I spent part of this evening at our new Greenburgh library with my daughter. People seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere at the library. Should the town modify hours at the library and have Saturday evening hours instead of some morning hours? Saturday nights at the library could be very popular --especially in these difficult economic times.
84 comments:
Pulling $50,000 from the library's budget today seemed like a particularly spiteful thing to do. All because you wanted to encourage the new library board to do your bidding. Sheehan was right. The new library board will simply cut back services even more, so it can tell the public just how petty and venal Feiner is when it comes to the library.
They must have better hours especially later at night weekends and holidays....seems like they are always closed when we want to go.
The $50,000 was placed in a contingency fund. The Town Board may restore the funds if the Library Board agrees to specific conditions. The new Library Board will work closely with the Town Board and is receptive to creative ideas.
The new library has been opened all of two days and anon at 10:13 (probably Feiner) says it "seems like they are always closed when we want to go." Why not let Feiner's newly appointed library board decide for itself, based on number of patrons, available staff, and money in the budget, what its hours should or should not be. Isn't the library board charged with that responsibility? Why should the town supervisor be micromanaging the library at all? Hasn't he screwed up enough of the town's departments that serve unincorporated Greenburgh? He's told the police chief he doesn't need to hire any new cops next year, even though the force is already down 12 cops this year. He's told sanitation it can do with four or five fewer men even though the population it serves is getting bigger and bigger. He tells parks and rec and the community center that it's okay to have a dual set of day camps, mostly racially segregated, but all he'd like is that they each charge the same price. He cuts snow and leaf removal and then tries to rationalize it on the ground that he expects it to snow less and that there'd be fewer leaves. He insists on unincorporated paying $167,000 for an after school program at the community center, when the YMCA offers after school programs at each area school at no cost to taxpayers, and with financial aid to all who need it.
And now this genius is telling the library what its hours ought to be. Wonderful.
saturday hours--good idea, no great idea.
Setting aside $50k from the operating budget is a good way for the Town to guard itself against criticsm should the Library attempt a repeat performance of the fraud of 2008 when it eliminated the cybermobile and Sunday hours, claiming it didn't have enough money. But, as it turns out,
it did -- almost $200,000 extra at year end so they could use
$100k of this excess operating budget for capital expenses of the Library expansion -- even though they were already included in the "on budget" project budget. The Town Board thinks it can't change how the Library spends; what they can do is hold money back SHOULD the Library try cutting back on patron service. Does anyone know yet whether or not the Library is giving the Director, the Assistant Director and the Assistant to the Director big salary increases? Of course not, this will be decided after the town budget is passed. Mr. Sheehan is merely announcing what everyone already knows will happen following my email alerts to the Town Board. The Library will cut hours and blame it on the Town Board while it uses the money instead to fill in what is missing from the expansion promises. Soon I'll be listing what's not there after I get a look at the "punch list" of work to be done.
Those attending Sunday may have toured the children's area and noticed that the glass panels dividing this from the adult area were...missing. But the project with oodles of work still to be done, work for which presumably the funding is still intact, need not conflict with the Trustees story that the Library is not behind schedule and that the Grand Opening really means the opposite of the ground breaking.
But hanging out at the Library is contrary to what the Library actually intends for the public. Before the referendum, the public was told the larger building would enable them to have more books and services than they were able before to provide. Sound nice and logical?
Then what you have instead to fill out wasted space on the ground floor are the most popular bestsellers and the dvds -- the circulation builders so that the Library can say use of the Library is up. Not up, though, in the sense of the second floor materials, just what is now "conveniently" located at the main entrance. If you are looking for that copy of Moby Dick, go upstairs and search.
But consider the strategy and remember what they said. They want to get people in the front door so that they will go on to seek out other materials. One way they could aid in this is to keep Moby Dick alongside the newest Patricia Cornwall. Instead, they've made it easy to dash in and dash out. Now you are even encouraged to return books in the vestibule, you don't even have to go inside. Just something that mean spirited Samis has cynically pointed out? Others have been there already, done that. What is widely known about supermarket layouts is that the milk is in the back. On the way to and from the "staples", you might stop and buy other items. However, in the new, expanded Greenburgh Library which wants to encourage readers to check out Moby Dick, you can pick up the trash without ever having to go upstairs where the serious literature is shelved.
Which is a lucky because another thing which might discourage hanging out in the Library is that it isn't putting out enough heat. Sure Sunday when it was 60 degrees outside it was comfortable inside, but check out the temperature today or when winter officially starts next week. Ossining opened its geothermal Libary four months late because of such problems and it took another five months more to fix the problem.
And if you do check something out at the circulation desk, treat this $125,000 (yes, $125,000) grant paid piece of furniture carefully. You might even want one for your home. Just ask the Librarian where she shops.
Excuse me, can you withhold $50 grand from the court budget; I got a ticket and I'd like the court to hold evening hours so I don't have to lose a day at work. Also, while you're at it, can you withhold another $50,000 from the town clerk's budget. Because I and most everyone else works during the day, I'd like the town clerk's office to be open every evening in case I and other like me might need to take care of business I might have with the town. Good ideas, no? Great ideas?
We're getting a new Library Board in January. The new Library Board, unlike the old Library Board, will work closely with the Town Board and won't play games with the public.
Saturday night library hours - probably wouldn't be very popular, but perhaps worth trying during the wintertime if you have extra money around to pay for additional staffing, overhead, etc.
Suffolk county has changed all municipal employees so they work 10 hor days 4 days a week instead of 9-5 5 days a week. The public can go th offices later now, and it saves gas by less commuting.
Sounds to me like 4 days work for 5 days pay.
Actually, I bet we could cut employees other than police down to 4 days per week, cut pay 20% and be fine.
Hmmm, which would I prefer, library hours EITHER Saturday morning or Saturday evening - by decree of the Town Board.
Frankly Mr. Supervisor I would prefer you and the Town Board stay as far away from library operations as conceivably possible.
Libraries are constituted so as to remove them from political influence of ANY sort - and when the Library Board appointees were appointed on merit, it worked just fine. Remember, the three trustees you have focused on as the source of all the problems were APPOINTED BY PAUL J. FEINER and confirmed by a Town Board loyally pledged to Feiner. The problems in Town governance all seem to come when an honest person take issue with the Supervisor's directed methods and outcomes. Town Comptrollers, Town Attornies, committee chairs, contract negotiators and even the contracts themselves - all become targets when they disagree with YOU. Why should the library be any different? The power to control the library's hours, just like the power to control its purchases of materials, is outside your control for a reason - your need to make every decision, no matter how small, on a political basis makes you unfit to decide on matters regarding the availability of information. Open government, as practiced by Paul Feiner, is an exercise in self-aggrandizement at the expense of the truth and the public.
Please retire now, before the Town is a completely irretrievable shambles.
Correction Charley,
"the power to control the library's hours just like the power to control its purchases of materials..."
Ours is not an independent Library District which get its money directly by the affiramtion of the district residents who elect the Trustees as well. The bastardized version (not meant as a slur) that we have here in Greenburgh is a Library that is wholly dependent upon the Town for funding while its non-elected Trustees have complete control over how this money that comes from the Town is spent. They are responsible to no one. And, how they have performed in the past is debateable.
Since I originally suggested a memorandum of understanding regarding obtaining a commitment by the Library to remain open at least the stated hours that THEY chose, I am not opposing the $50,000 hold back as a viable alternative to achieve the same result.
As for Saturday hours, the way I read this topic is that it is merely a suggestion seeking response, not a command which would require the majority vote of the Town Board (just three, four or five votes).
And I would assume that the Library of Tomorrow already intends to sponsor programs in its meeting room/"auditorium" on Saturday nights; some of these events would necessitate the ground floor being open while leaving only the closed upper level and manning the circulation desk as an additional expense.
And, this above all, nothing prevents the Library of Tomorrow from soliciting additional operating funds from the donors of today.
I think before Feiner takes more control over the Library, he should show he can run TDYCC. No-show jobs. No bid contracts. $10,000 spent to take kids to Rye Playland. The library looks pretty well run compared to TDYCC.
I haven't been to the library, so i have no idea if it has individual desks, chairs to serve as study spaces. If it does have suitable space for studying and it opens on Saturday night, it will soon be filled by area high school and college students who currently hang out at Barnes & Noble and Panera Bread. This sounds ok to me, but is this what Feiner has in mind?
feiner has a mind?
Feiner and Elton John
"Cause Saturday nights the night I like,
Saturday night's alright alright"
sing the Pat Benetar songbook
"Hit me with your best shot..."
when opening for the Animals
"I'm just a fool whose intentions are good, please lord don't let me be misunderstood"
after bumming a ride from Greenburgh to Washington DC on the warped soul inaugural tour bus driven by Anthony Newley
"Gonna build a mountain from a little hill, gonna build a daydream from a little hope, don't ask me how I'm gonna do it, all I know is I'm gonna try"
Dear Mr Samis -
I think we are more or less in agreement, though perhaps I dind't make my point clearly enough earlier.
The uniquely bastardized status of our library gives the Town the power to allocate a certain number of dollars to the library annually - but their power to direct how that money may be spent ends once they adopt the budget.
This is the NY State legislature's attempt to keep the pursestrings under the control of those paying the bill and yet maintain the illusion that there is no untoward influence which might impinge on the library's freedoms.
It doesn't work - especially once the process devolves into politically motivated actions (on both sides).
An independent library district which requires annual voter approval of its budget would be cleaner and give voters more leverage to obtain the services they choose. Unfortunately, a library budget vote would have about as many voters as turned out for the bond issue - and I think we all agree that was scarcely a representative number...
These are bad times financially. Opening the library on Saturday evenings would provide families and young people with an opportunity to enjoy themselves at little cost. A cheap date! And educational. Good idea.
Dear CSEA Charley,
So what is it YOU want. Voting on Library District matters could be done in conjunction with School Board voting so the turnout would likely be greater. What the Library Trustees REALLY do not want is to become an independent district because they know when their budget is viewed separate of the Town, they are not going to get away with their profligate spending ways. In their current mode, hiding under the protection of NYS education law, the Library has the best of both worlds and they are not likely to give this special status up.
However, the issue in Greenburgh is not one of political control as it relates to book banning or burning, classic reasons to keep the government far away. It has to do with a Library Board of Trustees that has taken the entire affair with Feiner, personally. His position was business, political business (how to score points with voters) and the Trustees reading of events was based upon a passion for the FUNCTION of a Library as it relates to education and expanding reading opportunities. What the Trustees could not get past was that they didn't understand construction; they didn't know how to work with an Architect and a Construction Manager and they reacted out of fear that somehow the project would be forced to take a step back were it to be understood by more people. From the standpoint of the Architect and the Construction Manager, Greenburgh was the best of all possible worlds: no owner's rep, no oversight and a bunch of naifs okaying the expenses. The approved $20 million for the project would have lasted longer and bought more Library had the Trustees not insisted on re-fighting the battle they had already won, the Referendum. Instead they continued the war by spending their money the way the Construction Manager and the Architect wanted it spent -- not how it should have been spent. When the battle lines over stepped the trenches and extended to the annual operating budget, the Trustees were completely outflanked because they were spending money like "it had gone out of style" -- something they had learned from the former Library Director, Demita Gerber. There is a world of difference between "inheriting" money (getting it from daddy, the Town Board) and going out to earn it. Despite the Trustees announced desire to expand the Library since 1996, the evidence that they raised nary a nickel toward that goal is damning proof of their laziness in this important area. The Trustees got used to getting whatever they asked for from the Town Board just because they were the LIBRARY. Thus when it came time to start the expansion effort in earnest, the Trustees wanted the Town to give them the money, no questions asked, and they wanted the Town to give them even more operating money because they were now...a larger Library. Fast forward to while they were seeking more operating money and new problems surfacing daily regarding the expansion that the Town Board didn't want to acknowledge (trotting out Al Regula periodically and moving his mouth strings so that "we're on budget and not delayed was all that came out) it was getting harder and harder to hide the reality -- a local grown version of ponzi planning requiring more money to hide that the orignial money was gone). So in the past year, the Trustees faced the dissonance of a growing awareness that something was going wrong about the expansion project and at the same time residents felt betrayed by the clumsy attempt of the Trustees to reduce Library services when holding a gun to the heads of the Town Board. The Trustees lost not only the battle but the war and the offending Trustees (Jacobs, Wolfert, Palevsky) were sent to pature as the result.
Part of the problems facing the Library in 2009 are born of the faulty design, not only the aesthetics but also in the function. It really is a poorly designed public building. Most of this I have already discussed and a serious write-up of the problems will be available at the real date of conclusion of the construction, some four or five months from now pending the harvesting of additional funding. Not Sunday's show so that the departing Trustees could thank one another.
Since the Town Board cannot pick and choose among Library line items, the only way the Town can safeguard patron's resources is to hold back some of the funding as pressure to disuade the Trustees from screwing taxpayers by forcing a replay of their earlier actions in this year's budget. The Town Board (not just Feiner) is saying to the Library; if you want our money, here are the rules. If you're going to close more hours than in the past, this is not going to save you money but cost you money. And don't compare the 2009 budget with preceding years' budgets which themselves had hundreds of thousands of dollars unspent at the end of the calendar year. If you are truly CSEA and fighting for a CPI increase, then just take a look at a ten year schedule of pay increases for the Library Director, the Assistant Library Director and now the Assistant to the Library Director. You're fighting this year for 3% increases when the top management at the Library has been getting 6 to 9% increases because the Town Board was not interfering. Why? Because it is...the Library.
If on this issue you find it convenient to point the finger at just Feiner and not the Town Board remember this: Feiner talks about open government while moving toward an opaque structure. The Library Trustees don't even bother to create this fiction; they won't let the Public know anything at their meetings. Partly out of paranoia but mostly from stubborness. They have been humiliated by events of their own making and this will only get worse as the public has to live with the building. Right now is the honeymoon period when residents, being without for two years, are so grateful just to have an operating Library that they are not looking the costly gift horse in the mouth. In a few months, the water will be safe to drink after the sediment has settled. I'll be back with the details and the costs.
The sloped glass walled reading room is by no means the measure to judge transparency at the Library.
Soon they will have no choice but to come clean on what isn't there and like cleaning the reading room windows, it will be a very expensive education.
PROBLEM SOLVED SELL THE LIBRARY.
WE HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY GOING ELSEWHERE AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO..
Dear Mr Samis -
Truthfully, I had thought the voting date for an independent library was set by the state legislature, just as the voting for independent fire districts is set for the first Tuesday in December. It never crossed my mind that a different, more relevant date could be chosen. I stand corrected.
As for a raise, a CPI or equivalent real cost of living shouldn't be that big a deal. I agree, the library staff's raises have been completely out of line - yet another reason for being allowed to vote on their budget.
I respectfully disagree about the need to keep government away from libraries. Mr Feiner (and I use him both as a singular figure and as a proxy for the entire elected Town government as I find it impossible to distinguish a real difference among them) has a well-deserved reputation for vindictiveness - I just don't want him to decide that what I've been reading offends him. He has no need, and certainly no right, to look over my shoulder and judge my choice of literature.
Dear CSEA Charley: Can you specify the supervisors "well deserved reputation for vindictiveness." I'd like to know specifics.
Want specifics on Feiner's well deserved reputation for vindictiveness? Ask the resident on Round Hill Road in Edgemont after she complained that about the Town allowing a developer to cut trees while his permit was on appeal, and then learned that Feiner had taken $1,000 in a campaign contribution from the developer? The building department went after the resident with trumped up charges. Ask the resident of Fulton Park who's been leading the effort to oppose the zoning change for Westhab and criticizing Feiner for refusing to listen to residents who don't want the zoning changed. The building department went after her, also with trumped up charges, some going back to 1999! Ask Bernstein who's been dealing with Feiner's vindictiveness since he first starting raising issues about Taxter Ridge in 2003? Ask Samis about Feiner's threats to write to his employer about Samis's criticizing Feiner at town board meetings. Ask others in town who have their own history with Feiner using town resources to bully and intimidate those who disagree with him.
Bob: Do you want the Town Board to tell the Building Department not to enforce the code if the violator has attended a meeting of the Town Board? Isn't that selective UNenforcement?
Dear 9:02 -
The "charges" (and they are a Feiner Favorite method for dealing with critics) were brought as a way of punishing critics, not selectively enforcing the law.
You might ask Benstein whether he felt harrassed by Feiner's series of letters to Bernstein's partners...
Not vindictive?
Bob: Do you feel you should be exempt from the law?
Dear CSEA Charley,
I did think better of you.
There are hundreds of complaints that can be made against Feiner and/or the Town Board in our naked city. That he wants to control which books you read or know what books you read is not one of them -- nor have you any basis to suggest this.
Any of the issues regarding the Library have been financial based but even when reacting to the most severe monetary issues, there has always been ample money to buy media. And, to the best of my knowledge, no one in government has ever pressured the Trustees to buy or not buy a particular controversial title...outside of the Library's Board of Trustees themselves.
Paul,
I know Bob, and I don't think he thinks he is above the law. I see how you act, and I KNOW you think you are above the law. You don't even give an excuse for no-bid contracts. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Hal:
I'm not grateful for a re-opened library. I've been going to the White Plains Library (my kids love the Trove) several times a month for the last few years and will continue to do so. WP is just as convenient to my house, anyway.
At least we did get a chance to vote on the Library. Unlike Taxter Ridge, etc.
It is awfully coincidental that the building department went after the resident on Round Hill Road in Edgemont at the very time she was publicly complaining about Feiner taking a campaign contribution from the developer who was allowed to cut down trees while her and her neighbors were appealing the tree permit.
And it is awfully coincidental that the resident who's been leading the fight against Westhab's demand for a zoning change, a change which Feiner favors, should suddenly find herself faced with violations from the building department on the eve of the last hearing on the issue.
Coincidence? You be the judge. These residents were obviously singled out from the 45,000 residents of unincorporated Greenburgh because they were vocal in opposing Feiner and critical of his behavior.
This isn't about exempting people from enforcement of the building code. This is about bullying and intimidating those who come out to protest actions that Feiner is taking.
In one very recent case, when a building inspector was told that his summons wrongfully accused one such resident who had been critical of Feiener for violating the zoning code, and the resident had the photographs to prove it, the inspector responded, in the presence of the town prosecutor and others, "Well then I'll just issue you another one for something else then."
The same building inspector also told the town prosecutor he had found a letter in the files accusing the resident years ago of all kinds of wrongdoing, but after being told to produce the letter, it turned out the letter said no such thing, and the resident had the documents in her possession to prove she had done, years ago, all that was asked.
This is Feiner's legacy in Greenburgh. This how the man behaves when confronted with criticism. This type of behavior in town starts at the top.
didnt francis sheehanigans, his rectitudeness, also defend the hounding of maria gomez?
juettner, morgan and brown sat quietly while this farce ensued.
lets hope gomez sues the town and feiner for this blatant selective enforcement of the laws.
this is not funny and all citizens should be shocked at what feiner and his gang have done here.
free greenburgh from tyranny!
Reading these comments about Feiner's bullying tactics reminds me of an incident that took place years ago when Feiner was the village gadfly in Scarsdale, where I live.
Feiner was attending a meeting of the village board of trustees and telling the board that it should save taxpayer money by eliminating the parks maintenance staff and instead use pesticide to prune the areas around kids' playgrounds. I was in the audience and heard his remarks.
I wrote a letter at the time to the Scarsdale Inquirer, stating that, as a mother of small children, I was outraged that anyone in his right mind would seriously make such a suggestion because of the well-known dangers of using pesticides where children play.
The next thing I know I received a letter from the pesticide's manufacturer directing me to cease and desist from making libelous statements about his company's product.
I called the company, was put in touch with the company's lawyer, and was told that someone named Paul Feiner from Scarsdale had called the company to complain that I was making statements about the dangers of their product. I told the lawyer that Feiner was suggesting using the pesticide where children are playing. The lawyer responded then said, "Oh no, we don't want our product used where children play. This Feiner guy never told us that." They then apologized for having written the letter.
Now this incident happened around 25 years ago. My children are now grown. But I still live in Scarsdale and remember to this day how poorly Feiner reacts whenever he's publicly embarrassed. This is not a man who should be in public office.
11:58,
this should be reported to the County DA
Yep. I've seen it myself. I can not and will not go into details here but I have seen the wrath of Feiner directed at a a few people.
I will say that once such recent case comes to mind. You may recall that Paul inappropriately posted complaints against Stephanie Bellino regarding a shingle she hung at her home.
A shingle approved by the town, then she was fined for, told to take it down, pay for a replacement.....
Yep, he posted it all here to embarrass her, got the building department to unjustly fine her and incited her neighbors to participate.
Stephanie Bellino ran against him a few years back. I believe that she is suing the town for this as well she should.
This is why people choose to remain anonymous here.
PS. I will add that I'm not 100% sure we are anonymous here as I have had my last post asking about this, POOF, completely disappear from the blog.
This was a few weeks ago. POOF!
Of course we are not anonymous here.
Ya know, I do know that but I was very surprised that posts suggesting such are being deleted.
i have probably posted 1000 times - and never once been censored
im pretty critical of feiner and his gang - but not one post has been banned.
this is an open forum and feiner lets it all in.
This is why I found it so surprising a my post about IP's being tracked got deleted.
On second thought, maybe I shouldn't be surprised. He wants to know who's making critical posts but doesn't want you to know he knows who we are.
Keep your enemies closer kind of thing?
Creepy, if you ask me. All I can tell you is that it was deleted.
the letters written to bernstein's former employer were by a poor soul who, rumor has it, was medicated.
there is no evidence he acted at the behest of garfunkel or feiner.
this young man has left the greenburgh political scene a long time ago. He apologized for his stupid prank and shortly thereafter he shut his own blog down and flamed out.
Frankly he was a bright but sad case who had poor judgment and was possibly egged on by others.
The truth is elusive.
The individual who wrote the letters was Jason Gooljar, who was on Feiner's campaign payroll at the time as his "web" consultant. He is still blogging away on his own website and on others, was obviously encouraged to do what he did by Garfunkel and Feiner (gee PF, how many times did you have him appear on your radio program for which he claimed responsibility on his resume as executive producer?), and he's never apologized to anyone, including Bernstein, for anything he did.
Paul, being a Library maintenance employee for the last twenty years, and with the help of my fellow workers, both white collar and blue collar, got this new Library operational, you now want us to spend Saturday nights at this place. I got a better idea. Why don't you and the Town Board work this night and see how you like it. Maybe if you give us our raise that we deserve for 2008 will sit down and talk about it. How about it.
where is fooljar still posting?
his website "greenburgh on the rise" is a dead link.
he was paid $200 for his services to feiner.
fooljar was the laughing stock of the town and was probably used by feiner and garfunkel until they too figured he was bad news.
Anon at 4:45, just google gool and you'll find him all over the place, with blog entries as recent as yesterday. Seems to be hanging out in Arlington, Va., but some links still have him in Hartsdale. Don't forget, when he was under Feiner's wing, Feiner linked his website, complete with Garfunkel's anonymous rants, to the Town's own website, another sad chapter in Feiner's vindictive nature.
this what this lost soul is blogging about:
"On the evil that corporations do, mass consumerism and the labor movement."
whether in hartsdale or virginia - he is a joke and he hasnt been seen in hartsdale (where he lived with his mother) for many years.
i wouldnt worry about this pathetic character.
juettner is equally vindictive - she sits at the feet of feiner and kisses his ring.
watch tonight as the board votes 5-0 to bury fulton park and pass an outrageous budget with all sorts of non-essential services and programs.
are the rest of feiner's gang any different?
surely you know about how francis sheehanigans treated the complaints about the sewer district.
Did you see Bernstein ranting last night and making a "samis out of himself"?
He was trying to be disruptive, wearing a sweat shirt claiming himself to be 'bob the legend'.
Is he full of himself?
No Paul,
I saw a Town Board that cares NOTHING about residents. And to all, if they don't care about Fulton Park, they wont care about you either.
Dear TEAMSTER Howie -
I was going to respond to your challenge to show specific instances of Feiner's vindictive nature but was too busy yesterday to get to my computer. Looking at the postings following yours, I guess anything I could add would lead you to accuse me of piling on - so I'll let it drop, after but a single additional example.
The guy who ran against Feiner a few years ago (I can't remember his name) was a computer consultant and ran a small business servicing local businesses. Feiner or someone in his campaign wrote several the guy's clients and told them they would not even be considered for Town jobs because Feiner's IT expert, Mr Gooljar, said their systems were insecure. The clear implication was "don't do business with my opponent."
Many of them stopped - and the guy who ran hasn't been heard of since.
Dear TEAMSTER Howie -
I was going to respond to your challenge to show specific instances of Feiner's vindictive nature but was too busy yesterday to get to my computer. Looking at the postings following yours, I guess anything I could add would lead you to accuse me of piling on - so I'll let it drop, after but a single additional example.
The guy who ran against Feiner a few years ago (I can't remember his name) was a computer consultant and ran a small business servicing local businesses. Feiner or someone in his campaign wrote several the guy's clients and told them they would not even be considered for Town jobs because Feiner's IT expert, Mr Gooljar, said their systems were insecure. The clear implication was "don't do business with my opponent."
Many of them stopped - and the guy who ran hasn't been heard of since.
You want to hear what I think well here goes CLOSE THE FREAKEN THING>
It will be closing eventualy so why not now.
Feiner, like Obama, is getting along with his former rivals like Sheehan. I like the fact that he appointed Kolesar, another non suppoter, as his comptroller. Both worked closely and we have a good 2009 budget.
A good budget? Only if you like election-year gimmicks that will come back to screw taxpayers in unincorporated Greenburgh in 2010, just like Feiner screwed taxpayers this year with his 21% hike.
The town cut essential services, like police, sanitation, snow removal, and leaf pickup, but left in all the non-essentials, and drew down the fund balance not by $3.8 million as originally reported, but by a whopping $5.1 million, jsut to preserve the 7.8% hike. That fund balance won't be there for next year though, and Kolesar says just a 3% hike in spending (which will be unavoidable, especially with the cuts in essential services that will have to be restored, plus the expected huge increases in state retirement costs due to the downturn in the markets) means we're already facing 11.2% for 2010!!
And Sheehan deserves the price for sheer audacity in proclaiming that its okay to draw down the fund balance because there's an "emergency." Hal Samis was right last night. If there's such an emergency, why are we giving Fairview Fire District a $100,000 gift next year, why are we paying for a $167,000 after school program which could be obtained tax free from the Y, why are we paying for a $61,000 "council on the arts" which is one person hanging pictures for sale at town hall, why we do pay $100,000 plus benefits for a pair of town hall "messengers," why do we have duplicate racially segregated day camps, recreational programs and transportation services run by Parks and Rec and Community Resources, each with its own separate set of commissioners, if there's such a friggin "emergency."
The only "emergency" is Feiner, Sheehan and Juettner wondering how they're going to run for re-election after deceiving the people in this town with their farce of a town budget. Their actions last night was such a joke that they didn't even look at the so-called slip sheets that amended the 2009 budget. They in fact have no idea what they just approved.
Some of you predicted big tax hikes months ago. Are you disappointed that the tax hike was not as big as you had hoped?
The Town Board did the right thing.
The town comptroller, Mike Kolesar, predicted big tax hikes, as did Feiner, because no one believed that Feiner would violate the town's new fund balance policy by drawing down $5.1 million from the fund balance next year to cover operating expenses and avoid another double digit hike. Kolesar made clear, though, that even a 3% hike for next year, which will be unavoidable, will result in a hike for 2010 of 11.2%. Feiner's budget was nothing more than an election year gimmick. None of the town's financial programs, caused by Feiner himself, have been solved at all.
Whoops, that's "problems" not "programs."
11:13AM Eventhough you're anonymous, I know you don't drive to work. Because if you did, in your serendipity mindlessness, you wouldn't be there.
We have a good budget? You, like Feiner, must be financially challenged.Just watching their work sessions,is proof enough they-collectively- don't know revenue from accounts receivable; credit from debit or which side of the ledger to read.
Also watching AND listenig to the work sessions, Kolesar is the consummate professional and Sheehan is constantly sniping at him. Irrespective of his adverserial demeanor toward Kolesar, it's clear he's not in Kolesar's league,and to the knowing eye, is making a fool of himself.
If that's two people getting along you have a definiton 180 degrees away from mine.
Oh, yes, Kolesar was not anti-Feiner. Just because he's from a village doesn't make him so. Sheehan, on the other hand, along with his three colleagues definitely said red when Feiner said white. The four on one(Feiner) was led by Sheehan. Now he's genuflecting hoping Feiner takes him as one of the council candidates.
Francis, sah garnicht helfen.
11:13AM Eventhough you're anonymous, I know you don't drive to work. Because if you did, in your serendipity mindlessness, you wouldn't be there.
We have a good budget? You, like Feiner, must be financially challenged.Just watching their work sessions,is proof enough they-collectively- don't know revenue from accounts receivable; credit from debit or which side of the ledger to read.
Also watching AND listenig to the work sessions, Kolesar is the consummate professional and Sheehan is constantly sniping at him. Irrespective of his adverserial demeanor toward Kolesar, it's clear he's not in Kolesar's league,and to the knowing eye, is making a fool of himself.
If that's two people getting along you have a definiton 180 degrees away from mine.
Oh, yes, Kolesar was not anti-Feiner. Just because he's from a village doesn't make him so. Sheehan, on the other hand, along with his three colleagues definitely said red when Feiner said white. The four on one(Feiner) was led by Sheehan. Now he's genuflecting hoping Feiner takes him as one of the council candidates.
Francis, sah garnicht helfen.
I WATCHED THE WORK SESSION AND THOUGHT MIKE WORKED WELL WITH THE BOARD. AND IF NOT MISTAKEN THERE IS A FUND BALANCE POLICY AND THE BOARD KEPT THE BALANCE ABOVE THE FLOOR. SO WHAT IS YOU COMPLAINT. SPITEFUL BITTER ED SORRY YOUR ARE NOT RESPECTED OTR LIKE AND YES NO ONE LISTENS TO YOU.
Now you know why Jachobs and Wolford are going they were disgracefull at the ribbon cutting. Sour grapes and political I was embarassed. Thank god for new blood
Paul @ 12:54,
I am not Hal and not a regular boardie.
I've watched the sessions and you are WRONG.
There will be either much bigger tax increases down the line OR there will be substantial cutbacks.
You have NOT made the cutbacks necessary to avoid this. We are not stupid. You would like for us to not understand simple economics but we do.
You will deplete the fund balance, it can not be replaced and the cost of doing business and supplying services will continue to rise. Everything will be more expensive in the coming years and you REFUSE to address this.
Kudos to Mike. He has a level head. LISTEN TO HIM!
I'm getting the feeling that you know your days are numbers and want to leave us in this financial mess to be spiteful.
Mike was picked by Feiner and the Town Board. They all seemed to work together nicely this budget cycle.
In the villages of Mamaroneck and Larchmont, where residents pay a town property tax in addition to a village tax, the town property-tax rate should rise 40 percent, from $10.20 per $1,000 of assessed value to $14.25. That would cause the average town property-tax bill to increase by $81, to $285.
MONEY MAGAZINE-Greenburgh #80 best place to live.
STANDARD & POORS--AAA Bond rating for Greenburgh
MOODY'S BOND RATING--Greenburgh "Prudent Fiscal Management"
They are not anonymous
Paul @ 12:47.
The seniors that fell for it are all gone.
The young people of this town will do you in because they can't believe how dumb, self serving and disingenuous you really are.
You must be put out to pasture to ponder windmills.
I am young and like living in Greenburgh because of the excellent services, good schools, Whenever I have contacted the Town Supervisor he has always responded and been able to get results for my family. I am pleased.
CLOSE THE DAM PLACE.
Waves to Paul @ 9:01. If you have keep doing your own anonymous blogs to plug yourself like this, doesn't that suggest you don't really have the support anymore that you think you have?
9:01 is not Paul. You give us your name.
Paul, You are not young.
9:08: Your posts are old and tired and boring.
Bob, Hal you are dumb and dumber. move on move out
if hal and bob move out - so goes integrity and lots of brainpower.
we need hal and bob in the town and preferably on the town board.
with maria gomez - we would have three smart cookies who put principles before politics.
all we have is politics and munchkins on the town board.
I think like all of your other on the mind out of the mouth non thought through ideas it's half assed.
Get a life. Do what you're paid to do. Stop with your dumb ideas.
Or is it your dumb ideas are easier to come by than managing this town.
Asked and answered. Yes, dumb ideas are easier than smart mismanagement.
How about that, Paul? Saturday night, dateless, in a cheap place.
Brings back memories of your youth, doesn't it?
Spend more time with your wife, maybe she could start the social ideas flowing.
Many libraries in Westchester have cut their hours.
We should also follow suit and we should also cut one day.
The library has to start to save money so what a better place to start than with hous and days.
Agree. They should close on Mondays like they used to and open up everyday at 11:00A.M. like they do on Fridays.
Heh, if we cut down on Town Council meetings, we could have less stupid decisions, less lawsuits -- that would save money.
Since the have all the meeting rooms and now call it a cultural center...we should keep the library open late and cut the tdycc hours!
Good idea since the library has so much room why not move the centet and daycare there also.
I bet we could get a good penny if both centers were to be sold.
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