ABG has previously written about spot zoning and its perils. In Greenburgh, for instance, Mr Feiner and his Board cavalierly change zoning on his whim to satisfy his developer friends. There aren’t any developers, larger ones anyway, who fear submitting a proposal in Greenburgh as long as Mr Feiner is at the helm with a submissive Board in tow. In fact, smaller contractors and builders have been said to avoid doing business in Greenburgh due to excessive taxes also known as fees and permit costs and extended review processes. The people who suffer are the homeowners, of course, who want to add a bathroom, deck or dormer to their home. The approval process can take up to a year between the different departments, the various fees, meetings etc., only to be refused at any point and force a restart of the entire process.
There is even more going on around us in Greenburgh and elsewhere throughout the County. Here in Greenburgh, the Town Board follows Mr Feiner’s instructions and rubber stamps whatever project he favors. Several years ago he announced he was in favor of an eight story commercial entity being built in a residential neighborhood. He had had the opportunity to simply sell off the property but chose to politicize it and play games against the residents of the area. Is this what we elect our leadership to do? Hardly. Then there was the over-sized assisted living facility to be built on what amounted to a postage-stamp parcel of land in yet another residential neighborhood. While the residents, current taxpayers that government should be protecting from outside interests, strenuously objected to Mr Feiner and the Board, he laughed in their faces and not only approved every aspect of the proposal, but let the projects attorney’s write what would later become the zoning code for assisted living facilities!
Now that an approximately two-year old assisted living zoning code exists, Mr Feiner and his spineless Board are pushing to approve another inappropriate assisted living facility. To top it off, they seek to ignore this recently adopted zoning code to accommodate another developer! Interestingly, this time, while the immediate abutting property owners are against the project, some of the residents in the area have spoken in favor of this sale. We believe they are speaking less in favor of the mega-proposal and more in favor of trying to help the owners complete the sale for retirement income. Regardless of the reason, the facility does not meet the assisted living zoning code and requires variances to proceed.
Rather than wait and follow the process, we believe Mr Feiner instructed his Board to prematurely initiate and subsequently approve a SEQR study/report. This bastardization of “the process” belies the hollow words heard from the dais at various meetings by Mr Feiner and his Board. They parrot him by saying that they want, “the public to have faith in the process”, “that they’ll do their due diligence” and more. The list of hollow expressions is almost unlimited.
Beyond the lies from our own corner office comes a growing trend, an agenda if you will, with housing and spot zoning. Excuses in favor of it abound as developers push community leaders to covertly endorse spot zoning. In North Castle for example, JMF Properties of New Jersey, is seeking to construct 200 high-rental apartments on 22 (of 36) acres on the North White Plains’ Jennie Clarkson school campus. Their argument they use for this is that there is an abundance of multi-family homes that already exist. Here’s their rub: empty nesters are looking to down size and young professionals – often referred to as millennials – don’t want to own a home yet. 60% of these proposed units would be two bedrooms and the remainder would be single bedroom, with twenty units set aside as affordable housing. The moniker might change but the only way to proceed is to pepper the proposal with enough buzzwords so politicians can jump on board: affordable, workforce, low income, welfare, senior, veterans, etc. The final nail in the coffin of the argument is that businesses are leaving the area because of a lack of housing for workers. Could it simply be they are leaving because they are overtaxed and over-regulated? Believe it.
The real issue here is that to build this huge facility would require several zoning changes. And, as luxury units priced at about $2,800 to $3,200, the affordability aspect seems a bit distant if not contradictory. These residents would have, according to one of the spokesman, “…fat wallets and they’re looking to spend in that local community.” That may appear to be justification to some, but to us it seems weak. It certainly does not qualify as a reason to spot zone an area, even if spot zoning is illegal. Using other words for it doesn't make it right.
Similarly, Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system, is proposing to build 385 units of housing for people ages 62 and older on 40 acres of its 500-acre campus. The proposed site — mostly weedy land that had previously been used as a dump for construction debris — is located south of the college's administration complex and west of Lincoln Avenue. The arguments for this project, while not as necessary because this is NY State property and not held to many of the same zoning and other standards as Towns and Villages, include 220 units of one and two-bedroom apartments in a four-story building and single-family, duplex and triplex homes; 36 beds for assisted living and 36 beds for memory care would be offered. The rest of what is being touted is merely window trimmings of sorts to increase the projects attractiveness.
In nearby Harrison, the Brightview “senior steamroller” received approval for their latest proposal for their contentious Brightview Senior Living facility. The necessary-to-proceed zoning amendment was passed by the Village Board, even though the Harrison mayor said, “…the zoning amendment passed Thursday did not constitute a fait accomplis.” He added, “It's all part of the process," he said. "We're not even at the 10-yard line. A lot can happen in 90 yards.” The project must now gain the planning board’s approval. The zoning amendment allows senior living facilities to be built in existing residential zones, with the planning board's approval. This move paves the way for any developer, but in this case, Brightview Senior Living, to build a four-story, Home Depot-sized senior living facility on the Lake Street Quarry site in West Harrison. The 7.3-acre project site is surrounded by a rural neighborhood of single-family homes. Once again residents in the neighborhood say the development would be too big and out of character for the area, comes too close to nearby homes and would cause traffic congestion on an already-busy street. And again, government is pursuing its agenda and ignoring the well-being of the existing taxpayers who have invested in the community from outsiders seeking to ravage it.
In Buchanan, the opposition to affordable housing for seniors was strong last fall. So much so that one of Westchester’s leading builders simply walked away, unwilling to invest any more time or money in pursuing his project. But now, seven months later, things have changed. The Buchanan Village Board, by a single vote, last week agreed to a zoning change that allows the 42-unit project, including 35 affordable units, to proceed for planning board review. Therein is part of the problem. When a developer wants a project to go through, they have resources and time that residents do not and can keep the onslaught going as long as they choose.
Finally, it must be mentioned that if the project is approved, it would help Westchester County meet its federal fair-housing goal. This is another part of the zoning change problem. Without reliving the entire Anti-Discrimination lawsuit against the County, the federal government and its housing monitor continue to insist that local zoning be changed to allow a whole host of zoning possibilities that frankly, zoning laws are designed protect communities from. If you need an example of imprecise zoning, simply look at the 9A corridor from I-287 northbound toward Mt Pleasant. Nothing matches, looks cohesive or has a flow of style that invites you to want to participate and even locate there. Zoning adjustments, such as changing a set back from 10 feet to 7 feet to allow a walkway or a deck to be built are certainly acceptable. Radical changes like the ones we’re being forced to accept because of political agendas, developer’s deep pockets, and a willfully ignorant electorate must stop – especially in Greenburgh. Only then will we get A Better Greenburgh.
Showing posts with label Westchester County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Westchester County. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Saturday, June 13, 2015
HazMat/WMD Full Scale Exercise
Westchester County has the highest taxes in the United States. We also have the highest threat assessment according to many, with perhaps the possible exception being Washington DC. So it was no wonder that with funds secured from tax dollars elsewhere, which of course we still all pay for, Westchester County's Department of Emergency Services hosted a Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Exercise. In all, 56 agencies participated. An unofficial breakdown was 42 paid agencies and 14 volunteer agencies for the 6-hour exercise.
Part of this scenario was some sort of bus incident that the Valhalla Fire Department responded to and immediately called 60 Control, the communications arm of DES, for assistance.
In this photo above, members of the Westchester County all-volunteer Hazardous Materials Response Team get prepped to suit-up to make entry into the hot zone consisting of some sort of release of an unknown chemical. Once they were suited up and the totally encapsulated Level A suits were sealed, two team members went into the scene to do an evaluation. Armed, literally with pH tape on their sleeves for gross reactive readings, along with other metering devices to assist these HazMat responders, they went into the "hot zone". Initially, two responders from this team went to see if they could identify what the chemical agent being used might be. Then two more followed to assess the damage and wounded.
As the event unfolded, different emergency response agencies, mostly comprised of fire and police departments responded to the scene. In an event such as this, given the extreme weather we were experiencing, many of the responders were "recycled" through a rehab station and then allowed back into the event. With all of the departments being brought in, there was an abundance of equipment and personnel. In fact, many said there was too much of everything being brought in to the scene and that would be one of the points mentioned in the "after wash" critique.
While the responders were doing what they do, there were other staffers from a number of agencies monitoring all of the events, taking copious notes. While our taxes may not be lowered anytime soon, we can rest assured that we are well protected.
 | ||||||
| Members of the HMRT getting prepped to respond into the "hot" zone. |
Part of this scenario was some sort of bus incident that the Valhalla Fire Department responded to and immediately called 60 Control, the communications arm of DES, for assistance.
In this photo above, members of the Westchester County all-volunteer Hazardous Materials Response Team get prepped to suit-up to make entry into the hot zone consisting of some sort of release of an unknown chemical. Once they were suited up and the totally encapsulated Level A suits were sealed, two team members went into the scene to do an evaluation. Armed, literally with pH tape on their sleeves for gross reactive readings, along with other metering devices to assist these HazMat responders, they went into the "hot zone". Initially, two responders from this team went to see if they could identify what the chemical agent being used might be. Then two more followed to assess the damage and wounded.
As the event unfolded, different emergency response agencies, mostly comprised of fire and police departments responded to the scene. In an event such as this, given the extreme weather we were experiencing, many of the responders were "recycled" through a rehab station and then allowed back into the event. With all of the departments being brought in, there was an abundance of equipment and personnel. In fact, many said there was too much of everything being brought in to the scene and that would be one of the points mentioned in the "after wash" critique.
While the responders were doing what they do, there were other staffers from a number of agencies monitoring all of the events, taking copious notes. While our taxes may not be lowered anytime soon, we can rest assured that we are well protected.
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Fire Monitors "Facts" Faulty
There’s a deflective move to consolidate services in Greenburgh. In ABG’s opinion it is a disingenuous scheme that was proven out during a meeting held the night of July 16th. According to their email blast, the Fire Monitors were holding an “important meeting” with Fire Chiefs Howard Reiss and Edward Rush of the Fairview and Hartsdale Fire Departments, respectively. Both Chiefs have been meeting often with community organizations, various groups and residents to explain their side of the consolidation debate. Ironically, Mr Feiner has started this phony debate as a means of focusing attention away from himself and the poor job he is doing managing the Town’s finances.
First, ABG supports consolidation of services, purchasing, equipment, and expertise whenever and wherever possible. Second, the Villages in the Town of Greenburgh long ago formed a purchasing consortium back in the early 2000’s. In fact, while the Villages were all trying to control costs and expenses for their residents, the Town, under the now-22 year stewardship of Mr Feiner, simply refused to participate. Why is no one monitoring how the Town is spending money and only targeting one portion of our taxes? Third, a Town-wide consolidation, instead of cherry-picking districts within the Town to possibly consolidate, makes more sense and might produce much more savings and rewards for taxpayers. But since this was a scam to begin with, it isn’t being offered. Politically, Mr Feiner cannot gain as much traction as he can with a few buzzwords and the help of the media so hence, the fire consolidation hysteria.
What was noticeably missing at this meeting were the Fairview Fire Commissioners and the Hartsdale Fire Commissioners. There was one Hartsdale Fire Commissioner present who remained silent in the back of the room listening to what was being said. Why would this group of self-appointed “monitors” only invite the Chiefs and not the Commissioners to this “important meeting”? The Commissioners are the decision makers for anything and everything budgetary for these districts. Plus, the Chiefs work for them and can certainly discuss much, but not everything. They simply cannot answer every question raised. Could it be because these monitors are not interested in gaining real and accurate answers and only propagating their own – vis-à-vie Mr Feiner’s – agenda? How can we be so sure? Any evidence presented was met with resistance.
During the meeting, the group’s leader Milt Hoffman, repeatedly maintained that each Chief could do away with their own secretary/assistant and both could share just one. This would save one of the districts an assistant’s salary. While his statement sounded plausible, Chief Rush sternly interrupted him, stating he does not, nor has he or the Chief before him, ever had an administrative assistant, noting he has told Mr Hoffman this before. Chief Rush emphatically stated if and when he needs administrative help, he turns to his firefighter dispatcher for that assistance when there are no alarms, a position Mr Hoffman also seeks to eliminate. Chief Rush then detailed a number of reasons to keep the dispatching system in place as is and why it works well. Mr Hoffman, like Mr Feiner, threw an unsubstantiated dollar amount out, saying the department could save $400,000 a year by moving dispatching from within the department(s) to Westchester County’s Department of Emergency Service’s Dispatch Center, known in the fire service as 60 Control. Chief Rush, also a Certified Public Accountant dismissed the number as just plain wrong.
Chief Reiss stated that he does not have an assistant and so far does a lot of the administrative work himself. Regardless, Mr Hoffman refused to back down insisting they both had secretaries. Both Chiefs reiterated he was wrong. ABG isn’t sure how many in the room were from this ad hoc Consolidation Committee, but even audience members were correcting Mr Hoffman each time he volunteered incorrect information. It just seemed as though Mr Hoffman had made up his mind, probably with coaching from Mr Feiner, and regardless of any facts that may be presented, would be unwilling to concede on any points.
One resident, a former police officer-turned-firefighter in Town stated to Mr Hoffman and the group that once you put this consolidation referendum out for a vote, it will be a fait accompli. Explaining further, he said if after the referendum passes, we later determine it is too costly, don’t like it, are not saving enough money, whatever it is, we are stuck with it and there’s no going back! Mr Hoffman disagreed at which point almost everyone in the room beyond his two or three steadfast supporters, shouted out that he was wrong. He stammered. Then, he said it can be undone. Again the crowd reacted vociferously against him. Clearly shaken, he began back-pedaling. Then he said, “That’s why we need a study.” A study? That’s never been part of this agenda push.
This was the first mention of a study by Mr Hoffman or anyone else from this committee. The reality however, is that he isn’t interested in any study, which was confirmed by Mr Feiner at the last Town Board meeting when Mr Feiner said there will be a meeting (meaning this one) and then the public will decide, meaning referendum. Mr Feiner is the master at parsing words. Keep in mind that Mr Feiner is not affected by this consolidation because his gated community home is protected by an all-volunteer fire department.
Fire taxes are based on a number of factors, such as the valuation of your home, its location and whether you have a fire hydrant nearby, an installed sprinkler system, a paid or volunteer fire department to name a few of those factors. All of these contribute to how much money per thousand dollars of valuation on your home you will pay in fire taxes. Mr Feiner lives in an area protected by a volunteer fire department. His fire taxes are about $15/thousand versus our $150/thousand. Do the math and you’ll see that with or without consolidation, he loses nothing while he forces the rest of us to pay dearly.
Mr Hoffman made several outlandish statements regarding the fire departments and their assumed largess. Both Chiefs were quick to respectfully point out Mr Hoffman’s inaccuracies as well as his referencing of outdated information from the 2010 fire consolidation study he participated in – which concluded that a consolidation would not generate savings for the taxpayers! Mr Hoffman also tried to describe the inner workings of 60 Control and the dispatch system they use and the service they provide to the fire community. Chief Rush certainly understands how 60 Control works, as his father Chief Raymond Rush, helped create the facility and was the first County Fire Coordinator to run the Valhalla facility when it opened in 1973.
A resident asked how the committee plans to pay for this consolidation study. Mr Hoffman insisted the two fire departments would be getting grants for the study. Chief Reiss deferred to Chief Rush who explained he had looked into grant monies from the state for consolidation studies. And, even though there may be grant money available next year, it would require matching funds and numerous conditional concessions from the Fire Districts. The resident asked what the cost was for the matching funds per district and the answer provided was about $25,000 per district. Several audience members protested. Mr Hoffman again stated the Fire Districts can surely find $25,000 in their bloated budgets. Both Chiefs emphatically stated they didn’t have the money Mr Hoffman believes they have, adding the numbers don't lie. Mr Hoffman denied what they said. Why? Because he’s not interested in facts! They also pointed out that the union contracts, redistricting and more will consume and generate mammoth legal fees for the taxpayers and not yield the results being touted by Mr Hoffman, Mr Feiner and this committee.
The illogical and incorrect information being propagated to the public continues to go unchallenged by most in the media and Town. As this meeting began to devolve with Mr Hoffman babbling nonsense to try to make his ill-conceived and erroneous points, he began alienating portions of his crowd who had come to this meeting sympathetic toward consolidation. They began to leave, effectively ending the meeting lacking cohesion to move their consolidation agenda forward. Interestingly, when Mr Hoffman was the Opinion editor for a daily newspaper, he was always espousing the unions and their cause, especially within the paid fire departments, such as Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mt Vernon. He met with them regularly and unabashedly wrote of their meritorious points. Why now has he changed his tune and why is he going after the Fairview and Hartsdale union firefighters?
This is not over. We’re pretty sure Mr Hoffman will meet or talk with Mr Feiner asking for tips as to how to proceed. If, and its a very big if, there is genuine interest in consolidation, the fire districts can announce they will perform the study next year, put in for grant money and take charge over this debacle. Mr Feiner has stirred another pot of deflection to remove himself from the firing line already poised by his critics. The Fire Districts need to slow down this reckless and costly imposition onto the willfully ignorant before any irrevocable damage has been done. Will the Town kick in any greenbacks since they are the ones forcing this ill-fated fiasco? Probably not. So how can we stop this steamroller from crushing the taxpayers? By getting involved and changing the leadership within the Town. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.
First, ABG supports consolidation of services, purchasing, equipment, and expertise whenever and wherever possible. Second, the Villages in the Town of Greenburgh long ago formed a purchasing consortium back in the early 2000’s. In fact, while the Villages were all trying to control costs and expenses for their residents, the Town, under the now-22 year stewardship of Mr Feiner, simply refused to participate. Why is no one monitoring how the Town is spending money and only targeting one portion of our taxes? Third, a Town-wide consolidation, instead of cherry-picking districts within the Town to possibly consolidate, makes more sense and might produce much more savings and rewards for taxpayers. But since this was a scam to begin with, it isn’t being offered. Politically, Mr Feiner cannot gain as much traction as he can with a few buzzwords and the help of the media so hence, the fire consolidation hysteria.
What was noticeably missing at this meeting were the Fairview Fire Commissioners and the Hartsdale Fire Commissioners. There was one Hartsdale Fire Commissioner present who remained silent in the back of the room listening to what was being said. Why would this group of self-appointed “monitors” only invite the Chiefs and not the Commissioners to this “important meeting”? The Commissioners are the decision makers for anything and everything budgetary for these districts. Plus, the Chiefs work for them and can certainly discuss much, but not everything. They simply cannot answer every question raised. Could it be because these monitors are not interested in gaining real and accurate answers and only propagating their own – vis-à-vie Mr Feiner’s – agenda? How can we be so sure? Any evidence presented was met with resistance.
During the meeting, the group’s leader Milt Hoffman, repeatedly maintained that each Chief could do away with their own secretary/assistant and both could share just one. This would save one of the districts an assistant’s salary. While his statement sounded plausible, Chief Rush sternly interrupted him, stating he does not, nor has he or the Chief before him, ever had an administrative assistant, noting he has told Mr Hoffman this before. Chief Rush emphatically stated if and when he needs administrative help, he turns to his firefighter dispatcher for that assistance when there are no alarms, a position Mr Hoffman also seeks to eliminate. Chief Rush then detailed a number of reasons to keep the dispatching system in place as is and why it works well. Mr Hoffman, like Mr Feiner, threw an unsubstantiated dollar amount out, saying the department could save $400,000 a year by moving dispatching from within the department(s) to Westchester County’s Department of Emergency Service’s Dispatch Center, known in the fire service as 60 Control. Chief Rush, also a Certified Public Accountant dismissed the number as just plain wrong.
Chief Reiss stated that he does not have an assistant and so far does a lot of the administrative work himself. Regardless, Mr Hoffman refused to back down insisting they both had secretaries. Both Chiefs reiterated he was wrong. ABG isn’t sure how many in the room were from this ad hoc Consolidation Committee, but even audience members were correcting Mr Hoffman each time he volunteered incorrect information. It just seemed as though Mr Hoffman had made up his mind, probably with coaching from Mr Feiner, and regardless of any facts that may be presented, would be unwilling to concede on any points.
One resident, a former police officer-turned-firefighter in Town stated to Mr Hoffman and the group that once you put this consolidation referendum out for a vote, it will be a fait accompli. Explaining further, he said if after the referendum passes, we later determine it is too costly, don’t like it, are not saving enough money, whatever it is, we are stuck with it and there’s no going back! Mr Hoffman disagreed at which point almost everyone in the room beyond his two or three steadfast supporters, shouted out that he was wrong. He stammered. Then, he said it can be undone. Again the crowd reacted vociferously against him. Clearly shaken, he began back-pedaling. Then he said, “That’s why we need a study.” A study? That’s never been part of this agenda push.
This was the first mention of a study by Mr Hoffman or anyone else from this committee. The reality however, is that he isn’t interested in any study, which was confirmed by Mr Feiner at the last Town Board meeting when Mr Feiner said there will be a meeting (meaning this one) and then the public will decide, meaning referendum. Mr Feiner is the master at parsing words. Keep in mind that Mr Feiner is not affected by this consolidation because his gated community home is protected by an all-volunteer fire department.
Fire taxes are based on a number of factors, such as the valuation of your home, its location and whether you have a fire hydrant nearby, an installed sprinkler system, a paid or volunteer fire department to name a few of those factors. All of these contribute to how much money per thousand dollars of valuation on your home you will pay in fire taxes. Mr Feiner lives in an area protected by a volunteer fire department. His fire taxes are about $15/thousand versus our $150/thousand. Do the math and you’ll see that with or without consolidation, he loses nothing while he forces the rest of us to pay dearly.
Mr Hoffman made several outlandish statements regarding the fire departments and their assumed largess. Both Chiefs were quick to respectfully point out Mr Hoffman’s inaccuracies as well as his referencing of outdated information from the 2010 fire consolidation study he participated in – which concluded that a consolidation would not generate savings for the taxpayers! Mr Hoffman also tried to describe the inner workings of 60 Control and the dispatch system they use and the service they provide to the fire community. Chief Rush certainly understands how 60 Control works, as his father Chief Raymond Rush, helped create the facility and was the first County Fire Coordinator to run the Valhalla facility when it opened in 1973.
A resident asked how the committee plans to pay for this consolidation study. Mr Hoffman insisted the two fire departments would be getting grants for the study. Chief Reiss deferred to Chief Rush who explained he had looked into grant monies from the state for consolidation studies. And, even though there may be grant money available next year, it would require matching funds and numerous conditional concessions from the Fire Districts. The resident asked what the cost was for the matching funds per district and the answer provided was about $25,000 per district. Several audience members protested. Mr Hoffman again stated the Fire Districts can surely find $25,000 in their bloated budgets. Both Chiefs emphatically stated they didn’t have the money Mr Hoffman believes they have, adding the numbers don't lie. Mr Hoffman denied what they said. Why? Because he’s not interested in facts! They also pointed out that the union contracts, redistricting and more will consume and generate mammoth legal fees for the taxpayers and not yield the results being touted by Mr Hoffman, Mr Feiner and this committee.
The illogical and incorrect information being propagated to the public continues to go unchallenged by most in the media and Town. As this meeting began to devolve with Mr Hoffman babbling nonsense to try to make his ill-conceived and erroneous points, he began alienating portions of his crowd who had come to this meeting sympathetic toward consolidation. They began to leave, effectively ending the meeting lacking cohesion to move their consolidation agenda forward. Interestingly, when Mr Hoffman was the Opinion editor for a daily newspaper, he was always espousing the unions and their cause, especially within the paid fire departments, such as Yonkers, New Rochelle and Mt Vernon. He met with them regularly and unabashedly wrote of their meritorious points. Why now has he changed his tune and why is he going after the Fairview and Hartsdale union firefighters?
This is not over. We’re pretty sure Mr Hoffman will meet or talk with Mr Feiner asking for tips as to how to proceed. If, and its a very big if, there is genuine interest in consolidation, the fire districts can announce they will perform the study next year, put in for grant money and take charge over this debacle. Mr Feiner has stirred another pot of deflection to remove himself from the firing line already poised by his critics. The Fire Districts need to slow down this reckless and costly imposition onto the willfully ignorant before any irrevocable damage has been done. Will the Town kick in any greenbacks since they are the ones forcing this ill-fated fiasco? Probably not. So how can we stop this steamroller from crushing the taxpayers? By getting involved and changing the leadership within the Town. Only then will we see A Better Greenburgh.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Evaluating Consolidation: Is Bigger Better?
Several months ago, before Mr Feiner might have begun editing or authorizing the editing of the official Town Board meeting video records to hide what was being said about him, he needed to deflect attention away from the reckless and costly expenses he was incurring for Town residents. He began a rant against the Fairview Fire Chief and enlisted the help of his fellow progressive big government proponents where they carried the rally cry of his deflection under the guise of consolidation. But like Mr Feiner’s flawed and disingenuous referendum for the illegal sports bubble lease on Dobbs Ferry Road, the information they espoused was intentionally misleading, misrepresenting and invalid. They didn't care. This wasn't about truth, helping taxpayers or improving services. No. Once Mr Feiner gets caught in one lie, he shifts gears and deflects to the next issue du jour. That’s what is happening here.
Every consideration must be on the table when discussing consolidation, including what the real, ultimate and agreed upon goals are? For Mr Feiner and crew, the real goal is an elusive one, at least to the uninitiated. He claims its about saving money but his “facts and figures” are outdated and his models are incomplete. Without a fair and honest assessment, the committee he tasked to investigate a fire department consolidation option expended energy towards futility. And, the dissenting point of view, compiled through the eyes and experience of actual firematic personnel, offered a starkly different vision of a consolidation. Frankly, if we are going to expend the effort to study all of this, shouldn’t it be genuine and factor in all the variables? Of course it should. In fact, it must!
Putting these variables aside momentarily, this is about growing government and wielding the power of a new, singular, town-wide fire department under Mr Feiner’s authority. It has nothing to do with saving money. For Mr Feiner, it is about getting press, creating controversy and getting what he wants. But the uninitiated won’t see this. Consolidation increases Mr Feiner’s power base and extends his political reach, giving him control over the fire department budgets. Ah yes, control. Currently the paid fire departments in Greenburgh fall under the authority of their respective fire districts. Each fire district is its own taxing entity and must raise whatever funds they need for all of their costs. This includes everything from personnel pay checks, fuel for apparatus, equipment, right on down to toilet paper and pens. Yes, this all about control.
One significant variable that has changed is the number of departments to be included in the consolidation. Mr Feiner's 2010 commissioned study was to provide a predetermined outcome and conclusion based on three fire departments consolidating. They were the Fairview, Hartsdale and Greenville Fire Departments. But now he’s only talking about consolidating Fairview and Hartsdale. What changed? Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. The Greenville Fire Department protects the Edgemont section of Town and Mr Feiner knows going after the Greenville Fire Department would be like throwing gasoline onto the fire with an already strained relationship with Edgemont. No, he’s decided to focus on where the voters won’t pay attention or be able to negatively impact him by focusing on doing his deflection in Fairview and Hartsdale.
The 2010 study proved that a lot of money, time and effort would be wasted to disband the three fire districts, and shutter three fire departments with little or no savings to the taxpayers. A new larger, more costly and ultimately unwieldy fire district would need to be created and voted into existence. This is not going to be a quick fix. There's also the possibility a new fire district might not be approved by voters. Hmm, what happens then? More importantly, the three fire districts’ union's contracts would become null and void. If the goal is to break the union and its costs to the taxpayers, this is one way to do it. But will Mr Feiner discuss that? No. He stays focused on the sensationalism of eliminating one non-union fire chief's roughly $200k position, claiming those huge savings will help the taxpayer. What would help the taxpayer the most you ask? Honesty, true open government, some town-wide consolidation and an engaged electorate. Most importantly, we would save tens of millions of dollars every year if Mr Feiner would simply stop breaking the law!
Consolidation is a popular catch-phrase bandied about by those with the belief that government is the cure. We're reminded of the oxymoron from Ronald Reagan's speech saying, “I'm from the government and I’m here to help.” He also said government is part of the problem. As any government gets bigger, more and more people become dependent upon it as politicians lure dependency from the constituency. As those who have become more dependent upon government, politicians such as Mr Feiner and others continue to mete out crumbs to those who can’t or won’t rely on themselves for what they need. There is a place for government to help people, just not with Paul Feiner at the helm. His goal is to grow local government and his power base at whatever cost - taxpayers be damned!
What you never hear about is what happens when he and his select follower’s superficial fire consolidation plan fails? He also never discusses the reduction in services for the Fairview residents of the Town. Nor, does he really care. Conversely, costs will increase by making sure Hartsdale’s Fire Department members are trained to provide the same services the Fairview Fire Department already does. What will it really cost us for the public to be served equally throughout the Town? How much is that additional training expense going to be as well as the never-discussed maintenance or update training afterwards? What about the additional personnel that must be added to comply with the National Fire Protection Agency’s recommended fire department staffing, Section 1710 for paid staffing & Section 1720 for volunteer staffing? Most fire departments follow the NFPA guidelines. Also, what will happen to the previously pensioned employees, their medical benefits and other contractual agreements? Are we to assume the many questions not even skimmed-over in the consolidation talks will magically resolve themselves? Hardly.
Several years ago the Town received grant money (that we pay for but was told was “free”) to study consolidating the Greenburgh and Dobbs Ferry police departments. The only reason Greenburgh Police Chief Kapica and Dobbs Ferry Police Chief Longworth agreed to the study was because it didn't cost them any money from either of their budgets along with minimal effort. In fact, because he is a political gadfly, when Dobbs Ferry Police Chief Longworth retired from Dobbs Ferry PD, he was appointed as Westchester County Commissioner of Public Safety, a misnomer of a new name for the Westchester County Police. There’s an entity with a $35 million budget that we could probably stand to do away with.
Westchester County Police offer taxi cab regulation for the County - the only profit generating division of this group, new police officer recruit training, guards at the County facilities and parkway patrols. They also offer a bomb squad that is similar to what the state police offer if requested. How many bombs do we get in Westchester? They go to an occasional “old ordinance keepsake” found in a home of a soldier from the WWII, Korea or Vietnam era when someone passes away or the home is sold and they are cleaning it out. Mostly we see them “blowing up” abandoned backpacks.
The County Police offer a hazardous materials response team (re: overtime/backfill funding/personnel/cash cow - pick one) made up of County Police officers seeking overtime. Backfill funding is the term used when someone is pulled from the job they are performing, say as a patrol officer to go to a “bomb call”, and someone else has to be called back (to) fill in to cover that position for them. There is usually a guaranteed number of hours for the individual coming in when backfill funding is utilized.
The Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, which is the fire branch of the County's emergency services with an $8M operating budget, offers a Special Operations Team comprised of two all-volunteer response teams for hazardous materials and technical rescue responses, led by one paid Chief. There are no overtime costs, backfill funding, no pension costs except one (Chief), and these teams are made up of industry leaders, responders and instructors who deal with these types of calls daily. Mr Feiner hasn’t addressed any of this because he knows he doesn’t have to. The willfully ignorant electorate only hear him say “consolidation equals savings”.
Can money be saved without consolidating. Frankly, yes. But the return on investment must be weighed fairly and intelligently. That hasn’t happened. One example is the Town operates a SWAT Team. How many incidents involving SWAT does the Town have per year? The ongoing training for these officers and the increased pay for participating on the SWAT Team is an expense that could be eliminated if we used the County or State teams. Another example where money can be saved is with the Greenburgh Police Department and their Technical Rescue Team. It is comprised of police officers and firefighters from the three paid fire departments. They provide the bulk of the manpower for this team. The fire districts pays for their members' training, not the Town or the police budget. The fire district is never reimbursed by the Town for the money spent to participate, for the backfill funding when they are called away from firefighting duty or training.
As mentioned earlier, the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services operates a Technical Rescue Team available to all communities at no cost if requested. Plus, anytime the Special Operations Team for the County responds, the County seeks reimbursement for any expended supplies from the insurance companies involved in the alarm. So there are no out-of-pocket cost to the municipalities.
We have the best responders in the Town and these examples aren’t an attack on them. Rather, the examples are intended to highlight information that is lacking from the consolidation activists. They’re not wrong to want to look into consolidation. But, Mr Feiner’s goal and those of our taxpayers don’t match. Mr Feiner is merely adding another ball into his juggling act to deflect attention from his poor and often illegal actions with consolidation talk. The real damage is what he is doing to the Greenburgh taxpayers if the consolidation referendum carries to disband the fire districts only to find minimal savings in the short term and increased spending in the long term. Mr Feiner and his Town Board have cost us millions upon millions of dollars with decisions against him and the Town with Fortress Bible Church discrimination loss, Frank’s Nursery, WestHelp, Dromore Road, Veteran Park, Brightview, NextG, the list is endless. When Mr Feiner ceases his illegal behavior, we will begin to have a more cost-effective, a lower taxed and A Better Greenburgh.
Every consideration must be on the table when discussing consolidation, including what the real, ultimate and agreed upon goals are? For Mr Feiner and crew, the real goal is an elusive one, at least to the uninitiated. He claims its about saving money but his “facts and figures” are outdated and his models are incomplete. Without a fair and honest assessment, the committee he tasked to investigate a fire department consolidation option expended energy towards futility. And, the dissenting point of view, compiled through the eyes and experience of actual firematic personnel, offered a starkly different vision of a consolidation. Frankly, if we are going to expend the effort to study all of this, shouldn’t it be genuine and factor in all the variables? Of course it should. In fact, it must!
Putting these variables aside momentarily, this is about growing government and wielding the power of a new, singular, town-wide fire department under Mr Feiner’s authority. It has nothing to do with saving money. For Mr Feiner, it is about getting press, creating controversy and getting what he wants. But the uninitiated won’t see this. Consolidation increases Mr Feiner’s power base and extends his political reach, giving him control over the fire department budgets. Ah yes, control. Currently the paid fire departments in Greenburgh fall under the authority of their respective fire districts. Each fire district is its own taxing entity and must raise whatever funds they need for all of their costs. This includes everything from personnel pay checks, fuel for apparatus, equipment, right on down to toilet paper and pens. Yes, this all about control.
One significant variable that has changed is the number of departments to be included in the consolidation. Mr Feiner's 2010 commissioned study was to provide a predetermined outcome and conclusion based on three fire departments consolidating. They were the Fairview, Hartsdale and Greenville Fire Departments. But now he’s only talking about consolidating Fairview and Hartsdale. What changed? Nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true. The Greenville Fire Department protects the Edgemont section of Town and Mr Feiner knows going after the Greenville Fire Department would be like throwing gasoline onto the fire with an already strained relationship with Edgemont. No, he’s decided to focus on where the voters won’t pay attention or be able to negatively impact him by focusing on doing his deflection in Fairview and Hartsdale.
The 2010 study proved that a lot of money, time and effort would be wasted to disband the three fire districts, and shutter three fire departments with little or no savings to the taxpayers. A new larger, more costly and ultimately unwieldy fire district would need to be created and voted into existence. This is not going to be a quick fix. There's also the possibility a new fire district might not be approved by voters. Hmm, what happens then? More importantly, the three fire districts’ union's contracts would become null and void. If the goal is to break the union and its costs to the taxpayers, this is one way to do it. But will Mr Feiner discuss that? No. He stays focused on the sensationalism of eliminating one non-union fire chief's roughly $200k position, claiming those huge savings will help the taxpayer. What would help the taxpayer the most you ask? Honesty, true open government, some town-wide consolidation and an engaged electorate. Most importantly, we would save tens of millions of dollars every year if Mr Feiner would simply stop breaking the law!
Consolidation is a popular catch-phrase bandied about by those with the belief that government is the cure. We're reminded of the oxymoron from Ronald Reagan's speech saying, “I'm from the government and I’m here to help.” He also said government is part of the problem. As any government gets bigger, more and more people become dependent upon it as politicians lure dependency from the constituency. As those who have become more dependent upon government, politicians such as Mr Feiner and others continue to mete out crumbs to those who can’t or won’t rely on themselves for what they need. There is a place for government to help people, just not with Paul Feiner at the helm. His goal is to grow local government and his power base at whatever cost - taxpayers be damned!
What you never hear about is what happens when he and his select follower’s superficial fire consolidation plan fails? He also never discusses the reduction in services for the Fairview residents of the Town. Nor, does he really care. Conversely, costs will increase by making sure Hartsdale’s Fire Department members are trained to provide the same services the Fairview Fire Department already does. What will it really cost us for the public to be served equally throughout the Town? How much is that additional training expense going to be as well as the never-discussed maintenance or update training afterwards? What about the additional personnel that must be added to comply with the National Fire Protection Agency’s recommended fire department staffing, Section 1710 for paid staffing & Section 1720 for volunteer staffing? Most fire departments follow the NFPA guidelines. Also, what will happen to the previously pensioned employees, their medical benefits and other contractual agreements? Are we to assume the many questions not even skimmed-over in the consolidation talks will magically resolve themselves? Hardly.
Several years ago the Town received grant money (that we pay for but was told was “free”) to study consolidating the Greenburgh and Dobbs Ferry police departments. The only reason Greenburgh Police Chief Kapica and Dobbs Ferry Police Chief Longworth agreed to the study was because it didn't cost them any money from either of their budgets along with minimal effort. In fact, because he is a political gadfly, when Dobbs Ferry Police Chief Longworth retired from Dobbs Ferry PD, he was appointed as Westchester County Commissioner of Public Safety, a misnomer of a new name for the Westchester County Police. There’s an entity with a $35 million budget that we could probably stand to do away with.
Westchester County Police offer taxi cab regulation for the County - the only profit generating division of this group, new police officer recruit training, guards at the County facilities and parkway patrols. They also offer a bomb squad that is similar to what the state police offer if requested. How many bombs do we get in Westchester? They go to an occasional “old ordinance keepsake” found in a home of a soldier from the WWII, Korea or Vietnam era when someone passes away or the home is sold and they are cleaning it out. Mostly we see them “blowing up” abandoned backpacks.
The County Police offer a hazardous materials response team (re: overtime/backfill funding/personnel/cash cow - pick one) made up of County Police officers seeking overtime. Backfill funding is the term used when someone is pulled from the job they are performing, say as a patrol officer to go to a “bomb call”, and someone else has to be called back (to) fill in to cover that position for them. There is usually a guaranteed number of hours for the individual coming in when backfill funding is utilized.
The Westchester County Department of Emergency Services, which is the fire branch of the County's emergency services with an $8M operating budget, offers a Special Operations Team comprised of two all-volunteer response teams for hazardous materials and technical rescue responses, led by one paid Chief. There are no overtime costs, backfill funding, no pension costs except one (Chief), and these teams are made up of industry leaders, responders and instructors who deal with these types of calls daily. Mr Feiner hasn’t addressed any of this because he knows he doesn’t have to. The willfully ignorant electorate only hear him say “consolidation equals savings”.
Can money be saved without consolidating. Frankly, yes. But the return on investment must be weighed fairly and intelligently. That hasn’t happened. One example is the Town operates a SWAT Team. How many incidents involving SWAT does the Town have per year? The ongoing training for these officers and the increased pay for participating on the SWAT Team is an expense that could be eliminated if we used the County or State teams. Another example where money can be saved is with the Greenburgh Police Department and their Technical Rescue Team. It is comprised of police officers and firefighters from the three paid fire departments. They provide the bulk of the manpower for this team. The fire districts pays for their members' training, not the Town or the police budget. The fire district is never reimbursed by the Town for the money spent to participate, for the backfill funding when they are called away from firefighting duty or training.
As mentioned earlier, the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services operates a Technical Rescue Team available to all communities at no cost if requested. Plus, anytime the Special Operations Team for the County responds, the County seeks reimbursement for any expended supplies from the insurance companies involved in the alarm. So there are no out-of-pocket cost to the municipalities.
We have the best responders in the Town and these examples aren’t an attack on them. Rather, the examples are intended to highlight information that is lacking from the consolidation activists. They’re not wrong to want to look into consolidation. But, Mr Feiner’s goal and those of our taxpayers don’t match. Mr Feiner is merely adding another ball into his juggling act to deflect attention from his poor and often illegal actions with consolidation talk. The real damage is what he is doing to the Greenburgh taxpayers if the consolidation referendum carries to disband the fire districts only to find minimal savings in the short term and increased spending in the long term. Mr Feiner and his Town Board have cost us millions upon millions of dollars with decisions against him and the Town with Fortress Bible Church discrimination loss, Frank’s Nursery, WestHelp, Dromore Road, Veteran Park, Brightview, NextG, the list is endless. When Mr Feiner ceases his illegal behavior, we will begin to have a more cost-effective, a lower taxed and A Better Greenburgh.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
This Job Stinks!
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| Driveway pipe |
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| Looking up Randolph |
Now something completely different is happening that will have a better outcome for this previously ignored and now “dumped” upon neighborhood - but it still stinks – literally! Apparently, the Town Public Works Department discovered several of the sewers in the area were at an unusually high level after some recent rains. Not only does this create a foul smell, but it can cause the sewage to back up in multiple locations as well as being a health hazard. Fulton Park knows what that smell and cleanup nightmare is like after having had all kinds of sewage back up into residents’ basements when the neighborhood was flooded during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. Naturally, FEMA, NYS, Westchester County and the Town talked about helping but in the end, did nothing!
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| Looking down Randolph |
An email was sent out to the Fulton Park residents from Public Works Commissioner Victor Carosi advising of what would be taking place starting today. Here's what it said:
We decided to investigate and found crews in the process of laying out 12" piping to bypass a section of pipe that had been found to have cracked and been leaking. Representatives from the Town stated the plan is to pump as much of the sewage and water from the dead end of Benedict Rd through the piping into another sewerage drain located on Randolph Road. Our photos show the piping and driveway plates that are actually flat piping, allowing cars in and out of their driveways. The Towns representatives were forthcoming with information and their plan. After all, this wasn’t a Town Board meeting so there was no need for secrecy, special meetings behind closed doors or Executive sessions.
We have a substantial sewer break in the brook behind Randolph Road. We expect noise and disruption to residents along Randolph Road and Benedict Road during the work. This will include operating a large pump and having pipes along the street for probably the next five days. The pumping will be necessary to operate 24-hours a day. The pump ordered is fitted with noise dampening mufflers, but it still will be noisy.I would like to inform the neighborhood association and/or key residents in this area. Victor G. Carosi, P.E.
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| “Quiet pump” |
The schedule of events after the piping is hooked up is to pump the water and sewage tonight and tomorrow and then evaluate the amount left. If the level is low enough, they plan to repair the existing pipe with a liner, hopefully eliminating the need to tear up the road and physically replace the old pipes. If everything checks out okay, the work will continue probably through Monday. If they need to do a bit more, it could go longer. They are confident it should go smoothly. They also said this should not disrupt any residents use of water or sewers (toilets, showers, etc.).
Workers laying the pipe said it was a dirty job but once everything gets started, it should be “routine”. One fellow did comment on the extraordinary amount of mosquito bites he got just laying the equipment out in place. He said they sprayed the area but to no avail. Most residents are already well aware of the Panama Canal-like quality Fulton Park suffers from with mosquitos. Well, as the saying goes, “Its a dirty job but somebody has to do it.” And while this job really does stink, we’re glad the dedicated employees of the Town are there doing the job.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Feiner Guilty Again
ABG and others have been saying Mr Feiner had violated the
terms of the contract the Town entered into back in 1989 with Westchester County regarding
the WestHelp “gift” years ago. You’ll recall, then State of
New York Governor candidate Cuomo, later appointed to the position of HUD Commissioner, built the
facility amidst intense controversy in the area. The Town received the keys to
the WestHelp property at no cost and was allowed to collect rent without having to lift a proverbial finger, or spend any real money for
the facility. In fact, with the exception of erecting a fence to keep the
residents in (others claim it was to keep people out), the property has
remained unchanged for years.
The residents of WestHelp were primarily females, some with
youngsters, some not. The area residents of Valhalla, along with several
community leaders objected to these young families and did not want them
attending their Valhalla schools. To reward them for accepting them, Mr Feiner instituted payments to the Valhalla School Board. In 2008 the State Comptroller said Mr Feiner illegally
paid-off the Valhalla School Board with these payments. These payments were challenged in court. No
surprise here, but Mr Feiner lost and was again found guilty of providing illegal payments and the Valhalla School
District was ordered to return the money. This was all due to the successful legal challenge by Greenburgh residents, Robert
Bernstein and Herb Rosenberg. They brokered a repayment deal for a return of the illegally expended money by Mr Feiner, and while these two
residents won the court case on the taxpayer’s behalf, their efforts will “only” gain the Town a return of
about $1.2 million.
Mr Feiner decided to play politics in the last election and
use the WestHelp property as a political football for his own endgame. In the
election prior to this last one, Mr Feiner began to lay out his plans to get
more votes from the Valhalla area by pandering to their elitism. To hedge his
bets because he is so disliked by the majority of Democratic leaders in
Westchester, especially in Greenburgh, he decided to pander to the Republican
leaders, from the top right on down. Having originally been against the affordable housing from the start, they naturally supported Mr Feiner’s folly
and the Republicans in the County Legislature, aligned together against
anything Democrat, went right along with the County Executive’s endorsement of Mr Feiner’s plan.
Thankfully, our two County Legislators representing Greenburgh and County Legislative Chair Ken Jenkins, saw through Mr Feiner’s charade and sought to stop this travesty. Equally important was their desire to put people in need of housing into those languishing units. Now, however, since Mr Feiner ordered the apartments to be left open to be ravaged by the elements, animal infestation, vandals and so on, the usage of those apartments is on hold until they can be renovated. As the tide against Mr Feiner rose and the defecation began to hit the ventilation, Mr Feiner went into “deflection mode”, blaming this on the County Executive saying the County Executive is against affordable housing. It’s ironic because the County Executive’s entire administration is based on two things: lowering taxes and completion of the court agreed upon affordable housing throughout the County.
Refusing to admit this problem was caused by him and condoned by his Town Board, Mr Feiner began twisting a small bit of truth into one of his “Deflection Mode” lies. He even went so far as to “hire” a non-provened management company, Group MRH. This “company” is comprised of one man who apparently lied on his application bid to the Town Board. He stated dollar amounts to renovate and manage the facility. When it got down to actually doing some work, he asked for all kinds of adjustments from the Town Board at a work session. It was defeating the whole purpose of a bid. All of the other (losing) bidders, with affordable experience, came in close to the same amounts with their bids for renovations, down payment to the Town and management fees. Mr Feiner stayed with his poorly handpicked choice.
Prior to the Group MRH fiasco, we witnessed another Feiner Deflection where he promised the affordable housing property to the Ferncliff School for the Developmentally Disabled. They were ecstatic to finally find a place that might fit their needs. But when residents resisted this flawed plan, Mr Feiner insisted it was the residents (G10) who were compromising his efforts and affordable housing! Not knowing any better, as well as not being used to being lied to by government officials, they believed Mr Feiner and his Town Board’s offer as sincere. The G10 knew better and often stated that the Town was under contract to utilize the property for affordable housing. Mr Feiner didn’t care and continued his ruse with Ferncliff, dealing them a crushing blow once the County finally told Mr Feiner the facility will not be sold, torn down or used for anything but affordable housing. We can only sum up Mr Feiner’s actions as despicable.
Thankfully, our two County Legislators representing Greenburgh and County Legislative Chair Ken Jenkins, saw through Mr Feiner’s charade and sought to stop this travesty. Equally important was their desire to put people in need of housing into those languishing units. Now, however, since Mr Feiner ordered the apartments to be left open to be ravaged by the elements, animal infestation, vandals and so on, the usage of those apartments is on hold until they can be renovated. As the tide against Mr Feiner rose and the defecation began to hit the ventilation, Mr Feiner went into “deflection mode”, blaming this on the County Executive saying the County Executive is against affordable housing. It’s ironic because the County Executive’s entire administration is based on two things: lowering taxes and completion of the court agreed upon affordable housing throughout the County.
Refusing to admit this problem was caused by him and condoned by his Town Board, Mr Feiner began twisting a small bit of truth into one of his “Deflection Mode” lies. He even went so far as to “hire” a non-provened management company, Group MRH. This “company” is comprised of one man who apparently lied on his application bid to the Town Board. He stated dollar amounts to renovate and manage the facility. When it got down to actually doing some work, he asked for all kinds of adjustments from the Town Board at a work session. It was defeating the whole purpose of a bid. All of the other (losing) bidders, with affordable experience, came in close to the same amounts with their bids for renovations, down payment to the Town and management fees. Mr Feiner stayed with his poorly handpicked choice.
Prior to the Group MRH fiasco, we witnessed another Feiner Deflection where he promised the affordable housing property to the Ferncliff School for the Developmentally Disabled. They were ecstatic to finally find a place that might fit their needs. But when residents resisted this flawed plan, Mr Feiner insisted it was the residents (G10) who were compromising his efforts and affordable housing! Not knowing any better, as well as not being used to being lied to by government officials, they believed Mr Feiner and his Town Board’s offer as sincere. The G10 knew better and often stated that the Town was under contract to utilize the property for affordable housing. Mr Feiner didn’t care and continued his ruse with Ferncliff, dealing them a crushing blow once the County finally told Mr Feiner the facility will not be sold, torn down or used for anything but affordable housing. We can only sum up Mr Feiner’s actions as despicable.
Another part of the lies from Mr Feiner is that he and
Town Attorney Timothy Lewis refused to disclose the Environmental Impact Study
for the property and the study’s requirements. One requirement was
that whomever takes over the project would have the right to renovate
and rent all 108 apartments. This is simply not true! According to the
1989 document two units would need to be combined into one, creating one appropriately sized
living unit. Ultimately, they would be left with 54 dwelling units, not 108! Fewer
units mean close to half the number of residents and occupancy, and the question of parking is another point of contention. Given the change in occupancy,
there should not be an increase in traffic. Finally, the gross
and net incomes for the facility management will be significantly less than
promised. Another Feiner lie.
In the end, Mr Feiner and his Town Board have intentionally neglected the WestHelp property for 27 months. When they learned a County inspection was scheduled to take place, Councilman Morgan instructed Commissioner Carosi to send a cleanup crew to the site to clean up debris, mow the weeds and generally straighten it up. It’s the only time the Town expended any effort toward the facility. As such they are in
breach of the contract that had been worth a minimum of $1.2 million a year for the Town. They are also in breach of the taxpayer’s trust. The
Feiner-faithful re-elected him to office in spite of this debacle that needn’t
have happened – along with Fortress Bible Church and so more.
It remains to be seen what the County plans to do with the property, if there will be fines against the Town, a termination of the contract and possible court action. If the County chooses to go to court against the Town, Mr Feiner’s track record does not provide any level of confidence for our already overburdened taxpayers. Mr Feiner should consider stepping down for health reasons – ours. Then we can focus on A Better Greenburgh.
It remains to be seen what the County plans to do with the property, if there will be fines against the Town, a termination of the contract and possible court action. If the County chooses to go to court against the Town, Mr Feiner’s track record does not provide any level of confidence for our already overburdened taxpayers. Mr Feiner should consider stepping down for health reasons – ours. Then we can focus on A Better Greenburgh.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Spending While Saying They Save
Republican County Executive Rob Astorino claims he’s trying to save the taxpayers money but is actually spending more on duplicative services behind the scenes. When he took office, he tried to consolidate the County Police (parkway patrols, bomb squad, SWAT) and the County Fire Service (fire training, hazardous materials response and technical rescue response, dispatching) into a Public Safety group, ultimately managed by the County Police. He appointed George Longworth, a retired police chief as the Commissioner of Public Safety, retired detective Joseph Yasinsky as is Deputy Police Commissioner, and retired fire officer John Cullen as his Deputy Fire Commissioner. Are they “double-dipping”, collecting their civil service pensions or did they come back to public service and put their pensions on hold? These were all political payback appointed positions which are ultimately a “cash cow” for union support via overtime dollars.
The majority of the Westchester fire service complained openly and vociferously against the consolidation and Astorino claimed “the plan we had discussed is off the table”. Even though it was proven that any consolidation here would not be cost effective, he went to work behind the scenes with his other plan to continue the consolidation anyway. It’s like saying you going to combine an airline mechanic position and a automobile mechanic position into one because they are both mechanics. It simply doesn’t work.
The Department of Emergency Services (originally the Richard A Flynn Fire Training Facility) humbly began under the auspices of the County Police in a small basement room in their facility in Hawthorne, NY, at the junction of Rt 9A and Saw Mill River Parkway. It was never a marriage made in heaven and the volunteer firefighters in Westchester County fought to get their own facility to have control and fire-specific orientations toward dispatching, training and safety. That effort came to fruition in 1973. Raymond Rush became the first administrator of the facility until he was ousted by then-County Executive Andy O’Rourke and its leadership became a patronage position for the County Executive du jour.
The County Department of Emergency Services dispatches about 30 fire departments throughout the County. They also maintain a Special Operations Team which encompasses Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue Response teams. These all-volunteer members and are highly trained, equipped and led by one paid Chief. Each team is comprised of volunteer professionals from numerous walks of life including the fire, medical, police, engineering, construction and other backgrounds. As volunteers, they cost the county no money, especially overtime money, which is what the county police get for training and responses through backfill funding for their participation. Backfill funding is the practice of sending someone who is working or “on-duty” to training (or putting them on another assignment) and then (back)filling that person’s position with another member on (backfill) overtime. When the “professionals” consisting of paid county personnel on overtime cannot handle a call, they call either of these volunteer Special Operations Teams to bail them out.
Without the original fanfare, Astorino began approving purchasing duplicate equipment for the county police that the Special Operations teams already have (four vehicles and numerous trailers with equipment). Since the paid fire union mandates they will not work with volunteers, and Astorino is beholden to the unions for their “support”, he has been getting them this duplicate set of gear, equipment and training, costing the county taxpayers unnecessary hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of dollars, and handing it over to the county police “just in case”. It’s this kind of subterfuge that is causing him to lose battle after battle with the public. His pandering and deceit may cost him re-election even if his challenger Noam Bramson is proven to be the lesser candidate. But his end-game is to support the police and fire union personnel in hopes of buying their votes.
As an aside, the County’s Technical Rescue Team was awarded a Congressional Unit Citation for their participation in rescuing one of the rafters in distress on Sunday, August 28, 2011, during the tail end of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee after participating in numerous responses during a 35-hour period. The County Legislators also recognized the Team for those same efforts as did the Westchester County Volunteer Firemen’s Association, The Westchester County Fire Chiefs Association and the NYS Chiefs Association. So why pay for services that are provided for free by the County to any municipality who asks for it with SWAT(special weapons and tactics), Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials responses? Mr Bernstein is correct to question whether the Town should have a SWAT team, but needs to continue the argument to Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials responses as well.
During the Democratic Primary Debate, and in a campaign mailing, Mr Feiner accused his opponent, for the Supervisor’s position, Mr Bernstein, of seeking to contract fire service protection away from the Village fire departments to the paid fire departments, which he claims would raise their fire protection costs by roughly 30%. Mr Feiner is famous for quoting outdated information and throwing out numbers that sound impressive but have no real basis in fact. What Mr Bernstein had said was we should look at all of the Town’s expenses and if contracting with the Village fire departments is not cost effective, put the fire protection out to bid. As long as everything throughout the Town is on the table for review, ABG sees no harm in reviewing this. Reviewing whether a duplicate SWAT team, hazardous materials and technical rescue team is needed when the county already maintains available ones for us to use at no charge is a logical choice.
The Greenburgh police SWAT unit, hazardous materials unit and a technical rescue units are comprised of individual members, some of whom are members of the paid fire departments. If called out, it automatically initiates the backfill funding overtime extravaganza for both police and fire. There is little or no oversight of these expenditures as they are automtically deemed necessary due to an emergency. There is usually little if any other overtime available due to current budget constraints. But, the paid services see this as a minimum of six to eight hours worth of extra money and treat every minor dustup as a major event. It bolsters their claims of needing these in these positions and of course the overtime. But do we really need it?
Mr Feiner claims we do need the SWAT team because if something were to happen, they’re there. But so is the County – at no charge! Supervisor Feiner and the Town of Greenburgh is doing a similar union payback thing with the police and paid fire personnel by allowing it. In discussing this with a variety of beleaguered taxpaying residents, everyone ABG spoke with did not know that this took place but were not surprised, claiming there’s always abuse in every system. They knew about “normal” overtime for things like coverage for personnel calling out sick, special events, storms and so on. Most did not even know of the backfill funding component of overtime for paid emergency responders.
Backfill funding is utilized routinely in the Yonkers Fire Department with grants from (mostly) Congresswoman Nita Lowey (and NYS Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand) under various program grant names that would never indicate it was overtime or backfill funding money. Things like a grant from Homeland Security for “improved inter-municipal operations”. You might say it’s a grant from the federal government and doesn’t cost us anything. You’d be wrong. It is a grant from the federal government, but it paid for by all taxpayers and it is only going to the paid departments. Most people want and expect their taxes to be used in their communities.
Ms Lowey will rarely, if ever, get the same amounts of money (we’re talking hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars) for any of the 50 or so volunteer fire departments in Westchester. Usually the meager amounts she gets volunteer fire departments are “member items” of up to $5,000. Member items are discretionary funds each legislator maintains with the ability to give it away to any special interest they choose. Volunteer firefighters in Westchester County outnumber paid firefighters about four to one. The volunteers live and vote in and for their communities. Most paid firefighters don’t live or vote where they work. So while the paid firefighter unions lobby are more successful than the volunteer departments in the “gimme more” department, you’d be hard-pressed to prove this isn’t about paying off the unions.
September 10 is the Democratic primary. ABG has touched on a few “goings on” that most people don’t know about. Why? A lack of transparency exists throughout local, county, state and federal government that is rarely learned about until it’s usually too late or somebody gets caught doing something wrong. Greenburgh has been shrouded in secret meetings, back room deals, winks and nods, developer carte blanche and neighborhood assassinations by the current administration. It’s time for real change in Greenburgh. ABG urges concerned Democrats to come out and vote in the Tuesday primary. Vote for A Better Greenburgh.
The majority of the Westchester fire service complained openly and vociferously against the consolidation and Astorino claimed “the plan we had discussed is off the table”. Even though it was proven that any consolidation here would not be cost effective, he went to work behind the scenes with his other plan to continue the consolidation anyway. It’s like saying you going to combine an airline mechanic position and a automobile mechanic position into one because they are both mechanics. It simply doesn’t work.
The Department of Emergency Services (originally the Richard A Flynn Fire Training Facility) humbly began under the auspices of the County Police in a small basement room in their facility in Hawthorne, NY, at the junction of Rt 9A and Saw Mill River Parkway. It was never a marriage made in heaven and the volunteer firefighters in Westchester County fought to get their own facility to have control and fire-specific orientations toward dispatching, training and safety. That effort came to fruition in 1973. Raymond Rush became the first administrator of the facility until he was ousted by then-County Executive Andy O’Rourke and its leadership became a patronage position for the County Executive du jour.
The County Department of Emergency Services dispatches about 30 fire departments throughout the County. They also maintain a Special Operations Team which encompasses Hazardous Materials and Technical Rescue Response teams. These all-volunteer members and are highly trained, equipped and led by one paid Chief. Each team is comprised of volunteer professionals from numerous walks of life including the fire, medical, police, engineering, construction and other backgrounds. As volunteers, they cost the county no money, especially overtime money, which is what the county police get for training and responses through backfill funding for their participation. Backfill funding is the practice of sending someone who is working or “on-duty” to training (or putting them on another assignment) and then (back)filling that person’s position with another member on (backfill) overtime. When the “professionals” consisting of paid county personnel on overtime cannot handle a call, they call either of these volunteer Special Operations Teams to bail them out.
Without the original fanfare, Astorino began approving purchasing duplicate equipment for the county police that the Special Operations teams already have (four vehicles and numerous trailers with equipment). Since the paid fire union mandates they will not work with volunteers, and Astorino is beholden to the unions for their “support”, he has been getting them this duplicate set of gear, equipment and training, costing the county taxpayers unnecessary hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of dollars, and handing it over to the county police “just in case”. It’s this kind of subterfuge that is causing him to lose battle after battle with the public. His pandering and deceit may cost him re-election even if his challenger Noam Bramson is proven to be the lesser candidate. But his end-game is to support the police and fire union personnel in hopes of buying their votes.
As an aside, the County’s Technical Rescue Team was awarded a Congressional Unit Citation for their participation in rescuing one of the rafters in distress on Sunday, August 28, 2011, during the tail end of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee after participating in numerous responses during a 35-hour period. The County Legislators also recognized the Team for those same efforts as did the Westchester County Volunteer Firemen’s Association, The Westchester County Fire Chiefs Association and the NYS Chiefs Association. So why pay for services that are provided for free by the County to any municipality who asks for it with SWAT(special weapons and tactics), Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials responses? Mr Bernstein is correct to question whether the Town should have a SWAT team, but needs to continue the argument to Technical Rescue and Hazardous Materials responses as well.
During the Democratic Primary Debate, and in a campaign mailing, Mr Feiner accused his opponent, for the Supervisor’s position, Mr Bernstein, of seeking to contract fire service protection away from the Village fire departments to the paid fire departments, which he claims would raise their fire protection costs by roughly 30%. Mr Feiner is famous for quoting outdated information and throwing out numbers that sound impressive but have no real basis in fact. What Mr Bernstein had said was we should look at all of the Town’s expenses and if contracting with the Village fire departments is not cost effective, put the fire protection out to bid. As long as everything throughout the Town is on the table for review, ABG sees no harm in reviewing this. Reviewing whether a duplicate SWAT team, hazardous materials and technical rescue team is needed when the county already maintains available ones for us to use at no charge is a logical choice.
The Greenburgh police SWAT unit, hazardous materials unit and a technical rescue units are comprised of individual members, some of whom are members of the paid fire departments. If called out, it automatically initiates the backfill funding overtime extravaganza for both police and fire. There is little or no oversight of these expenditures as they are automtically deemed necessary due to an emergency. There is usually little if any other overtime available due to current budget constraints. But, the paid services see this as a minimum of six to eight hours worth of extra money and treat every minor dustup as a major event. It bolsters their claims of needing these in these positions and of course the overtime. But do we really need it?
The Villages contract fire protection service with the Village in portions of the Unincorporated Town. The largest contract being with the Elmsford Fire Department for covering the western portion of the Town in the area of Rt 119 between the Elmsford and Tarrytown and north Elmsford from about I-287 to Grasslands Road. The amount of money spent for the Elmsford, and other Village contracts throughout the Town is under $1M. To realistically think the paid fire departments can cover this space is not cost effective, practical or necessary. We urge you to check your tax bill and you’ll see the two largest expenses on it: school taxes and fire protection taxes (in Unincorporated).
Backfill funding is utilized routinely in the Yonkers Fire Department with grants from (mostly) Congresswoman Nita Lowey (and NYS Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand) under various program grant names that would never indicate it was overtime or backfill funding money. Things like a grant from Homeland Security for “improved inter-municipal operations”. You might say it’s a grant from the federal government and doesn’t cost us anything. You’d be wrong. It is a grant from the federal government, but it paid for by all taxpayers and it is only going to the paid departments. Most people want and expect their taxes to be used in their communities.
Ms Lowey will rarely, if ever, get the same amounts of money (we’re talking hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions of dollars) for any of the 50 or so volunteer fire departments in Westchester. Usually the meager amounts she gets volunteer fire departments are “member items” of up to $5,000. Member items are discretionary funds each legislator maintains with the ability to give it away to any special interest they choose. Volunteer firefighters in Westchester County outnumber paid firefighters about four to one. The volunteers live and vote in and for their communities. Most paid firefighters don’t live or vote where they work. So while the paid firefighter unions lobby are more successful than the volunteer departments in the “gimme more” department, you’d be hard-pressed to prove this isn’t about paying off the unions.
September 10 is the Democratic primary. ABG has touched on a few “goings on” that most people don’t know about. Why? A lack of transparency exists throughout local, county, state and federal government that is rarely learned about until it’s usually too late or somebody gets caught doing something wrong. Greenburgh has been shrouded in secret meetings, back room deals, winks and nods, developer carte blanche and neighborhood assassinations by the current administration. It’s time for real change in Greenburgh. ABG urges concerned Democrats to come out and vote in the Tuesday primary. Vote for A Better Greenburgh.
Monday, July 1, 2013
MTA Is At It Again
A press release from the MTA explains that already abused train riders are promised more punishment starting today. The MTA, who has no problem taxing Westchester County for more funds they will surely mismanage, is planning on doing required track work during the summer months. They recently announced that they were adding off-peak trains to address increased ridership. Next year we’re sure they ask for a fare increase saying they needed to do upgrades and that bill is due.
ABG has maintained that instead of increasing off-peak trains, they should increase the current trains by one car and add more peak trains. That would address the real issue of congestion and over-crowding. Another thing should be the upgrading of equipment, during night hours when the trains are not running, which would improve on-time performance.
So, Metro-North will cancel three local morning peak trains, two on the New Haven Line and one on the Harlem Line, for nine weeks beginning Monday, July 1. Other scheduling alterations will also be made. Here’s what you can expect:
Harlem Line:
The 8:03 a.m. local train from Mount Vernon West to Grand Central Terminal will not operate. Several other trains will make additional stops at Bronx stations to accommodate riders of this train, up to 15 minutes earlier than the train not operating.
Nine other morning peak trains will be adjusted up to three minutes, or travel time will be up to four minutes slower to make additional stops to accommodate customers of the train not operating.
Three afternoon peak trains will be adjusted up to three minutes.
Travel time of two inbound off-peak trains will be up to three minutes slower.
New Haven Line:
The 7:35 a.m. train from Port Chester, due at Grand Central Terminal at 8:18 a.m., will be combined with the 7:09 a.m. from New Canaan, resulting in a two-minute longer ride for the New Canaan train’s customers.
The 8:30 a.m. train from New Rochelle, due at Grand Central Terminal at 9:05 a.m., will not operate. Customers who ride this train may take the 8:15 a.m. from New Rochelle or the 8:08 a.m. train from Stamford instead.
One a.m. peak train will operate three minutes earlier and one minute slower.
Seven afternoon peak trains will be adjusted by one or two minutes, and one additional p.m. peak train will operate six minutes later but four minutes faster.
One inbound off-peak train will operate two minutes later, and travel time will be one minute slower for two other inbound off-peak trains.
Hudson Line:
One AM Peak train, the 9 a.m. departing from Croton Harmon, will operate two minutes later at all of its stops.
Travel time for two other morning peak trains will be one minute slower.
Several evening and late night trains will see their schedules adjusted up to 22 minutes earlier or later, seven days per week, to accommodate the next phase of the New York State stations rehabilitation project from Larchmont through Harrison.
The canceled trains should resume their regular schedule run time beginning after Labor Day. Track work includes drainage improvements, tie replacements, fencing repairs and general cleanup. A two-year, approximately $11 million drainage project will also begin during this time between Melrose and Woodlawn.
This proposed work will basically affect all surrounding areas that have MTA track. Since the work has begun today, many who are reading this post may be doing it from either a platform while wondering where there train is, or, while on the train wondering while they are moving so slowly. You may recall we posted previously that ABG’s belief of why the MTA added trains during off-peak was to improve their on-time arrival numbers. A smart move from this mismanaged and poorly performing “public” entity.
Harlem Line:
The 8:03 a.m. local train from Mount Vernon West to Grand Central Terminal will not operate. Several other trains will make additional stops at Bronx stations to accommodate riders of this train, up to 15 minutes earlier than the train not operating.
Nine other morning peak trains will be adjusted up to three minutes, or travel time will be up to four minutes slower to make additional stops to accommodate customers of the train not operating.
Three afternoon peak trains will be adjusted up to three minutes.
Travel time of two inbound off-peak trains will be up to three minutes slower.
New Haven Line:
The 7:35 a.m. train from Port Chester, due at Grand Central Terminal at 8:18 a.m., will be combined with the 7:09 a.m. from New Canaan, resulting in a two-minute longer ride for the New Canaan train’s customers.
The 8:30 a.m. train from New Rochelle, due at Grand Central Terminal at 9:05 a.m., will not operate. Customers who ride this train may take the 8:15 a.m. from New Rochelle or the 8:08 a.m. train from Stamford instead.
One a.m. peak train will operate three minutes earlier and one minute slower.
Seven afternoon peak trains will be adjusted by one or two minutes, and one additional p.m. peak train will operate six minutes later but four minutes faster.
One inbound off-peak train will operate two minutes later, and travel time will be one minute slower for two other inbound off-peak trains.
Hudson Line:
One AM Peak train, the 9 a.m. departing from Croton Harmon, will operate two minutes later at all of its stops.
Travel time for two other morning peak trains will be one minute slower.
Several evening and late night trains will see their schedules adjusted up to 22 minutes earlier or later, seven days per week, to accommodate the next phase of the New York State stations rehabilitation project from Larchmont through Harrison.
The canceled trains should resume their regular schedule run time beginning after Labor Day. Track work includes drainage improvements, tie replacements, fencing repairs and general cleanup. A two-year, approximately $11 million drainage project will also begin during this time between Melrose and Woodlawn.
ABG wishes our readers forced to ride the MTA trains well.
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