WHO: Residents are invited to attend a Public Town Hall Meeting, hosted by NY State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Present Oral/Written Testimony.
WHAT: A Public Town Hall Meeting hosted by NY State Senator, Andrea Stewart-Cousins ( 35th District) and her Task Force on Alternative Funding and Fiscal Reform for Public Education (AffirmEd) to hear public comment
on AFFIRM Ed’s mission of exploring public education funding alternatives
to alleviate the tax burden on individual and corporate real property owners, while preserving the goal of providing excellence in public education for children throughout Westchester County.
WHEN: Friday, May 16th 5:00-8:00pm
WHERE: Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh, NY
WHY: Funding public education is a priority of Senator Stewart-Cousins
resulting in her creation of the AFFIRM Ed task force. AFFIRM Ed will: explore alternative sources of school district funding to augment or replace funding through local property tax levies; explore measures by which school districts can contain and control costs; inform legislation proposed by the Governor’s Commission of Real Property Tax Fairness to ensure that any cap on property tax does not have the effect of reallocating, rather than alleviating the high tax burden of Westchester County Residents; and propose legislation that will help school districts in Westchester County and throughout NY State attain excellence in education for high needs school districts without sacrificing the quality of education that has already been attained in high performing school districts.
###
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
46 comments:
Ricardo lange, a homeless man who is on the Community Center search committee, is currently in jail, so.....he will not be attending the meeting. OH BY THE WAY, I have heard he uses Councilwoman Sonya Browns address on his arrest paperwork....
FOIL IT...SEE FOR YOUSELF !!!!!
PS: The interim commissioner's nephew, who is a convicted felon, is also on the "Search Team"
FOIL IT....SEE FOR YOURSELF !!!!!
Ricardo lange, a homeless man who is on the Community Center search committee, is currently in jail, so.....he will not be attending the meeting. OH BY THE WAY, I have heard he uses Councilwoman Sonya Browns address on his arrest paperwork....
FOIL IT...SEE FOR YOUSELF !!!!!
PS: The interim commissioner's nephew, who is a convicted felon, is also on the "Search Team"
FOIL IT....SEE FOR YOURSELF !!!!!
Boy this scenerio gets worse and worse.
What is happening to this town of Greenburgh.
The idea of closing the center was good as you can see the element that is running the place.
Why is it that since Sonya won the election the demands of the center are endless.
At every work session there are new things that they want.
Are we running a show place ?
Curtains ,new furniture new stove
what's next.
All this plus a crazy salary for the new commissioner that is coming in.
We can't even get these things for our own homes but you make sure that this happens for the center.
WHy pray tell do you cater to this part of town.
Now it seems when Sonya says jump you jump.
We all thought those days were behind us but I guess the fun is just starting.
if bernstein wins round two (which would require the villages to pay for the young center as its a town facility and not one that only serves unincorporated), things should be interesting.
this would be a shift of millions of dollars from unincorporated to the villages.
the town should post bernstein's amended complaint so everyone knows whats at stake.
I live in Unincorporated Greenburgh, and I feel it would be completely unfair to the villages to have to pay for the Elmsford-Fairview Community Center. (And hopefully Edgemont and Hartsdale can be emancipated some day.)
And why is it unfair for Elmsford (and also Tarrytown) to pay for the TDYCC, which their residents actually use.
I would like to ask You Paul and the rest of your board how can you allocate more money to the library after you all passed the library budget for ninteen million plus dollars.
Could it be possible that you don't give a dam as to what and how you are voting things in.
You are toying with our pockets.
The housing authority received two hundred twenty thousand and they only used thirty four thousand where did the rest go,but they are asking for more.
What happened with this money and into whose pockets did it end up.
Last night with the lengthy speeches made as to how much money is needed for this and that concerning the center ,day care ,swimming coach and all the other extras was a complete travesty.
You say one thing and do another.
I do hope that none of these grants go thru to teach people a lesson that if they think everything is for free think again.the whole U.S.pays for some grants when we pay our income taxes.The same goes for the state who also grants money to which each and every resident of NY contributes.
To say that we in Greenburgh should get the grants is crazy.
This town has squandered quite a bit of tax dollars and now you depend on grants to continue to operate.
There are other area in this country that could use this grant money.
The more you get the more you want.
I'd like to see what else the library needs that you the town board will pass after the fact.
Last nights meeting made us once again see that passing a budget at the proper time means nothing to all of you.
In plain english you are robbing the public .
There are too many oops we forgot about the windows ,carpet,furniture.computers and non the less games.
Instead of going to an arcade our children will be at the library .
Nice ////
Well I had a lot of problems dealing with this town government but now I can see that each and every one of you speak with a forked tongue.
My family voted in the past elections for this town board be assured that we will NOT vote again .
We have been raped robbed and made fools of with this past budget that seems to go foward with more additions.
There should be some laws in of State government that states that you cannot continue to add to the budget after it was passed.
Albany here I come.
DiNapoli and Cuomo get ready for more complaints we have had enough .
Oh another thing how can the housing Authority ask for more when they owe the town four hundred forty three thousand dollars for police protection.
Did you throw this under the rug too.???????
In our homes we are trying real hard to keep our children away from such games that the library will be installing with all your help.
Did you take a survey of parents as to what they thought of this program,
Forget about the ones in the Fairview section I'm talking throughout the town.
Did you ever come to realize that the library will become another babysitting facility.
It will also become a hangout.
I don't care if your daughter Mr.supervisor enjoys these games but tell me what comes next we try to teach our children right from wrong but now you are opening doors to where if my child goes this library I as a father have to follow them to make sure that what they install in the computer is ok.
I do this at home but you are going against the way that I want my children to grow up.
They too will be kept out of this library..
HOW MANY MORE ADDITION WILL THE TOWN BOARD APPROVE TO THE LIBRARY BUDGET?
IS THIS LEGAL?
BEFORE THE LIBRARY OPENS TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH MORE HAS BEEN ADDED .
KOLESAR ANSWER PLEASE.
Mr. risky behavior, do you still believe anything that Bernstein says? if you do, you are part of a small and rapidly disappearing bunch.
The Community Center is for Fairview and North Elmsford, not for the villages. It isn't really even for the rest of unincorporated Greenburgh. Forget the hype.
Not only is the community center for Fairview only but :
the day care center
the health center
the library
the parks
because of this they are planning to beautify Manhattan ave.
dear anon at 11:22
i suggest you read the town code - the young center is a townwide facility - its mission is to serve the entire town not just unincorporated. its open to everyone. its not governed by the finneran law.
if thats the case, and it seems to be, then why is the town only charging unincorporated greenburgh for the cost of running it?
just in case you were playing video games....... here is the section from the town code:
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated: COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER — The physical plant and surrounding grounds (commonly known as the "Fairview-Greenburgh Community Center") located at 32 Manhattan Avenue, including related services and programs.
PARK — All playgrounds, athletic fields, courts and other recreational facilities, including roads and entrances, parking areas and approaches to Yosemite Park.
§ 500-3. Department established; Commissioner; divisions; rules and regulations. A. There is hereby created a Department of Community Resources which shall administer the programs and services conducted at the Community Resource Center (commonly known as the "Fairview-Greenburgh Community Center") and Yosemite Park. The Department shall provide social, health and recreational services and programs to Town residents. The Department shall give priority to programs and activities designed to alleviate the effects of poverty and cultural deprivation and services that promote individual improvement and self-sufficiency
Again I say to Paul and your board where are these poor people.
They are a bunch of fakes.
They know how to fool idiots like you.
To read the town code:
You can call the TDYCC the Taj Mahal and you can call Yosemite Park the Garden of Verailles. They are still a recreational facility and a town park respectively, no matter what the Town Code says, and they are governed by the Finneran Law.
Bernstein never gives up making trouble and faking things.
whos ready to start a movement to have Hartsdale and edgemont break away from the town. Together we could do it. Remember power is in numbers. c'mon Hartsdale come to our school district, together we can accomplish anything!
If Hartsdale and Edgemont form forces to break away from the town who will help out Fairview.
They would have to ask for more grants because we have finally smarten up and saw how much of our taxes were being eaten up by this area.
Everything goes to Fairview. It has become the governing seat of Greenburgh.
Hartsdale, Greenburgh 7 will not let you leave. Give it up.
The town better smarten up & start to provide programs that cater towards the Hartsdale community. There is nothing that the town does for them. They are not poverty stricken or suffering from cultural deprivation,(this population is well taken care of) however, the teens of Hartsdale have no safe haven. No outreach, no enrichment programs.
Why is it that every conversation and every dime coming out of town hall going towards on small group of residents? WHY?
Need you ask why? they yell the loudest and they claim poverty.
Check out where all the grants were petitioned for.
Hartsdale, you are part of Greenburgh 7. You voted for that.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil !!
1:37, What does being part of Greenburgh Central have to due with the lack of programs available to the citizens of Hartsdale?
You must live in Edgemont were there is much confusion between town & school district obligations.
And, um, no. I didn't vote for it. I wasn't even alive but those who were tell a vastly different story then the ever fearful, elistest, Edgemonters tell. Study up pal.
With all the hard work, educational and social success the District was experiencing, the lack of a commercial tax base continued to be a problem. It became more and more difficult to pass school bond issues. Earlier, the State of New York had wanted a 3-way merger of Greenburgh, Hartsdale and Elmsford. Now, the State was pushing harder for a change with the Hartsdale District 7 schools. Hartsdale 7 had an even smaller population than District 8. It was too small to support a high school and the State was exerting pressure for a merger to take place. The State’s idea was that Greenburgh District 8 would get a commercial tax base and Hartsdale 7 would get viable schools.
While many residents of Hartsdale 7 understood the need for a larger school population, they wished to merge with Edgemont or Scarsdale, or perhaps anyone other than District 8. While District 8 had accomplished many things, it was still a mixed community of race and income, and had to deal with the social challenges that came from this. In addition, its reputation outside the District was much worse than the fact. Many people in surrounding majority-white districts feared District 8 schools and thought they were unsafe. The social issues of the Civil Rights era and the Viet Nam War just added to this.
Despite the misgivings on both sides, 3 votes later ( they voted & voted until on one hot summer night, when everone was at the beach, Edgemont got the vote they wanted)the merger of the two districts took place. Because District 8 was larger than District 7, the name of the new school district became Greenburgh Central 7 with the hope that the Hartsdale 7 residents would not feel that they had been entirely obliterated. Former Hartsdale 7 students would now attend Woodlands High School. In order to make room, Woodlands changed from a grade 7-12 high school to grades 9-12.
“When talk of the merger began, my clearest memory is of everyone in Manor Woods being against it to the point that they all talked about taking their kids out of public school if it passed. Talk was of a drop in educational standards, but it was as much about fear of the outside world in general as it was a race thing. I think 7 rejected the merger twice by a large margin while 8 approved. Eventually the court ruled that the vote total from both districts would be combined to determine the verdict. Since 7 was maybe ¼ the size of 8, the merger was thus approved.
I guess I am a little confused. If the issue was how G7 and G8 voted, what did Edgemont have to do with the vote? And my understanding of the history was that Edgemont DID offer to G8 to share a HS, but G8 was unwilling to pay. They were only willing to commit to pay tuition for their high school students, not be taxed for it. Kinda like what the villages want for Greenburgh parks.
I meant Hartsdale was unwilling to pay anything more than tuition.
And I beleive Hartsdale has a larger population than the former G8.
These blog comments are RIDICULOUS! Hartsdale has playgrounds. Hartsdale has Richard Presser Park. Hartsdale has Hartsbrook Nature Preserve. Hartsdale residents have access to pools, camps, great services.
PRAY TELL WHAT IS IT THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR PART OF TOWN?
I read in the newspaper that many schools in Westchester received money from the state BUT Edgemont was not listed.
Any reason Cousins?
Hartdale also has access to HPPD parking. I dont know what they are complaining about. They dont like their schools? Tell them to get off their *sses and run for school board and change them. Note I dont say fix them, as they are not broken. The elementary schools have very high results on state regents test and the high school sends a high portion of students to college.
To 8:58 AM
Are you kidding me? Have you compared the test scores of Greenburgh to the other school districts in Westchester? Just look down at the bottom of the list. and we spend close to $30,000 per student for this?
It is broken.
LOL @ Hartsdale has HPPD parking. Yippee!!! They should be forever grateful.
FYI everyone else in Unincorporated Greenburgh can buy a parking permit, if they like.
The school district is one hot mess. It is broken and there is a continued fight to keep it as such. Many past & present board members have tried to institute changes but are met with resistance by the parents of one small community.
It is indeed a shame that the restructuring of the school district back in the 50's , to encourage unity has only served to divide.
Vote NO! on 5/20 for the Greenburgh Central budget.
Do you not understand -- the budget is actually less than that which the state will allow if the district votes NO? With a declining enrollment, the only way to get control of the budget is to control the board.
Proposed budget 2.83% increase. Contingent Budget- 1.68 % increase.
Allowed cap on contingent budget %3.36% (not yet proposed)
Either way I'm still voting NO! and I'll take the very slim chance that IF it went to a 3.36% max, it still means only .53% increase.
The only thing you can do with a NO vote is to send the present Board a message. But the Board is not going to listen. Kinda like the Town Council. The only thing they will understand is being voted out.
The current school board members are running uncontested! Why? Because everyone else knows that it doesn't matter who is on the board, the pressure from & pandering to, one group of people is enough to bring the most well intended & mightiest to their knees. Same can be said for the town board.
The fierce grasp that this small group has needs to be diffused.
Excuse me, but you need tough people to run for the board. Maybe you should get a group togethor and ask Hal Samis.
"Hartsdale, you are part of Greenburgh 7. You voted for that."
5/18/2008 1:37 PM
So Hartsdale should forever suffer because 20 years ago people that don't even live here anymore voted to stay with GC7. Thats crazy.
If you are on the Board or Superviser your children should have to be enrolled in GC7 district since its such a great school.
Right Paul?
Paul lives in Arsdley School District.
I assume that any children of Morgan, Sheehan and Juettner are too old for school. Dont know where any went.
I assume Sonja does send her children to GC, but someone correct me if I am wrong.
The JN has another article on schools with a data base. GC leads the league in biggest % decrease in school population.
I suppose what happened over 50 years ago shouldn't really matter. That is past history. I find it funny how some Edgemonters respond to that past history. "You've brought the almighty hell and fury upon yourselves!!!! Live with it! You are bound to the damnation of GC for all eternity!"
The sheer paranoia makes me question what is wrong with this picture. haha!
It's what's happening today that matters and, in my opinion, there are some legitimate questions to be asked and answered from both the school & town boards.
The Hartsdale families and the GC School District have abandoned each other. The school district is pretty happy with this arrangement as it means an enormous amount of tax dollars that they receive and they don't answer to these families about how they spend it.
The town has abandoned the Hartsdale kids too.
While some Hartsdale kids do partake in town wide programs up until age 12, there is nothing of interest or remotely appropriate available for the teens in this community. All programs for this age group are designed to assist the teens in the Fairview community or those teens that attend GC. There is tremendous duplication of programs and services for GC/Fairview students & their families. Edgemont formed their own Rec to address their kids/teens needs.
There are 3 significant private schools in Hartsdale with the majority of Greenburgh Central students attending. So, not only do these families pay town tax, school tax, but neither the town or school cares about these kids and families.
If an Unincorporated GC child attends either a public or private school outside of GC, for example Scarsdale, that child is welcome to partake in any and all Village services available to kids Village wide; for example use of the Scarsdale Teen Center, Scarsdale Rec......
There is no engaging with the 3 private Hartsdale schools by the town. There are no programs, no fliers going home with these kids making families aware of special programs or services available to them. Grant monies are freely handed out to fund programs that are not of interest or not applicable to these hundreds of kids who live right here!
Now, I will admit that, yes, the squeaky wheel gets oiled and that there has been very little, if any, squeaks heard from the vast majority of under-served families. I would love to see a change made.
I have two teens and although I don’t feel that the town should be spending more money on programs, I can’t help but wonder what’s going on with all of the current money spent, grants secured, and why I’m hard pressed to find suitable, enriching, programs available to my kids.
Since I've been made aware of certain town money going to serve unique populations of Unincorporated Greenburgh, I have questioned why and how this very large population of kids in Hartsdale, have been left out.
A good question was asked on this blog: “Is grant money being obtained by using particular demographics and not total Unincorporated Greenburgh? Is this why these funded programs are either unknown to the majority of Greenburgh kids or not created to address concerns of the majority of these kids?”
I have wondered about this. If this is in fact true, I would love to know. It would explain a lot. I have questioned the grant money obtained by Edgemont for participation with the Scarsdale Teen Center. How was this grant money obtained? School district demographics? Edgemont Rec demographics? Does Hartsdale need to investigate the merits of forming its on Rec?
There are rough roads ahead. Money is more than tight. People are questioning every penny and rightfully so.
Carry on! :)
Dear M. Leavy,
No one is responding that Hartsdale brought damnation on them. The point is that when Edgemont had to build a high school (as Scarsdale said it could no longer take outside students), Edgemont alone was willing to tax its residents. Not Hartsdale. Edgemont alone was willing to float a bond. Now the bond is paid off and you want in. How convenient.
It is the responsibility of the parents to go to GC and demand that their children, even if they attend private schools, obtain all benefits of being in the district.
Mor to P. Leavy,
Has it occurred to you that many HARTSDALE voters are happy with the present arragnement? Even though the cost per student is high, the number of students is low, resulting in a lower tax rate. The older people, the people with children in religous schools (for religous reasons) may not want a change. If you want a change, run for the board.
Dear Anonymous @2:08 & 2:10,
Edgemont alone was willing to float a bond. Now the bond is paid off and you want in. How convenient.
I'll have to agree with P.Leavy on the crazy responses. They are funny. Has Edgemont benefited from bonds to pave our roads, beautify our parks? Have these bonds been paid for? Now we want out? How convenient! How silly is all of this?
Where did he say anything about wanting in? I’m guessing reading comprehension and spelling (RELIGIOUS, ARRANGMENT) aren’t your strong suits. I'm hoping that you are not a graduate of the EUF-SD.
Post a Comment