An article in the Journal News indicated that the New York State Legislature will approve this summer a proposed law to provide citizens with the ability to put proposals on the ballot to consolidate governments if they get signatures of 10% of voters or 5,000 whichever is less. The proposal was initiated by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and will give voters the ability to consolidate local special districts and fire districts. This initiative could result in reducing the escalating property tax hikes by making government more efficient.
Over the years a number of taxpayers have suggested that the 3 paid fire districts in Greenburgh be consolidated. A few months ago I asked Police Chief John Kapica and Edye McCarthy, town assessor to provide a report on financing of the 3 paid districts in Greenburgh. That report will be released shortly. It does not make any recommendations but could lead to a discussion and study and eventual taxpayer savings. If you would like a copy of the report once it is released please advise by e mailing me at pfeiner@greenburghny.com. The fire districts are independent of the town government.
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97 comments:
doesnt sound well for incorporation of edgemont either.
Until the Town develops and implements appropriate internal financial controls, having any discussion like consolidating the fire districts isn't meaningful. There is no data so everything is guesswork and "trust me", and that is no atmosphere in which to consider serious changes.
Implement the missing financial controls and then pursue the discussion with facts, not opinions, to shape the discussion.
Would the consolidation of the fire districts lead to another village freebie? Would the "consolidated" fire district respond to fires in the villages?
Careful. This way lies the incorporation of Edgemont and Hartsdale - Fairview is already receiving Town funding so they can just continue to go their own way.
The best way for Edgemont to protect its fire district from being consolidated with the other fire districts -- and forcing Edgemont taxpayers to subsidize those fire districts as they currently subsidize the rest of unincorporated Greenburgh -- is for Edgemont to incorporate as a village.
By law, once incorporation occurs, the fire district automatically becomes the Edgemont Fire Department.
I hope that Edgemont and Hartsdale can each become incorporated soon. This unincorporated thing is silly.
Paul does this petition also include getting rid of Greenburgh town government which will turn everything over to the county???????
Consolidation of services is just a small part of the problem here in Greenburgh .
This will not save any money because if we don't get rid of the mishandlers of funds we will never see our way clear.
Now you gave the ok for the assessor to do a study on consolidation =====she can't even do the job she was hired for.
Kapica dosen't give a dam as to what he reports he's leaving so why should he care.
The assessor made a big mistake in computing our taxes plus she failed to do the work that was recommended by the comptroller to equilize property tax.
Paul you are going from the pot into the fire.
Cuomo should send his squad over to this town to see what the hell is going on.first with taxpayers dollars and then again with those you have chosen to take over important jobs.
You have some nerve even suggesting any form of consolidation before you clean up your own act.
The fire districts are a good start; then go to the town level to unify police departments, DPWs, and parks departments; then combine the lesser performing but overly funded school districts (Elmsford-Greenburgh United anyone?). Hire a professional manager and, at that point, the Board can become a salary/benefit-less ceremonial-volunteer position.
The voters, not the bloggers, should make the decision whether to consolidate or not.
Incorporation of edgemont?
Hartsdale?
This is a farce. An overwhemling majority of edgemonters do not support incorporation. Hartsdale is nothing more than a train stop and a postal address. It is basically apolitical.
Those who are dreaming of incorporation dream alone. Its not happening.
Maybe an overwhelming majority of Edgmonters were opposed to incorporation in the 1960s, but the situation today is very different. Most of my neighbors are in favor, and we're all planning to circulate petitions as soon as we get the word.
Paul, maybe you should merge or drop TDYCC
and have the Parks and Rec take over. there is a duplication of service. Lets start in the town and work our way out. merge the Police depts then DPW's and so on .
"merge or drop TDYCC and have the Parks and Rec take over"
That would be a great idea!
Hartsdale is just a train stop? The snooty edgemonters should incorporate - they will then find out that they are not entitled to park at what they consider "just a train stop" - bye bye!
The person who considers Hartsdale a "train stop" lives in the Village of Ardsley and resents the idea of either Edgemont or Hartsdale incorporating. Many Edgemont residents have a "Hartsdale" P.O. address and consider Hartsdale a first rate place to live and shop.
Honestly! That Ardsley guy is funny.
I'm amused at his constant derogatory references to Hartsdale. Why does Hartsdale irk him so much?
Truth be told, Edgemont should merge with Hartsdale. The combination could greatly enhance both neighborhoods. Town government has suck the life out of both areas offering them very little in return on thier investments. A united government, parks & recs and yes, even schools would give both areas a bit of both needs and wants. There is plenty of land in Hartsdale space for schools, synagogues, a village, numerous golf courses, parks and, a train station!!
The only reason stopping this potential union is class distinction.
There is plenty of tax money in both areas to make for one lovely place to live. Edgemont needs to face the reality that it is just too small and does not have enough space.
hartsdale is not a political entity - its a hamlet.
any careful reader of this blog will know that hartsdale has been left behind by the town and has become a dumping ground for folly as evidenced by that ridiculous wall in front of webb field.
hartsdale's kids are ignored by the town board who favors fairview.
edgemont incorporation has been discussed for 60 years. its not realistic and the sooner the three people who are pushing this idea wake up the better edgemont will be. in the interim, edgemont is heading in the direction of hartsdale.
btw - there is no one in ardsley who opposes incorporation of edgemont. but plenty do in hartsdale and fairview. its plain silly to argue otherwise.
any careful reader of this blog will know that hartsdale has been left behind by the town and has become a dumping ground for folly as evidenced by that ridiculous wall in front of webb field.Good morning Ardsley guy!
Do you not think that Edgemont kids or otherwise haven't been left behind by the town as well? How is it that the wall tells us that this is a Hartsdale problem only? I'm dying to know..
Dear 7:15 -
Please check your facts before opening your keyboard.
Two of the parking lots (Sites D and E)operated by the Hartsdale Public Parking District lie within the boundaries of the Greenville Fire District (incorporated in 1916) and would become the property of the Village of Edgemont, should one be created using either the School District or Fire District boundaries. You are ignorantly presenting a canard which was used in the 1960's to scare pro-Edgemont villagers.
Further, your reference to "snooty Edgemonters" is offensive.
Too bad Mr. Feiner's newly discovered penchant for censorship doesn't include untruths and class slurs or your post might already be history.
Dear 9:30. Just because something lies within the boundaries of a fire district does not make it a possession of a would be Edgemont Village. duh.
And you need to check your facts before typing. Only a part of site D is in the fire district.
11:20 is wrong. "Districts" do not operate within village boundaries unless the village government consents. Therefore, when a village incorporates, any "district" property within the village may become property of the village. As a result, if the newly incorporated village does not wish the "district" to operate within its boundaries, the village and the "district" have to work out a mutually agreeable separation. If they cannot do so, a court will do it for them.
Here, it would appear that some of the land within the Hartsdale parking district would be within the proposed village of Edgemont. It would also be the case that many Edgemonters use the parking district's facilities for monthly commuter parking. It's also true that there's currently no waiting list for such parking.
So, because some of the district's land is in Edgemont and Edgemont residents are a substantial part of the district's customer base, both the parking district and any future village of Edgemont would each have a huge financial incentive to work out any differences between them. Indeed, keeping the status quo would seem to suit everyone's interests, except perhaps the interest of some angry resident of the Village of Ardsley.
I live in the Manor Woods section of Hartsdale and if Edgemont invited us in to join in incorporation, we would be setting off fireworks and doing cartwheels in the streets. However, it is not so simple, state Board of Ed rulings have determined that school districts can veto the secession of houses to other school districts. There is no way that GC would surrender its Hartsdale tax base and therefore, any incorp. of Edgemont-Hartsdale is an impossibilty. Without joining the school district, Hartsdale would just be getting higher taxes and nothing in return - kind of what we have now, but worse.
the bottom line is that in an incorporated edgemont taxes would increase.
there would be no right to use veteran park.
parking at the station would be iffy.
the right to use a library would be problematic.
the debt obligations incurred as part of unincorporated might be another burden.
given this economy and the poor housing market, coupled with these facts and many others, incorporation makes no sense.
thats why the smart folks in edgemont do not support it.
why would anyone in ardsley oppose edgemont becoming a village?
in fact, most people in ardsley have never given it a thought and those who have are probably in favor of it as a way to further protect themselves from a town board that has hurt the villages by giving away millions to valhalla, that failed to have enough insurance and that embroiled the villages in lawsuits.
edgemont is free to incorporate. the problem is it doesnt seem to make much sense.
why would anyone in ardsley oppose edgemont becoming a village?
in fact, most people in ardsley have never given it a thought and those who have are probably in favor of it as a way to further protect themselves from a town board that has hurt the villages by giving away millions to valhalla, that failed to have enough insurance and that embroiled the villages in lawsuits.
edgemont is free to incorporate. the problem is it doesnt seem to make much sense.
what edgemont and hartsdale should do is fight to elect town board members from their areas.
we have tried the town wide election system and it is not working well with large parts of the town being overlooked and marginalized.
anyone have thoughts on this?
Dear 12:21 -
Well said. And correct.
Dear 12:47 -
Had Edgemont become a village two years ago it would have avoided the 31% tax increase imposed on TOV during the last 2 years. It is true that a village would have caused an initial increase of about 10% - but consider that over the following 2 years the tax bill would have been about 20% LESS in EACH OF THOSE YEARS - and forever more in the future.
Every change costs something to make - but the long term benefits suggest a compelling reason to make the change.
As for the use of Veteran Park - the law as interpreted by the Courts seems pretty clear: If you paid for the purchase, you can continue to use it though you may be charged for the use. Our friends in Ardsley can use Veteran Park too - they just need to pay for it.
Oh boo. Why even debate Edgemont incorporation? "If" it ever were to happen, we'd be dead.
i wonder, if its so hard to get people in edgemont to run for the school board, who is going to run for village trustee and all the other volunteer positions you find in the villages.
i'll bet metz is a non issue in three years when the trees and vegetation take root
The location of the lots is not relevant. The district serves only residents of Unincorporated Town of Greenburgh.
today's lesson.
incorporation of edgemont or hartsdale is not likely to happen anytime in the future and more likely never to occur.
if you want to be a villager, move to a village.
Dear 12:58: you are getting back to the "representation without taxation" issue I've raised before. It is incomprehensible to me why anyone would vote for a non-TOV resident for the Board (or how any non-TOV resident has the chutzpah to serve on the Board) when villagers pay miniscule taxes to the Town. I know it's democracy, but fairness should also be in play: those who bear the vast majority of the tax burden should have their representatives making decisions.
TDY Center should take over the Parks Dept.
Why? The Parks Dept is a 90 day a year operation.
The mission on the TDY Center is more comprehensive and inclusive.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!
7:41 call a shrink. STAT!
The parks dept is not a 90 day operation.
There are numerous programs year round.
The mission on the TDY Center is more comprehensive and inclusive.What? Say WHAT?
regarding the tdycc
why is it a function of town government to provide a center for the alleviation of poverty?
can anyone answer this?
if not, and the center has been in operation for decades, it should be closed.
Why Is It the Function of the Town to Run a Private Pool and Tennis Club?
How to save over 3 million dollars of Taxpayer money..... easy rent out the Parks Dept. A private company would even turn a profit.
Some rich elite here may not agree,but the choice is simple from a human point of view. Would we as residents rather fund the Cabana Park where people hang up their towels or fund important services like an After School Program? Anyone with a little heart doesn't even have to think about an answer.
Feiner needs the parents in Central 7 to vote for him.
Without their votes he will be pushing a broom arround town.
It's pretty pathetic that Feiner deleted that comment criticizing the Town Board for requiring all of unincorporated Greenburgh to fund an after school program solely for kids from the Greenburgh Central 7 school district. After all, why should all of unincorporated Greenburgh pay more than $3500 per kid, not including town-funded bus service from Central 7 elementary schools to TDYCC, without regard to a family's ability to pay, when every other school district in unincorporated Greenburgh, including Central 7, has its own after school program?
The Town's after school program should be ended immediately. It's only purpose is to provide a benefit to one segment of town at the expense of other segments -- and Feiner's knee-jerk support for the program is typical of the way he pits one segment of the town against another.
one answer is that if the town did not have parks and recreation programs, people moving to westchester would look elsewhere
parks and recreation have long been a part of westchester county's heritage and attraction
recreation is certainly more important today in an age of chronic obesity
of course, one can surely question something like rye playland or going overboard with things like taxter ridge
but town government has no role in poverty alleviation. thats why the tdycc should be rethought and turned over to an agency that works in that field
but poverty alleviation
Metz trees and vegetation is not the issue, now or in 3 years.
It's the arrogance and extra legal "I/we don't give a damn attitude" Feiner and the town board, who summarily "dismiss" the residents' rights in the area...WITH IMPUNITY!
Even Feiner admitted to a mistake, but you can't keep doing whatever you please and occasionally say mea culpa.
With all the reasons given for why Edgemont should not incorporate, one major one has not been mentioned. If they do incorporate, with the disproportionate tax revenue they feed the B budget removed,the TOV would be in the toilet bowl. Hundreds of jobs would be lost. Taxes for the residents of the surviving entity would skyrocket to an unsustainable level for some of the remaning TOV residents. In fact, Greenburgh,itself,as an entity might not be a viable municipality.
Despite all the negatives re incorporation, and an unsubstantiated "overwhelming majority" of Edgemonters against it, if the Town Board continues to marginalize Edgemont, who knows, maybe that unsubstantiated "overwhelming majority" will opt for incoporation.
Necessity is the "Mother of Invention."
Every day goes by, the Town refuses to provide basic protection to unincorporated. The latest was the rezoning on 119. The Town Council thinks that unincorporated should pay for all and be the receptacle of all unwanted things.
Veterns is run down and in need of repair. Edgemont would be better off leaving before the repairs are started. That way the Town can better plan.
The people in the unincorporated part of town wanted all this parkland some time ago.
They fought to retrieve all the lands that they can get without thinking about what happens down the line.
The time has come to start selling some of these facilities because in the end the refurbising will cost more and more as time goes by.
Yes they looked at the impact this would have on the school districts if new housing was built.
Put all the monies together as to what the cost was for the purchases and start adding the maintenance were you not better off in letting the property go to developers.
Now we are paying a good price for things that many of us have never used up to today.
The planning for all these parks was not thought out too good,it was all one sided --Keep the number of school children as low as possible.
As we know this has not happened. Many purchase homes ,send their children to our schools when they graduate they sell their homes and leave the problems of high taxes to the rest of us.
Consolidation will not help.
The burden comes whaen we do not receive the services that we pay for.
The town should consolidate with the county and above all have the county police take over this police department.
unsubstantiated?
the ecc white paper on incorporation was issued at least 4 years ago
after it was released, nothing happened. it did not ignite any movement to incorporate. in fact, it did the opposite. the smart people in edgemont who read the report realized that incorporation, on the whole, did not make sense.
regarding metz. where was the ecc or the local civic association when the work started? didnt anyone think to ask a question what the town's oversight was? the dirty secret is that edgemonters are too busy doing their own thing to care.
edgemont is clearly marginalized. but incorporation is not the solution.
building alliances with other parts of the town (including the villages) is. but edgemont keeps burning its bridges with those who could help it.
Why does the mere mention of Edgemont incorporating create such a frenzy, especially among non-Edgemonters?
Dear privileged villagers, save a fortune in taxes and give the Town of Greenburgh your parks - unless, of course, you are so frightened of "those people" using your lily-white facilities you aren't thinking rationally. Edgemont's becoming a village won't cause your carefully constructed exclusivity to collapse. Let them go their way and you are free to go yours. Town entire taxes are about 3% of total revenues - stop acting so ridiculously - many of you spend more for dinner at your favorite restaurant than your Town tax bills...
GET A LIFE!!!
the only people against edgemont incorporation (outside of nearly everyone in edgemont) is found in the rest of the town outside the villages or what is known as the rump state of unincorporated greenburgh.
fairview would lose
hartsdale would lose
east irvington would lose
the current town board is opposed to incorporation
supervisor feiner said it would be a disaster for the town
suzanne berger (who ran against feiner two years ago) was against incorporation (even though she lived in a village)
the more important question is why the three or four people who favor incorporation persist with this folly in light of the political reality that it has no constituency?
who beats a dead horse?
its just bizarre
Edgemont's incorporation seems to be gaining substantially in support. Dozens of my neighbors have attended house meetings where incorporation has been discussed; according to the ECC, more than five hundred of us within the past month have downloaded the white paper on incorporation; and all of my neighbors that I've spoken to about it seem to be in favor and have said they'd sign my petition. What's really interesting to me about incorporation is that the effort really seems to have grassroots support. We want control over taxes, spending, zoning and planning. We don't want 31% town tax hikes. We don't want needless spending on non-essentials like a Town's after school program for one school district, when all of our school districts have our own after school programs. We don't like seeing cuts to essential services like police and sanitation. We don't like a town board obsessed with secrecy that we can't vote out. We don't like planning and zoning decisions made by a town-wide elected board that couldn't care less what we in Edgemont think. The time for Edgemont's incorporation has come. If we can do just have as well in managing the village as our school district does in managing the schools, we'd be far ahead of the game.
downloading is one thing
reading is another
the move to incorporate is counter to the prevailing trend to consolidate and remove layers of government
time will tell if the support for edgemont incorporation has any legs
undoubtedly it will be strongly opposed by the rest of unincorporated greenburgh
edgemont is going to need a legal war chest to win this one
The move to incorporate Edgemont may be counter to the movement to remove layers in government, but the difference is that, unlike in other cases, here the incorporation of Edgemont will SAVE Edgemont taxpayers a lot of money by removing an unresponsive governing authority -- the Town of Greenburgh -- that sees Edgemont as nothing more than its pocketbook. And fear of our need for a "legal warchest" is just another scare tactic -- and we've seen plenty of them.
There are plenty of attorney who live in Edgemont who would help out. As to no one willing to run for School Board -- hogwash. The School Board Nominating Committee interviews candidates, and some people do withdraw if they feel they are not the strongest candidate -- although they are free to run, and sometimes there are contested elections.
Of course non-Edgemont people oppose Edemont becoming a village -- Edgemont represents a wallet to the town -- a source of funds with no needs.
Under current law, only Edgemont residents would vote on Edgemont becoming a village -- the scary thing is could that change? If it did, it would only be worse for Edgemont.
ok edgemont
put up or shut up!
the tov awaits your next move.
Compare police chiefs salary to Edgemont (Greenville) fire chiefs salary. Compare police captains salaries to fire captains salaries. Compare responsibilities.
Anon at 8:13 (aka Feiner again) is wrong. He should first compare the salaries and responsibilities of the Town's Commissioners for Parks and Recreation and Department of Community Resources, both of whom run recreational programs for different segments of the town's population.
If unincorporated Greenburgh wants to reduce its taxes -- and with a 31% tax hike over the past two years who wouldn't -- we should be demanding that town government reduce duplication of services and salaries in areas it already controls before it launches an effort to "consolidate" fire districts -- which is not nearly so much a problem that needs fixing.
All Feiner is trying to do with his consolidate the fire districts campaign is deflect attention away once again from his own mismanagement which is now costing us serious money in unincorporated Greenburgh.
9:20 (aka Bernstein again)
How come the fire district budgets do not include a salary line item for specific members of the dept? It is difficult to ascertain the actual salaries of various officers in the dept. Does the ECC support transparency in the fire district budgets?
If any Edgemont resident were so concerned about how much each individual fire officer in the Greenville Fire District resident earns each year, he or she could ask one of our Edgemont-elected fire commissioners who would gladly provide the information. If non-resident Feiner wants to know, he can fill out a FOIL request, and pay for the information. It's public information.
Dear 11:44 -
So where are the salary lines in the Town Budget on a position by position basis? To get the Greenville Fire District budget you only need to open your mail. To get the Greenburgh Town Budget you need to file a FOIL request and pay $.25 a page.
Isnt it enought that Paul and the Paulettes give Town money to the Fairview Fire District? Does he now want to combine Fairview, Hartsdale and Glenville so the FFD can extort more money from more people?
Leave the districts alone! Taxpayers can't vote on the Town budget but we can vote on school & fire district budgets. If we allow the town to take over these districts we will have no voice at all. Maybe they should be organized like the parking district which is a non-taxing entity - only those who use their services have to pay for them.
I think the County should take over the Towns and Villages. Makes more sense than the other way around.
the last person i want to run my government is spano and his puppet tolchin
The School Districts and Fire Districts actually provide needed services. The Town and county spend a lot on gods knows what.
How can you critize Tolchin?
She has been associated with politics for many years.
Could it be that she knows more than you?
If she were as bad as you try to say I do not think the people would have her in the position that she has held since she left Greenburgh.
She must have know that we would be dealing with someone who would drag us down to hell,so she got out when the getting out was good.
Dear Ms. Tolchin:
It has come to my attention that you have been serving as campaign spokesperson for County Executive Andy Spano.
You should refrain from doing so or immediately resign as Deputy County Executive. Serving as a political spokesperson on the public dime is highly unethical.
The people of Westchester pay your $157,000-plus salary to perform official Westchester County business. They do not pay you to do Mr. Spano’s political work.
It is bad enough that we have to pay for Mr. Spano’s “body guards”—are there three of four of them these days?—who routinely drive him to and from political and personal functions. Do we really need to pay for his political spokespeople, too?
Westchester taxpayers are weary. We are tired of feeling cheated by public officials who take advantage of taxpayers for personal gain. We’re tired of the taxpayer-funded cars, chauffeurs, gas bills, overseas junkets, banquets, airline tickets and cell phone bills. We’re tired of Westchester government officials spending their time and our dollars on political business while the rest of are struggling to get by.
This is not the first time this issue has come up. Mr. Spano has a long history of using government employees to engage in political campaign work. I am attaching a 2005 letter to the League of Women Voters Fair Campaign Practices Board for easy reference. In it, you are quoted saying “County Executive Spano has never used nor will he ever use tax dollars for his campaign.”
Then what exactly have you been doing lately?
As I see it, you can either a.) resign your government position and become Mr. Spano’s paid campaign spokesperson, b.) cease and desist your political activities while you are being paid by the taxpayers, or c.) become a part-time paid political spokesperson and a part-time county employee—at an appropriately reduced taxpayer salary—making it clear in each public statement which entity you are representing.
This is a serious matter and I ask you to resolve it before speaking out on campaign matters again. The taxpayers are watching.
Sincerely,
William F. B. O’Reilly
Campaign Spokesperson/Friends of Rob Astorino
I was thinking about maybe voting for Rob Astorino this year until I read that nasty letter from his "campaign spokesman." He accuses Ms. Tolchin of engaging in campaign activities on behalf of Mr. Spano, but never once cites any example of her having done so. That's garbage talk from Astorino. He know should better. We in Greenburgh are sick and tired of politicos who smear their opponents without even a shred of evidence to support their charges. Because that kind of gutter talk is what passes for political discourse around here, especially in Greenburgh, we're stuck with a very sad crop of political leaders. Sorry Rob, next time tell your "campaign spokesperson" to think twice before pressing the send button.
ill take feiner over tolchin any day.
she is a low grade hack with a tin ear.
bet she was good buddies with the disgraced kriss.
county government is out of whack and feiner is one of the lone voices to raise the alarm.
but certainly greenburgh has its share of things that should be ended like nutrition programs for other towns and the tdycc.
How many arrests were made on the Hudson River with the waste of money Greenburgh PD Marine unit???????
WHAT A WASTE!!!!!!!! of MONEY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Dear 9:16 on 5/25 -
You do not get to vote on your Fire District budget, but you do get to vote on the School District Budget (and in places like New Rochelle you can even vote on the Library District budget!).
You do get to elect your Fire Commissioners, but the next time you go to the polls, you might want to ask why, in Greenville anyhow, your Fire District taxes are nearly as high as your Westchester County taxes...
I live in Edgemont. My fire and county taxes went up this year by less than 2%. My town taxes these past two years by more than 31%. The town doesn't seem to have any plan for dealing with its financial problems. The town comptroller who warned that there was a lack of internal financial controls in several town departments was fired. Edgemont residents who demanded last fall that the town cut non-essential services like an after school program for Central 7 kids costing $3500 per kid, when all other school districts, including Central 7, have their own after school program, plus hundreds of thousands of free grants to the Fairview Fire District, were ignored. Instead, we got cuts to essential services like police and sanitation. I think Edgemont's got some hard thinking to do about its future relationship with Greenburgh. Our relationship with the county and the fire district seems just fine, thanks.
Dear Mr. 8:04,
I live in Edgemont, and am more concerned about zoning issues. The Fulton Park debacle, where Feiner forced an oversized low-income (masquerading as affordable income) project into a small lot is scary. That could happen anywhere. I can afford a little more taxes, but I can't afford it if a "non-profit" group buy some property near me and is allowed to ignore zoning laws.
Here comes the mud slinging in non other than the democratic party.
What a disgrace.
Feiner has the opportunity to remove all that is written about all his failures but the ones mentioned in this blog don't even read what is said about them.
I do not think that Coumo would allow the Greenburgh supervisor run the show if consolidation is considered.
He's not stupid and I am sure he has had heads up as far as the goings on here in this 80th best town.
Instead of moving foward this town has been traveling in reverse for eighteen years. We have to make a change .There has to be someone out there that would tackel a challenge like Greenburgh.
How much worse can it get??????
Mea culpa. I made some erros in my posting.
In line 3,please substitute WHAT for WHEN.
In paragraph 3, please change , elsewhere COUNTY, to elsewhere TOWN.
Thank you.
ed
can you please send the cliff notes
and what do you suggest unincorporated taxpayers do?
We should ban together instead of fighting the villages.
The villages have nothing to do with the way Feiner and his follies are screwing us in the unincorporated area.
We should have fought back when they made their first mistake.
It's never to late to storm town hall over and over again to show how much we are displeased of this crooked government.
We can hit the major TV stations to get some good help.
We have plenty to say to the problem solvers ,who maybe will get our story to the ears of those in the State .
We don't need consolidation we need a new person in charge together with his phonies.
One of the problem solvers lives here in Westchester.
I think that he will be happy to cover a story so close to his own town.
This will probably be the 10th time this message will be deleted. It doesn't make sense to consolidate the Town's 3 fire districts but now does seem the opportune time to reorganize them. All 3 fire chiefs are near retirement - perhaps we could have 1 chief for all 3 districts. That would be the beginning of substantial savings.
We do need the County government - they maintain the Bronx River Parkway and trails, the airport, the prison, the County parks, various County roads, County police, etc. Perhaps we should consider ridding ourselves of the most local and most expensive branches of our government - Town & Village branches are extremely expensive - do we really need them? Don't think so!
Anon at 7:45 is wrong about the fire districts. Replacing three chiefs with one will only mean that each district will need three new full-time deputies to run the show, resulting in no net savings whatsoever. We in Edgemont prefer to keep our fire district, thank you very much. Both our fire district and our school district run a helluva lot better and more economically than the Town does.
OK, 5/26 at 6:08PM.
Here are the Cliff Notes:
(1)Get new leadership.
(2)Successfully petition for term limits.
If the president of the U.S. may serve for 2 terms(8 years), why shouldn't we have term limits in Geenburgh?
PLAN B
(1)Petition for a town manager form of government,and
(2) Change the voting from townwide elections to councilperson districts.
That way, area residents will have more control over their elected reps.Currently, neither Edgemont, Hartsdale,North Greenburgh,Chauncy(south Greenburgh near Hastings)have no representation.
In the villages, if a trustee is not doing the job, it's easy to change trustees. In unincorporated, if councilpeople are not looking out for Edgemont, as an example, if every eligible voter in Edgemont voted against that person or persons, nothing would happen.
If something is broken, fix it. Needless to say, there are many "somethings" in Greenburgh that need fixing.
6:08PM, even Cliff Notes need some amplifcation.
ed - mr sheehanigans lives in hartsdale.
but he might as well be from fairview.
now, who is going to do all this petitioning legwork esp when the town democrats are moribund.
i think you are whistling dixie in the dark.
ed - mr sheehanigans lives in hartsdale.
but he might as well be from fairview.
now, who is going to do all this petitioning legwork esp when the town democrats are moribund.
i think you are whistling dixie in the dark.
Dear Mr. Krauss, you could get new leadership, but why? Other than the leaders of the Democratic party and the few Republicans in town, people like the job Feiner is doing. That's why he gets re-elected. There is no groundswell to replace him because people know the government is running well. The best they can come up with is this false charge of no internal controls. Sure the former comptroller talks about it, but it is hogwash. This "issue" he created is a red herring. If there were problems with internal controls you and I know full well he would have gone to the press with his brilliant plan on how to fix the "problems." But where is the fix? There is no fix because there is no real problem. Only the imagination of a disgruntled former employee.
dear anon
Town running well? news to me given the civil war that is going on between the A and B budget. Town running well? I have two words for you: Metz Reservoir.
Town running well: i gather you love that ugly wall on central avenue in front of webb field.
Town running well? Yes for Fairview.
Town running well? Tell that to Fulton Park.
Town running well? i guess you alone like the new library.
Town running well? i guess you loved teh 31% tax increases over the last 2 years with more to come.
Town is running a fever is more like it.
Please respond before this post gets deleted.
Dear Anonymous 5/27 6:56PM:
If there are no "problems", why is the Town refusing to release my March 24, 2009 memo and its exhibits unredacted to those who have FOILed for it?
Did you watch tonight's Town Board meeting?
My comment here might be deleted, but the Town Board public meeting can't be. Lots more to come.
I am not very difficult to locate.
I think that the civic associations should reach out to Kolesar to offer him a meeting place so he can bring all of us up to date as what has in his report.
All this information is needed before petitions are to be signed and way before the primary.
If the civic assoc. write up some flyers and then designate one person on every road to distribute them I bet we could have a good meeting with Kolesar.
Let's face it he knows more than us and with the information we could make up our minds comes election.
Think about it.
frankly this is all blog blather
you want a new town board? you are two years too late.
any serious candidate has to start working now for possible election in the next cycle
you need to get name recognition
you need to raise money
you need to go to town board and civic association meetings
you have to have a reason to throw out any incumbents
you need to be a democrat and go to town democratic party meetings and other political events
political pundits are free to add their thoughts
Dear Mr Feiner -
Deleting posts on your blog, unless they are clearly libelous, is a poor strategy your advisors have offered.
The obvious holes in the running dialogue make your censorship both obvious and poorly thought-out. If you truly desire open government and want people to feel free to offer even ill-considered criticisms, deleting them leaves you open to legitmate charges of censorship. Either take the heat or shut down the blog experiment. "Open government" cannot become synonomous with "approved opinions".
Be honest or be gone.
I'm not afraid of county government what irks me is Greenburgh .
There something that you should be looking into instead of this consolidation bit.
I do know that you have no juristiction over the Sprain Parkway but there is a big problem that was addressed many years ago.
There should be an additional exit from Jackson ave. to 100 B.northbound ,the stretch is a bit long especially when there is an accident where traffic is backed up into yonkers .
Going south on the same stretch there is the same problem.
If this cannot be done how about cutting into the middle of the pkwy so that the police ,fire trucks ,ambulances and the public can make a turn to get off instead of staying stopped for a long time.
How many lives would be saved if this is done .
All emergency vehicles could reach the accidents faster and remove any injured person.
That is so correct the roadway from jackson to 100 B is really bad when there is an accident.
Which ever way one is coming from the traffic is backed up to 287 and down into Yonkers.
Paul check on how many fatalities have occured on this one area of the road.
Another thing there are no lights to assist motorist at nightime.
These are things that are needed to make driving safe.
This should be of some concern to you since citations on this roadway are handled at the Greenburg Town court ,bringing in some revenue .
I would guess that Paul feels that he is running alone without competition.
Is there anyone running for supervisor on the democratic ticket.
Has anything been said as to who will be on the republican line.
Lasser, who want Edgemont to be a village, ran for Town Supervisor as a Republican in 2003.
Stop re-writing history to make it conform to your prejudices, it is very unseemly and makes you look very untrustworthy.
This blog needs a fact checker.
start with police dept.talk about duplicate services.waste of tax money.no need for swat unit county police has one.tech rescue unit-thats what we pay fire fighters to do people wake up!!! consolidation is about saving money.
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