This Wednesday night the Greenburgh Town Board will be casting a very important vote: A proposed resolution to fund the WESTHELP partnership. A few years ago the Town Board unanimously worked out an agreement with the Mayfair Knollwood civic association. In consideration of the neighborhoods continued support of a 108 unit homeless shelter, the Town Board arranged for WESTHELP to give the town $650,000 a year which would be passed along to the Valhalla school district, the school district that serves Mayfair Knollwood. The homeless shelter, which no other neighborhood wants, would continue to serve homeless families.
The Town Attorney's office found that the agreement was legal...
The Town Attorney hired an outside counsel, Paul Bergins, who also found that the agreement was legal...
The county of Westchester had their legal dept review the document. They found the agreement to be legal.
WESTHELP had their lawyers review the legal documents. They found the agreement to be legal.
A state agency also found the document to be legal.
IN 2006, some of the Board members are having second thoughts about keeping the commitments made to the neighborhood and school district. It's possible that the WESTHELP partnership funds won't be approved.
I think that elected officials have a responsibility to keep their promises -- to honor contractual agreements. No state agency, no court of law has told us that we can't issue the funds to the school district.
If the Town Board does not honor our commitments to the school district and neighborhood - it will send a very strong message to everyone: you can't trust promises made by public officials.
If the neighborhood had known that this agreement would not be kept, the WESTHELP homeless shelter would have been closed a few years back.
PAUL FEINER
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17 comments:
keep your word- town officials.
how many children are in the shelter attending valhalla schools?
answer - its irrelevant (and there are very few) as the cost of schooling the homeless is paid by the state
this appears to be yet another backdoor deal by the supervisor and his previously rubberstamp crew to buy political peace from a school district in the same way he did with the irvington school district with respect to taxter ridge. lets get an opinion from the state of new york's controller not local hacks and other political cronies.
for an interesting series of articles on how the westhelp money is being squandered see the http://www.valhallavoice.com/
Steve Bass voted for the contract.
Eddie Mae Barnes voted for the contract.
Diana Juettner voted for the contract.
The Mayfair Knollwood neighborhood expected Bass/Barnes/Juettner to keep their word.
They voted for an agreement that the supervisor signed. If the contract was illegal shouldn't they have known that before they voted for the contract? Has the state comptroller or a court of law told the Bass/Barnes or Juettner that the contract they helped write is null and void?
No one voted for the contract. The Town Council -- and I dont remember who was on it then -- voted for a resolution for UP TO 650,000. Then Paul Feiner signed a contract with 650,000.
The contract is illegal on its face, Feiner knew or should have known it was illegal when he signed it, and thanks in part to valhallavoice.com, who've told us what the contract really says and where the money really went, Feiner himself should be held personally and politically accountable for squandering millions of dollars of town money that was never spent for any public purpose to benefit town residents.
Feiner says he relied on "legal opinions" that the contract was lawful, but won't release the text of any such opinions. What a surprise. In 1990, the state controller's office made clear that town governments may not make gifts to school districts unless the money is spent on programs or facilities that benefit all residents of the town. That was the law then, and it's still the law today, and Feiner knows it. Yet the Valhalla contract imposes no such requirement, the money has been spent on a variety of boondoggles, $50K a year is being spent just to augment a favored school principal's $150K salary, much of the rest of the money has not been properly accounted for, and all decision-making seems to be in the hands of the Mayfair-Knollwood civic association, a private citizens' group that is legally answerable to no one. This is shocking by anyone's standards.
Greenburgh council members should insist that not a penny more be spent on this ridiculous and uenforceable contract, and they should request that state and federal law enforcement conduct an immediate audit of all funds disbursed under this contract.
Last month, Feiner demanded that the Town Council approve a two-year lease for the library at the former Frank's Nursery -- without disclosing that he had agreed that the town would cover the cost of an environmental cleanup there that would have potentially cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The Town Council saw what Feiner was up to and, luckily for the people of unincorporated G'burgh, they stopped him and killed the deal.
The Valhalla situation, however, is worse -- much worse -- because here much of the damage has already been done, and Feiner is doing everything he can to cast aspersions on the character of colleagues who are being put in the position of having to clean up yet another of Feiner's messes -- only this one has cost us big time.
Feiner is the Andy Fastow [former CFO of Enron] of municipal government. He breaks the law, and encourages others to do so, for his own advantage, and in the end others will pay the price.
1. The Valhalla school/westab.
2. Franks lease
3. Encouraging Ardsley to break the Westchester Library System terms of condition -- will Ardsley be expelled from the WLS?
4. Charging unincorporated Greenburgh for Town wide parks -- in violation of court after court decision, and refusing to mediate -- how much will this cost the Village residents.
the answer to feiner's question is yes. illegal contracts can be ignored. hatsoff to valhallavoice.com for showing that graft exists not only in roslyn but in greenburgh and valhalla. show us the legal opinions mr feiner!!
Paul Feiner could not have signed the contract unless 3 other members of the board voted for the agreement.
Steve Bass voted yes--for the WESTHELP partnership.
Diana Juettner voted yes--for the WESTHELP partnership.
Eddie Mae Barnes voted yes--for the WESTHELP partnership.
Former Councilperson Timmy Weinberg voted YES for the WESTHELP partnership.
This agreement was approved only after the town's legal counsel, Paul Bergins, and the Town Attorney Susan Mancuso gave the agreement their stamp of approval.
isnt that the same paul bergins who contributed to paul feiner's campaign? release the legal opinions now! lets see how complete they are.
A close reading of the information on Valhalla Voice disproves assertions that the money in the contract has been misused. As a matter of fact, Valhalla Voice is critical that Greenburgh has been in control of the funding, in direct contrast to assertions below that Greenburgh doesn't adequately oversee the money. "Greenburgh keeps a tight hold, directing how it is spent, what it can't be spent on (sports, a track) who should be hired." Prior authors fail to note that the 50k going to a school principal is actually money being spent specifically for oversight of the grant funds. It's not a cronyistic salary bonus. Nowhere does the Valhalla Voice give any echo to the claim that this money is controlled by the Knollwood Civic Assocation. That argument has zero basis whatsoever.
As regards the legality of the contract, critics concede an essential facet of the logic used by the supervisor in approving the contract. 1,2,3,4,5 independent legal advisors, representing every possible interest in the agreement and more, vouchsafed the document's legality. Several facts give legitimacy to this advice. First, not only the supervisor relied on their findings, but clearly the other 4 yes voting board members found the information convincing as well. Secondly, the Town Attorney, independent council hired by the town attorney's specifically to assuage any doubt's of bias, and the Westchester County legal department (another entirely independent entity) do not exactly fit the label of "local hacks" and "cronies" which have been used to undermine their opinions in posts below. They are qualified legal advisors who persuaded the supervisor and the entire town board.
The fact that the town board unanimously approved the deal is also important in treating some of the baseless assertions about Mr. Feiner below. When one of the posts below falsely claims that this and the purchase of Taxter Ridge make Feiner an "Andy Fastow," he fails to note that both of these policies were unanimously supported by 4 other independent (and often dissenting) legislators. If these labels had any more than a political motive than their authors perhaps would not so easily excuse the complacency of four of their other representatives. They might also give the facts second consideration.
False claims about the policy of the supervisor hurt the progress of the town on many important issues and distract the discussion. Yet such demagoguery is the chosen mechanism of critics below. Feiner "encourages others to break the law" is the most obviously destructive criticism. No evidence of specific intent to transgress the law is provided, but apparently such a severe claim does not necessiate the presence of fact in the opinions of authors below. Facts in the end show that Mr. Feiner makes his decisions prudently, and the results are beneficial. As regards Frank's Nursery, it is only after the Supervisor defied attempts by opponents on the library board to isolate him from the project and got involved that the lease was completed.
Critic(s) on this thread ignore a key detriment to their attempts to assign responsibility for the current situation only to Mr. Feiner.
Every town councilperson gave full fledged approval to the contract. Any criticism of the policy, as misguided as it may be, ultimately deserves to be shared amongst the entire council. Hence, specious claims that the supporters of this policy and its legality comprise only a "rubberstamp crew" and "local hacks" are not only ignorant of blatant facts, as laid out in the supervisor's remarks, but more alarmingly create unnecessary political tension.
A close reading of the information on Valhalla Voice disproves assertions that the money in the contract has been misused. As a matter of fact, Valhalla Voice is critical that Greenburgh has been in control of the funding, in direct contrast to assertions below that Greenburgh doesn't adequately oversee the money. "Greenburgh keeps a tight hold, directing how it is spent, what it can't be spent on (sports, a track) who should be hired." Prior authors fail to note that the 50k going to a school principal is actually money being spent specifically for oversight of the grant funds. It's not a cronyistic salary bonus. Nowhere does the Valhalla Voice give any echo to the claim that this money is controlled by the Knollwood Civic Assocation. That argument has zero basis whatsoever.
As regards the legality of the contract, critics concede an essential facet of the logic used by the supervisor in approving the contract. 1,2,3,4,5 independent legal advisors, representing every possible interest in the agreement and more, vouchsafed the document's legality. Several facts give legitimacy to this advice. First, not only the supervisor relied on their findings, but clearly the other 4 yes voting board members found the information convincing as well. Secondly, the Town Attorney, independent council hired by the town attorney's specifically to assuage any doubt's of bias, and the Westchester County legal department (another entirely independent entity) do not exactly fit the label of "local hacks" and "cronies" which have been used to undermine their opinions in posts below. They are qualified legal advisors who persuaded the supervisor and the entire town board.
The fact that the town board unanimously approved the deal is also important in treating some of the baseless assertions about Mr. Feiner below. When one of the posts below falsely claims that this and the purchase of Taxter Ridge make Feiner an "Andy Fastow," he fails to note that both of these policies were unanimously supported by 4 other independent (and often dissenting) legislators. If these labels had any more than a political motive than their authors perhaps would not so easily excuse the complacency of four of their other representatives. They might also give the facts second consideration.
Steve Bass, Diana Juettner and Eddie Mae Barnes are elected members of the Town Council. Supervisor Feiner could not have signed the agreement without their support. Steve Bass, Diana Juettner and Eddie Mae Barnes voted for the WESTHELP partnership after they consulted with the Town Attorney & special counsel. They attended meetings with the community and promised the community that the money would be given to the school district if the neighborhood supported the continued operation of the homeless shelter.
Now, a handful of people (who want to divide the town and create chaos) are urging the councilmembers to declare the contract null and void. No state agency and no court of law has issued any ruling declaring the contract null and void.
Councilman Bass, Councilwoman Barnes & Juetter: please don't listen to people who want to divide this town.
You say no state agency has issued any ruling on this -- I thought that have ruled on this type of arrangment and said no -- but isnt the Greenburgh/Valhalla question before the state right now --
and hasnt Valhalla said no matter what the state says they will not give any money back
prudence says -- lets wait till the state gives us their opinion
From www.valhallavoice.com
right or wrong, they do NOT claim that the Town of Greenburgh controlls the Westhelp money, but rather that the funds are controlled by a committee controlled by the Mayfair Knollwood Civic Association, and tthat there is a 400,000 surplus in the Westhelp Fund and that much of what has been spent has been spent unwisely if not fraudently
Anonymous said "Now, a handful of people (who want to divide the town and create chaos) are urging the councilmembers to declare the contract null and void."
Oh, please. I wish some of the people in this town would grow up. Yes, people are wasting hundreds of hours arguing over this because they "want to divide the town and create chaos." I think not.
Consider that maybe, just maybe, they might be right. If the contract is illegal, then it shouldn't be honored. Regardless of who approved it in the first place, steps should be taken to mitigate the damage if the state agrees with the position that the contract is illegal.
The Town Board is acting more responsibly now than ever before. They shouldn't be urged to turn a blind eye. Instead, they should be applauded for recognizing there is serious concern that an error may have been made and dealing with it responsibly.
No state agency...no court of law ruled that the WESTHELP agreement is illegal. Some citizens say it's illegal- but no government entity has issued such a ruling.
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