REQUESTING TOWN BD TO HAVE A FUND BALANCE POLICY

About a year ago I presented the Town Board with a proposed fund balance policy.The draft was never approved or rejected. How much surplus should the town keep? The bond rating agencies have suggested that the town approve a fund balance. The lack of a fund balance could impact future bond ratings -especially since the Town Board has been cutting into fund balance in the past to keep taxes lower.
I hope that the policy could be adopted before I release the proposed 2008 budget. Copies of the draft policy will be sent to anyone who requests one. Please e mail me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com

APPELLATE DIVISION REVERSES DECISION- VILLAGES MAY NOW INTERVENE

On 9/25 the Appellate Division, 2nd Judicial Dept reversed a lower court decision (Bernstein Vs. Feiner) and said that villages could intervene in the lawsuit. Mr. Bernstein had opposed the intervention. The decision the court makes will impact whether approximately $10 million in expenses re: parks/recreation is shifted to the villages.

OVERTIME EXPLANATIONS

I have requested all department heads to provide members of the Town Board & myself with an explanation of all overtime used during every payroll period.
Additional cost cutting suggestions are welcome...

SCHOOL TAXES DUE MONDAY, NOT SUNDAY

Normally school taxes are due on September 30th. Since the 30th is a Sunday there is a one day grace period. Taxes are due on Monday. The tax office is open till 7 PM. You can also pay on line: www.greenburghny.com (anytime on Monday).

FREEZE ON ALL BUT EMERGENCY PURCHASES

I will be issuing a directive that there be a freeze on all but emergency purchases until January 1, 2008. This directive could help save money. Many government entities around the nation experience last minute purchases every year from depts that want to justify their purchasing appropriations. Dept's that have not put in their purchasing requests by now probably could wait.
We need to look for additional cost savings measures, that can help us avoid unnecessary tax hikes in 2008.

WANTED: TOWN BD COOPERATION ON BUDGET PREP

Last night, a majority of the Greenburgh Town Board decided to make a request of the Town Supervisor for some professional assistance into a political issue. The Town of Greenburgh will lose the services of the present Town Comptroller, Mr. James Heslop, effective Friday, October 12, 2007.


As Town Supervisor, I have a statutory responsibility to the taxpayers of the Town to prepare and submit to the taxpayers a preliminary budget for 2008 by October 31, 2007. Our Town Comptroller, who has played an important role in this process , will not be available to me for much of the time the budget is being prepared. I requested the services of a particular individual (at a cost of up to $5,000-five thousand dollars), and instead the Town Board asked that we issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for such assistance. That proposal, which is a time-consuming process and will not yield the professional expertise that I need for the short-term, makes little sense. I need the services immediately – I am required to submit a budget to the Town Board in one month. I requested the retention of this individual for a variety of reasons:


- His educational and professional background includes a BA in Accounting from Queens College of the City University of New York, an MBA in Finance from the Columbia university Graduate School of Business, he's been a practicing CPA in the State of New York and he has held various senior financial and accounting positions with entities that are much bigger than the Town of Greenburgh.


- On the public service side, he is a former elected Trustee of one of the Villages within the Town and in that capacity he has a very public record of having saved the taxpayers of that community approximately $300,000 annually out of a much smaller budget of about $7,000,000 vs. the $70,000,000 plus budget of the Town of Greenburgh. He has been through a governmental budget setting process twice in this capacity.


- Positive comments about this individual were received by myself from individuals from both unincorporated Greenburgh and our Villages and many of those are not or have not been my supporters. In fact, this individual supported my opponent in the 2005 Democratic primary. He has spoken at Town Board meetings and has been critical of many of our budget practices in the past. I’m not looking for a yes man. I want someone to help me find ways to cut spending and reduce the impact of any tax hike. I am looking to retain the services of someone who is familiar with the town budget since the entire contract will be only for a few weeks.


The request was for a limited amount of funding of $5,000 at $75 per hour or about 65 hours of his time, hardly an excessive rate when one looks at a variety of professional service providers. His findings, any work product and report would belong to the entire public, not just the Town Supervisor or the Town Board. The other members of the Town Board approved an engagement of a law firm , not an accounting firm, back in January to review the accounting related to WESTHELP with no RFP and rates at up to $475 per hour.In my view, the taxpayers of Greenburgh would be beneficially served by the Town Board reversing its position and approving this engagement immediately. I should also point out that following the departure of Mr. Heslop, the Town will not be expending the balance of the Comptroller’s salary.

K FUNGS HAS BEEN RE-LEASED ON E HARTSDALE AVE

I have received an e mail from Toby Ritter, landlord of some of the stores on E Hartsdale Ave. K Fung's has been re-leased. Mr. Ritter has a signed agreement. He advises that he is currently working with the new tenants' engineer to submit proper alteration documents to the town so that they may make the necessary repairs and reopen as promptly as possible. This is good news.

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 24--GREENBURGH DEMOCRACY- PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS

Please post your comments about town issues.

TOWN BOARD MEETING- WEDNESDAY NIGHT 7:15 PM
SCHOOL TAXES DUE SEPTEMBER 30TH
TOWN DEPARTMENT HEADS TO SUBMIT DEPARTMENT BUDGET REQUESTS TO SUPERVISOR FOR REVIEW

EARLIER EXPRESS TRAIN NEEDED FROM SCARSDALE TO NYC

I spent some time at the Cotswold neighborhood association picnic this afternoon. Among the suggestions made: Metro North should offer commuters who take the train from Scarsdale with earlier express train service. The first express train leaves for NYC around 6:30 AM. Many commuters who reside in Edgemont leave Edgemont earlier in the AM.It would be nice if there were earlier express trains from Scarsdale.
An earlier express train would also be a nice quality of life enhancement. I like the idea and will encourage Metro North to implement the suggestion.

2008 BUDGET REQUESTS DUE THIS WEEK FROM DEPT HEADS-2008 IS YEAR BUDGET IMPACTED BY LIBRARY EXPANSION

Every department head will be submitting their 2008 budget requests to me this week. I must submit a proposed budget to the Town Board by the end of October. The 2008 budget is significant because we have to start paying for the $20 million library construction that the voters approved.
If you are interested in joining a small working group that will work with me on the 2008 proposed budget - please e mail me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com.

GENERATOR BEING INSTALLED AT TOWN HALL

Most communities in Westchester do not have emergency generators in their buildings. On Friday (tomorrow) Greenburgh will be among the handful of communities to have a generator at our town hall. The need for a generator became obvious last year when there were power outages all over the county. I recall reading about Eastchester- there was a power outage at their police HQ. And, they couldn't do anything about it.
THe town will now be able to function if their are blackouts/power outages.
Town Hall will close at 4 PM - power will be temporarily out.
In the event of a major power outage, the town hall could be used for temporary shelter to house the elderly/disabled.

CLARIFICATION: VILLAGES & TAXES

There is a blog comment about my views re: the villages. The blogger said that I said "residents should only pay for services they use."
The following is an accurate reflection of what I believe:
The villages should not be asked to pay for services provided just for the town if the law says they should not, like Finneran. Our current laws need to be looked at. I want fairness.
For example: village residents pay for sidewalks in their own villages. Residents of unincorporated Greenburgh pay for sidewalks in unincorporated Greenburgh. That's fair. It's not fair for village residents to have to pay for sidewalks in Edgemont when Edgemont residents don't pay for sidewalks in the villages.

THANK YOU!

Unofficial vote DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY 91%

Suzanne Berger 1951
Paul Feiner 3916

TOWN BOARD
Kevin Morgan 2725
Eddie Mae Barnes 2705
Sonja Brown 2826
Steve Bass 2192

Town Clerk
Judith Beville 2838
Alfreda Williams 2129

JUDGE
Doris Friedman 3603
Walter Schwart 2573
Sandra Forster 2741

Absentee ballots and 7 districts have not been counted.

GREENBURGH DEMOCRACY-WEEK OF 9/17 POST YOUR COMMENTS

Please post your comments about town issues.

FITNESS CENTER OPENS ON E HARTSDALE AVE

The fitness center is the latest business to re-open on E Hartsdale Ave. The fitness center closed down after the spring flood. They are an important business for the avenue--generating lots of street traffic.

TOWN BD CANCELS ROSH HASHANAH MEETING-ONE COUNCILMAN IS TRYING TO BLAME STAFF --THIS IS UNFAIR!

A front page article in todays Journal News (www.lohud.com) and outraged comments from residents of the town about plans to schedule a special Town Board meeting for the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah might have led to the Board's decision on Friday to cancel the meeting. I had expressed concern about holding a Town Board meeting on one of the most important Jewish holidays of the year and had tried to persuade Town Board members not to hold the meeting. Board members should show respect for the religious beliefs of others.
There was never any need to hold the meeting on Rosh Hashanah. Some of the Board members are now looking to blame town staff for the proposed meeting. This is unfair and wrong. The request for a special Town Board meeting on Rosh Hashanah came from Town Bd members.

WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 10--GREENBURGH DEMOCRACY Please post your comments

Please post your comments. Remember the victims of the 9/11 tragedy.
The town will be holding a ceremony at AF Veteran Park - multipurpose building at 7 PM on 9/11.

SUNDAYS NY TIMES REPORTS ON GREENBURGH'S LEADERSHIP ON ENERGY CONSERVATION

Please read Sunday's NY Times (September 9-Westchester section): "Five Yers Later, Greenburgh's Code is Reaping Rewards". The article reports that "other communities in the state have followed Greenburgh's lead on energy conservation. We were the first community to adopt a strong energy conservation code for residential development. Babylon, Brookhaven, Oyster Bay and Huntington have followed our lead.
Next: Energy conservation mandates or incentives in new commercial development. I have favored a strong energy conservation code for commercial development and hope that the Town Board will take action. Let's continue to lead!

DOG SWIM ON SUNDAY 10 to 2

Our annual dog swim is taking place this Sunday from 10 AM to 2 PM at AF Veteran Park. This is a fun event. Hundreds of dog owners and dogs enjoy their swim.
Our dog park is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008 at Rumbrook park off of Dobbs Ferry Road.

NON COMPLIANCE WITH NEW ETHICS LAW DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT

This summer the Greenburgh Town Board approved a new Ethics Law. The law requires disclosure of campaign contributions by candidates and elected officials from those who are applicants, consultants, affiliates--people who want something from the town. The Town Board required the disclosure statements to be filed by September 1.
I filed a list of all contributors with the Town Attorney before September 1. No other elected official, according to the Town Attorney, filed any paper work as of this morning.
One of the reasons why the other members of the Board may not have complied with the law is because the law that they wrote is overbroad, vague and ambiguous. There is no registry of applicants, lawyers, consultants or affiliates. It's impossible for any elected official or candidate to know what an affiliate is or who an applicant is, without a registry. Is the contribution of an affiliate of a consultant made 11 months before the consultant is retained by an applicant to be considered an improper contribution?
I have suggested to the Town Board amended curative language. The amendments to the code can only work if they do not require a crystal ball to understand - especially with regards to contributions received up to 12 months before there was any indication that someone would later seek something from the town.
The Town Board has set up a new law to fail because it's impossible to comply with. The members of the Board did not even bother to file their statements by September 1, as the law suggests. If they are certain that they did not accept contributions that fall within the disclosure requirements, I believe they should have to file a form stating that they received no contributions.
I am asking the Town's Ethics Board to review this matter.

BARNES & NOBLE STORE TO BE USED AS A HALLOWEEN STORE FOR TWO MONTHS

I spoke to the realtor who is leasing the old Barnes & Noble store yesterday. I asked him about the orange colors. He said the building is being converted (only temporarily) into a halloween store. The space is being rented out for two months.

GREENBURGH DEMOCRACY-WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2 --post your comments

This blog is about a year old. During the past year the blog has seen more than 97,000 visits!
Post your comments about town issues. My guess is that we will reach the 100,000 mark this week.

NORTH ELMSFORD FLOOD COMMITTEE

I met yesterday with representatives of N Elmsford business community. They are requesting the opportunity to meet with the Town Board during work session on September 11 at 3:45 PM to discuss hiring an engineer to help come up with short term and long term solutions for the flood problem in N Elmsford.
This is a follow up to the action the Town Board took last Wednesday when we hired an engineer to come up with recommendations to solve the E Hartsdale Ave flood problem.
The Saw Mill River floods frequently--causing lots of financial hardship to businesses located in N Elmsford. The Army Corp of Engineers has been studying the problem for decades --but nothing has been done (we did get a grant a few years ago to put some private homes on stilts in Babbitt Court).
The business community would like to be part of the engineering interview process and asked that they be invited to recommend possible names of local engineering firms to submit RFPs.
The Town must take action to help them address this problem. There are short term action steps the town, county and other jurisdictions could take that might make things better. That's the purpose of the study.

ASPHALT MILLINGS ON SPRAIN NEAR DOBBS FERRY RD

A number of constituents have expressed concern about the asphalt millings stored adjacent to the SB Spraing Brook Parkway at Route 100 B, Dobbs Ferry Road. The NYS DOT has sent me a letter stating "that this material is being stored there for the dept's future use.The material is used in the maintenance of our roads, and it is important that we we keep a supply of this material available. We monitor the area to make sure it is not used by the public as a dumping site and except for the asphalt millings stored there the area is quite clean."
Can't the state find another location?