Your Vote Is Your Voice

Election Day. It evokes a plethora of emotions for many people. Newly ordained citizens understandably can't wait to partake of the process. Natural born citizens' emotions range from "its my right and duty as a citizen" to "why bother?" to "it makes no difference/its a waste of time". Wherever your sentiments might lie, your vote is your voice. This November promises to be an exciting election in most places except Greenburgh. It won't be exciting here because the result is forgone.

ABG writes often about Greenburgh's "willfully ignorant" taxpayer/resident/voter/OIMBY. Mr Feiner counts on their reticence. OIMBY is a phrase we developed after witnessing a normally apathetic constituency only get riled up when something is happening to their neighborhood. OIMBY, or Only In My Back Yard is a turn of the phrase NIMBY, Not In My Back Yard. ABG has often written about individuals and neighborhoods that have been ignored by the Town and lumbered like a sleeping giant until Mr Feiner and his minions decide to practice their own form of social experimentation where it doesn't belong, favoring developers over residents and existing businesses. Of course, by then, Mr Feiner has already forged the project as a done deal and the neighborhood is left broken. As Mr Feiner attempts to extort "gifts" from developers to ensure application approvals, our Town is held hostage to the highest bidder. And even though he has been cited numerous times for campaign practices, he remains unrepentant and continues his illegal, questionable and despicable behavior. Disappointingly, he has enlisted the help of his Town Board as his political power ensures their re-election as long as they comply with his mandates.

As we enter October, just one month before the November elections, we will be inundated with campaign mailings, garish and an overabundance of yard signs littering our landscape, robotic phone calls (robocalls), some with the candidates voice and some not. All of the candidates and the respective political machines behind them will have loyal volunteers and paid personnel staffing the phone banks in hopes of getting their candidate elected. Sometimes it might even work. Most times promise a hang-up by an angry constituent in the middle of life, preparing, eating or finishing dinner or helping the kids with homework or getting them ready for bed. Our vote is our voice. But our voices need to be respected by those seeking to get elected.

The political climate in Greenburgh is heavily one-sided as 22 years of singular leadership has proven why change is good. The overall atmosphere is one of distrust of our political leadership, a one sidedness that is rarely seen anymore in American politics. The closest thing reminding us of how it used to be is Chicago's Tammany Hall politics. That is unless you maintain an inside view of the Greenburgh/Feiner political machine. But that requires countless hours at meetings, reading documentation, discussions, and the backbone to question what is said. A few brave soles have attempted to run against Mr Feiner in numerous elections. Each time Mr Feiner has his foot soldiers go after their ballot signatures, residency or anything else to get them disqualified to guarantee another win. To quote a Mel Brooks movie line, "It's good to be the king."

Many residents in Town are tired. They're tired of not being respected because their opinions and beliefs differ from the elected elite's agenda. They're tired of double-digit tax increases while being told we're limited to a phony NYS 2% Tax Cap. They're tired of watching their hard-earned money be urinated away on giveaways and phony projects designed for a select few while being touted for all. They're tired of inappropriate subsidized housing in saturated neighborhoods, supermarkets in underpopulated areas that require an automobile to get to and lack a mass-transit option. They're tired of assisted living that segregates and will not allow low-income Greenburgh residents to live there. They're tired of having inequity within the Town championed by Mr Feiner and his Board while having services cut only to be told its helping the Town's bottom line. Their tired of phony issues manufactured to deflect attention away from the real issues or illegal actions of he and his Board.

The real bottom line is costly under Mr Feiner and his Town Board. Lawsuits and verdicts such as the $6.5 million against the Town by Fortress Bible Church are costing us much more than money. The weary, beleaguered taxpayer in Greenburgh expects and deserves more from their government. Its unfortunate that many will vote for the status quo without studying what is really going on. These are the headline readers, content to listen to Mr Feiner say something and because a complicit media publishes it, they assume its true. These are the willfully ignorant. The G10 know better, ABG readers know better. It's time that others throughout the Town know better. Help us to get the word out. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.

Lawsuit Tossed! “I Welcome Competition” (Except Against Me)

It’s a telling example of Mr Feiner’s fear of losing his only “real” job. The position of Supervisor, should be an upper managerial position for someone with experience running an organization. Unfortunately, what we have gotten is a poor substitute for management at best. It’s similar to a new person joining a department and the existing co workers incredulously wondering what lies were told to get the position?

Actually, lying seems to be one of the hallmarks of Mr Feiner and his administration. We’ve written about it before and won’t rehash it again here. We did receive a satirical photo (below) that had been doctored by a reader some time ago, of Mr Feiner in a photo he uses regularly for his press/campaign releases as his “stock” photo. Our talented reader added “I Lied”. It gave us a chuckle and we thought we’d post it again in hopes you will too.

Comedy aside, it’s beyond sad that a 22-year incumbent and career politician would stoop to lying by outwardly saying “This is great. It’s democracy at work. I welcome the competition.” Specifically, his competition would be challenger Robert “Bob” Bernstein of the Edgemont part of the Town. And then Mr Feiner quickly attempted to disqualify Mr Bernstein’s petition ballot signatures in a lawsuit that has become one of Mr Feiner’s hallmarks. You may recall in the last election he had Councilman Morgan, by means of his daughter, challenge then-Councilwoman Sonya Brown’s ballot petitions and ultimately disqualify many, forcing her off of the Democratic party line and sadly from the election. She called him out on that several Town Board meetings ago and said she forgave him for what he did to her and her family.

It’s fairly well-known that Mr Bernstein has challenged many of Mr Feiner’s decisions and the legality, or rather illegality of his actions. Of course Mr Feiner routinely tells everyone if you don’t like what he’s doing, sue him. Mr Bernstein has followed Mr Feiner’s mandate on several occasions, initiating several lawsuits against Mr Feiner and the Town. Regardless of the lawsuits or their outcome, ABG believes Mr Bernstein has always acted in the best interests of the Town and not in a self-serving capacity. We can’t say that about Mr Feiner. 

At the Democratic Committee Nomination meeting, several nominations garnered many salutations from various individuals in the audience. The barely-18-year-old young man who nominated Mr Feiner for Supervisor had been hired as an intern with the Town years prior. What he didn’t realize then was that Mr Feiner had craftily co-opted his vote those several years earlier with the position. And naturally, he would only have good things to say about Mr Feiner. ABG suggests he purchase property in the Town or start a business to see first-hand how things are in the “real world” of the Town of Greenburgh.

Today, Mr Feiner and his challenger went to court regarding the lawsuit brought by Mr Feiner against Mr Bernstein (and indirectly the Democratic Party). Challenging Mr Bernstein’s petition ballot signatures as well as his use of the name “Bob” as fraudulent instead of Robert on his petitions is a petty and yet common move by the “Tammany Feiner Conglomerate”. He also challenged Councilman Sheehan’s residency and validity as a witness of ballot signatures stating his primary residence is not where Mr Sheehan claims. Apparently, Mr Sheehan’s break from the Feiner camp with his contrary votes as the election cycle got nearer, really infuriated Mr Feiner. Hence, the attack on one of his stalwart confidantes. ABG believes now that Mr Sheehan has been “Sonya’d”, and if he wins re-election, Mr Feiner will make sure this is Mr Sheehan’s last.

Once again, Mr Feiner, a non-practicing attorney, was beaten again in court. This time it was based on a technicality of the law. While Mr Feiner went after a few fellow Democrats to shore up a victory for himself in November, he screwed things up again. Our sources inform us that everyone who was involved in the suit needed to be served subpoenas to show up to the trial but a few were not. The judge dismissing the case didn’t say anything about Mr Feiner not being a credible witness. He didn’t say Mr Feiner should try to stay out of court and run a fair campaign. And he didn’t say that 22-years is too long. He didn’t say Mr Feiner should try doing the heavy lifting and the dirty work himself instead of having others do it. With the lawsuit tossed, Greenburgh residents now have an opportunity to vote differently than they have for the past 22-years because the system gave them a choice. They finally have an opportunity to create A Better Greenburgh!