WWCA, Town Attorney Tim Lewis determined her letter was too lengthy to be read. This caused a verbal outcry from the residents in attendance. It was determined that Mr Rod O’Shea, a Democratic District Leader and Edgemont neighborhood leader would read her letter for at least the three minutes allotted. ABG should point out that Ms Beville has always read submitted letters aloud and the Board was previously not concerned with their length. But since the Board’s last work session, they felt emboldened to restrict public participation especially during the public comments sessions. The “public” was having none of it!

The public was also not having any of the silent treatment that underscores the true lack of “open government” from Mr Feiner’s administration. Another speaker, Bill Betwarda, Vice President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, suggested the Town Board could learn much from the young man they honored at the start of the meeting. Hal Samis was the first to ask that the GameOn 365 contract vote be held over as there is much to discuss. He then used the balance of his 3-minutes to detail why and discuss other financial points. Ed Krauss, another critic of the Board, detailed Mr Feiner’s criticisms of character assassinations, and explained that character assassinations are not character assassinations if you are telling the truth about the person. Not seen off camera, was some “seat-squirming” as Mr Krauss made that statement. The truth must hurt. He proceeded to call Mr Feiner a liar. Mr Lewis insisted Mr Krauss cease his accusations and his time to speak was up. He didn’t say, “Sit down! Sit the F*** down!

Retired Greenburgh resident Fred Stetter, who lives near the former Frank’s Nursery, demanded answers from the Board why Greenburgh was entering the banking business by “carrying” the GameOn 365 business for 13 years, not allowing the sale to be consummated for 13 years? He stated if he had run his business like this he would have gone out of business after one year! Again, no answers. Council of Civic Association President Madelon O’Shea requested to know what the Town Board was going to do about the horrible and inaudible sound being broadcast from Town Hall sessions and how soon will they fix it? No answer.

Elm Street Sports attorney Nicholas Ward-Willis stated issues that are problematic issues with the contract. He had previously emailed a letter detailing this to the Board members. The Town has a clear and undeniable duty to accept the highest price, a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and this contract deprives the taxpayers of result. GameOn 365 is offering less money and the Town is entering into “reckless payment terms and fraught with legal infirmities that render it invalid...” in contrast to what Elm Street Sports has offered.” The 13 year, $1.3M loan, below market interest rate, post-purchase loan which offers no security for the taxpayers over the course of 13 years. “When did the Town become a bank?” Ward-Willis asked, “Article 8 Section 1 of the NYS Constitution: no town shall give or loan any money or property to, or aid an individual or any private corporation.” He also pointed out that under General Municipal law section #51 states that taxpayers are allowed to commence an action against public officials in their individual capacity who are wasting public funds.     Apparently, there are better attorneys in the private sector than the public sector.

Ms Ella Preiser took to the podium, questioning the Boards actions based on the various points Mr Ward-Willis and then said there is a television program called “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?” Point made. There are enough issues with this contract that a vote should not be made and this should be held over. Town Supervisor candidate Robert Bernstein spoke about the contract and stated the GameOn 365 deal is very troubling and proceeded to point out why. This was the course the entire evening took as speaker after speaker touched on so many issues that eventually Mr Jones made a motion to hold the ratification of the deal over. When Mr Bernstein next spoke during the 5-minute public session, he congratulated the Board for that decision. It remains to be seen what they will do next. Our prediction is they will vote it through anyway.

Hindering public comment. Bad deals that continue to benefit developers. Working under Mr Feiner’s “Friends and Families Plan”, and routinely making deals that hurt constituents taxpayers seems to be the several years in the making, a tact this Board has supported. Personal attacks from the Board are covertly made through letter and actions while espousing the same thing not be done toward themselves. This behavior is contemptible. The democrats are in control of this next election for Town Supervisor. There are two candidates. Please study the issues, question what is right and wrong and vote your conscience in the upcoming Democratic Primary, following your own moral compass. There were numerous requests for apologies and none given. Your decision should not include an apology for voting the wrong way.