Please post your comments about town issues.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK COMING UP....
UPDATES ON E HARTSDALE AVE FLOODING
REQUEST TO WAIVE PERMIT FEES
ANALYSIS- CAUSES OF EAST HARTSDALE AVE FLOODING, RECOMMENDATIONS---THIS WILL EITHER BE DONE IN HOUSE OR WE WILL RETAIN AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT (DISCUSSION AT WORK SESSION)
BRIEFING TZ BRIDGE WEDNESDAY NIGHT 7:15 PM
UPDATE LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION--GEOTHERMAL
GREEN ENERGY CONSERVATION FAIR SATURDAY 10 AM to 2 PM
E HARTSDALE AVE JAZZ CONCERT PLANNING MEETING TUESDAY 6:15 PM, UNISTAR OFFICES ON E HARTSDALE AVE
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81 comments:
I see Mayor Bloomberg is proposoing a "congestion tax" to improve air quality in Manhattan. Brodsky is agaisnt it. I dont understand why. I work in the city. we have great trains. why cant I have better air quality at work.
Has any decision been made regarding cleanup of the debris along the roadways and median strips? No matter who is financially responsible, it just has to be done. Median and shoulder maintenance has been neglected for too many years in Greenburgh. Other than the flooding issues, I can't think of any more important task of an immediate nature that the town government needs to deal with.
Paul, Can you please get the people on Pprospect Ave #92 by Fair St. not to store their garbage at the curb 24hrs/7days a week. It looks like hell! I've mentioned this before but Gabe the inspector has not done anything yet. This I know is a Town problem, and is against the town code. It won't even cost any money to solve this quality of life issue. Thank You.
Regarding the above-- I will advise the public works dept. I was planning to set up a task force of citizens to work on the debri problems along state roads. However..we got side tracked because of the flooding. This will get my attention in the next few days. I have spoken to Andrea Stewart Cousins, our State Senator and promise to give this high priority.
I'm pleased that the supervisor is providing the town with real leadership and helping residents and businesses on East Hartsdale Ave.
But he isn't and he can't even spell! The word is "debris" not "debri". Again, a committee to discuss and resolve nothing. We're not Mayberry!
The flooding that wrecked the businesses on East Hartsdale Avenue is probably the worst crisis the town has had to face in Feiner's entire 16-year tenure in office.
So you'd think he'd put aside his personal business and spend whatever time was needed on this issue at today's work session.
But no. Feiner insists that all flood-related discussions today come to a halt at 5 p.m. today so that he could leave to pick up his daughter, and then pick up his wife. He'll gladly come back at 7:15 p.m., he says, but no, even though he could easily afford to do so, and even though the town is dealing with a huge human crisis, with parents of young children put out of work as a result of the flood, and even though the other town board members have put aside their own personal business, no, no way, Feiner will not make any other arrangements for his wife and kid.
And if any town board members dare to make public the fact that Feiner is insisting that all public business involving the flood come to a halt, while he attends to his personal matters, he's threatened to tell the media that the town council is politicizing the issues and won't cooperate while he -- and he alone -- addresses the flooding crisis.
Has this man no shame?
In last week's Scarsdale Inquirer Bernstein had a letter in which he blamed Feiner for the damage from the flood. Nobody should be surprised. Bernstein will find anything with which to attack Bernstein, no matter how far-fetched. Bernstein will blame Feiner with original sin if that question came up. And he persists, this time under the name of Anunymous 11:55, making up a looney story about this afternoon's work session which hasn't even taken place yet.
Has this man no shame?
This business of Feiner and today's work session seems to be entirely of Feiner's own making. Why he chooses to blame Bernstein is anybody's guess.
The following e-mail was sent out this morning on Feiner's personal campaign account:
I am writing this note again - to request that the work session regarding the flooding on E Hartsdale Ave issue be discussed before I pick up my daughter or after. I leave Town Hall at 5:30 (as I have for the last few years) and will be back by 7:15 (my wife is catching a 6:45 train or 7 PM train--I meet her at the train station).
The residents of E Hartsdale Ave and the merchants who work on the street do not want to see us bickering over the time of a work session. They want results. We can discuss this any time in the evening that you want or earlier in the day. Over the years the Board has always tried accomodating scheduling requests when other members of the Board have been unable to attend work sessions. I ask that I be provided the same courtesies.
The recommendations that Al Regula will be making to the Board will require lots of attention and follow up. We must act quickly --we don't want the street to be flooded again.
I'm meeting with the merchants this morning again --will be meeting with them daily until every merchant is back in business. I can provide the Board members with lots of information --since I am in constant communication with many of the businesses.
Please cooperate with my schedule request. The crisis on E Hartsdale Ave is a tragedy. It would be very sad if the story that is reported highlights town politics, not town solutions.
PAUL FEINER
So the latest nonsense is this: "This business of Feiner and today's work session seems to be entirely of Feiner's own making."
So Feiner asks the Town Board to discuss this any time between 3:30 and 5:30 or after 7:15 until tyey finish, usually about midnight. What's the big horror, except to those who will criticize Feiner if he goeds to the bathroom. Why the hell doesn't the Town Council ever cooperate with Feiner.
Just another reason to do away with an antiquated political system and replace it with professional management. Neither the Supervisor nor the Town Board seems to give a damn about the public.
Feiner should show a little flexibility here.
As Timmy Weinberg once said, Feiner wasn't elected emperor. All the other town council members have put aside their personal business.
Why can't Feiner, just this once, show he's the better man?
If Feiner was a woman, this "I have to pick up my kid" would be a non-issue. He'd be run out of town on a rail. Here's a suggestion - hire a babysitter. The rest of us working folk due. If your job is to be somewhere at a certain time, you do it. You don't make everyone else change their schedules for you.
Feiner works 60 hours a week and more. I guess it isn't enough.
if bass took off an hour to attend to his child anonymous would say what a considerate father bass is.
But is bass ever going to be a father? Hah.
We have two disasters in Greenburgh, the closed stores on east hartsdale and paul feiner.
dear anon
regarding feiner's 60 hours - you are right - he works 60 hours promoting himself, issuing self congratulatory press releases, and sending self serving emails. we need someone who will work for the town and who, unlike feiner, can work with others both in town and the village governments.
I'm not a Feiner fan, though you won't believe it because I don't join in the bashing.
I read the papers and I watch the Town Board meetings. I haven't heard that the village governments can't work with Feiner. I see that the town government can't work with Feiner, but that isn't his fault. If they tried, instead of criticizing him every other minute, they might be able to work with him fine.
We have a dysfunctional government because the other four members, egged on by a vocal bunch (mostly from Edgemont) think that their job is to dump on Feiner rather than to provide decent government. I used to think that the problems were Feiner's fault, but I now know that it is Sheehan and Bass, and the two tongue-tied women, who are to blame.
Truer words were never spoken.Bass,Sheehan and the two silent ladies, are to blame for the disfunctional board.The attacks are getting worse especially that we are getting close to elections. Just remember Edgemont cannot win the election for Bass ,Barnes and Berger.The three B's will be getting What they deserve.
The four members of the board,Bass.Barnes.Juettner and His HIGNESS .all speak with a forked tongue.Feiner has a tough time since the attacks are getting worse.Feiner does the best thing at times,remembering silence is golden.
Paul Feiner is getting the Clinton treatment by Sheehan & his cronies on the Town Board. Sheehan reminds me of Tom Delay, working hard to impeach our chief elected official. Sheehan (alias Tom Delay) calls for investigations. He tries to shut down the government, he tries creating chaos. Francis--where is your hero Tom Delay?
Actually, the one town official who most resembles Tom DeLay is Feiner himself.
DeLay was reprimanded by a bipartisan ethics committee of the House of Representatives for accepting tens of thousands of dollars at a fundraiser held by persons with legislation pending before one of the committees he chaired.
Feiner, of course, has been accused of doing the same thing.
DeLay argued that his "accepting" the money was perfectly ethical because the House code merely made it unethical to "solicit" money from people who have legislation pending.
Feiner argued the same thing -- that his "accepting" the money at the fundraiser was okay because the town's Ethics Code only barred "soliciting" the money.
The House ethics committee held that under the circumstances, DeLay's attending the fundraiser in his honor and accepting the money was the same as "soliciting" and that, accordingly, he was in violation of the House rules.
Here, however, Feiner was able to stall the town's Ethics committee for over three years. That, however, is about to change. The Ethics committee has served Feiner with a series of document requests, thereby signaling an end to Feiner's rope-a-dope.
Unrepentent to the end, DeLay was subsequently indicted and forced out of Congress.
Feiner is equally unrepentent and, as the town Ethics probe widens, he may soon be forced out of office too -- by the voters.
"a task force of citizens to work on the debri problems along state roads"
There is no need for a task force. The town just needs to regularly clean the roadways of debriS like a normal municipality - period.
12:24 you must live in Edgemont. The only thing I will keep telling you DREAM ON.
If Feiner can work with the villages, why are they funding a study to explore leaving Greenburgh? If he is so wonderful, why did his two village running mates in the last election run dead last? In fact, the most frequent question village officials get from their residents is what do we get for paying these town taxes? And if the courts rule that the villages have to pay for taxter and hart's brook, village residents will dislike feiner even more in the same way his incompetence caused them to pay millions for the tree that fell down in unincorporated greenburgh.
To feiner and the villages -- re rality check, it is the town council that won't work with the villages, and the town council that caves in to all of bernstein's demands. maybe if the town council worked with the villages, instead of turning every question into an anti-feiner exercise, some of these problems would be solved.
Obeying the law is scarcely "caving in". Only our esteemed Supervisor believes that if one doesn't believe in the law then one can be exempt. It is, after all, the divine right of kings by which he rules.
Reality has nothing to do with anything in Greenburgh. Why are you bringing it up now?
You should understand that problems can be solved of people act with some cooperation and decency, but you have no energy for that. You are too obsessed with looking for every opportunity, even if you have to make it up, to expound on your Feiner-mania.
point proved - feiner is divisive. his 17 years at the helm is too many. time for someone new, a real problem solver not a power hungry egotist. we cannot afford feiner.
According to the Journal News, Greenburrgh Police is requesting $97,000 to build a garage behind it's headquarters to house it's specialized vehicles.
http://lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/NEWS02/704250359/1018
I'm all for it. There's no reason that GPD's specialized vehicles, nor it's ambulances, flycars, and cruisers, should be housed outside. Protection from the elements for these vehicles is sorely needed. In the meantime, kick some of the DPW trucks out of the Sprain Rd. garage and put them in there.
In a Town that wouldn't think twice about spending $100,000 on an item for a park, or $30 million for a libary, it's a shame that they nickle and dime the Police Department. Disgusting. Feiner would rather spend $10,000 for a temporary "fabric structure" fix until they have the money to build a permanent structure. His reason for denying the funding- the library. I hope the residents of Greenburgh are happy in their new libary while the Police Department's fleet falls apart and puts the lives of the towns residents- and civil servants- in danger. For example, the Cascase vehicle operated by GPD is used in the region and is a neccesity in today's Haz-Mat world, not to mention fires.
It's too bad that the former Franks Nursery site is so contaminated by the decades of pesticide and other retail gardening chemical storage. That would make a perfect Police Headquarters and Court, with plenty of room for everything-including parking.
Again, Paul Feiner wastes the taxpayers money. Not only is he destroying the lifespan of the towns emergency vehicles, which will cost money when the vehicles have to be replaced sooner then needed, but he is also wasting money on a temporary fix. It would be nice if this town would take action instead of putting band aids on its wounds. Oh yes, and get its priorities straightened out.
(THIS OPINION IS MINE, AND SOLELY MINE, AND DOES NOT NECCASARILY REPRESENT ANYONE ELSES VIEWS BUT MINE)
to x635:
if you think the Greenburgh P.D. has been "nickeled & dimed" you had better check the town budgets & capital budgets for the last 20 years, there is nothing they haven't been given when asked!!
try to explain a "marine unit" on the hudson, the technical rescue team, etc.,
also check the total amount of vehicles they have today versus the
number of personnel-- bet you won't get an answer--
the problem is that none of our elected officals has the guts to say no or why or could we share when the P.D. asks for something.
I am impressed! Paul puts his family before anything else. There are many daughters who wish they had a dad to pick them up from school and many women who wish they had a supportive husband. Thanks Paul for showing the true meaning of "Quality of Life" --we should all take care of home first!
Paul putting his family first was a cock and bull story.
Turns out that Feiner blew off the town board's weekly work session this last week not because of family commitments like he said, but rather because he had scheduled a pre-storm related meeting on East Hartsdale Avenue to promote a private merchant's plan to sponsor a series of summer jazz concerts on East Hartsdale Avenue.
Realizing that he had committed to the jazz meeting at the same time as the work session, Feiner tried to use the excuse of picking up his daughter etc., as reason why he couldn't be around to discuss emergency measures concernin the East Hartsdale flood.
So instead of putting his family first, Feiner was putting himself first. And using his family as a prop to shield himself from the inevitable criticism that he was out politicking instead of doing the people's work at a time when the town was facing its biggest crisis in its history.
Way to go Paul.
Over the past 15 yrs, there has been alot of wasted money at the Police dept., It seems every other year there is some kind of renovation going on. If it was done right it could have been done all at once. Or they could have purchased the property at 150 Hillside Ave(across from Town Hall)
and put Town Hall, Library,Police station and Town court all at the same place. The problem is there was never a big master plan for the town to look at these issues.
It is crazy to put police officers on the Hudson river to patrol. They should put them on the streets wher there are problems. How many times has this new command truck or tech rescue truck been utilized? not many I suspect. It's just a big waste of money.
A clear sign of springtime's arrival in Greenburgh is the blooming of the annual weeds on the median strips on Central Park Avenue between Fountain Lane and Ardsley Road.
Mr. Feiner suggests a task force to consider addressing the neglect of roadway maintenance in the town. I suggest that that a couple of DPW workers simply be assigned with pushbrooms, a weedwacker, an edger, a barrel of weedkiller, and a street sweeper.
If not, I wonder if we can file suit against the town for neglect of basic responsibilities. It's just so strange that the town makes the choice to ignore this matter, especially in an area where neglect is so obvious when entering the town from Yonkers.
"Paul putting his family first was a cock and bull story".
Yes, putting his family first. You seem to start your day and end your night putting "Paul first". You seem to know his every move.
Get a life.
I bet you are single and alone!
Thankfully, we have a supervisor who is showing great leadership - helping those who suffered because of the flood. I liked the comments the supervisor made on news 12.
I am single and perhaps the word alone is redundant for single. However I did not write the entry that the anonymous writer ahead of me is referencing.
Thus I would ask for this disclaimer to appear in a reply: Any resemblance to the person described in a previous blog is entirely without intention and bears no resemblance to any real or living person.
I offer the opening paragraph because what I am about to write will not make that anonymous writer any happier.
If Town Board Work Sessions are not being scheduled when the public, which holds day jobs just like the Town Council members, can attend, then there is an alternative which is to schedule them entirely contained within the normal business hours of Town Hall, say 9:00 to 5:00. I have ALREADY written this on the blog at least a month ago so this is not just a knee jerk reaction to the recent postings.
The Town Council members have VOLUNTARILY chosen to run for and hold very well paid but part-time positions with full benefits and perks (even additional cash in lieu of enrollment in Town medical plan); it is they that should be at the disposal of the full time Town employees who maintain the minimum 9-5 regimen. This includes the Town Supervisor and the various Department Heads who are often summoned to attend the Work Session. Why should the full time employees have to disrupt their lives to work around the schedules of the part-time Town Council? If they can't be there during business hours, who are they to complain?
And if they cannot fulfill their work obligation to the Town, they should resign.
Personally, I would like to attend the Work Sessions, if only to see the carping and posturing, but I work in the City and cannot take the time off, even more when the travel time is added. Thus, if the schedule were being arranged for my convenience I would suggest 7:00 PM. This would seem to work for the Town Council as well (they have day jobs) and those Residents (who may have day jobs) with matters before the Town Board. Nor have I heard objections from the Town Supervisor either regarding this time period; he is available (when he leaves he returns). So why not?
Perhaps because the Town Board is concerned with kidnapping the hours of Department Heads? Perhaps because they don't want a late night meeting? It has never been explained why the Work Sessions are not scheduled at night. The Town Board Meeting is at night, so why not the companion piece, the Work Session?
One reason is that the Town Council is embarked upon a program of portraying the Town Supervisor in an unfavorable light, however petty the issue. How many times did Mr. Sheehan say at last night's Town Board Meeting, "Mr. Feiner you were not there, you had left..."?
The Supervisor has been maintaining a schedule which includes picking up his young daughter, leaving the Work Session around 5:15-5:30 and returning at 7:00 for at least the past two years. It has not varied. Thus, what is scheduled (like the Board really holds to their Agenda) at the Work Session during that time period, when the Supervisor is not present, should not be the urgent or controversial matters because the Town Council knows he is not going to be there. Working around this schedule should be easy enough to arrange epecially since they order in dinner to be consumed during the meeting and in full sight of those attending but dinnerless. At last a job definition that the Town Clerk can handle in a timely manner.
I only write this entry because I am really annoyed by the whining and insensitive "let's make hay" attitude of the Town Council in turning what is essentially a schedule arranged for THEIR benefit into a dereliction of the Supervisor's duty scenario. If I were the Supervisor, I would schedule the Work Session at 10:00 AM just for spite and announce at each Town Board meeting who wasn't able to attend. And what do we hear about this situation from that well-known epistle to dippy, Eddie Mae Barnes who says "let's try to work together" but looks the other way when Mr. Sheehan and Mr. Bass try to score points off Mr. Feiner.
And, even in the combative climate which exists between the Supervisor and the Town Council, leaving to pick up your daughter and spend some "quality time" however limited in duration is just a violation of the rules of what is common decency or fair play. Non-parents can easily say, hire a baby sitter but working parents will understand the issue. Especially since three of the Town Council are not likely to have more children and the fourth, the youngest, gives no evidence of ever having a reproductive-capable partner. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Calling CW, Calling CW, help.
No one can accuse the Supervisor of not giving enough hours to the Town. So it is only being churlish and petty on the part of the Town Council to keep bringing this matter up before the Public.
Oddly enough, Mr. Sheehan who is quick to point out the interests and affiliations of his own offspring, seem to be the most intolerant of Mr. Feiner's long-standing parenting arrangement.
Again I defer to Judge Welch, "have you no sense of decency?"
If any finds anything objectionable in this posting, I find that the circumstances which give rise to my response are equally or more objectionable.
And this to X635,
Not only police vehicles or sanitation vehicles need protection from the elements (98 when I was in school). So do cybermobiles.
Even the folks at the Library recognized this before the Referendum but then they decided not to follow up on those instincts after the Referendum.
Well let me correct that. They later proposed a canopy to park their "specialized vehicle" under.
Well let me correct that. The canopy is gone as well.
But remember that everything is ok at the Library expansion; the project is not over budget; the project is not being down-sized and no animals were harmed during the re-enactment of this fantasy when Al Regula gives the Library Report to the Town Council.
And I don't think the folks of Greenburgh will be so happy in their new Library either. So far, we're going ahead and starting construction of a building without a HVAC system.
Since you seem to be a man of a limited world, do you know if they make band-aids in Library size?
However, unlike the Tappan Zee Report (entirely out of Greenburgh control, years, if not a decade, away in actuality, financed by State and Federal taxes and presented in 45 to 60 minute doses at Town Board meetings, with questions and discussion between residents and the project publicists), the Library Report (entirely under Greenburgh control, happening now, financed only by unincorporated taxes and presented in 5 minute doses at Town Board meetings, with no questions and discussion allowed between residents and the project publicist, Al Regula) is just not that important. And despite the $30 million price tag (hopefully they will be able to raise additional money so that "Johnny will have a chair to sit on and a computer terminal to play with) the cybermobile will remain outside and unprotected.
Hopefully you are not looking forward for the Town to "build" a garage for the police vehicles. The Town's record under Al Regula wearing the hat of construction czar means that that they won't have to kick anything out of the Town built garage, none of the trucks it was designed for fit inside. I'm hoping that what is being proposed is a Butler building kit.
But why are writing about Feiner.
The Town Council has the necessary votes. Just be sure to take some photos of the Town Council's specialized vehicle garage and post those pictures on the web. There's no rush so take your time. We'll let you know when the job is finished in about 2-3 years from now.
Samis, you're vying again for the Emily Littella award.
The issue with Feiner blowing off the town board's regularly scheduled work sessions has nothing to do with Feiner's love of family. It turns out he had scheduled another meeting, outside town hall, during the time when he tells people he must leave to pick up his daughter.
What makes what Feiner did particularly obnoxious was the whining e-mail he wrote to other town board members insisting that discussion of emergency flood-related matters be put off so that Feiner could attend to personal matters, when in fact Feiner was attending to a previously scheduled meeting he didn't bother to tell any of his colleagues on the town board about.
Samis of course knows all this, but in his zeal to defend Feiner at all costs, he ignores the facts and defends Feiner on the grounds that his attackers must be anti-family.
That's ironic, of course, coming from Samis, but it's worse than that.
As Samis well knows, Feiner didn't start this business of stopping town board work sessions to pick up his "daughter" until the town board two years ago rejected Feiner's plea for town-sponsored day care at town hall, so that his daughter could have full-time babysitting at taxpayer expense.
Feiner was furious that his request was turned down, but it wasn't rejected for political reasons. The opposition was led by former town board member Timmie Weinberg, who said town hall was no place for a day care center, noting the potential liability issues.
Hell have no fury like Feiner scorned. So, following this rebuke, in order to spite town council members who defied him, he announced that henceforth he would walk out of all town board work sessions at 5 p.m. to "pick up his daughter."
Feiner the family man or petty child? You be the judge.
Mr. Samis: Quality counts not the quantity of hours Feiner spends on town business. But lets be honest, he spends the time to promote himself and to perpetuate his career as a politician. If you watch the town board meetings, he and the recently deposed sanjaya have a lot in common - both are out of their league. Its time to vote Feiner off the show.
Dear Emily,
Of course arguing about family values with bloggers, themselves coming from such a large family tree (the Anonymous clan) is an uphill battle but I'll try.
Myself, I only have one 18 year old son.
But I was around for his formative years.
The old trick of "Samis of course knows this" or "Samis well knows" is used by people who need to certify their own unsubstantiated statements by constructing an argument that would convey the supposition that the opponent (me, in this case) agrees with the author. This is one of what logicians would label a fallacy; fallacies in turn being known as the counterpoint to factual argument. i.e. Which is correct, the affirmative or the negative, to the question: have you stopped beating your wife?
Yes. Oh, you used to beat her.
No. Oh, you're still beating her.
See, not only Mr. Sheehan can conduct a class.
Samis does "not know". But perhaps the "Shadow" does.
And anyone who reads this blog knows that a meeting had long been scheduled Tuesday to discuss the proposed Jazz concerts in Hartsdale. See Feiner's April blog topic heading. There was no secret liaison. What I don't know and perhaps neither does anonymous blogger is whether Feiner attended this meeting. The language which implies a secret meeting (not even the Town Council knew) stops short of actually saying Feiner was there. I certainly don't know. However the author of this charge would appear either to be a member of the Town Council (a resident is asking the Town Council members "did you know"...?) or their troll, Mr. Kaminer. Nor do I know whether Feiner did attend, or, if so, whether he dragged his daughter along (not commendable if such was the case).
However, the Work Sessions occur almost weekly during the school year and this occasion, if it happened, would be the exception to the rule.
Let's also determine what are the obligations of the Supervisor are to notify the Town Council and include each of the four in setting a meeting time. Is he required to ask them to attend every meeting he goes to or is he required to ask them to attend only meetings at which he may commit the Town to some obligation.
The Town Board operates with individual members acting as liaisons to various committees and groups and boards. Did Feiner step on the toes of the Cultural Affairs liaison? And, if a resident goes to the Town website and looks at "meetings" are all meeting dates posted of all meetings that the individual liaison attends? No. So what is the complaint here? A "secret" meeting that the Public at large was invited to but the Town Council knew nothing about? What a crock and I don't mean footware.
Of course I will defend Feiner "at all costs". What does that mean? Am I entitled to an expense account?
I would even defend members of the Town Council if I saw them unfairly maligned or lies being written about them. On this very Feiner blogsite I have often criticized Feiner and shall continue to do so when I feel it is warranted.
But let me recap the anonymous writer's post using the words which have less to do with fact but more with "atmosphere". In order of appearance.
blowing off...particularly obnoxious...whining email...in his zeal...at all costs...furious...hell hath no fury...scorned...rebuke...to spite...
Just add water and one fresh egg and you have propoganda.
What "Samis does know" is that Samis and Ella Preiser argued against the day care center, pointing out the liability issue well in advance of Ms. Weinberg. That is not meant to slight her because matters are only taken seriously when a member of the Town Board adopts the thought and members of the Public consider it a victory when the Dais takes up the cause. And I shall even add that I had FOILED the responses to the survey to Town employees to see how much support for the proposal (it was originally presented along the lines of being a perk for all Town employees) and found that only four questionnaires were returned with only two interested in using the service (there was a charge to use the servide).
The proposal was expanded to include the children of residents visiting Town Hall on business.
But on a chicken or egg basis, if Feiner had an obligation (perhaps by agreement with his working wife) to pick up their daughter, would it not still be in effect, with or without, a children's room at Town Hall. Thus even with the room, Feiner would still have to pick her up and without he would still have to pick her up. Or you can go with the anonymous writer who conveys that it was just "get even".
And in a venturesome "at all costs" risk, is it not possible and I don't know the age of his daughter, that two years ago she may have reached the age of attending school all day; that before she did not and was attended to by a care-giver or her mother and that when she attained school age the daughter required an updated "custodial" arrangement.
I repeat that with so many important things at stake in Greenburgh, Feiner's attackers should be able to find something perhaps a little more worthy of their derision.
And when the anonymous blogger writes that "discussion of emergency flood-related matters be put off so that Feiner could attend to personal matters..." does "put off" mean from 5:30 to 7:00? Or should I have written, As Anonymous well knows Feiner asked to discuss the matter at 7:00.
You be the judge.
To all,
As a footnote to the above, writing it did make me consider an unrelated matter.
In the new Library of the future, the fabulous children's room was promoted pre-referendum as now being on the same floor as the remainder of the Library collections (except for those located downstairs) so that parents could drop their kids off and go about their business elsewhere in the Library. If this sounds like day care...
But what is the Town's liability when this offer has been made by the Library should child be harmed when the parent is not in the children's room but still under the Library roof?
Would this be any different from the proposed day care/children's room at Town Hall?
It concerns me because I had already brought to the Library's attention that the Architect had designed a door connecting the children's room with an outdoor "garden" area -- adjacent to and unprotected from -- an onsite roadway.
Perhaps Ms Weinberg could be consulted (professionally,of course).
GREAT BLOG HAL SAMIS!
And to pop culture maven,
Feiner does spend a lot of time promoting himself -- as would any politician who has to run for office every two years while the Town Council members only have to do this every four years.
But if you do watch the Town Board meetings and had a "sitemeter" to measure who speaks more, you would discover that the new title holder is Francis Sheehan who gets confused as to whether he is there to join the others in conducting business or using the face time to teach his class. It had occurred to me at the last meeting not only to yell out "when is term break" (which I did) during one of his lectures but also "Is this the Sheehan Goes Wild show" (which I didn't).
And which Town Council member has affiliated himself with the most committees, liaisonships and self-appointed chairmanships? Why Mr. Sheehan again. So if speaking and attending meetings is the gauge of promotion, then Mr. Sheehan deserves the chair in the middle for sheer audacity. And if the Public gets in the way and slows things down, why bother with Public Hearings or Public Comment when only what is pronounced from the Dais is relevant.
Ok, time for lunch.
You have to laugh...
Feiner has his blogger critics who write that he spends all his time promoting Feiner.
Meanwhile back at the ranch we have a Town Council email that Steve Bass has saved Greenburgh, Westchester County, Putnam County and Rockland County taxpayers.
Of course this frou-frou is not self promotion from King Sheehan and Queen Bass.
Read the e mail from Bass taking credit for a NYS policy that Steve had absolutely nothing to do with. Why doesn't Steve Bass work on solving town problems? Is he interested in his job?
Can Steve or anyone show us any e mails he sent to the state urging him to take action. I doubt it.
This prior comment, written by Feiner himself, is interesting because it shows how jealous and meanspirited he is.
Bass was able to issue the press release regarding the NYS tax moratorium because he worked closely on the matter with Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.
Feiner himself couldn't have done that because Feiner and Brodsky aren't on speaking terms.
Nor could Feiner have worked with anyone else on this in the state delegation. Thus, Andrea Stewart Cousins, among others, knows that associating with Feiner can only result in embarrassment.
Paul did not write the comment that you are referring to. WHy should He be jealous of Bass.I would like to see this document giving Bass all this credit.Put up or shut up.
What you are saying about Cousins,about her not associating with Paul, let her speak for herself.Is there anyone else in office that you must speak for please enlighten us to their love and hate problems.Bass happens to be a pencil sharpener in the legislaton,so stop glorifying him.He has got to learn much much more about our jobs.
"Bass worked closely with Brodsky."
Now just who would know that?
So let's look at the statement that working closely with Feiner can only result in embarrassment.
What is this fabulous feel good "tax" benefit anyway that was only announced on April 26? And here is such an embarrassment that should instead be attributed not to Feiner, not to Abinante, not to Cousins but to Brodsky and, if saying is believing, to Bass.
If anyone intended to file their returns on time, they did. If they were unable to do so, they requested an extension.
If they were unable to do so and would have great difficulty doing so because of the flooding (and they were already cutting it close to the April 15/17 due date) then by April 26, they knew they were already overdue and living with it.
And if the records they needed for their filing were destroyed in the flooding, then would that mean that they never need file?
Let me now ponder how big the pie is. Because the logical question is how big a universe or slice of Greenburgh residents does this affect? There may indeed be a few, there are always filers who are late and didn't request extensions...
But I'm thinking that the number of Greenburgh residents that this legislation applies to is very, very small. And since the Town has decided to promote Hartsdale Avenue as the epicenter of the flooding, I would want to know just how many of these victims will benefit from this legislation? I'll even take the number of residents and businesses townwide.
The only reason the measure passed so smoothly is that the pols understood that it would have a meaningless effect and the publicity was worth the presumed collection of taxes (which could as easily be refunds). The taxes that might be due are still due, just postponed a few months. Big deal.
And that is the nature of feel good legislation and resolutions:
Promotion versus Practical.
The point is that Mr. Bass, running for office this year, has already involved himself with more "feel good" but useless positions than he has in the past. And because we, mere residents who do not work in politics for a living, are not in a political office all week, we are unable to trace events beyond their public relations release source. Certainly the Journal News and the Scarsdale Inquirer never look closely at the sop they print. A recent example at hand.
How about this quote The Inquirer leaves unquestioned in this week's article on the storm.
From the Hartsdale Parking District Director "Nothing is wrong with the drain. There was so much rain that water was coming up out of it..." Well that is one conclusion, but I would ask, what would it look like if the drain was clogged? Half empty or half full?
Does this have any significance? What if your business went under and you were convinced by this information that it was nobody's fault? After all, it was in the newspaper.
The point of this detour is that residents MUST exercise their own critical (meaning here, taking a closer look) and skeptical/common sense gene at what is distributed by email and appearing in the local newspapers. Just as "as advertised on TV" appearing as a sticker on a product does not insure reliability or value. But it is put there to make you believe that there is some "added value". And sadly, what gets printed in our local newspapers is not much better. Insuring this pablum level that passes for news reporting is the real function of Mr. Kaminer.
How do we know what goes on at the County Board of Legislators? In a disaster such as the flooding, do the representatives from the other hard hit communities in Westchester (or in their own august governing equivalents) do nothing and just wait for Greenburgh's lead? Do the the higher levels of government do nothing but just wait for the County and Greenburgh's lead? Do all the ideas just come from Greenburgh. I think not. I think that Greenburgh just plays a better public relations game or that those victims elsewhere have their own officials saying the same things and we just aren't exposed to their public relations.
And I agree that Mr. Feiner plays the same game. However he is not the inventor of Politics.
So the anonymous blogger at 8:20 AM who "knows" that Mr. Bass worked "closely" with Mr. Brodsky, is another one of the internet handwriting analysts who can tell that the posting just before was written by Feiner. And, even if it were, this blogger is able to enlighten us that "Feiner" is mean spirited and jealous because he has asked for proof of Mr. Bass' contribution.
Again, I refer to Bob Bernstein who taught me, don't tell me, show me. What is wrong (assuming mean spirited and jealous are bad) about asking for some proof? Whatever the intent for asking. Should we not want to see proof if the request really came from Feiner. The hope was to divert a reasonable request by associating it with all the negative perceptions that are launched against the Supervisor.
Now any politician, Brodsky, who has Ms. Berger to thank as an ally and Ms. Berger who has Mr. Bass to thank as an ally may want to help out down the line but I would like to see on paper what "worked closely" means.
I know from the past that the phrase "I have been in touch with his/her office" means merely: I left a voicemail message. So without that much time to pursue this but always the inclination, I would ask 8:20 AM to send me the proof of the statement "that Bass worked closely with Assemblyman Richard Brodsky" and I will share the results of my reading on this blog.
Meanwhile, when is Bass sending out the email that he worked closely with Spitzer on legalizing gay marriage?
What Feiner and his newly minted alter ego Samis seem not to understand is that not every elected official needs a camera crew to document efforts to work with other elected officials to do some good around here.
Case in point is Steve Bass' working with Richard Brodsky to get that tax exemption. Neither Feiner nor Samis knew this was in the works because Bass didn't hold a press conference, like Feiner would have, to reveal (and thereby exploit for his own political gain) who among the flood victims on East Hartsdale Avenue had their office records destroyed and really needed the help.
No, Bass worked quietly with Brodsky to get the matter taken care of, and then announced, after the fact, that it had been done, not just for the victims on East Hartsdale Avenue, but for all victims in the region who were affected.
This is what sophisticated elected officials, working together, are supposed to do.
Because Feiner puts not the people, but himself first, on everything he does, no other elected officials at the federal, state, county or town level will work with him -- on anything.
Instead, Feiner has become the "work-around." If anything really important for the public good needs to get done around here, elected officials must find a way to work around Feiner to get it done.
Oh that noble and self-effacing Bass. He looks only do do good quietly and does not want his good deeds sullied by seeming to crave publicity. That's why he sponsored a resolution to ask the President to save Darfur - so as to do effective good quietly. That's why he sponsored a law to please the unions by adding apprentices to the town's building jobs (excluding the library, of course) so that he can do good things quietly.
Feiner may be a loose cannon sometimes, but he does try to do good things along with the publicity. Bass is a fraud. An earlier blogger called Bass a pencil-sharpener, and that is the best description of Bass' "good deeds" that has been written. Bass knows nothing about residents' needs because all he lives for is politics. I'll be glad to say good riddance to him in November.
Anonymous at 12:22 has no answer to the criticism that Feiner, unlike Bass, would have held a press conference with cameras rolling to exploit for his own political self-aggrandizement the flood victims on East Hartsdale Avenue, and that Feiner, because he is always so obviously out to promote himself, has become a "work around" because no one at the federal, state, county or town level wants anything more to do with him.
Instead, anonymous at 12:22 does what Feiner does: argues that Bass deserves no credit for any of the good he does quietly behind the scenes because Bass is just as politically self-serving as Feiner is.
Oh really?
No one except Feiner would be so condescendingly stupid as to hold a press conference, with cameras rolling, as Feiner has done, to tell the business owners on East Hartsdale Avenue that he, Feiner, will provide them the assistance they so desperately need by helping them fill out the FEMA forms.
Can Feiner be so naive as to think that business owners in Hartsdale aren't sophisticated or smart enough to know to fill out a FEMA form?
It's episodes like that which make business owners grateful that, instead of having to look to Feiner, who even before the flooding was generally regarded by the East Hartsdale Avenue merchants as worse than useless, the town board has someone like Steve Bass who, when push comes to shove, knows how to get something done.
Do people like Anon 3:29 know anything about government at all? Or are they swayed by talking points only? Obviously the latter.
Bass would get credit for doing good if he did any good, but he doesn't. He makes useless proposals, he sucks up to Brodsky, he acts as junior partner to Sheehan who has taken over the Board, and he supports that bunch who get up at each meeting and make destructive demands that do no good for the town, only for themselves.
We have a disaster of a Town Council and we need to make changes. And don't think that Berger is the answer.
Anonymous at 7:33 does not deny that Feiner has been exploiting the flood victims on East Hartsdale Avenue for his own political self-aggrandizement.
Anonymous at 7:33 also does not deny that Feiner has become a "work around" because no one at any level of government will bother dealing with him anymore.
Nor does anonymous at 7:33 deny that Feiner's offer to help the EHA merchants fill out FEMA forms was condescending and meaningless.
Instead, anonymous at 7:33 attacks Steve Bass for supposedly making "useless proposals." However, anonymous at 7:33 does not deny that Bass's proposal to help EHA flood victims by getting their tax filing deadlines extended served a very useful purpose.
Anonymous at 7:33 also complains that Bass "sucks up" to Assemblyman Brodsky. However, anonymous ta 7:33 does not deny that, unlike Feiner, Bass is at least on speaking terms with Brodsky which makes Brodsky a lot more useful to Bass when it comes to getting help from Albany.
Anonymous at 7:33 next complains that Bass acts as "junior partner" to councilman Francis Sheehan. However, as News 12 noted this weekend, in contrast to Feiner, Greenburgh's town council is "sophisticated" and just what is needed to govern a diverse town of 90,000.
Finally, anonymous at 7:33 suggests that Bass supports a "bunch" that makes "destructive demands" that do no good for the town, only for themselves.
This form of attack by smear and guilt by association is right out of Feiner's playbook.
Those who've heard eerily familiar tirades from Feiner at town board work sessions about the "bunch" that makes "destructive demands" -- many of these tirades have been caught on tape --may wonder if anonymous at 7:33 isn't Feiner himself.
The only thing that is missing from the story is proof that Bass was working "quietly" and that Bass
worked "closely" with Brodsky.
In fact, if you don't believe someone, it would be good to have a film crew around to document the story.
With all the diversions offered by anonymous, the fact remains that for someone who writes so intimately about what really happened, they have not offered to supply some proof.
And I repeat that this is a feel good gesture with very limited application.
Earlier in a blog someone wrote that Feiner and Brodsky are not even on speaking terms. Does that mean that Brodsky is not going to perform the job he was elected to do? Or does that mean that he can only speak to Bass, not even to Abinante?
Again. Show us the proof. Talk is cheap, at its cheapest when it appears signed anonymous.
I may be freshly minted but not so dumb as to believe a fairy tale when I read it.
The "proof" is that Bass announced that, having reached out to Brodsky, he was able to get some tax relief.
Its application was specifically limited to those victims of the flood who were unable to get their tax records filed on time.
The fact that Feiner and Brodsky are not on speaking terms does not mean that Brodsky won't do his job. To the contrary, it means that Feiner can't do his.
That's why Feiner's become a work around. If what's needed is help from the state delegation, savvy residents in Greenburgh know that reaching out to Feiner goes nowhere.
So, "work around" is the new talking point of the Feiner haters. How ridiculous. All it shows is that this power-hungry group is responsible for the dysfunction in our government.
If "proof" is merely an announcemnt, then it is understandable why the Court is taking so long to decide on the appeal.
Now the story is "reaching out".
Following is the equation that is being used to promote the story that Bass, closeted with Brodsky, produced great benefit for all residents of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties. All 8 of them.
"working closely" =
"reaching out" x "working quietly"
+ "mountain of a molehill" squared.
If Brodsky does not speak to any of the people in charge to run different towns HE SHOULD NOT BE IN OFFICE. He was elected to do a job not to show his likes and dislikes.So now with this in mind ,we the residence in Greenburgh ,could not expect to get a fair shake unless we go to Bass.This is ridiculous.Yes politics do stink but only in Greenburgh do we have to go to Bass or rely on his great friendship with Brodsky to get what is due us.Bass think of how you speak about people in office.Brodsky does not enforce the laws himself .Tell me what makes him so great,is it because you say that he is your friend.Let's see if this friend helps get you in office again without the peoples vote.,
Anon at 11:28 you got it wrong. You assume that you go to Bass to get to Brodsky, but that is BS. Brodsky does not do things alone because he cannot. Spitzer can't stand Brodsky, so forget about Brodsky having influence in Albany. He couldn't even get appointed Comptroller by the State Assembly. Bass is the emptiest one of all. He and Brodsky are both publicity hounds. Brodsky even insulted Andrea Stewart-Cousins. He needs his mouth washed.
Only because politics stinks in Greenburgh, and the only policy of the Town Council is to isolate Feiner no matter what the issue, and no matter whether Feiner is right or wrong, that's why we have such ridiculous press releases and insults. Does anyone on the Town Council care about working cooperatively for the residents? No, although these bloggers will come back with more insults because that is all they know how to do.
Brodsky seems to be doing quite well for himself politically.
Sure, he didn't get appointed as state comptroller, but now he's being mentioned as the successor to Sheldon Silver as majority leader.
And for all the bad blood that supposedly exists between Brodsky and Spitzer, they both act like adults when it comes down to getting things done.
Feiner, on the other hand, can't get along with anyone at any level of government -- federal, state, county and town. So, if you're a Feiner fan, the answer is easy: everyone else in government must be replaced -- or else.
But if you're like most folks, you see this happening and you think, can't we find someone to be supervisor in Greenburgh who doesn't come with all this baggage?
Mr. Abinante, up for re-election,
needs to talk to the voters. We need to know if he where he was when this fabulous antidote for flooding distress was put together.
Didn't he notice all the working closely and reaching out that his aide was doing? I guess it was truly "working quietly".
As for the other County legislators and their aides, apparently you guys are redundant, all residents need is Brodsky and Berger and Bass; I'll hold off judging Ms Cousins until she gets a few more missed public relations opportunities under her belt.
On the other hand, is it possible that the vision of the unattributed politicians was so myopic because the universe of those who hadn't filed tax returns was so microscopic?
Leave it to Samis to kick people when they're down.
As Feiner's alter ego, Samis has already mocked the owner of Hartsdale Liquors (and got a swift kick in return) and now he mocks the owners of all other businesses on East Hartsdale Avenue who couldn't file or seek an extension because their records were all under water.
And not willing to stop there, he attacks Bass, who helped these merchants out, by suggesting that, by doing his job as a town councilman, he was somehow not doing his job as a county legislative aide.
That's Feiner logic for ya.
Indeed, about the only difference these days between Feiner and Samis is that one speaks with a stammer while the other merely writes with one.
Saying that Samis writes with a stammer is typical of the way that some people in Greenburgh argue -- insults when the facts are against them.
Samis has been telling the truth for a long time. The truth has been so damning that now the Town Board has actually started to answer Samis' questions. They cannot hide from their incompetence any longer.
Please w-w-w-ould y-y-y-you list the Hartsdale A-A-A-venue b-b-businesses that will using this extension. Or just give the number and I shall seek out which ones.
I don't think anyone but you would conclude that I was mocking the owners re their tax returns. And you be whose alter ego?
And regarding kicking when down, I just want to see the basis for all those "loss" figures that are rollling off everyone's t-t-t-ongues.
Mr. Troy (Hartsdale Liquors) and I have an understanding and he is looking for considerably more than the ALLEGED Bass close work with Brodsky.
It's pretty clear to most residents of the Hartsdale area that the merchants there have a sizeable claim against the town for failing to address the drainage situation, and that Feiner, in turn, is seeking mightily to shift responsibility and blame to private property owners, such as the owners of 180 East Hartsdale and Toby Ritter, the owner of the commercial properties.
Samis isn't saying anything different except that he absolves Feiner of any responsiblity and blames only those at Town Hall who work for him.
But no matter.
However, someone should please warn good Mr. Troy of Hartsdale Liquors about what having an "understanding" with Samis actually entails.
Whether by coincidence or design, if you have an understanding with Samis, it won't end well.
Just ask the last set of "Troys" Samis claims to have "advised."
Now let me think, who in anonymous land would know who the other Mr. Troy is?
That Mr. Troy needed no help from Mr. Samis. And if you consult the blogs of that era you will even see that Samis discussed the lack of need for a moratorium on a property more than 100' off Central Avenue.
What Edgemont civic leaders needed and what Edgemont civic leaders learned was that just because they opened their mouths and demanded; that even with a "balanced" Town Board and even with the support of the Supervisor, outrageous demands from the Town government just weren't going to fly unchecked.
All those fears of residential conversion or construction just haven't materialized ahead of the comprehensive plan or even the threat of a moratorium.
Apparently Edgemont civic leaders don't own the Town yet. So when it comes to Edgemont vs Samis, the score is Samis 1, Edgemont 0. And I don't think you have heard the last from Mr. Troy of Dromore yet.
I am not a lawyer but I would assume the lead name on a lawsuit for damages by the store lessees would be their landlord. In turn, the landlords would go after the Town.
If these lawsuits succeed, then it would be apparent that everything was not ok, Mr. Regula.
And, if Feiner is trying to shift the blame, then that becomes a problem for the Town Council. Who do they support, Feiner (protecting the Town entire) or the merchants/apartment residents because in so doing, then they will also have to give a hard look at DPW and Mr. Regula. Mr. Regula, in turn, went to bed with the Town Council over the Library cover-up and maybe he will feel a little annoyed to be abandoned.
I know what Mr. Greenawalt is doing. But where is Ms. Berger?
Ms. Cousins was able to follow directions and visit Hartsdale Center for the mandatory photo-op but does Ms. Berger even know where it is? (you turn right from Bob's house).
Actually, you turn left.
Whether its left or right from Bob's house depends entirely whether you are going or coming...
Better still, just pour some water out of your Poland Springs bottle and watch which way it flows - at the end of the stream is Hartsdale
Samis, presumably speaking for Feiner as he often does, mischaracterizes Edgemont's request for a moratorium and in so doing disparages Edgemont generally.
Edgemont needed the moratorium on further multifamily construction along Central Avenue in order to help keep its school district affordable.
The reasons for granting the moratorium are just as valid today as they were in January.
School districts in the town's unincorporated areas need the town to work with them, not against them, when it comes to protecting their deteriorating tax bases.
Despite its tremendous growth, Edgemont's tax base has remained flat for the last 16 years with increases in residential ratables offset by a rapidly shrinking commercial tax base. That translates into huge increases in its property taxes.
But because of its relative wealth, a school district like Edgemont won't be getting much in the way of state aid. Therefore, all a school district like Edgemont can do to remain affordable and still offer a quality education is to find ways to enhance its commercial tax base.
The request for a moratorium had nothing to do with the property on Dromore Road. Edgemont leaders are still pressing for its enactment or, alternatively, for enactment of a zoning change that would accomplish the same thing.
And Edgemont leaders still expect town officials to be helpful. It's a learning process for the town, to be sure, but Edgemont's problems are not unique. Central 7 this year had its tax base shrink by more than $2 million.
And the former mayor of Dobbs Ferry, now the superintendent of schools in North Rockland, knows all too well the perils of trying unsuccessfully to challenge a tax certiorari proceeding. There, taxes this year are projected to increase between 15-25% because that school district tried to be pro-active on its own -- and guessed wrong. It lost the case and now must pay the piper big-time.
So, slowly but surely town council members are coming to realize that it is in the town's interest to work with its school districts when they seek to protect their tax base -- not against them.
Why is everything such a struggle?
If you want to get to Hartsdale Center from Bob's house, you are leaving Bob's house, so I'll stand pat with my as posted right turn.
There is no ying yang response, when you give directions they start at the point of departure.
And if you turn left you encounter a dead end...
I never questioned that Edgemont had reasons for wanting a moratorium -- and to Edgemont civic leaders I'm sure they felt these reasons for reasonable. Even terrorists have reasons. Granted that Edgemont's are more reasonable but what they fail to acknowledge is that their problem is not the Town's problem; it is certainly not my problem and it is certainly not the problem of those who own property along Central Avenue. The proposed moraatorium WAS most certainly directed against the Dromore property; when everyone felt a comfort level that Dromore was no longer a multi-family threat, the moratorium parade stopped dead in its tracks.
As for the possible zoning change, I would join the County in opposing it but following that procedure is something that I would not oppose the attempt -- seeking the zoning change without a moratorium is a reasonable way to go about serving Edgemont, which is only a school district, not a municipality.
But before we get lost in the rush to promote Edgemont's problems anew, how would Suzanne Berger, the candidate backed by Edgemont's leaders, handle the cert problem faced by school districts?
Since Ms Berger has the least Town government and management experience of the three candidates, I submit that this election should not come down to a platform of only "I'm not Feiner" which is what her minders are measuring her for. When does she intend to tell us her answers for the Town problems.
What is her take on the crisis in Hartsdale Center? Certainly she had some plan if elected other than playing straight woman to Bass and Sheehan and ask, "I read in the Journal News this morning..." How would Ms. Berger resolve the new sidewalk construction stand-off? Where is the money to come from for sidewalks and a new Court/Police station?
How lucky ofr her they ran an article the same day as a Town Board meeting.
Those at Town Hall work for the Town and report to the Town Board.
They do not work for Feiner.
We'll meet again; you know where; you know when.
Samis has a short memory.
Edgemont leaders proposed its moratorium in September 2006 -- months before Feiner started issuing press releases warning, wrongly it turns out, about a 37-unit condo development being proposed for Dromore Road by the nature center.
Samis did a lot of squawking about how Ayn Rand wouldn't have approved a moratorium, blah blah blah but, as with most things he says, no one paid him the least attention.
As for Westchester County, Samis might soon have to eat his words.
Rumor has it that Westchester County is re-thinking the wisdom of the letter it issued. Turns out that at least some county leaders think that the county was dead wrong not to recognize that municipalities are supposed to be working with school districts to protect their respective tax bases -- not against them.
If Edgemont leaders are so concerned about school taxes, why did they fight against the expansion of Midway Shopping Center????? This commercial development would have increased tax revenues and produced ZERO school children yet the elitists from Edgemont fought against it. Now they have the gaul to complain about high school taxes. Shame on you Edgemont Leaders!
We need Nick Spano back!!! He would be here helping in Hartsdale.
But the Greenburgh Voters voted him out and now we have to deal with it. School districts on Long Island received 39 and 40 million dollars and Westchester received only 1 million and $647,000 of that went to Senetor Liebell in northern Westchester. You do the math, we are getting spanked again. once for voting "yes" for the Library fiasco by 66 votes and now because we did not elect Nick.
Edgemont's leaders favor smart development of Central Avenue's commercial corridor.
Many felt Midway's proposed expansion was not smart planning.
It would have added too much commercial space to a shopping center that never had enough parking in the first place, was itself creating huge traffic jams, and would have had adverse environmental impacts on neighboring residential areas.
It was also widely assumed, correctly as it turns out, that Midway's expansion would not result in an increase in the tax base. To the contrary, many expected Midway to file a huge tax cert claim, which would have exposed the school district to millions of dollars in potential liability, which it did.
But rather than reject the Midway proposals outright, efforts were made to compromise. The town board appointed Arnold Laubich, an Edgemont resident, as deputy town supervisor responsible for Midway. Laubich, himself a former real estate executive, then set out to balance the company's expansion plans against the quality of life concerns raised by Edgemont residents.
The result was more or less the expansion that exists today.
Since then, Edgemont's leaders, acting under the auspices of the school district, have spent over 18 months studying what Edgemont can do to protect its tax base, and the result is a comprehensive, publicly available blueprint of what Edgemont needs to do.
Samis does remember the September alarms by Michelle McNally; after all it was the snit heard round Town Hall.
But it's a long, long way
from September to May,
and the demands became more clear
when the Dromore house disappeared,
and the filing of plans
brought still louder demands
doctored statistics, all kinds of superfluous crap,
what called off the dogs was the zoning map.
And I did squawk and no one paid me any attention BUT, some how, somewhere, some way, the moratorium threat did go away.
What happened to this moratorium that was first requested in September 2006 and Edgemont leaders assured everyone that it was a legal certainty.
Maybe without Mr. Brodsky to carry the baggage, Mr. Bass's Resolution died stillborn.
So if you choose not to view it as Samis 1, Edgemont 0, then let's award the victory to Ayn Rand.
"Soon" we'll see who these mysterious County leaders are who have signed up for the cooking class: mincing words.
Of course, you have to know what words mean. Is "soon" as clear as "working closely with Brodsky" because if so, Ms Rand will still be chuckling from her grave. Perhaps it is just more unprovable bs from sb over nothing.
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