WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. From a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. April 14, 2005: The White Plains Tigers came out swinging as they scored early and often in an important league game against Mt Vernon Wednesday.  Matt Taft pitched brilliantly, allowing one run in three innings, as he tuned up for the Joe McAvoy Tournament this weekend at the high school.  Taft left with a 9 – 1 lead against a strong Mt Vernon team. 

ZETTEL BEFORE THE BIG BLOW. Photo by White Plains Tigers for WPCNR Sports

 

Also tuning up for the big weekend tournament was Sean Campbell, who was called on to pitch two innings.  Mt Vernon was able to work a couple of walks and nibble at the lead a bit.  Then Matt Zettl came on to pitch in the sixth inning to also get some work. 

 

Zettl wasn’t that happy with the lead though, and he wanted to do something about it.  When he came up to bat in the bottom of the fourth with a runner on board, he crushed a pitch deep to left field and over the fence.  Zettl broke into his homerun trot as the team happily greeted him at home.  The Tigers were now up by 11 to 6, which was the final score, as Zettl finished up the seventh inning to close the door on Mt. Vernon.

 

White Plains is now 5 – 3 and will be playing Stepinac in the annual Joe McAvoy Tournament on Saturday April 16^th at 2:00 at the varsity field at the high school.  The winner then plays at 2:00 on Sunday, while the loser plays at 11:00 on Sunday.

 

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. April 13, 2005: In the legal notice published today by the City of White Plains detailing the new proposed 2005-2006 budget,  the budget balance sheet, second column on page 9F of The Journal News Classifieds indicates no figure has been set aside for Tax Refunds.

 

NO TAX REFUNDS IN 2005-2006! The City Budget capsulated in the Legal Notices, The Journal News, Wednesday. The Key line is “ADD ALLOWANCE FOR: TAX REFUNDS  (no figure).” Photo by WPCNR News.

 

City Hall has not responded to WPCNR’s inquiry as to why there is no forecast of certiorari settlements, and how they will be paid, even though the City School District expects to pay back $5 to $8 Million in certioraris in the 2005-2006 year. This grim certiorari prospectus was reaffirmed at the Council of Neighborhood Associations Tuesday evening by Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors.

The city has paid back  $2,775,521 to Westchester One, $613,469 in Tax Certioraris to Nordstroms, and $405,994.80 to Gateway One, a total of  $3,794,484 in the first three months of 2005. The City School District has reported that they have been told by the City of White Plains to expect to pay back as much as $5-$8 Million more in certiorari to city businesses in their planning of the new City School Budget. The School District has said they plan to bond for these anticipated certioraris.

 

The absence of an allowance for tax refunds for these certioraris the city expects has not been explained by The Budget Department or The Mayor’s Office as of this hour. There is also no mention of the total dollar amount of anticipated tax certioraris in the published 2005-2006 Proposed City Budget.

 

Calls to City Hall and a followup e-mail message for an explanation of why the city told the City School District to expect $5 to $8 Million certiorari “hit” and was not anticipating a hit on their own budget or how they expected to pay that hit have not been answered as of this hour.

 

Given that the city tax rate is $122.25 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, and the City School District Tax Rate per $1,000 of assessed valuation is $412.51, for every dollar the city collects, the School District collects 4. Therefore, WPCNR believes that if the School District is expecting from 5 to $8 Million in tax refunds the city may be anticipating a minimum of $2 Million to $3 Million in certioraris. If paid for out of fund balance (sitting on $12 Million – if the $42.5 Million Sales Tax Projection for 2004-2005 comes true), the fund balance will sit at about $9-1/2 Million after paying the certioraris out of it during 2005-2006.  

 

Former Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio, speaking to WPCNR, said his administration routinely budgeted a reserve for tax refunds. Rita Malmud, councilperson, confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that certioraris were paid for as they were settled by the city. Last Monday, the Council approved a $35,000 certiorari payment to CVS Pharmacy at 601 North Broadway.

 

Asked if the Common Council had any input on formulating the budget they received Monday, Ms. Malmud said, “No, that begins now.” Budget meetings were supposed to begin Tuesday, but the Tuesday evening meeting was cancelled, according to the Budget Department because of scheduling conflicts. A spokesperson at the budget department said a new date has not been set. There is a budget meeting Tuesday, April 19.

 

The Budget Advisory Committee which aided the Mayor’s Office in formulating the 2005-2006 proposed budget, includes two Common Council members, the finance and budget department heads, so in a way the council does buy in to the forming of the proposed budget, through those two council representatives, each of whom have MBA’s in finance.

 

Ms. Malmud said she did not know how the city was going to pay any certioraris but she said “they would not bond for them.” She also did not know the projected liability the city faced in certiorari settlement claims pending. The School District has placed the certiorari claims at approximately $100 Million, but to be fair, certs are normally settled for less than they litigate for.

 

Malmud defended the use of $8.7 Million in fund balance to pay for operating expenses in 2005-2006, saying it has been a longstanding practice of the city to do this for many years.

 

Given the massive certioraris agreed to by the city and given back to Westchester One, Nordstrom’s and Gateway One, similar businesses may be expected to mount a new round of certiorari assaults on the tax role.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. From a White Plains CitizeNetReporter. April 12, 2005: The White Plains Tigers found themselves losing to Saunders in Yonkers after one inning by a score of 3 to 1, Monday.  But in the second inning, Mike Bivas got things going with a long ground rules double, that apparently hit a car on one bounce, and not on a fly ball, despite the protesting of Tiger Coach Galligani.  The Tigers tied it up at 3 in the top of the second, and Jake Riss was able to hold Saunders to only a two out single in the bottom of the second. 

 

With the Tiger fans still a bit upset that Bivas was not credited with a homerun, Sean Campbell came up in the third and crushed a pitch to centerfield to satisfy their hunger.  Campbell was swinging the bat well, and later in the game took a pitch deep to left for a grounds rule double.  But the Tigers were not all about power.  With Mike Crystal on third and Gary Morello on second, Matt Romano put down a suicide squeeze bunt.  Morello had such a jump off second base that he easily scored on the squeeze play, running just a few steps behind Crystal, as the pitcher scrambled to field the bunt and throw to first.

 

Meanwhile, Riss mowed down the side in order in the third and the fourth, but ran into trouble in the fifth.  Saunders led off with two grounders just out of the reach of shortstop Morello.  On a loose ball, the runners advanced to second and third with no out.  The Saunders’ lead-off batter was now up, and he had hit the ball well in his first two at bats.   Riss induced him to pop-up to Zettl at second, and the next batter followed with a pop out to Morello at shortstop.  Riss, who could have a good future in real estate because he is all about location, location and location, had not yet walked a batter. 

 

But with first base open and a dangerous number three batter at the plate, Coach Galligani called for an intentional pass.  It looked like a good move on Galligani’s part because the clean-up hitter had been the Saunders’ pitcher and he was now out of the game.  The batter coming up had not yet faced Riss, and quickly fell behind in the count at no balls and two strikes.  But Galligani wasn’t done yet.  Just when everyone was wondering if a high fastball or low curve was coming, Galligani called for a pick-off and Riss wheeled to first where Campbell had been playing behind the runner and came up to catch the throw and tag the runner in one smooth motion.  Saunders’ last threat came up empty and then the Tigers exploded with a 23 – 3 win. 

 

The Tigers are now 4 – 3 on the season and Riss has three wins with no defeats.  The Tigers are home Wednesday in a big game against their division rivals, Mt. Vernon. 

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS WEEK NEWS ROUNDUP. April 11, 2005: In the news last week, the intrigue surrounding the White Plains City Budget began to swirl, as the Preliminary Budget mysteriously arrived with no announcement or news conference by City Hall announcing the 2005-06 spending plan of $129 Million with fund balance used to balance the budget. Susan Habel, Commissioner of Planning announced the city sales tax was on target to hit $42 Million this year. As the week began a discussion of the budget scheduled for Tuesday evening at 6 PM (April 12) was temporarily cancelled, no reason given.

Mike Gismondi, Commissioner of Building, working with Cappelli Enterprises, instituted pollution control measures (long called for by Dan Seidel, who has consistently demanded them) on the demolition of the Bar Building annex, which Gismondi said, had been causing several plumes of demolition dust clouds to float over the downtown.

 

The White Plains Watch announced it was being sold to Patricia Casey, who takes over editorship of the beloved paper from Susan Chang at the end of this month. Ms. Casey announced to the CitizeNetReporter she would move the paper to become a weekly publication as soon as possible.

 

The Common Council approved a 40-story height for parcels of 300,000 square feet in the White Plains Central Business District, the first stage of expected approval needed for the Cappelli 221 Main Street Hotel and Condoplex. The approval of this project (expected), will be taken up on April 21 at 6 P.M.

 

China Computer Firm Lured: County Executive Andy Spano returned from his Ricksaw initiative trip to China and announced a series of financial incentives designed to induce China’s leading computer firm to headquarter in Westchester County.

 

Comprehensive Plan Continues Review: The Comprehensive Plan Review Committee held its fourth hearing last Tuesday to lacklustre attendance, and appears to be not galvanizing the populace. No new ideas were advanced for the development of the city at all, though John Kirkpatrick’s addressed formulated the issues the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee should consider. There was a meeting at Centro Hispano Sunday, and a sixth final meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening (not Tuesday evening) at The Thomas Slater Center, 7:30 P.M.

 

Meanwhile health care benefits were scheduled to end today for striking county busline drivers in the 40^th day of their strike, which should put an end to their strike shortly.

 

Highlands Lunch Hour Attack Suit Settled: WPCNR has learned from a member of the Board of Education that the lawsuit filed by the family of a young man sexually attacked by youths during a lunch hour on the Highlands Middle School in 2001, has been settled by the school district. The amount of the settlement (rumored to be in the millions), was not disclosed by mutual agreement, and was paid for by the School District insurance. The family sued the school district over the fact that the true nature of the attack was withheld from them by the Highlands Middle School staff.

 

Speculation on Who Will Run: Rumors were beginning to surface around town as to who would run for the Democrats against Mayor Joseph Delfino as no front runner has emerged, or stood out to indicate they are running. The candidates are conspicuous by their lack of commentary on either the city budget, the course of city development (in the process of several major approvals), and their lack of criticism of Mayor Delfino. Perhaps Mayor Delfino will run unopposed. Likely candidates with the political credentials to run appear to be Bill Ryan, Benjamin Boykin, Rita Malmud, Tom Roach, and Glen Hockley