The Town Board was planning to vote to release $100,000 to the Fairview Fire Department two Board meetings ago. Councilman Steve Bass, acting at the request of Bob Bernstein, held over the proposed resolution. Under the rules of the Board any member of the Board has the ability to hold over any resolution until the next Town Board meeting. At the last meeting the $100,000 contractual obligation to the Fairview Fire Dept grant was not on the agenda. I am requesting that the Board vote on the $100,000 grant at our next Town Board meeting.
No taxpayer dollars are involved. The funds are from WESTHELP. The State Comptroller's office did not express any objections with this aspect of the WESTHELP partnership.
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You say that the state Comptrollers office did not object to this part of the program. Were they even asked to look at this? Did they? Should we ask them to
Feiner's comments on the Fairview fire district gift are false and misleading in a number of material respects.
This is a $100,000 installment on a $1 million gift that Feiner made to the Fairview Fire District on February 13, 2004.
Feiner says the $100,000 goes not involve taxpayer dollars because it's WestHelp money. He's wrong.
The state comptroller ruled earlier this year that every cent of the WestHelp money is Greenburgh taxpayer money. That's why the state comptroller order Feiner to credit the total $1.2 million of WestHelp rent the town receives each year to the town-wide fund.
Feiner also says the state comptroller found nothing wrong with the town making a gift like this to the fire district. That's baloney. If so, Feiner is standing behind a secret ruling made behind closed doors. That may be how he does business, but it's not the way the state comptroller's office operates.
In fact, there is nothing in the state comptroller's report that discusses the fire district gift at all.
But there's plenty in that report to suggest that the fire district gift may be illegal.
The report says that the town may give a gift to another government entity, like a fire district, but only if the money is used for a town-wide purpose.
The $1 million that Feiner gave the fire district was never made with that purpose in mind.
To the contrary, the gift itself was, according to the grant agreement, strictly for "equipment, supplies and programs of the District." In fact, there is nothing in the grant agreement that requires the fire district to use any of the money for any town-wide purpose whatsoever.
That makes the $1 million grant Feiner made illegal on its face.(Feiner, of course, has never posted that agreement on the town's website).
On top of that, the grant states that there was a "public hearing" before the grant was agreed to. In fact, there was never any public hearing. Thus, no one from the fire district was ever given an opportunity to present any evidence that the gift would be used for any town-wide purpose.
The representation that Feiner made in the grant about there having been a "public hearing" was therefore false.
Feiner now says he wants a vote at the next town board meeting to approve disbursing the $100,000.
But before that could be done legally, the agreement would have to be amended to require that the money be spent on a town-wide purpose and before that can happen, there would also have to be a public hearing to establish that giving money to the district does in fact further a town-wide purpose.
For example, there's been some suggestion that, based on mutual aid pacts with other districts and village fire departments, the fire district does in fact serve the entire town.
However, because of Feiner's failure to follow the rules, that's never been established at any public hearing.
If the town board still believes the Fairview fire district should be given this $1 million gift, the district should at least be given an opportunity to establish that the gift is in fact legal.
Feiner's also using the fire district gift to play partisan politics.
The matter was held over not at the request of Edgemont resident Bob Bernstein, but at the request of both Bernstein and Feiner's own pro-village SCOBA chair, Herb Rosenberg - two residents who rarely agree on anything.
And it was held over not because Councilman Bass said so, as Feiner misleadingly implies, but because the Town Attorney was specifically asked whether, in light of the residents' comments, it made sense to proceed that night -- and he said no, in light of what was said, he wanted to discuss the matter further.
In short, Feiner just doesn't seem to understand that the town can't just give away millions of dollars in taxpayer money like this. One must first establish that there's a good, legitimate and lawful reason to do it.
Why cant all of the seperate fire districts and departments within the town merge. Less +100k chiefs has to save a bit of money.
One reason I have stopped making any comments about the legalities of budget issues is that people like the person who calls himself Anonymous (at 5:26 PM) is incapable of looking at anything other than using silly words to refer to me like "pro-village SCOBA chair." I suspect that it is emotionally impossible for these people to think of a more accurate term like "pro-law SCOBA chair." I suppose that if this anonymous writer didn't agree with me he would have thrown a few more adjectives before "pro-village."
Having said that, the writer is largely correct (and perhaps he ought to learn something from the fact that he agrees with me).
First, the grant to the Fairview Fire District is no different legally than the grant to the Valhalla School District. Neither is for a town-wide purpose. The fact that, as Francis Sheehan stated, the fire district may come to the aid of other fire departments in case of big fires doesn't make the Fairview fire department a town-wide department. I am sure that if there were a big fire in Mt. Pleasant they would come to their aid as well. That's what all fire departments do, thank heaven. If helping other districts were the criterion, why not make gifts to the other fire districts in Greenburgh?
Francis Sheehan said at the meeting that the Comptroller said that the gift to the Fairview Fire District was OK, that it was completely different that the Valhalla School District. I wasn't there, but that is a hard statement to swallow, knowing what I know. The "difference" is that the Mayfair Knollwood population isn't an important consituency but every politician knows that you make fire departments angry at your peril. That is the difference between the two.
The Comptroller's audit report couldn't be clearer on the legal principles involved. To say that the fire district gift is OK because the Comptroller's audit report doesn't say that it isn't is silly. The Comptroller didn't say anything about the fire district because he wasn't asked about the fire district -- he was asked only about the gift to the Valhalla School District. Still, the audit report says explicitly that the WestHELP rents must be credited to the town-wide budget and that the rent moneys can be spent only for town-wide purposes. The function of the Fairview Fire District is not a town-wide function, plain and simple.
For the writer to single Feiner out is more of the same -- blame Feiner for everything. Feiner is wrong on this, but at least he has been honest in saying that when a promise has been made it should be kept (though illegal promises should not be kept). At the meeting it was Sheehan who took the lead on the idea that the gift to the Fairview Fire District is OK (prompting Feiner to say that there is a new coalition between him and Sheehan, and one wag to say that there is a new coalition between Rosenberg and Bernstein). The writer should try for even-handedness -- it will make his comments more credible.
Dear Anonymous 3/16 5:26 PM (aka Bob A/B (Anonymous/ B ---- you can fill in the blanks)
I agree 100 % or maybe even 110% with your posting. What you didn't point out, however, is that Councilman Sheehan, whose campaign you supported with a financial contribution) also supports this action. In addition, the previous grants were all approved by at least three other members of the Town Board, a fact you conveiently overlook. It's not just Feiner, but the entire Board that is (I'll bite my lip...)
Bring on the vote. Let the public see where the individual Council memebers stand before the next election cycle. The Greenville Fire District, which I believe, provides fire protection to you, or the Hartsdale Fire District, either one, it doesn't matter, probably never will see any real "support" from the Fairview Fire District. Not to mention Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, etc.
Yes, I know you will criticize me (us) from the Villages from not speaking out sooner, and I plead guilty. But that era is over !!!
There is no more "Town" wide purpose in this "grant" than a man in the moon. Let's get serious Greenburgh. It's our money that's being misused.
PS (Mr / Ms. Anonymous why are you so afriad to be associated with your points of view???)
Here's my idea of entertainment.
Let's have Young Kaminer tell some of the guys from the fire department that if they talk at the next Town Board meeting there will be bad consequences.
I wonder how the Fire Department guys will handle that?
If he doesn't threaten them, is it because he only feels comfortable following instructions to threaten women?
He won't have to worry about any Ethic investigation, because the silent majority will believe the bully when he will say nothing happened and they can go back to sleep.
Just give us a heads up before it happens , because it would be fun to watch the fire guys fix the town board's little problem.
The Town does not "owe" the Fairview Fire District anything. Illegal contracts are not enforceable and the agreement with Fairview is clearly illegal. One cannot make a gift of a public asset without explicit taxpayer approval -and there has never been a referendum on any of the various gifts bestowed by the Town. Not Fairview Fire District nor Valhalla Schools nor the "trimmings" of the Taxter Ridge property.
The bestowal of royal boons went away when the Colonies declared their independence in the Eighteenth Century. We are now at the beginning of the Twentyfirst.
There is no excuse for violating the law - even ignorance.
A modest suggestion.
Any elected public official who feels there is an obligation to Fairview Fire or Valhalla's schools should meet the obligation by contributing money from his/her campaign warchest.
Feiner scarcely needs the enormous amount of money to run for re-election if he is so beloved of the masses. His mere declaration of candidacy should suffice...The nearly $1 million he's stashed in various campaign funds only serves to sully his pure image. Make amends Paul - give it to those you feel have been wronged.
Mr. Feiner's posting at the top has solidified my November vote: anyone except Feiner. 1) Where do you think WestHelp money comes from? 2) The State Comptroller would certainly object if asked, for the precisely the same reasons as the Valhalla situation. While it's always been clear that Mr. Feiner lacks management skills, his statements above indicate a complete lack of everyday common sense. I'm so embarrassed to live in this town.
Promises made must be kept. Feiner, Bass, Barnes, Juettner made a promise. Sheehan agrees with the WESTHELP partnership agreement as it pertains to Fairview Fire dept. The Town Board should vote on releasing the funds.
Anonymous at 11:42 (a/k/a Feiner) needs to get his facts straight.
First of all, there is no such thing as the "WESTHELP partnership agreement." There no such document and no such agreement.
There is instead a sublease with WESTHELP in which WESTHELP pays the town $1.2 million a year in rent that it gets from Westchester County.
That money belongs to the taxpayers of Greenburgh.
There is also a grant agreement with the Fairview Fire District in which the town agreed to give the district $100,000 a year for ten years.
Questions have been raised as to whether that grant agreement is legal.
Illegal agreements, like illegal promises, are not enforceable.
The Town Board owes a duty to all taxpayers of the town to make sure that when the town makes a substantial gift of taxpayer money like this to one sector of the town -- here the fire district -- that it complies in all respects with the law.
Why does Feiner always seem to have a problem when it comes to complying with state law?
Why must Fairview receive this money.We pay enough taxes to pay the firefighters salary.If this continues our taxes will have to be lowered.This money should be given back .The deal was illegal.What is it that they do different than other fire departments?
The state comptroller's office reviewed the agreement between Fairview & the town and did not object to the provisions in the contract. A contractual obligation must be honored. Steve Bass is wrong. Our Fairview fire dept depends on the revenue.
Where does it say that the State Comptroller reviewed the agreement with the fire district? Not in the Comptroller's audit report. Not any place.
The Greenburgh Town Board is not a charity. The Westhelp deal was well-meant but it is illegal in all its parts. It is time to stop looking for loopholes and making up stories of dependence.
Feiner doesn't seem to understand this. Too bad. But the other Board members should understand.
There seems to be no disagreement that the VSD portion of the gift was illegal. When are we going to get that $1.8 million back?
"The state comptroller's office reviewed the agreement between Fairview & the town and did not object to the provisions in the contract."
There is no mention of Fairview Fire Department in the report. Also, just because it was not specifically objected to doesn't mean that it was approved. That statement makes you sound like a 12 year old!
Statistics talk! How many calls a year does the FFD respond do on the WESTHELP grounds. What percent is it of their total call volume?
The number of calls that the Fairview Fire District may make on the WESTHELP grounds may be reason to single the district out for a gift -- but because the money for the gift is taxpayer money from the entire town, state law requires that the gift be used for a town-wide purpose.
As the gift now stands, however, the fire district is entitled to use the money solely for district-wide purposes. That makes the gift illegal.
The Fairview Fire district provides mutual assistance to fire districts around the town. If there is a fire in Hartsdale, Elmsford, Ardsley, Tarrytown or anywhere in Greenburgh the Fairview fire dept is ready, willing and able to provide help. They predominantly serve Fairview but actually serve the entire town --making the grant legal.
Feiner's anonymous "say-so" does not make it so.
If the Town Board believes there is evidence to establish that the gift to the Fairview Fire District would serve a town-wide purpose, then the legal and proper thing to do is to hold a public hearing whereby the evidence can be marshalled so that all town taxpayers can see for themselves that, unlike what Feiner did with the Valhalla School District, here there really is a town-wide purpose being served.
However, for the same doing, the town will also have to amend the existing grant agreement with the fire district because, as it now reads, it permits the money to be spent solely for district-wide purposes, which makes the agreement illegal on its face.
If one uses a fire department's response to mutual aid calls as the criteria for determining a "town-wide purpose" then Hartsdal and Greenville clearly deserve sizeable grants as the designated "first-responders" to accidents on the Sprain Brook Parkway.
From the Audit report that so much intrepretation has been extracted:
"The Town has several options to rectify this issue. If the Town wants to continue to provide funding from the WestHELP sublease to the District, under its current agreement, it should seek special legislation to ratify that agreement. If the State Legislature does not enact legislation ratifying the agreement, the Town could amend the agreement with WestHELP to provide funding for non-educational purposes, such as youth recreational programs and after school programs that are available to all Town residents. The Town could also consider restructuring the existing agreement with the County and WestHELP so that WestHELP could make payments directly to the District, as long as the Town receives fair market value for its sublease."
Right on ...Greenville and Hartsdale do deserve some money,especially,since they do answer to emergency calls on [THE HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN ] ALSO KNOWN AS THE SPRAIN PARKWAY.Why should the money only be received by one fire department?We seem to forget this was declared illegal ,no one should be receiving this money,except the taxpayers.
Hartsdale FD does not respond to the Sprain Brook Parkway. Fairview
and Greenville do. But what does this have to do with anything?
If the town-wide service offered by the Fairview Fire District is no different in kind and amount from the town-wide service offered by the town's other fire districts and village fire departments, then it may be arbitrary and discriminatory to use town-wide tax dollars to give only the Fairview Fire District a $1 million gift -- no matter how many calls they might have to make per year to the WestHelp facility.
What about the police dept? That's the only reason I can see this grant to exist. For the Police to provide extra protection to the area impacted by the shelter. Maybe for the fire dept, it's legit, but only if they are impacted by the shelter being there. Certainly not for cruises and trips to the Grand Canyon for the school district.
Historically there is no impact on the neighborhood that requires an added police presence. I think Paul's statement that these are not taxpayer dollars is comical. What cosmic force generates $1.2 million a year in the first place? And if these are not taxpayer funds how did they get into a Town account?
Even Francis supports Paul on this one. The Fairview Fire Dept serves the entire town and should get the funds promised. As chief mauro said the dept will have to cut equipment if the Board doesn't appropriate the funds.
Please, Steve, find something else to mess up.
I've never understood why there are all these independent fire districts. Maybe this somehow made sense in the 1980s or 1960s or whenever, but it sure seems silly and inefficient nowadays.
Why not restructure it like the police department - one central Greenburgh Fire Department (with different stations) serving unincorporated Greenburgh.
What equipment will be cut out ? Chief Mauro Says he spends the money for equipment. Where are the bills.
Since when has the Fairview Fire District provided "Town wide" service? Please provide some concrete examples. When was the last time other than a parade that they were in the Village of Hastings? or Dobbs Ferry? or Ardsley? etc.
How has the previous money been spent? Open your financial records before another nickel is directed this way. Provide the public with a full and preferably audited set of financial statements. Let's lift the veil. Open government !!! (Yes, under the State of New York's laws, fire districts are government entities subject to the open meetings laws and FOIL requests. Check with Bob Freeman in Albany)
Mr. Kolesar has a valid point. Fire districts are composed of locally elected commissioners who have the unencumbered power to levy taxes on property to pay for the services they provide. They should not be dependent on the largesse of the Town to meet their obligations. If they fail their community, they can and should be voted out of office. Like School Districts, they exist independently and completely apart from Village, Town, County, State or Federal governments.
fairview, you have enjoyed some free funds for some time , this too will have to end. Show the tax payers where the money went.What equipment was purchased.This is taxpayers money,and we should know how it is spent.
If you want answers from the Fairview Fire District,on what eqipment they have or need and what service they provide for town, I suggest you go to a commisioners meeting and ask. I'm sure they would be happy to answer your questions.
If the Fairview Fire District wants town taxpayer money to support equipment purchases and services provided, they should be opening their books and records to the public at a hearing before the Town Board.
The suggestion that town taxpayers who are not residents of the Fairview fire district should get this information from the district itself by filing FOIL requests is wrong.
Fairview the party is over.You really should return the monies that you received as a gift. Some gift.WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR WHAT YOUR CHIEF SAYS IS FOR EQUIPMENT.Does he change equipment as one changes their underware.Where has this money gone to? I don't see new trucks parked at the firehouse inside or out.WHAT'S GOING ON ?Shall we call for a special investigation.
Anonymous 1210pm Who you ganna call ? Ghost Busters!?
Go ahead and call.
Oh and by the way you do not have to be a resident of the district to FOIL documents. Anybody can .
Forgive my naivete, I live in Hartsdale, but I grew up in Newton, MA - a town of 80,000+ people with one mayor, one fire department, one police department, once a week garbage pickup, one nationally reknowned school district and much, much lower property taxes. Why does unincoporated Greenburgh (40,000 people?) need separately managed fire departments that essentially compete with each other for funds? This is insanity and reflects the cavalier attitude toward tax-payer produced funds endemic to the region. For example, why is Westchester County so casually "paying rent" of $1.2 mill to a township without accounting to Westchester taxpayers regarding the disposal of those funds? When Westchester Co. taxpayer money is distributed to a township, how does an elected leader of the entire town dare "make a deal" with a limited consituency within that town? My observation is that the arcane, medievally structuted government that is "Greenburgh" gets - and will always get - the convoluted, improvisitory leadership it deserves.
Disillusioned newcomer asked:
how does an elected leader of the entire town dare "make a deal" with a limited consituency within that town?
The answer is that five elected leaders made the deal. In their defense they thought that it was fair and didn't know that it was illegal.
What is not fair is that they now pretend that they were out to lunch and let the blame fall on only one elected leader - the Supervisor.
But disillusioned newcomer has a point about the inefficiency and extravagent cost of operating Grenburgh. It would be interesting if someone drew a comparison about the costs of government in Greenburgh compared to other large towns. It will probably show how overpaid the town government is, and they would be out of office in a New York minute.
Disillusioned, you are not naive. Medieval is the operative word. The fiefdoms with their lords, vassals and serfs abound. 39 school districts, towns, villages, independent firehouses every mile up the road. Unions at every turn and duplication of services at every level. Even hamlets seek their own identity personified with a clocktower. It is not just Greenburgh, it is everywhere in the county. Everyone thinking their little slice of heaven is somehow better. Welcome to Westchester.
The Fairview fire district loves to waste money. Just look at all f the SUVs they have with all the bells and whistles. Nothing is simple the spend lots of money on custom graphics for their department vehicles. Just compare their vehicles to Hartsdale and Greenville's simple traditional public service vehicles. Does a fire chief really need all of those crome accents on his take home department vehicle?
I would like to know why Mr. Sheehan is in favor of funding the 100,000. I would like to know if he is favor of funding this year. If he is favor of funding this year only, on the rationale that the funds have been committed, I would suggest we find out what property had been contracted for (possibly another superduper SUV?), and then let all Fire Districts in Greenburgh bid on the item. They may not bid 100K, it may be 70, or 80, but we could cut our losses.
Sheehan,said that the comptroller's office said the contribution to Fairview was ok,He is a liar. Read the report again Sheehan,if you cant see or realize was was said,get your personal patsy,to read it too you.
It all just amazes me to see how this township is run in such an antiquated manner. It seems like there are intelligent people around here, so I don't understand why the people allow this municipal structure to continue. I've lived in several states, and have never heard of anything like this. A&B budgets, a concept of unincorporated-ness, fire and school districts with no links to municipalities (tho we give them cash anyway?), school district lines strictly defined by race and socioeconomic class, town council meetings that seem like we're in Hooterville, no ZIP code, no mayor, etc.
This is a major municipality, but it operates like some rural area in the 1960s. Maybe it used to be - I don't know - but why hasn't anyone around here updated the structures to match the reality of what Unincorporated Greenburgh is - just a normal city like New Rochelle. State law certainly has the step-by-step procedures to follow to make it happen. Seriously, I've never even heard of such a silly, inefficient and ill-suited municipal structure.
town services are excellent. Public works dept is the best!
Paul, when you repeat your mantra that all is well and Town services are great, you should at least sign your name.
There is not a chance that the citizens will support a city of Greenburgh. Most residents are far happier with their village, school, fire etc. than with the town government. No one wants to increase the weight they put on us.
See, here's an example of concern for issues which don't cause any hardship for taxpayers. It is the old "keep your eye upon the doughnut and not upon the hole" as it relates to Greenburgh.
The Library $20/$30 million expansion project gets shoved under the rug because Feiner has been right.
But when $100,000 is on the table, then everyone weighs in.
$20 million or $100,000. Do the math.
What's wrong with this picture?
What's wrong with this picture is that there is not a shred of evidence, either than his own hysterical say-so, to support any of the shrill charges that Samis continually makes about the library project or on an other issue he purports to discuss.
Feiner has chosen well in having Samis this election year as his chief spokesman and spear-carrier because both men are extremely polarizing figures who add nothing to civil and well-informed discussion in this town on any issue.
No one better represents Feiner this year than Samis, which is reason enough for Greenburgh Democrats to bring in a competent leader and get rid of this act once and for all.
The guy who posted the last blog is a big part of the reason why we have so much trouble.
Being critical of Feiner is OK, but it makes no sense if the criticism is used as a dodge to hide behind.
The Town Council, like this blogger, refuses to listen or to read about something which might go against their political interests, no matter how bad it is. No serious person can look and read about the library situation and not recognize that it has become a fiasco. Samis has performed a greeat public service by spelling out the problems, in excrutiating detail, and the Town Council won't even answer, much less explain. He has pointed out, among other things, that the 2007 budget contains more than $300,000 for library maintenance when there is no building to maintain, and when he asks the Council to explain it they sit there mute. Why? Because there is no rational answer. That is true about many aspects of the library project. The Town Board reminds me of Bush trying to evade the Iraq catastrophe by pushing on and pretending that all is going well.
And because this is so the supporters of this dysfunctional Town Council have to defame Samis and link him with feiner. They can't admit that on the library, at least, Feiner was more correct than the Town Council. Why shouldn't Samis speak positively about Feiner on this issue.
If you try to avoid difficult problems by using Feiner as a convenient target for everything, then we will get what we deserve -- a library catastrophe.
Samis's shrill diatribes on the library are mostly ad hominem attacks devoid of any evidence.
For that reason, most of us have long since stopped listening to him, and those of us that once chose to engage him in discussion, thinking he might have something constructive to say, soon discover that he's in this fight for nothing more than his own personal entertainment and self-aggrandizement.
Point out that he's wrong on one thing, he'll argue something else. Point out that he's wrong on that, and he'll go back to arguing the prior point.
And as for Feiner, prior bloggers who've commented that "hell hath no fury like a supervisor scorned" are right. Feiner's like-minded criticisms and behavior have all been unmasked in prior posts and at town board meetings as nothing more than behind-the-scenes scorched earth efforts to undermine and torpedo the project no matter what the cost to taxpayers.
Feiner and Samis were together the most vocal opponents of the library project. Neither has had anything constructive to say on the matter since Day One, and except for a few die-hard Feiner supporters (all of whom opposed the library project), and for a few anti-Town Council village residents, the rest of us have stopped listening and for good reason.
These losers have nothing to offer the community except more polarization and needless hate-filled diatribes.
It would appear that I should be grateful that at least there is a "fed up blogger" reading me. However it would be a bigger ego boost if "fed up" was capable of processing what I have written.
As before, the anonymous coward has all the calling card language of one of the members of the Town Council and his faithful scribe.
The gimmick in this posting is that he is responding to three, long and FACT FILLED posts I made on another topic "this is the week that is" the heading elsewhere in the blog since he knows no one will hasten there to verify his lie. Thus he is reasonably confident of safety in accusing me of not having proof. And even if you go to see for yourself, who are you going to quarrel with?
The "grand mal du jour" from blogger's tongue seems to be "shrill". Please read my postings and see if you agree. On this page is my comment that everyone is concerned more about $100,000 than $20 million. Wasn't that a harsh and polarizing comment?
But because the anonymous attackers have opted to cite my library comments, I beg everyone to read them and judge for yourselves. If you do, then I really should thank anonymous for giving me reasons to direct those interested in the Fairview $100,000 to look elsewhere on the blog.
Golly, I have nothing good to say about the Library since day one. I'm too old to believe in half-pregnant either. If I believe the project is in incompetent hands, it should be no surprise that I see everything as half empty rather than half full. And knowing that the project currently to be built is not the one presented to the public before the referendum; that the project is without question a year past the Library's own start date; that the project has already suffered to compensate for a poor design and project cost estimate; that the current project does not have money for even furniture or technology; that they don't have a real geothermal plan in place, approved, bid on or otherwise...these are facts which only those speaking from the shadows will dare dispute.
And in the classic pot calling the kettle a cooking vessel of color, consider the blogger's last paragraph and understand why the signature is of anonymous origin.
"These losers (referring to myself and Feiner)have nothing to offer the community
except more polarization and needless hate-filled diatribes."
Of course that doesn't apply to the author who lacks the balls to sign his own hate mail. But that is the approved technique from Propoganda 101, the whispering campaign.
What is less unclear is that there are some respectable opponents out there who apparently sit back silently and enjoy being on the same side as the mob. If it were a perfect world, there would be the Town Council and the Bob Bernsteins of the other side clamoring to distance themselves from this level of spineless attack. I may "attack" or criticise but I do it in the open, I do it under my name and the length of my "screeds" or "diatribes" is because I provide the justification and proof.
Finally, when I talk about the Library, from day one, has anyone disputed what I say and provided any proof to support their counterclaim to my comments?
It is just the tired exercise of diminish the messenger when they can't argue the message.
At 3/21/2007 11:39 PM, Anonymous said ... town services are excellent. Public works dept is the best!
LOL ... I want some of 11:39's hallucinogens!
Well you can't have them - they are perks of the Supervisors job.
Since I'm not running for office yet am assumed to be Mr. Feiner's pit bull, where can I get my hallucinogens? Is christmas tree blotter still available?
I need to ingest some for purposes of "market research" and visit the other world that the anonymous bloggers live in; like get to know your rabbit.
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