Town Screws Up Again – Costs Us Millions – Again!

After Paul Feiner was found guilty of discrimination, destroying evidence and five other counts against him in the Fortress Bible Church of Mt Vernon, NY case, “he” had to pay a fine of $6.5 million dollars. In reality, he paid nothing and got off “Scott free.” Although he aways insisted the insurance company would pay the fine prior to the verdict, we soon learned that the insurance company did not have to pay the full amount, contrary to what non-practicing attorney Feiner insisted. Why? Because there was a clause in the policy (loosely interpreted) that relieved the insurance company from that entire obligation because Mr Feiner had been found guilty in Federal Court of the charges, negating that contract. So, the insurance company paid only $1 million dollars and Greenburgh taxpayers, not Mr Feiner, are paying the $5.5 million dollars difference!

It seems that even though the discrimination book is not yet closed on this despicable act by Mr Feiner and his Town Board at the time, another costly settlement has been underway for approximately 5 or so years. Now a settlement has finally been reached and resulted in another multi-million dollar payout by the Town. S&R Development Estates, which acquired the 2.3-acre property at 1 Dromore Road to build a 45-unit apartment complex in 2006, based upon a mapping error by the Town, filed suit against the Town and won, resulting in another massive payout by the Town for $9.5 Million dollars.

The Town Board was advised numerous years ago that there was a discrepancy with the Zoning maps for Dromore Road and that they should be corrected before a developer seeks to purchase the property and build something in the neighborhood, vis é vis the Town, that the surrounding area residents might not want. Well, as sure as Mr Feiner is proof of why we need term limits, S&R Development Estates purchased the property to develop as multi-family housing. And while Mr Feiner has consistently failed to stand up for most neighborhoods and always sides with the developer du jour, here’s yet another example of how he failed the other property owners on Dromore Road, specifically the Green­burgh Na­ture Cen­ter, whose largely wooded 33-acre prop­erty abuts the lot in question, the Sis­ters of the Blessed Sacra­ment, a Catholic or­der whose sanc­tu­ary also bor­ders the prop­erty, and res­i­dents of the un­in­cor­po­rated com­mu­nity of Edge­mont, and the Town residents in general. 

S&R later sold the prop­erty to Wilder and Bal­ter Prop­er­ties of Chap­paqua. They are a de­vel­oper spe­cial­iz­ing in af­ford­able and work­force hous­ing, which is probably what they plan to build on this site. Unfortunately, affordable and workforce housing is just a moniker for low income and/or subsidized housing and the issues that follow it. But those issues will soon belong to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the Greenburgh Nature Center and the Edgemont residents whether they incorporate or not.

So whose at fault with all of this? Mostly Mr Feiner and his current and former Town Board members, Francis Sheehan, Diana Juettner, Eddie Mae Barnes and Steve Bass, as they were made aware of the inaccuracies in zoning and chose to do nothing to correct it. And, once they eventually did try to take action, it was simply too late – and ultimately too costly. The Town Board de­cided to limit the li­a­bil­ity to res­i­dents of un­in­cor­po­rated Green­burgh and not the six vil­lages, in­clud­ing the River­towns (as always). “Since this is a land use mat­ter and the vil­lages have their own land use boards,” said Mr Feiner, “I don’t think it would be fair to have the vil­lages con­tribute.” What Mr Feiner really means is that the Village voters are the people who have kept him in office this long and he doesn’t want to take a chance of alienating them - especially now that he has a challenger for this election! He also failed to mention that the Village’s Mayors and Trustees actually do an infinitely better job of protecting their residents from developers than he has ever done. It must be nice…

If incompetence were ever to go mainstream, its model would be right here in the Town of Greenburgh with any of the career politician Feiner’s administrations. Would a Town run by his challenger, who worked in the failed NYC DiBlasio administration, be any better? Highly doubtful. The Republicans ceded the Town to the Democrats long ago and now they are bearing those fruits at an incredible cost to us all. Electing “more of the same” from the Democrat pork barrel puts at fault those same people, an established one-party, poorly ruled Town. This must change. It’s the only way we’ll get A Better Greenburgh.

Feiner’s Follies

During the 28 years of the Paul Feiner Administration, the residents of the Town of Greenburgh have been subjected to his mis-management and incompetency during that entire time and paying dearly for it. We’ve listed a wide collection of costly events from Mr Feiner.

Law Suits Verdicts Against The Town

• Fortress Bible Church discrimination lawsuit where Mr Feiner and his Board (at the time) $6.5 million award, which we are still paying.

• Cotswold Tree Damages. Found that the Town under-insured; Monetary award of millions; the Husband was killed and his wife was permanently disabled.

Pending Law Suits

• S&R Development Estates LLC has filed 7 lawsuits since 2007, against  the Town of Greenburgh for illegally blocking the development of a multi-family affordable & low income residential property for $26 million. This all came about due to an error on the Zoning map. The property should have been shown as being in a Residential district. Instead it was mistakenly shown as being in the Central Ave. commercial district where multi- family housing is permitted. When the mistake was discovered, Paul Feiner ordered the map to be corrected without following the legal procedure which required a Public Hearing. S&R purchased the property relying on the fact that it was zoned for multi/ family use.

• Argonaut Insurance Co., Wants to be released from covering the $26 million Dromore Road suit. They claim that they were not the insurance carrier when the basis for the initial suit (2007) took place and should be released from paying any fines since they were only retained in 2015. Actually, Argonaut maintain that Mr Feiner and Mr Sheehan acted intentionally, and as a result Argonaut should be released from coverage because public policy doesn’t allow for insurability of “intentionally caused harm.”  In other words, this isn’t an accident like a tree falling on a car: Argonaut is alleging that Messrs Feiner and Sheehan deliberately changed the maps to screw S&R and therefore they violated the insurance policy. This has happened before with the $6.5 million fine in the Fortress Bible Church. Because Mr Feiner was found guilty of lying under oath and destroying evidence in Federal Court, the insurance company only had to pay one million dollars of the entire amount. 

                  

• Ferncliff Cemetery is suing Mr Feiner and the Town for $76 million, contending that the twelve acres is actually property for cemetery burials. The Town has claimed that that property was not part of the original Ferncliff purchase and subsequently cannot be used for cemetery burials.

         

Land Use Decisions

• Shelbourne Assisted Living Facility. Disregarding the Town Zoning Ordinance re: Assisted Living and has a 3000% variance allowed - distance of more than 1 mile to State road instead of 200 ft.

• Deli Delicious Restaurant

  Appointed a tenant of the Deli Delicious owner to the Zoning Board of Appeals when the      

  property owner was seeking variances from that Board.

• Frank’s Nursery. Allowed uncollected taxes for 6 years before Town foreclosed on property. Tried to lease the property to GameOn Sports Complex – Illegal according to State and County law. He attempted to sell property without clear title. Also contracted to sell property to GameOn with a 13 year installment plan, and a way “out” if hazardous materials remediation costs exceeded a certain amount.

• WestHELP – Westchester Community College Property off of Knollwood Road. The Town was receiving $1.2 million per year for housing for homeless women and children.

Mr Feiner arranged a deal with the Valhalla School District to pay them $650,000 a year for school-age children to attend Valhalla schools. State Comptroller found the deal illegal. No children attended the Valhalla schools and a law suit was filed by private citizens to have that money returned to the Town and won. Another deal was made with the Mayfair Knollwood Civic Association to pay them $100,000 for their approval of this arrangement. The deal was found to be illegal.He also allowed the contract to lapse in 2011 causing the Town to lose over $8 million to date and forcing the property to fall into disrepair due to lack of maintenance.

• Tarryhill Housing on Old Tarrytown Road.The Town did not do its due diligence in allowing this affordable housing project to be sold to owners whose objective it is to turn the property into non-affordable housing per Wall Street Journal article.

Land Use Committees

Paul Feiner promoted the idea that land use committees would allow neighborhood residents to have input regarding proposed development in their communities. 

We have now been informed by the Commissioner of Community Development & Conservation that the rules have been changed and that land use committees will only be used when a Zoning Change is required for the project.

When a project (i.e. The Jefferson) was proposed in Mr. Feiner's “backyard”, he made sure that an outside independent consulting firm was hired to study all aspects of the proposal.

Without a land use committee, this procedure will not be followed.

There are currently 4 land use applications submitted to the Town that should be allowed to have land use committees formed to have input from the neighborhood residents that will be impacted by these developments. These are:

• ShopRite Super Market - MutliPlex theater/ Master's Shopping Center property on 9A. Mr Feiner favors allowing large tractor-trailers and other commercial vehicles to use the adjoining Old Country Road. This project will impact the safety of 215 families in the Westchester Hills Condominiums and some residents of the Beaver Hill area.

• Sam's Club – 9A across from MultiPlex/Master's Shopping Center. They are seeking to install 7 underground gas tanks with 14 gas pumps in a FEMA-designated flood zone near the Saw Mill River. It would would eliminate 100 parking spaces and increase congested traffic flow for the area. This proposal was previously rejected by the Town's Zoning Board of Appeals. 

• Metropolis Country Club – Dobbs Ferry Road.They are seeking to change the Zoning Code for an Independent Living/Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility to allow for a 60% increase in density.They also want to introduce “floating zones” which could set a precedent to allow commercial entities in all residential districts.

• Maplewood Swim & Tennis Club – West Hartsdale Ave.They seek to build an Assisted Living/Memory Care Facility.They also wants a variance of 50% for the length of the building from 300 ft. to 450 ft. Neighbors in several neighborhoods nearby have expressed concerns involving increased traffic and safety on already heavily travelled roads.

         

All of the residents from these areas should be given the same opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns about these forthcoming developments, just like the residents of East Irvington (solar farms), Worthington-Woodlands (Elmwood CC), Hartsdale (4 Corners) and Ardsley (The Jefferson).

Dial Democracy

This was the brain child of Paul Feiner that allowed residents to call in to Town Board meetings during Public Comments and Public Hearings to voice their opinions, concerns and ask questions when they are unable to attend these meetings in person.

For some unknown reason, this important social media tool has been discontinued for the past decade despite the urging by citizens to restore it.

In fact, Dial Democracy should also be allowed during Public Hearings at the Planning Board and Public Hearings involving variances at the Zoning Board of Appeals. It’s what will make for A Better Greenburgh.

Reassessment: Open and Transparent – Not in Greenburgh

The Town’s revaluation project, provided by Tyler Technologies, has resulted in many upset residents. Broken into the rule of “thirds”, one group that is extremely upset is the one third who will see their taxes increase! The most vociferous has been from the Edgemont area of the Town. Championed by Bob Bernstein, who challenged Mr Feiner for the Town Supervisor’s position, he has stated that the revaluations performed by Tyler appear to be extremely lopsided. He and others have asked the Town to provide the criteria by which Tyler was doing the revaluations. The Town has not provided the information.
 
The other two-thirds of the Town’s residents will see their taxes either remain the same or be lowered. Those people have, for the most part, remained quiet. Although not fun by any means, they’re probably breathing a sigh of relief and thankful to keep Mr Feiner’s hands out of their pockets and off their wallets! The bigger question is what could have been done to avoid this, and in fact, could it have been avoided at all? Based in Texas, Tyler Technologies has completed the contracted assessment of the Town. Or, have they? Many people we speak with claim they never saw a Tyler representative during the reassessment period and received a mailing from them that their revaluation was completed nevertheless!
 
It has been said there are approximately 6,000 property owners (24% of residents), the unfortunate one-third, who will see an increase in their property taxes. Mr Bernstein uses his home as just one example of the wide fluctuations to six or so other very similar homes on his street, built by the same builder with the same amount of property. He’s found wildly different evaluations of these parcels. In the Tarrytown area, on the other side of Town, we were told by several homeowners that their property taxes will be going up about 28%! While not directly stumping for Tarrytown, this is the struggle many are crying “foul” over. It appears that they were paying undervalued amounts of taxes while the other two-thirds of the Town were over-paying their taxes. The reassessment is designed to remedy that.
 
Never one to address any problem straight on with honesty, reason, due diligence, and following the processes in place, Mr Feiner and his Board have sought feverishly for a scapegoat. Tyler might just be that scapegoat. However, he hired Tyler. Now he’s blaming them for not being available to deal with residents’ complaints. He chose an unproven management company for WestHelp, who wound up going belly-up, still losing money for the Town due to that debacle. Come to think of it, he also chose GameOn 365 for a commercial development in a residential neighborhood. It was he who also chose to discriminate against, destroy evidence, lie under oath and committing perjury in the Fortress Bible Church law suit. After being handed a Massage Parlor bill written, ironically, by Mr Bernstein – at no charge – that the Town could simply enact, Town Attorney Tim Lewis stopped it. He watered it down and changed it from what was offered, and Mr Feiner unnecessarily dragged out the process for way too long. Bad decisions seem to be a hallmark of this administration!

Seemingly, the Town appeared to be getting closer to a more equitable level of taxation once the revaluation stopped getting talked about and was actually slated to begin. Then, in characteristically and non-transparent fashion, bordering on what might be considered a “video slight-of-hand” from out of left field, Mr Feiner and his Town Board voted during a work session to not enact the Homestead Tax option, a financial benefit for Mr Feiner! In fact, if you weren't paying close attention, you might have easily missed it completely. Mr Feiner has stated that he and his Board, “...all believe that reassessment is necessary for the long term health of the Town.” However, if they were genuinely looking for tax equity, they would have put the Homestead Tax option on the Town’s regular agenda and let the people speak about it. But no, this is Greenburgh where we only talk about open and transparent government before slamming the door to go into a private, executive session.
 
Instead of being open and transparent, Mr Feiner and his Board are now trying to enact a graduated, five-year implementation plan so that the increases to the approximately 6,000 homeowners is spread out over 5-years, easing them “up to speed”. How are they going to pull this one off? By utilizing a section of the New York State Real Property Tax Law that’s called a Transition Assessment. In order for this to be undertaken, the Town must adopt it within thirty days of filing the tentative assessment roll in May. ABG believes this will happen today at their work session this morning at 9:30. It would then take effect on June 1. The flip side of this plan is that those getting a reduction would also get their reduction phased in over five years. Effectually, Mr Feiner wants the less affluent, lower-taxed people to continue to pay more in taxes than they should, carrying those who got socked with an increase. Equitable tax structure indeed!
 
Regardless of where you stand on this issue, and what is happening with your taxes, Town Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy claims a five-year phase-in transition will not happen. How does she know and what isn’t she sharing with us? The bigger issues at play are many. First, Tyler dropped the ball and did not visit every home in the Town, cheating on what they were hired to do. The Town allowed that to happen which has easily skewed the results and rests squarely on Mr Feiner and his Board’s shoulders. This is costing our residents a lot of money. Second, the criteria for revaluation was never disclosed and still remains a secret to only Tyler and the Town. Third, most people are unaware that Mr Feiner with his Board is now seeking to change the revaluation results in hopes of not upsetting their political (read: re-election) apple cart. It is often said that revaluation is political suicide. Maybe so. Finally, the five-year transition plan has apparently never been used and this would be the first time in NY State history. Actually, Mr Feiner is bragging about this. What he fails to mention is that while the Town Board “... all believe the reassessment is necessary for the long term health of the Town.” They would be setting the revaluation effort back by five years if they do this!
 
We are sympathetic with those 6,000 residents who are going to pay more than a small increase. Separately, those who have voted for Mr Feiner and his Board election after election have endorsed his 24 years of not doing any revaluations and indirectly helped create this situation. Yet, their bad decisions should not cost them exorbitant amounts of money with increased taxes. Too many factors indicate another scheme by Mr Feiner that was not well thought out, planned well or executed properly. Perhaps a one-year delay may be prudent. Tyler can actually do reassessments of homes they originally missed, give every one time to challenge the assessment if they are believed to be incorrect, and finally, have the Town put all of the options “on the table” and perhaps offer a referendum on how to proceed. Maybe next time Mr Feiner and his Board will listen to those of us who attend meetings, email him and try to discuss issues with him. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Death of The Solana

Much has been said about the Sprain Brook Nursery property. There have been two suspicious fires within the period of time the owner, Al Krautter was looking to retire and/or sell the property. The fires may have been coincidental, but they highlighted the lack of water supply for the area, according to fire service representatives. In fact, he closed the nursery in 2012 to put the property on the market. When he was unable to sell it, Krautter reopened the business as a more scaled down operation focusing on organically grown products..

Enter Formation-Shelbourne, a company interested in developing the 3.7 acre parcel of property into an 80-bed assisted living facility. ABG is convinced that once the assisted living concept gets all the Town approvals, it will get built. Once built, it will flourish as most assisted living facilities appear to do. Then, characteristically, profits will shrink, costs will rise and after all kinds of hullabaloo, their management will announce Chapter 11, Chapter 13 or something threatening the bankruptcy route. Then they will say they need to change their model and become either a co-operative apartment or a condominium complex. We’ve seen this in White Plains (which has lower city taxes) with the former assisted living facility, The Esplanade. We’re also experiencing this currently with the Hebrew Home next to Westchester Community College on Grasslands Road.

Regardless of how Formation-Shelbourne proceeds (or not) with their proposed assisted living facility called The Solana, they will need a number of variances as well as clearing a number of hurdles created by Mr Feiner and his Town Board. You’ll recall when the Brightview Assisted Living management team was pitching their mega-building at Rt 119 and Benedict Avenue, they wrote the ordinance for allowing assisted living facilities in our Town. Never heeding complaints from the G10 or other residents, Mr Feiner and his Board unanimously passed the new ordinance.

Several issues in the new ordinance were specific to Brightview, including size, location and various other requirements. Never to be swayed by public opinion, logic, facts or qualified information, Mr Feiner and his Board did as they always do, ignored valuable information from residents, and plowed through the new ordinance for assisted living facilities. It never mattered that the ordinance restricting the building height matched exactly the  Brightview specifications. It didn’t matter that the footprint was on 4 acres of land – the exact size Brightview purchased. Nor did the need for proximity to a state road of 200 feet. That’s because their building was thought to be 200 feet from Rt 119, a state road. It was discovered in the eleventh hour that the site was actually more than 200 feet from Rt. 119, and wording of the ordinance was changed by the Thomas Madden behind the scenes to read 200 feet from a state right-of-way. Much to the disappointment to many residents, passage of this new ordinance also created a major change throughout the Town by now allowing Assisted Living Facilities to be built in residential neighborhoods. There’s more to this, but let’s go back to The Solana.

The proposal for The Solana, which would be constructed on the current Sprain Brook Nursery property, is required to be located within 200 feet of a state or county “right-of-way”. That does not include parkways and interstate highways as qualifiers of this “right of way”. This requirement was put in place to ensure emergency medical vehicles could get to these types of facilities quickly, and not have to travel through residential neighborhoods at all hours, since assisted living residents are apt to need emergency medical services often.

The Formation-Shelbourne management balked and stated a small strip of land owned by NY State constituted the requisite “right-of-way”. A challenge from the Edgemont Community Council’s President Bob Bernstein to the Building Department’s Building Inspector disagreed, saying only a state or county roadbed or a proposed roadbed, not a small parcel of state-owned property constituted a “right-of-way”.

The building inspector had also ruled last summer that no variances were needed. However, the ordinance states that these type of facilities must be at least four acres in size. Finally, after four public hearings in as many months, the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) took a straw vote which is unofficial, yet reasonably representative of the final vote and ZBA members present unanimously agreed that the building inspector was wrong. Now, while everyone was relieved to learn that the ZBA got it correct, the Formation-Shelbourne attorneys and management company can still apply for variances and proceed with their project. Since the approval will fall to the Town Board, and Mr Feiner favors the project, he could instruct his Board to approve it. If it should get approved, the other issues raised can easily be mitigated as well.

While this project can easily be fast-tracked through the process, which many believe have failed them, there is another perspective this time that is in play. Mr Feiner has been exhibiting quite a bit of sympathy and empathy towards the Edgemont Community. In fact, he has gone above and beyond to placate them, even going so far as to apply and receive grant money for sidewalks in Edgemont – something he will not do for less affluent communities! So, he may go to bat for Edgemont again to allay any thoughts they may have about seceding from the Town and incorporating into a Village. It remains to be seen. These kind of shell games must end. All neighborhoods deserve the same treatment from Mr Feiner and his Board. Allowing this type of discrimination, something Mr Feiner has been found guilty of doing in the Fortress Bible Church case, must end immediately. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.  

Special Meeting Held To Enact Flawed Plan

On Tuesday, in a special Town Board meeting, possibly to occlude the public from interfering with their pesky facts, the Town Board unanimously pushed Mr Feiner’s latest publicity stunt forward. They approved a local law enabling the town to procure energy on behalf of residential and small commercial energy customers in the town. They claim that this legislation will enable the town to help residents reduce their utility bills. Claims by Mr Feiner in particular, and others, have been made stating the ability to garner savings of up to $600! However, no statistical proof verifying this claim has ever been presented, nor details of how long it would take to recognize such savings, even following multiple queries. This is strictly an experiment by Sustainable Westchester which will last for three years. At the end of three years, if successful, we could see the not-for-profit company change into a for-profit company and the previous savings evaporate. They have even stated that this will become their model if it is successful and they will look to expand their program nationwide.

Against vehement opposition from members of the public, Civic Associations and others, the Town Board discarded their many questions and automatically signed up every Greenburgh resident for the program-without their consent! Only those already participating in an ESCO would be exempt as well as the Town itself, who gets its power from PASNY (Power Authority State of NY). Those against this plan were concerned that residents were unknowingly being automatically enrolled into the program. The rationale by Mr Feiner and his Board was that anyone can opt OUT if they don’t wish to participate. Residents who spoke questioned the consequences of a program that automatically opts someone into something without their knowledge or consent. It should have been set up to opt IN, not opt OUT.  

The Town Board held 3 public hearings: on June 24, July 8 and August 19^th regarding this legislation. ABG believes this was purposely consummated during the summer or vacation months to minimize opposition. It’s interesting to note when Mr Feiner wants something to go forward, such as the illegal lease for his friends at GameOn 365 for example, he pulls out all of the stops and puts up yard signs throughout the Town, holds press conferences, does press releases, email blasts and so on. Similarly, when he wants to avoid controversy the Board holds special meetings, executive sessions and the ever-popular closed door meetings! 

The taxpayer/residents’ problem is that Mr Feiner and his Town Board know that they can hold hearings and regardless of the information presented or the arguments made, can move their agenda forward because the politically lopsided Board usually doesn't have much, if any, voting opposition. When there is disagreement, it’s usually two against and the other two in favor, siding with Mr Feiner as the third vote and tie-breaker. This juggernaut passing the measures in question and ensuring their continued political futures winds up short-changing the public.  

Mr Feiner has said the potential benefits of this ESCO deal are price stability for a fixed contract term, lower prices, more favorable terms and preference for cleaner power sources. What's interesting is that he never provides any tangible definitions or statistical data to back what he says. Simply, the prices will be fixed and only provide lower rates for a while. If energy costs go up, and they always do, your prices may also go up - even though you were entered into this program at a fixed contract term. Amazing how those conducting this experiment don’t get hurt. 

More favorable terms is a misnomer. The terms are the terms and you will now see the delivery charges as a separate billing charge on your ConEd bill. While you will continue to make your payments the same way you always have, if you have trouble paying your bill, you’ll still be dealing with ConEd and not the ESCO. They get paid regardless. Any preference for cleaner power sources is a lie. Whatever ConEd does for energy is what you will be using - period. So, while you may prefer solar or something else, it will be up to ConEd as to how they purchase and resell power to you. The ESCO will be charging you for the transmission of the energy and the “moving” of it to you. 

This deal is fraught with many more questions than answers. Ken Stahn of the Sprain Road Civic Association repeatedly met with Sustainable Westchester and the Town Board seeking answers. As of the last meeting of the Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations, he still had unanswered questions and was not satisfied with the minimal and generic answers that were provided. Mr Feiner claims that other Towns and Villages have adopted the plan. While the plan they adopted had numerous typos, some of which were significant, Town Councilman Francis Sheehan stated they had reworked the boilerplate contract the others had signed to be a bit better for Greenburgh. There is still no timeline when “Opt-OUT” postcards will be mailed to residents. There is also no confirmation if there will be a fee to opt-out after the postcard program is over. ABG research shows there has been a fee in other places where this was tried. 

Regardless of how much lipstick gets smeared on this, it’s ugly and still not a deal we can have confidence in. Greenburgh residents will be on the hook for any “hits” this program takes. That’s right. If the opted OUT residents don’t participate and something goes wrong for the opted IN residents, the Town has no direct liability, per se. But, as we’ve seen before with the Fortress Bible Church guilty decision, the Unincorporated residents will have to bankroll whatever financial problems the program experiences. It shouldn’t be this way. If this was a well-vetted program, we might endorse it. It’s not. We should not be the guinea pigs for this energy experiment unless we wanted to opt IN! But again, that’s not the case. Until it is, this idea should have been tabled. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Sustainable Westchester Q&A Meeting Moved

The meeting scheduled by Ken Stahn for residents to discuss the Sustainable Westchester ESCO at the Town Hall Cafeteria at 7 PM. before the Town Board Open Hearing on this topic has been moved to the Town Hall cafeteria. Everyone is welcome to attend and ask questions. 

Mr Feiner and his Town Board have decided, on their own, to enter  ALL TOWN RESIDENTS into  an "ESCO" or Energy Savings Consortium Organization run by Sustainable Westchester. This is an important meeting that we urge residents to attend!

Big Brother Creeps In

Billed as "Good News!" by the Town Supervisor, his latest move has "Big Brother" written all over it, and it doesn't pertain to the well-known television show. Mr Feiner and his Town Board have decided, on their own, to enter  ALL TOWN RESIDENTS into  an "ESCO" or Energy Savings Consortium Organization run by Sustainable Westchester. Mr Feiner sent out an email and a physical mailing to residents from the Town's snail-mail and email list, known as the GBList. This email list, by the way, was sought after by many community organizations as Town information/property and Mr Feiner refused to relinquish it when it was requested. Dorrine Livson, President of the Worthington Woodlands Civic Association, was one civic group representative that requested it under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and was turned down by Mr Feiner. She appealed the decision and was again turned down. She went to court and was victorious, finding Mr Feiner once again guilty of breaking the law! Now appealing the decision, Mr Feiner is still refusing to turn the list over to her even under court directive.

The more we talk to different people about these ESCO's, the more questions and apparent problems for residents arise than answers can be had. Mr Feiner said people that don't want to participate can opt out at any time. What we have learned is that many ESCOs have a penalty charge when you opt out. More importantly, however, we don't understand why this was not set up for people to opt IN instead of having to opt OUT? Mr Feiner repeatedly refuses to answer that question. Governing by fiat appears to be Mr Feiner's latest abuse of his power.

He says your ConEd bill can go down by hundreds, even up to $600! Mr Feiner has a history of shouting out unsubstantiated figures whenever its convenient. Could you get a better rate on your own from purchasing your power from a company other than ConEd? Perhaps. Would you prefer to be in control of your own contractual obligations, rather than having the Town be in charge of your power options? Again, perhaps. But after witnessing so many instances of financial mismanagement by this administration, its a bit scary for us to think Mr Feiner, found guilty of lying in Federal court (re: Fortress Bible decision) is even telling the truth! And after the introductory period, will your rates stay the same or change? And, if they change, is Mr Feiner going to pay the difference or work on your behalf to make sure your rates are in fact lower and you continue to save hundreds? Perhaps, but more than likely it is highly doubtful, however, excuses will be plentiful, We foresee classic Feiner double-talk with little or no relief ever coming.

So, the Town Board approved a resolution some two weeks ago that will enter all Town residents into an agreement to participate in a "community choice aggregation" program through Sustainable Westchester. Participating communities will pool resources and procure energy supplies from an ESCO. In February of this year the New York State Public Service Commission authorized Sustainable Westchester to become the first business in New York State to put out for bid the total amount of natural gas or electricity being purchased by local residents and small businesses.

The claims are that the program has some benefits: Price stability for a fixed contract term, better terms than a typical resident could get acting alone and the ability to design a program that reflects local goals like cleaner power sources. Currently, anyone can purchase their energy from an ESCO but many ESCOs don't provide fixed rates -they offer ratepayers good deals initially and then increase the rates a short time later. It's confusing to some when trying to compare the ESCOs. Sustainable Westchester has the resources to compare ESCOs and to get an agreement for a fixed term. And if you disagree with their decision, well, you'll be S.O.L. (Stuck Outta Luck - the G-rated version).

One resident and Civic Association President Ken Stahn is also concerned about many aspects of this contract. While there may be some in favor of this vote-getting ploy to tout how they've saved the taxpayer's money, too many questions linger and threaten this purported "good news!" from Mr Feiner.

Mr Stahn has set up a meeting with the group,Sustainable Westchester, regarding the Town Board Resolution of June 10th, 2015.  The meeting will take place at the Town Hall at 7 PM before the opening of the hearing on this topic when the Town Board meets on that evening this coming Wednesday June 24th,2015.

He needs to get ten positive responses regarding this meeting from people to move forward with meeting with them. His hope is to hear from concerned taxpayers by noon Tuesday June 23rd, 2015 or he will be forced to cancel the meeting.

Please reply to Mr Stahn by noon June 23rd, 2015 either positive or negative about your interest in the meeting.

Kenneth G. Stahn, 644 Ardsley Road, Scarsdale, New York 10583-1804
Cell 917-642-7516; Home 914-693-4904; e-mail kgstahn@aol.com

We applaud Mr Stahn for seeking answers before the Town moves on yet another "done-deal". We agree with many who say this could be good but that taxpayers should only be required to "opt IN", otherwise Big Brother will start to creep into other decisions "for us". You can help to stop this madness! Join Mr Stahn this Wednesday evening. Regardless of the outcome, stay, and during the public speaking session tell Mr Feiner and his Board, "No!" They should only move forward with this if it is "Opt IN" Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.

Racism Thrives

We have often written about different racist incidents that have prevailed in our Town government. The most recent is with Greenburgh Police Officer Brad DiCairano. Apparently he posted a picture on Facebook that showed a photo of blacks on a minivan protesting last summers Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, next to one of baboons jumping all over a white woman's car. The post drew criticism from fellow officers and we understand was then shown to GPD Chief Christopher McNerney a day or so later. But, by the time Chief McNerney learned of the Facebook page, using the name 'B-rad Di', it had been taken down. Chief McNerney had placed DiCairano on modified duty upon his return from vacation. Officers are permitted to express their personal views as long as it does not, among other things, “negatively affect the public perception of the Department” according to the department's social media policy.

The rest of Officer DiCairano’s troubles can be discussed at a future date. The fundamental questions seem to be whether or not he overstepped the department's protocol and were his first amendment rights being upheld or not? Should a police officer, or any municipal employee be held to a different standard and does this violate his free speech rights? As horrible to some and perhaps entertaining to others as this act may be, should this officer lose his job over this or just be reprimanded? And, does he deserve a second chance if he apologizes and shows remorse?

ABG learned that Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner condemned the Facebook post once he learned of it and said he was confident McNerney was taking it "extremely seriously." “Law enforcement people have to interact with all aspects of the community and it's totally inappropriate for them to be encouraging, even privately, any forms of hate or racism,” Feiner said. How interesting that he would only single out law enforcement and not other Town employees. 

Then Mr Feiner sent out an email blast about this incident to several thousand people in the Town, stating:

An unpleasant note…a police officer was suspended today and relieved of his duties for the posting of a racially insensitive posting and comments on facebook[sic]. The internal investigation is continuing. The officer faces discipline up to and including termination of employment. I have asked our newly formed Human Rights Committee to review the town’s policies regarding town employees who make racially offensive comments and to come up with policies that would apply to all employees who work for the  town.

PAUL FEINER

In a March 10th Town Board meeting several years ago, Councilwoman Sonya Brown publicly “dressed down” Mr Feiner explaining that he had told her and other candidates running for re-election to not bother campaigning in Fairview because those voters were unintelligent! It seems from what Ms Brown was saying that he was alluding to the minority community there. So, how can Mr Feiner continue to claim to be against racism when he condones it repeatedly? 

In our article entitled “Selective Racism Condoned By Supervisor” on April 8th, 2014, we quoted Mr Feiner as saying, “We cannot, as elected officials, allow discrimination to rear its ugly head.” Yet he sent emails endorsing Superintendent Ross after allegations of racism were made against him and has since been fired from Greenburgh Central School System. His racist remarks were proven to be made over an extended period of time.

Mr Feiner and the Town Board chose to ignore the use of the “N-word” in Town Hall by Tax Assessor Edye McCarthy in a meeting with department employees present. We posted an excerpt of a letter (below) of complaint from the offended party in that same article. The complaint was summarily ignored by the Town. Why was Mr Feiner absent after a complaint of racism was filed against Town Assessor Edye McCarthy? Perhaps Mr Feiner waved it off saying, “It’s not that big a deal.”

Below is an excerpt from the complaint letter addressed to Town Assessor Edye McCarthy and carbon-copied to the Union President and Supervisor Paul Feiner on October 27, 2008. We have omitted the names and body of the letter to protect the privacy of the victim.  

We forewarn you that the content may be considered disturbing.
Here’s an excerpt from that complaint:

We’re surrounded by double-standards: Recently, Mr Feiner himself was found guilty of discrimination and violating the civil rights of the Fortress Bible Church of Mt Vernon after they sought Town approvals to build a new church and school on Dobbs Ferry Road. Mr Feiner did not want them building in the backyard of his friend, then County Legislator and now NYS Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti and tried to scuttle the Church's application. It was proven in court that Mr Feiner openly practiced discrimination against the Fortress Bible Church when the Church purchased property and sought to construct a new church and school on it just off of Dobbs Ferry Road.

In time, Fortress Bible Church filed suit against the Town after being pushed once too often. It’s believed that Mr Feiner tried to “convince” them into donating a fire truck to the Fairview Fire Department in return for permit approvals. It’s widely believed he did this to the Westchester Meadows (aka Hebrew Home) in Valhalla. They capitulated and amazingly the Fairview FD received a brand new Rescue truck and the Westchester Meadows was able to continue construction. But the Church wasn’t going to be coerced into agreeing to Mr Feiner's alleged demands and questionable behavior. The Church went to court and was victorious. Their victory is the Unincorporated Town’s loss as we will be forced to cover Mr Feiner’s illegal actions to the tune of $6.5 million!

Racism should not be welcome anywhere. Yet it seems to have found a home in Greenburgh, well-known to be a sanctuary Town for issues Mr Feiner decides are acceptable. But due to condoning racism himself, he should recuse himself from any and all conversations surrounding it. He should also not be an adjudicator if Greenburgh Police Officer Brad DiCairano should face disciplinary actions for his post on Facebook via the Town Board. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.