Candidates Forum To Be Held

Budget and Personnel Cuts Feed Doom and Gloom

The Hartsdale Neighborhood Association meeting recently held at the Highview School to inform people about how the impact of the Edgemont incorporation may affect them may have raised more questions than answers. It may have also inadvertently pointed to the incompetence of the Feiner administration with their cavalier approach about the Edgemont Incorporation.

During this meeting of over a hundred people in attendance, Jason Muldoon queried the crowd as to how people learned of the meeting? It seemed the majority were from the email blast sent out by Mr Feiner. That shows his power to draw his supporters in when he needs them. Many people showed up at 7PM even though the meeting was scheduled for 7:30PM. Those same people raised their hands having been notified of the meeting by Mr Feiner’s email.

Our previous article describes how Mr Feiner showed up early and was talking about the Edgemont incorporation. When asked to stop, he shouted at one of the organizers that he had a first amendment right to free speech even though she asked him to respect that this was their meeting not his, forcing Police Chief McNerney to intervene and diffuse the situation. As an aside, residents are permitted and limited to speak for 3 minutes at a Town Board meeting. If they go beyond the allotted time, or are part of the G10, he has Mr Lewis interrupt them and shut them down or they are banned from speaking, such as was done to vocal critic and resident Mr Hal Samis.

There were rumblings about the upcoming elections by some, but Mr Feiner knows it’s just talk and is not threatened. He garners 7,000 votes when he runs unopposed and works relentlessly to disqualify ballot signatures. In fact, to deny culpability, he even utilizes other Board members’ family members to do that dirty work. One time that he did feel threatened was in a debate/forum in Hastings on Hudson, a normally safe haven for him. The forum was against Supervisor candidate/challenger Robert Bernstein during a Supervisor’s race several years ago. He became rattled as Mr Bernstein threw too many truths at him and he slowly unraveled, with spittle flying from his mouth and hands shaking as he held up papers yelling, “I have proof of what I’m saying right here!” Still, he won the election, with his biggest support coming from those who he does not govern, the Villages, and those that he does, Fairview. Well played.

During the Q&A period at the end of the meeting Mr Feiner was asked what contingencies had been put in place should the incorporation happen? He said none. He was asked if he had talked to the Edgemont community about what he could do to change their minds and he said no. However, in all fairness, he had gone to Edgemont Community Council meetings with some frequency and heard regularly of complaints from their past presidents and current President Bob Bernstein. In fact, when the Town’s now-adopted Comprehensive Plan was still being developed, many Edgemont residents chimed in often complaining of misguided directions the group was favoring. More significantly, when the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee was holding hearings, an inordinate amount of Edgemont residents participated, giving feedback that was both positive as well as negative. Many believe the Comp Plan Steering Committee listened but didn’t hear what was being said. Please realize that while the Comprehensive Plan could have provided a valuable road map to the future for the Town, it became an extremely politicized exercise to the point where two of its members refused to sign off on final approval! It was adopted in spite of what many believe were valid objections.

Mr Feiner desperately needed to placate the Edgemont Community to keep them from or at least slow them from moving incorporation forward, knowing he could lose millions of dollars for the Town if they succeeded. He had already lost $1.2 million per year for the Town by illegally and intentionally breaking the Westhelp contract with the County. That source of revenue was gifted to the Town requiring minimal effort from the Town. He also cost the Town $5.5 million dollars when he was fined after being found guilty in federal court for discrimination in the Fortress Bible Church case.

He continued offering to build sidewalks in multiple locations, including Seely Place, along with others in Edgemont. What’s ironic here is that some time earlier he had visited the Seely Place neighborhood telling those residents they should not ask for sidewalks because they would be responsible for maintaining them!  In fact, he sent an accusatory letter to Fulton Park residents stating their Civic Association Vice-President asked the Town to put in a sidewalk on Old Kensico Road at those residents’ expense and maintain it - which was a lie!

While he was offering Edgemont sidewalks to get them to put their guard down and feel like he was working with them, he was secretly making backroom deals with Jim Kane of Formation Shelbourne, LLC., to build an assisted living facility on the current Sprain Brook Nursery property. The proposal is not only too large for the parcel of land they seek to build on, it requires several variances to comply with the two-year old Assisted Living law written by the Brightview Assisted Living attorneys for themselves that the Town adopted as its own. One of the variances that Shelbourne needs for this project is a 3000% variance to accommodate the requirement of being within 200 feet of a state right of way. It’s absurd to even entertain this outrageous accommodation.

At the Hartsdale Neighborhood meeting, the uninitiated took Mr Feiner at his word as being truthful when he said the Town could lose $17 million dollars if Edgemont incorporated, forcing, “Police services, um, you know taxes, uh, water rates may go up,” and, “it would require major reorganizing of the Town of Greenburgh.”(http://westchester.news12.com/news/edgemont-residents-meet-to-discuss-incorporation-1.13196407?pts=564454) . The point here is that if the Edgemont incorporation proceeds forward, several things will stay the same for Edgemont and several will change. One thing is fire protection, provided by the Greenville Fire District. Instead of billing the Town of Greenburgh for fire protection, they will bill the Village of Edgemont. Sewer districts will remain the same as will costs. Although, we’re unable to verify if billing will stay the same or change. Public Works services, such as trash and garbage pickup, snow plowing, road maintenance, etc., will change in that it will be a contracted service from the Town (according to what was said by the HNA leaders). Of course, they might be able to secure a better price and service from Scarsdale or Yonkers. However, if that doesn’t happen, and the Village of Edgemont seeks to keep the current status quo with services, the Greenburgh budget may see a slight shift, but nothing as doomsday-ish as Mr Feiner is saying. If the Village of Edgemont is able to acquire better pricing from Scarsdale or Yonkers for example or a private company such as Waste Management, then the Town’s budget might take a significant but not as crippling a hit as has been perpetuated by Mr Feiner.

While we are cautiously optimistic about how this will turn out and might change the budget and services for Unincorporated Greenburgh, it’s nice to see more people are paying attention. Several people in the audience were part of the G10. Most, however, have never gone to a Town Board meeting to see how the Town is run, residents treated and developers courted. Perhaps it’s time. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Edgemont Destiny

The evening started out as a contentious one when it was advertised to be simply one of discussion. Upon our arrival at approximately 7PM, we found Mr Feiner already engaged in conversation with another attendee regarding the Edgemont Incorporation. It was then that Karen Kelly, one of the organizers, asked him to stop “politicking”. Mr Feiner claimed he had a right to speak to whomever he pleases. She loudly told him that this was not his meeting, it was a Hartsdale residents’ meeting and he would be given a chance to speak. He shouted back that he had a first amendment right to free speech and she said he should respect that this was their meeting not his. At this point, Police Chief McNerney intervened and tried to diffuse the situation. It would have been more cordial of Mr Feiner to have respected her wishes and the organization and stepped outside to have a private conversation.

The meeting began late as the members of the Hartsdale Neighbors group that organized it scrambled to find and set up more chairs as the growing audience eventually exceeded 100 people. Three members of the Hartsdale group ran the meeting. Dan Weinfeld first explained the ground rules: this was not a night for political discussion, it was not about attacking the Edgemont group seeking incorporation and that everyone should remain civil to each other. It was an informational session. Mr Feiner would be given five minutes at the end to make a statement, as would Edgemont Incorporation member Jeff Sherwin. You may recall that Mr Sherwin made two unsuccessful attempts the previous week to deliver the incorporation petition signatures and the $6,000 filing fee to Town Hall, being told that the only person allowed to receive them was Mr Feiner - who was on vacation!

No other Town Board members were in attendance, although Town Attorney Tim Lewis and Town Clerk Judith Beville were there. There were several police officers whether on duty or as community members, one of whom asked legitimate questions. The standing room only audience remained mostly quiet, respectful of any speakers, only occasionally asking them to speak louder as there was no microphone or amplification available.

Mr Dan Weinfeld gave a brief video presentation explaining the makeup of the Town’s Unincorporated sections of Greenburgh, focusing primarily on the Hartsdale and Fairview sections of the Town. He explained the makeup of the river town villages, including Ardsley and Elmsford, populations of both the Villages and the Unincorporated Town, and the services used by all. It was a very encompassing presentation and well-received. During his presentation, Mr Weinfeld stressed that all of this information is on their website (www.hartsdaleneighbors.org) or on the Edgemont Incorporation site (www.edgemont2017.org).

After Mr Weinfeld concluded his portion of the presentation, Mr Luis Polit presented a breakdown of the financial facts of what is currently being collected in revenue to the Town, Edgemont’s portion of it and the projected changes should Edgemont incorporate and become the Town’s 7^th village. Once he concluded, another of the citizen organizers, Jason Muldoon, stepped in and explained that Mr Feiner and Mr Sherwin would be speaking next, reiterating that this is not a political discussion. He also did a quick show of hands to see how people found out about this meeting. Clearly most were there through Mr Feiner’s GBList email notifications. 

He then offered Mr Feiner five minutes to speak. He addressed the crowded room by giving an example of a Village that had incorporated in 2010 without stating it was Mastic Beach. He then proceeded to either find fault with the Edgemont incorporation or say why it wouldn’t work. As is often the case, Mr Feiner deflected away from the topic at hand, changing his story, only to refer to his sheet of talking points to return to his reasons why the Edgemont incorporation was not going to work. After five minutes, Mr Muldoon cut Mr Feiner off, stating his five minutes were up – a bittersweet moment for those who attend Town Board meetings and are only given minutes to discuss anything in front of his Board.

Mr Sherwin was the last speaker who took the opportunity to quickly debunk Mr Feiner’s example of Mastic Beach, which had incorporated and then several years later voted to undo the incorporation. Mr Sherwin pointed out that it was not a fair or accurate comparison as the population of Mastic Beach was 12.8 thousand versus Edgemont’s 7,300 and the disparity in revenues was equally different. Mr Feiner often relies on incorrect information for shock value and doesn’t often encounter immediate and correct informational challenges.
 
Mr Sherwin proceeded to read a prepared statement, thanking the Hartsdale and Unincorporated residents for allowing him the opportunity to speak. He mentioned that like the Hartsdale group, they were just a group of citizen volunteers seeking to control their community’s destiny as the Town has not worked with them multiple times, citing the Dromore Road and Shelbourne projects as two recent and drawn out examples. The focus was also not as much about saving money for Edgemont taxpayers, although that would be a benefit based on their calculations, but about their destiny, zoning and development considerations.

Once the speakers concluded, Mr Muldoon opened the floor to questions. Many of the residents seemed to focus on information as to how they would be affected financially, through tax increases and personnel cuts should incorporation move forward. One gentlemen, who is obviously one of Mr Feiner’s supporters began to raise political points and was quickly shut down. One woman asked Mr Feiner if this information was on the Town website. Mr Feiner did not directly answer her and when pushed by others who followed up said he would have to discuss it with his Board. Mr Sherwin said that the information, feasibility study and more is on the EIC website as well as the Hartsdale Neighbors website. ABG would suggest in the interest of fairness that the Town at least publish a link on the Town’s website to these other two sites.

Occasionally, a question would arise that the Hartsdale members could not answer and they were very candid and simply said so. Mr Sherwin seemed well prepared with facts and figures and offered information numerous times without seeming to be adversarial or confrontational. It was a relief and pleasant to see both sides working together even though they have different interests and outcomes at heart. Also in attendance were several people who claimed to be from Edgemont who did not favor Edgemont incorporation, including Mr Hugh Schwartz, a Feiner appointed Planning Board member. And while they were able to make their points behind their rationale, it never became a tug of war between the two factions.

Several questions were directed at Mr Feiner, asking what contingencies the Town had planned should the incorporation move forward, as it was obviously doing? Mr Feiner stated that he sent an email and snail mail out to constituents asking for volunteers to serve on a Citizen Task Force to work with his Commissioners on this. Long-time Greenburgh Central School Board President Terry Williams asked why the Town was not hiring professionals to address this. He said that that may be the Task Force’s recommendation and direction they go. Several followed up on that and asked why something wasn’t done sooner. Mr Feiner ultimately fell back to his position that he didn’t believe the incorporation would happen but never gave an tangible answer. 

In the end, this will be decided by only Edgemont residents in the Town who can vote for incorporation. Many believe Mr Feiner will increase his email blasts and snail mail mailings to thwart the EIC's efforts all on the taxpayer dime. Regardless, it promises to be an interesting ride for the next several months. While we too are anxious about how the incorporation will financially impact the unincorporated Town, we applaud both groups for their respective efforts and civility. This is what helps to make A Better Greenburgh.

We Stand Corrected

In our previous post from Thursday, January 22, 2015, entitled Town Looks Gift Horse In The Mouth, we erroneously sided with Town Clerk Judith Beville regarding her objecting to her office having discretion to approve or deny the issuance of licenses to Massage Parlor applicants. She asserted that there is a difference in this bill compared to the Town’s existing 1977 Cabaret Law. She stated that Cabaret license applicants were seeking an additional license for an existing business and the Massage Parlors were new businesses starting new. Ms Beville was (and remains) wrong with her stance. We had agreed with her assertion on its face value and have since found that her assumption is incorrect.

We mentioned in our article that the proposed Massage Parlor bill, crafted by Edgemont and other residents and submitted through the Edgemont Community Council to the Town Board, had taken portions from several other communities’ Massage Parlor Laws already addressing the Massage Parlor issue. It also addressed the Town Clerks Office’s approval or denial of an applicant’s license request. The portion of the law regarding the Town Clerks Office’s involvement in the licensing process is copied verbatim from the Town’s existing 1977 Cabaret Law. Regardless of what Ms Belville believes she will do or not, her actions are limited.

The history of the Cabaret Law was to give the Police Department a better ability to go after organized Crime which the Cabaret Law helped them do. All cabaret owners seeking a license had to fill out an application. The Police Chief, the Building Inspector and the Fire Marshall subsequently reviewed those applications. If they approved the application, the town clerk simply issues the license and the establishment would then have to obtain a special permit from the town board and proceed to a public hearing.

There have been allegations that brothels in Greenburgh are fronting as massage parlors. In fact, one resident even said if you see the word “spa” in the name, it’s probably a front for prostitution! Another allegation is that underage girls or sex slaves are being forced to work in them. Our police department’s investigatory work appears to substantiate this information with major raids conducted in 2013 and in 2010. But the police chief says that doing prostitution stings is very expensive and consumes resources of other law enforcement agencies, and even when the Town gets the help, the businesses reopen again shortly after, as if nothing had changed.

Some of the information required for a license is the disclosure of who actually owns the Massage Parlor/Company, a background check must be performed to ensure the applicant has not been convicted of a crime or have a criminal record. From the Building Department and Fire Marshall’s side of the application, the location must conform to all building code requirements and to all Fire Code requirements. Also objecting to the proposed bill was Town Attorney and Environmental Expert Tim Lewis. He deleted the portion where the Town Clerks Office issues the license and would have the Town Board issuing the license. So if there was a denial from one of the approvers, the Town Board will not issue the permit. The applicant would then be required to appeal to the Town Board. Appealing to the denying agency makes no sense as was pointed out by Town Zoning and Detail Expert Ella Preiser. Mr Lewis also favored a 120-day moratorium on Massage Parlors. If we don’t have any law about Massage Parlors, creating a moratorium to stop (or slow) them is not legal.

We are convinced that the proposed bill should be adopted once it receives minor changes, such as the Town Clerk shall issue the license pending approval or denial of the three actual approvers from the Town: the Police Chief, the Building Inspector and the Fire Marshall. If any of these three wish to deny the application, the Town Clerk shall simply not issue the license and state as much to the applicant. No discretion for or against the application shall be exercised by the Town Clerk’s Office. At the point of denial by any or all of the actual authorities having jurisdiction, an automatic appeal is mandated to the Town Board. Consequently, all discretion and responsibility, whether real or assumed, is removed from the Town Clerk and falls exactly where it belongs. This bill should be adopted unchanged. Only then will we begin see A Better Greenburgh.

Town Looks Gift Horse In The Mouth

Two issues of late, completely different from each other, are dogging the taxpayers yet again. This one is about a bill that was drafted by several residents to limit/prohibit/regulate Massage Parlors in the Town - specifically due to the proliferation of them in the Edgemont section and other areas of the Town. The second is about another study for the needed inspection of the former Frank's Nursery property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road (a future article).

About two years ago, an Edgemont resident attended an Edgemont Community Council (ECC) meeting and spoke of the proliferation of massage parlors and the "undesirable" clientele they attracted. We were there when one of the speakers said if the name had the word "spa" in it, they were probably conducting sexual acts beyond a simple massage.

Soon after this meeting, it was brought out into the open at a Town Board meeting. Since only good news can come from Town Hall, Mr Feiner tossed this hot potato to the Police Chief. Now, almost two or so years later with little action on the issue town-wide, the problem is once again in the forefront of the news. Other news media sources, mostly those content to regurgitate Mr Feiner's one-sided press releases unchallenged, have occasionally broached the subject whenever the police have made arrests. Perception being reality, a fine line that Mr Feiner understands how to exploit, had him doing the Feiner shuffle and trying to push the Town Board into enacting a temporary fix while a long-term solution could be had.

The Edgemont Community Council’s President, Robert Bernstein, North Elmsford resident and Zoning Expert Ella Preiser and several others worked together to craft a document to address the Town's burgeoning massage parlor growth. While government is nothing if not taxing and regulating (some say over-taxing & regulating) its residents, this bill was constructed in hopes of fostering tighter control over the creation of these shops. The bill that was offered to the Town with no cost received a chilly acceptance from all. At the last Town Board meeting, Mr Bernstein took to the microphone to bemoan the changes Town Environmental Expert and Attorney Tim Lewis had made to the bill. There were two sticking points: 1) that the Town Clerk is given discretion to approve or reject the licensing of massage parlors; and 2) the Town Attorney deleted the portion about the Town Clerk approval, taken word for word from the Town’s existing Cabaret Law.

ABG has mentioned often our desire for the Town Clerk to remain silent during Town Board meetings. However, she did make a valid point during the discussion of whether or not the Town Clerk should have the ability to deny the application. According to Mr Feiner, who typically shifts his position based on favorable crowd reaction, said he had a problem with the Town Clerk’s office having the ability to approve or reject a license application. As was explained by Ms Beville, the Cabaret Law and Massage Parlor licensing were very different. Her licensing approval or denying capability under the Cabaret Law is to allow an existing business an additional service, such as entertainment. Under the Massage Parlor bill proposal, the Town Clerk’s office would be in a position to grant a license to operate a new business. Surprisingly, we agree with the Town Clerk.

Further discussion between Mr Feiner and Mr Bernstein was periodically interrupted by Town Attorney Lewis. Finally, after hearing Mr Bernstein’s complaint of how he was not contacted at all while the Town Board altered the proposed bill, all parties agreed to try to change the bill that accommodates both sides. Regardless of the future collaboration on the Massage Parlor bill, Mr Feiner again insisted on introducing what they already posted to show they were taking action. Vociferous objections were made as it did not make sense to introduce a flawed bill when a corrected one could easily be had. The Town Board ignored the public’s input.

The Town Board has become increasingly reactionary with so many issues. They have become predictably wrong on the items that they do focus on, such as the Fortress Bible Church discrimination (taxpayer cost: $5.5M), termination of the WestHelp contract (taxpayer cost: $1.2M/yr), former Frank’s Nursery no-sale (taxpayer cost: $3.5M+remediation), Comprehensive Plan (taxpayer cost: unknown), tax certiorari adjustments (taxpayer cost: $100K to 1M/Town Board meeting). The list is almost endless. 

Its time for some new blood to start circulating in Town Hall. When residents are forced to write bills our legal department seems incapable of doing, its time for a change. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Impassioned Plea To Maintain Segregated Neighborhood

Several Planning Board meetings ago found a discussion on a proposal made by a family that is looking to combine three parcels of property into one and build a 2400 square foot home on it. The zoning for the neighborhood would allow for a 2800 square foot house. 2400 square feet is not an unwieldy, garish and/or oversized home as new homes go. This project would have most likely gone under the radar for approval except for one speaker. As the Board opened the “hearing” to the public to speak, the first speaker voiced their opinion against the proposal for several reasons which he proceeded to explain. Next up was Town Clerk Judith Beville.

She took to the microphone and speaking softly, introduced herself, stating that she was the Greenburgh Town Clerk. She began discussing “her” community and requested the Board “join” her in imagining going to her neighborhood and proceeded to ask the Board to envision how close her home was to the projected new home proposed across the street from hers. She stated that this was a woodlands, wetlands, nature preserve and protected environment that they would be allowing to to be disturbed. he left out wildlife preserve. The neighborhood is comprised of small colonial style houses. This home will stand out and not blend with the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. Living directly across the street from the proposed home, Ms Beville asked the Board, “ I want you to ask yourselves, ‘would you want this house built near you?’ ”

She proceeded with an impassioned plea saying this was a direct exploitation of this long-time African-American community.There it is. When all other arguments fail, bandy the race card to win the NIMBY argument. How disappointing it is to once again witness discrimination, this time in the form of racism through NIMBY-ism from another member of Mr Feiner's administration. Ms Beville has supported Mr Feiner and his Board's multiple construction projects against the wishes of many more people than the few in attendance this night. You may recall packed Town Hall meetings where neighborhoods protested Westhab, WestHelp, 88 North Rd, Frank's Nursery, Avalon Green, Toll Brothers, Dromore Road. The list goes on. What is different for her than what these other resident taxpayers were seeking to limit? Absolutely nothing!

Her claim was that this home shouldn’t be built because it would be a change to this long time African American community. Interpretation? Her racially segregated neighborhood should stay as it is. This is an example of reverse racism coming from another community leader and member of the Feiner administration. We’ve previously posted that the Feiner Administration condones racism from within and now it’s becoming more exposed. 

We invite you to watch these videos linked below from the meeting and ask you to decide. Here are two links we found on YouTube of her speaking at the Planning Board meeting. By the way, these are not videos that ABG produced or created. 

Watch her plea here:

TOGPB 04 16 2014 NIMBY Beville
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5a2n-AjUXY

The Board later detailed what constituted a wetland – this property was not. They explained a nature preserve – this property was not. They explained all of her other postulations only to summarize that the space she bemoaned as a waterway was determined to be a drainage ditch that occasionally collected water. They went through each of her points of objection and detailed how she was incorrect.

The Board’s response:

TOGPB 04 16 2014 NIMBY Beville QA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yHPu1HE-zw

It’s interesting to watch how the "Greenburgh elite", or "1%-ers", who are used to getting their way for what they want, react when something is going to affect them more directly. This time it is Ms Beville and a project across the street from her home. When Westhab was proposing their building in Fulton Park, the residents didn’t say “No” to the proposal. They only asked the Town Board to not change the zoning and keep its size within the confines of the existing zoning. They had worked with the homeless at that location for years while it was a homeless hotel. The Fulton Park Civic Association President, who lived directly across the street, just asked for a more reasonably sized building and a buffer. Ms Beville felt Westhab should be built regardless of the residents concerns and publicly stated as much. But Ms Beville is saying she doesn't want anything built there. That's just wrong.

When Mr Feiner decided that a new Stop and Shop on Rt 119 would be a good thing on Rt 119 and the Glenville Neighborhood objected, they were summarily dismissed. When the Parkway Homes neighborhood found out they were getting yet another group home at 88 North Road, there were two issues at play: the first was that Mr Feiner led the state to that piece of undeveloped property and second, Councilman Jones failed to inform his neighbors and former neighborhood association. When Mr Feiner realized he could get Valhalla votes by letting WestHelp rot, he instructed somebody at the Town to leave it open. Now it needs millions of dollars worth of repairs to be habitable. Why are Valhalla residents, who live at least one mile away from this facility against this affordable/low income housing?  
 

Some of the reasons people object to the developments throughout the Town are invariably told that it will raise our property values, increase diversity, increase tax income and make the Town more vibrant. The reality is usually not what we are told. Objections to the Dromore Road development is about overwhelming the school district, not about low income residents. Objections to the Comprehensive Plan's "nodes" is not about low income residents, but of urbanizing the Town and overwhelming the school system with more kids at an undervalued tax income as apartments pay less in taxes than single family homes. Of course, the elephant in the room is the continued racism emminating from our Town administration. Once this stops, we'll finally have A Better Greenburgh.

3.44% Tax Increase Is Under the 2% Tax Cap!

Mr Feiner continually touts our AAA Bond rating and how the Town has stayed within the NYS 2% Tax Cap instituted by Presidential candidate, Governor Cuomo. And yet, the bond rating means little since no bonds have been issued beyond current amounts previously borrowed. Our infrastructure is crumbling throughout the Town, but not to worry, our bond rating is solid. One can almost hear Nero fiddle. 

In his latest rant Mr Feiner has complained that Moody’s downgraded Westchester County’s bond rating from AAA to AA1, after Westchester has maintained a AAA bond rating for years. He bemoaned the point that the same thing happened last year. While a downgrade has some significance, he raids our Town’s Fund Balance to balance the budget and pay operating expenses. This duping of the public with a pseudo 2% tax cap adherence is charlatan politics. His ultimate point, of course, was to trumpet Greenburgh’s AAA Bond rating regardless of how and why it remains in tact.

The 2% Tax Cap is not really a 2% cap, accentuated this year as Mr Feiner proposes increasing Town taxes by 3.4% for Unincorporated Greenburgh. In a parallel and shameful move, he has chosen to increase his, Ms Beville’s and the other elected officials salaries by 10%! Is a 10% salary increase across the “Board”, literally, staying under a 2% Tax Cap or another political example of parsing words and cronyism? We’d ask the Ethics Review Board for their opinion, but their word-craft makes Mr Feiner almost seem illiterate. These 10% raises will undoubtedly be approved, hoisting Mr. Feiner’s salary increase from $127,618 per year to more than $140,174. And, don’t forget the handsome $10k payback for not participating in the Town’s medical program by himself and others. 

We believe asking Town employees to pay into their medical coverage benefits is actually a good thing over the long term. Interestingly, Mr Feiner doesn’t abide by the same rules as other Town employees as he rides the gravy train on his wife’s fully paid, NYS medical benefits, ensuring collection of the $10k opt-out “bonus” he receives from the Town. It seems only yesterday that he used to return part of his salary if he didn’t fulfill a particular years’ promises. Perhaps the cost of living in Greenburgh has risen so much that he can no longer play those parlor games. Factor in the guilty verdicts from Fortress Bible Church, the loss of WestHelp rent, the non-sale of 715 Dobbs Ferry Road property, and his dismal job performance and its no wonder he’s gunshy to promise any return of money.

Town Clerk Judith Beville will also have a hefty salary increase from $73,686 to $80,936. And, the Town board members, who have the best part-time job in the Town, will also get 10% raises, allowing them to make more than some of our full-time employees! Whether they choose to opt-out of the medical insurance remains to be seen, but our other Town employees who are now forced to pay into their health plan, only want what’s fair to them. This administration’s blatant abuse of power, bastardization of the system, justified with lame excuses that they haven’t received a raise in years, is contemptible. Instead of milking the flawed system, they should seek to reform it, benefitting the taxpayers they profess to represent. Taxpayers may never gain control of the Town’s runaway spending and abuse unless they start to pay attention.

Increased expenditures throughout the budget will mostly be due to salary increases for our employees, commissioners and their assistants. One unnecessary example of waste is highlighted by Mr Madden, who bargained for his position to the Town as a “one-man-band” as the Planning Commissioner, and said he didn’t need other people to perform his position. Now, however, he and Mr Feiner are seeking to add a Deputy Planning Commissioner who would be paid a salary of $90,000 per year, which will more likely be closer to $130,000 with benefits, retirement costs and possibly a $10k opt-out medical “benny”. What they should do is create a Planning Executive position for an amount of about $30k to work with Mr Madden. It would allow room for growth, raises, contributions to their medical insurance, assistance for the Planning group, and parity to some of our other Town employees – all while giving Mr Madden the assistance he claims to need. In this economic climate, we’re sure the position will easily be satisfied. We can’t help but wonder if this position was already promised for a particular person (read: crony) and is the proverbial “done-deal”? As Mr Feiner creates new top-tier positions such as this and annually raids our reserve funds to balance his over/under tax-cap budget, this year’s tax increase should more accurately be estimated at 10 to 12%! The reserve fund exists because taxpayers have been over-charged on taxes, thereby creating an excess fund. How about returning some of that to the taxpayers?

The proposed budget shows no income from the “gifting” Mr Feiner struggles with for his latest real estate beneficiary, GameOn 365. He’s been trying to find more and more creative ways for them to get the property at 715 Dobbs Ferry Road (Frank’s Nursery). He has discussed leases, RFP’s, auctions, sealed bids, open bids, but still hasn’t figured out a way to “get one over” on the G10 or for that matter, House of Sports. Whatever his creativity to give the property to his favored GameOn 365, he keeps hitting wall after wall. The proposed budget doesn’t show any revenues from this property’s sale, or the small amount from the rental of the WestHelp property should the County approve the contrived lease deal with his unproven vendor of choice, MRH Group. You’ll recall the Town was given WestHelp’s rental facility from the County years ago, yet sits languishing because Mr Feiner has chosen to play politics with it for Valhalla votes. This not only costs the Town a minimum of $1.2 million per year, but more importantly keeps 100+ people in need of housing out of a place to live.

Playing games with numbers, playing games with taxpayer money and playing games with taxpayer properties seems to be the burgeoning legacy of the Feiner administration. Gone is the “open government” once championed by a young politician who has morphed into a grizzled and seasoned politician, now adept at how to trump the system for his own benefit. We would love to be surprised by our Town Board as they announce at the budget hearings that they will all refuse the raise and keep their already generous salaries at current levels. We’ll also sit by the window to check to see if any pigs fly by. 

Gone is the honesty of balancing a budget through thrift, constrained or reasonable spending and moderate tax increases. Gone is the hope of a “no tax increase” budget in this Town. Gone is the ability for our seniors to stay in their homes, having supported the Town for 30, 40, 50 or more years. Gone is a Town that welcomes young people who seek to live in a suburban atmosphere as developer’s requests are routinely granted to build larger and larger projects, marginalizing their greatest investments. Gone is a Town where less affluent neighborhoods are helped and even treated with respect. The only thing not gone is our Town’s failed administration and the rut we find ourselves getting deeper into. Until residents start paying attention and thinking differently, we may never 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.

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. 

Williams’ Approach to Occupy WestHelp Has Merit

The Paul acts like he owns Greenburgh. His Town Board knows on which side their bread is buttered and stand at the ready to vote however he mandates. The Board, with it’s typical faux-posturing, are calumniatory of residents who berate their unflinching conviction to the master they are beholden and what he wants done to his playground. Their behavior would almost be comical if it weren’t so distressing. In fact, the chief enunciator is Councilman Francis “Back Pocket” Sheehan, who when faced with a declining republican population, hastily switched parties, poked the dogs away from The Paul and snuggled up close, taking advantage of The Paul’s financial resources, mailing lists, email lists and increasing democratic wealth. 

To increase his span of control, The Paul decided it was time to jettison a few resistant Board members and bring in some fresh blood, someone more malleable to his needs. One of those members he kicked to the curb is a former Town Clerk, now County Legislator Alfreda Williams. She had been the Greenburgh Town Clerk for many years when The Paul stumbled upon current Town Clerk Judith Beville. ABG finds her incessant commenting during Town Board meetings is not only unwarranted, it’s disruptive. As the Town Clerk, she is there to record the proceedings (which are captured on video anyway) and announce the speakers during the public hearings and comments. ABG wishes she would simply do that.

The Paul had started a deflection campaign to draw attention away from his bungling (we’re be kind) of the WestHelp property by attempting to shift blame of his screw-up onto the County. Before the last Town Board meeting ended, Councilman Kevin “The Henchman” Morgan stated that the Town cannot proceed with doing anything with the WestHelp property as the County is holding them up with their inaction. Immediately, after the motion was made to adjorn, Williams stood up from the back of the hall pointed at Morgan and said loudly, “Kevin I need to speak with you, now!” Williams stormed up to the dais and proceeded to give him a reprimand for the misleading and incorrect comments he had just made about the County and the WestHelp property. 

ABG has stated in numerous postings the onus is not on the County to find a tenant, but Greenburgh. The contract specifically states that the Town of Greenburgh Housing Authority will maintain the occupancy with low/no income residents. The Paul is in violation of this contract, costing the Town $1.2 million annually.

With the recent Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy fiasco, so many people in Greenburgh remain without power or a place to live. Williams, has come up with a viable and implementable idea to help Greenburgh residents. She wants to immediately open up the currently vacant WestHelp facility to people left homeless or who cannot yet go back to their homes due to storm damage. While The Paul offers nothing but useless attacks toward the utility companies, and insists they hire untrained electricians, he is doing little to actually help anyone. ABG wrote about his methodology after Hurricane Irene swept through and demolished numerous homes and businesses throughout the Town. While he simply gets his media machine to regurgitate his pablum, Williams has struck upon a novel approach to help constituents and the Town. This is the type of thinking that is lost on The Paul and his do-nothing Board. Is it any wonder he ousted Williams?

ABG hopes County Executive Astorino, listens to Williams’ recommendation. Otherwise, he’ll prove to be simply another self-serving politician patting himself on the back. Almost all of our elected officials are scrambling to appear to be doing something while nothing is accomplished by them except insisting on progress reports from the utility companies so they can get airtime. Williams’ idea not only has merit, but exceeds what anyone else is doing to help our residents! Astorino needs to decide that agreeing with The Paul and putting a special needs school on the WestHelp property, which are nothing more than payoffs to his Director of Communications Ned McCormack, and County Legislator Michael Smith, to gain more votes from Valhalla, isn’t as important as actually helping our suffering residents. ABG urges our readers to reach out to their County Legislators and let them know that this is not only a good idea for the facility, but an ideal way to keep the facility doing what it was designed to do: house people in need. We can only hope.