You Can Lead A Horse To Water

In a disappointing loss for truth, integrity and true open government, our incumbent Supervisor handily won the Greenburgh Democratic Primary election, beating the Greenburgh Democratic Leaders’ choice by roughly a three to one vote, as did his running mate. With a seemingly low Democratic voter turnout, those it did choose to vote made a big mistake.

According to the posted information from the Westchester County Board of Elections as of 6 a.m. today, Mr Feiner has won the Greenburgh Democratic Primary over Hartsdale attorney Robert “Bob” Bernstein. The tally of votes numbers Mr Feiner with 3,431 to Mr Bernstein’s 1,862. Incumbent Town Clerk Judith Beville, trumped challenger Sherron Brunson Fantauzzi with a few more votes than Mr Feiner, receiving 3,631 to Ms Fantauzzi’s 1,607 votes for the Town Clerk nomination. These numbers may fluctuate a small bit after absentee ballots are tallied by all election districts which had submitted their numbers.

Sadly, Mr Feiner distorted the truth about Mr Bernstein, preferring to make up lies about him and simply lie when there was little if any substance to attack. He chose to simply smear Mr Bernstein in mailings as well as control his public persona by refusing to participate in open and honest debates, mocking the public he claims to want to represent and pander to special interests. Mr Bernstein simply cited issue after issue about Mr Feiner’s poor performance and failed record. 

It’s difficult to run for office, and especially difficult in a Town tainted by cronyism, special interest pandering, dishonesty, a supermajority that chooses to ignore the truth and out and out illegal activity by corrupt leaders. The Democrats’ super-majority in the Town has locked onto this horse and appears unable to let go. We congratulate Mr Bernstein on a well-run and above-board campaign. We hope this doesn’t cause Mr Bernstein to slow down in fighting for what’s right at Town Hall. Mr Bernstein deserves a few days off to catch his breath. We hope to see him at the podium soon. 

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.

Bernstein Press Conference Scheduled

Town of Greenburgh Supervisor candidate Bob Bernstein will hold a press conference Thursday, August 15, 2013 at Noon (12 p.m.) at the former WestHELP affordable housing facility (1 WestHELP Drive, White Plains, NY 10603). The press conference will address the town’s continued mismanagement of the site and the proceedings begun by Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) and Legislator Alfreda Williams (D-Greenburgh) to take back control of the land from Greenburgh. Mr. Bernstein expects to be joined at the press conference by Lena Anderson, President of the Greenburgh/White Plains chapter of the NAACP.

Contact: Gil Kaminer
Email: gkaminer1426@gmail.com
Phone: (914) 776-3379