I just received a disturbing call from Kim Conklin of the the NYS Department of State. $125,000 that had previously been awarded to the town by Senator Nick Spano in 2006 was withdrawn. We had received a pre-election day grant from the Senator for a generator and a program at the Theodore Young Community Center. All grants given to local governments and non profits by the Senator in 2006 have been withdrawn.
This is politics at its worst. Grants should not be tied to politics or campaigns. Once a grant is announced and awarded the promises made should be kept.
The check was in the mail -- until Senator Spano lost his re-election bid to Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins. I will be reaching out to Senator Cousins and will ask for her assistance regarding those two important grant awards. We relied on the promise.
We desperately need to reform Albany! This is disgusting!
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Looks like Mayfair Knollwood are not the only ones who got lied to about believing promises from elected officals!
You are right Mr. Feiner, so let me guess you Dems are above all the politics and working for the electorate. Give me a break.
The Spano money was part of millions of dollars in legislative grants awarded as a matter of personal privilege by incumbent state legislators running for re-election from either party.
Editorial writers suggested this election-year raid by incumbents on the state treasury was nothing short of graft.
Governor Spitzer made clear he was not going to permit these grants to be honored unless there was evidence that they had first been properly vetted by the appropriate state agencies.
Paul Feiner seems to be saying he's all for political graft like this if it results in his being able to promote such projects as a generator for town hall. Feiner included getting the generator on his self-serving list of "goals" for 2007.
Sounds to me like Feiner and ex-Sen. Spano were "perfect together." They're both ethically challenged.
Were there any grant awarded. Also I believe Senator Spano has come through for Greenburgh in the past.
The town of Greenburgh got screwed by Senator Spano. Mayfair Knollwood got screwed by Bass,Barnes,Juettner who promised the neighborhood a contract and than wrote a response to the state comptroller distancing themselves from their own vote. BACKSTABBERS!
The town council should be applauded for upholding and respecting the law in the teeth of the angry insults being hurled at them by the Mayfair Knollwood neighborhood bullies.
Given all the money floating around that neighborhood as a result of this illegal deal, the comptroller's next audit may well result in referrals to the Westchester DA's office.
The Town Council should be working to bring people together --the bickering and attacks is not in the towns interests.
Lets hope that Senator Cousins can immediatly make her voice heard and get the withdrawn grant re-instated.
Is there any indication who was responsible for the withdrawel, or is it the system we must blame.
If Governor Spitzer's team says the grant should never have been awarded in the first place, why is it that we're entitled to get the money back?
Just because Paul Feiner and Nick Spano formed an unholy alliance together, so that one hand could wash the other, with both Spano and now Feiner using the money to promote themselves politically, why it is that Greenburgh deserves to get to the head of any line?
State officials are basically telling us that we pay a price when we continue to elect ethically challenged politicians.
The grants that Senator Spano gave to Greenburgh were good grants: for a program at the Theodore Young Community Center. The other grant is for a generator to power Town Hall if there is a power outage. These grant awards are worthwhile expenditures of taxpayer dollars. Senator Spano's motive might have been political (to get re-elected) but his grant was a good one. I hope that Governor Spitzer will intervene and help our town get the funds. I'm also pleased that Supervisor Feiner knows how to get grants from Albany. This is an important aspect of his job.
Doesn't sound to me like Feiner knows how to get grants from Albany. I'd be surprised if a good guy like Spitzer even gives him the time of day.
Dear anonymous:
You say I don't know how to get grants from Albany. I've had tremendous success.
*I lobbied successfully for the cyber-book mobile for the library and secured almost $200,000 within months for the grant.
*I was able to lobby successfully for state funds for 3 major parks (400 acres). The state paid for 1/2 of Hartsbrook, and a third of Glenville Woods & Taxter Ridge. I even persuaded the National Parks Service to authorize Eastchester to give Greenburgh $800,000 towards Hartsbrook.
*I was able to help the Ardsley Secor Ambulance Corp receive funds from the state for their new HQ.
*Early on I went to Albany and persuaded the majority leader of the Senate to to back off from a perceived promise to fund a 2nd floor construction of the Theodore Young Community Center.
Those are just a few of the grants I was involved in-successfully. I will continue reaching out to others to help fund town programs - to keep property taxes as low as possible.
A typo...I persuaded the majority leader of the senate to keep the promise and to fund the 2nd floor of the Theodore Young Community Center.
Hmm, the majority leader of the state senate would be Repubican State Sen. Joseph Bruno, now under federal investigation for alleged corruption in Albany.
I guess one hand does wash the other. If it's not Nick Spano, it's Joe Bruno.
With Governor Spitzer in charge, aren't these things supposed to end?
The majority leader of the senate who I met with at that time was not Bruno but Marino.
The majority leader of the senate who I met with at that time was not Bruno but Marino.
Those of us who make their living from fees and commissions understand the concept:
"It's not money until the check has cleared your account". In real estate, right through the closing, if anything can go wrong it will.
Why should it be different in Government?
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