WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

For the past 5 years, I have stood in this chamber and used this message to give you a recitation of our accomplishments and initiatives. In partnership with the Board of Legislators, led first by George Latimer and now Lois Bronz, there have been many.

From protecting our drinking water, to keeping guns away from children. From raising awareness of elder abuse to providing legal assistance for domestic violence victims. Whether the issue is ephedra or cigarettes, West Nile or SARS, we have worked together to keep Westchester residents as safe and as healthy as we possibly can.

Our efforts have encouraged new business growth, reduced welfare rolls, and continued to assist our diverse population. We stand ready to help local communities … from preserving land to providing specialized police services.

We should all be proud of our accomplishments.

Westchester County is, indeed, a very special place to live. And it is our obligation to put things in place today, so it remains special for the future.

I am pleased to report that, despite what is going on around us, the State of our County is solid, vibrant and strong … and positioned positively for the future. You will hear tonight just what is the state of our security, our economy, our finances, our people, and our natural resources.

And then I will try to give you my version of the future; to look at what we must do to shape our great county for generations to come. I come before you tonight with an agenda to continue to protect our people and our environment.

These are most difficult times. People everywhere are learning to live with fear and anxiety. Things we have taken for granted are now considered critical risks. We are living differently today than at any other time in our history. Our spirit is strong, though our challenges are great.

The war in Iraq has touched the personal lives of many Westchester residents. Before I go on with my address, I want to personally thank those County employees who have been called into service. Some of their family members are with us tonight, and I would like them to stand and be recognized: The family of Edwardo Avila, Mrs. Raymond Bravo and Mrs. Michael Brancamp. I also want to introduce you to Jose Chevere, a correction officer who asked for and received a one-day leave to be with us tonight.

I also want to pay tribute to all the Westchester men and women who are fighting for our country. We stand united behind them. We are proud of them, we respect them and we honor them as their bravery brings honor to us. I know everyone in this room prays for their safe return. And the County Center will continue to be lit with red, white and blue lights until that happens.

The State of our County is secure. Secure. Before September 11th, there would not have been a need to use that word. Today, however, it is the first word on everyone’s lips.

So what is the state of our security?

Two weeks ago, I held a town meeting before 350 people to talk about Operation Safeguard. This is the name we have given to our overall efforts to keep Westchester residents safe and secure. It addresses protection, response, communication and coordination for today and the future.

We have spent nearly $20 million dollars in county, state and federal funds to adjust to the new threats around us. Through the combined efforts of the Departments of Health, Public Safety, Labs and Research ,Emergency Services, Transportation and Information Technology, Operation Safeguard includes plans to handle biological, chemical, and radiological emergencies, as well as the security of our public facilities.

I would like to give special thanks to Congresswoman Nita Lowey who has secured over $1 million dollars for us in federal funds for our bioterrorism efforts.

Working with the Red Cross, our efforts also include what our residents should do to protect themselves and their homes.

Our partners range from the Department of Homeland Security to the State Emergency Management Office ; from the FBI to the Transportation Security Administration; from community-based organizations to area hospitals; from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to every local police, fire and emergency services department in this county.

At this time, I want to publicly acknowledge the retirement of Commissioner Lou D’Aliso, who has led our county police department for the past 7 years. Lou, you have done a wonderful job and we will miss you.

This administration had the foresight, five years ago, to put the technology into place that now forms the foundation of all we do to protect you.

Using a new radio system that will be installed in 600 fire and EMS vehicles and all Bee-line buses, our responders will be able talk to one another during emergencies. This may seem elementary, but many lives were lost during 9-11 because police and firefighters could not talk to one another when it counted.

Technology is also allowing us to organize our forces more rapidly and to put our hands on the manpower, medicines, equipment and supplies we need. Thanks to a computerized network of secure databases, we are able to catalog the dozens of volunteers we are training according to skill, profession, and where they live. We can also catalog the locations of medicines, antidotes, medical resources and equipment.

We can – and are, right now – monitor hospitals for unusual symptoms of illness that put up a red flag for bio-terrorism or any outbreak of disease.

We also have an outbound calling system and a special website which can provide up-to-date information on what you and your family should know in a specific emergency.

We have beefed up security at the airport, county facilities and on buses. We have a new state-of-the-art bomb truck, armored response vehicle, and special response team.

We are upgrading our Labs to allow for the safe testing of potentially deadly specimens, making it one of four such sophisticated facilities in the state.

In addition to our and Yonkers hazmat teams, there will be a Regional Technical Rescue Team made up of volunteer emergency responders.We are also assisting the career chiefs who are forming a Special Operations Taskforce for immediate response until state and federal resources arrive.

Many of these initiatives could not have happened without the leadership of Bill Ryan, chair of the Public Safety Committee.

We are working with New York City for the protection of the Kensico Dam and with the State for the protection of Indian Point.

As you all know, I want to see the plants closed. Based on the recommendations of the Witt Report, I have given testimony before two congressional committees and have had private meetings with Senators Clinton and Schumer and Representatives Kelly, Lowey and Engel. My message is always the same. The plants should be decommissioned, because I am not convinced that we can protect all the people of this county should there be a fast breaking release from a terrorist attack. I view such an attack as unlikely, but nevertheless it must be considered.

However, we must also consider how to replace the energy that Indian Point produces, how to re-employ its 1500 workers and how to limit the effect on the local tax base and school districts. I am pleased to say that we are in the forefront on this issue.

Working with Legislators Mike Kaplowitz and Marty Rogowsky, we will issue a request for proposals next week that would consider these things as well as the feasibility of condemning the facility. In addition, I have met with different companies who have realistic alternatives to bring energy into the New York metropolitan area without having to build a plant in Westchester. While only Washington has the authority to close the plant, I am doing whatever I can to push in that direction. But as long as Indian Point remains a fixture in our County, I want to make sure it is protected. I have asked for the federalization of their security force. If we have it at our airports, we should certainly have it at our nuclear plants. Federal legislation to do this has been initiated in the House and the Senate.

In the meantime, I have spoken with the Governor’s office and have been assured that the state and federal governments are providing air, land and sea security. The specfiic measures cannot be discussed publicly.

All these things and more either are in place or are developing rapidly. To some, taking all these precautions is frightening. We must not let fear or anxiety rule our lives. It is my hope that by making public all that we are doing, our residents will feel somewhat comforted.

While public security is foremost in our thoughts right now, this administration has always focused on the protection of our residents. Despite budgetary constraints, or the continued threat of terrorism, we must never abrogate our responsibility for the everyday wellbeing of our seniors, families, and children.

Our emergency system, known as CAD, has just celebrated its second birthday. Put in place to give our residents the quickest and best response in an emergency, it handled over 166,000 calls and dispatched units 35,000 times, an increase of nearly 10% over the previous year. This state-of-the-art form of communications is now automatically notifying 54 departments of emergencies, a three-fold increase. Technology is currently being used that allows departments to get a visual representation of where all fire and emergency units are deployed as well as other information like the location of summer camps, bike path call boxes, and child care centers. This gives our dispatchers a better idea of what’s at stake when they receive an emergency call.

Our Department of Senior Programs and Services and its subcontractors provided direct services — face-to-face and voice-to-voice — to over 35,000 individuals in the past year. We implemented SALT, (seniors and law enforcement together,) an all-encompassing program to help prevent seniors from being victims of crime or consumer fraud. Through our Emergency Medical “door bag” program, seniors can be assured that an EMS responder will have all their medical information quickly to save their life. Our computerized and personal call programs are just one more continuing effort to reassure our older residents that “someone” is checking up on them. I would like to recognize legislator Bernice Spreckman for her tremendous efforts on behalf of our seniors.

Longevity is a fact of life today and should be celebrated. The importance of these programs now and for the future cannot be overstated.

As we provide more specialized services to our seniors, we continue to focus our efforts on programs to protect all segments of the population from a changing world. Two years ago, no one ever heard of Identity Theft. Now we train our police officers on how to handle it and educate our consumers on how to avoid it. We provide information on Internet safety, continue our coordinated approach on child abuse investigations, and expand our efforts to protect the physical safety of our children.

In past years, I have spoken at great length about our model programs to protect our young people from guns, tobacco and Internet predators. Our approach has always been to involve parents and educators as well as law enforcement. But we must never rest on past laurels.

If there is a message to send, it is this: I believe that government is not abstract. We are not simply a building or a budget. As John Adams so eloquently said back in 1772, “government is nothing more than the combined force of society or the united power of the multitude for the peace, order, safety, good and happiness of the people…”

We have the responsibility to look out for the public interest. Not only to protect our residents from harm, but to help them grasp the severity of an issue. We will continue to use our resources, even when they may be scarce, in this fashion. And it is because of this, that we are addressing the issues of Teen drinking, depression, and childhood obesity.

The publicity over underage drinking is not misplaced. Over the last six months, I have met and talked with over 500 parents, educators, college presidents, students and police officers. The most recent meeting was just this week. I have heard complaints that parents are not taking this problem seriously; that educators are too lax. I have heard students say the problem is overblown. Yet I have also heard that drinking is cool; a way to be popular, that “what’s the big deal.”

Sounds a little like where we were with tobacco years ago.

Fortunately, this is one program we do have funding for. With the use of DWI fines, we are putting together information and data for a public education campaign, similar to what we did with anti-smoking.

In addition, and as the kids say, “to get real,” we have proposed four pieces of legislation to our State delegation to combat underage drinking. Collectively, these proposals balance the need for laws that act as a deterrent with my belief that these laws should not be so severe that a first transgression results in irreparable harm to the offender.

I look forward to continue working with Andrea Stewart-Cousins, chair of the legislation committee on these and other State Program initiatives.

One proposal calls for suspending a minor’s driving license or delaying his or her ability to get one. Another calls for the suspension or revocation of a retailer’s liquor and lottery licenses for selling to a minor, depending on the number of violations. This is modeled after an existing law which provides for a new system of penalties for the sale of tobacco to minors. These proposals share the responsibility and the penalty.

Much has also been said recently about childhood obesity. More than 15% of children are overweight — double what it was 20 years ago. Overweight and obesity are recognized to be at epidemic proportions.

If we want our kids to become healthy adults, we must teach them to be fit, eat nutritiously and exercise well. We must teach them to spend less time on the couch and more time on the trail. We must teach them that food that is good for you, can also taste good.

With this in mind, we recently went to White Plains Middle School and, with the Health Department, launched one half of our Fit Kids Campaign. We are distributing guides to each school district on how to raise awareness among young people, how to improve cafeteria food, and how to develop programs and plan activities to encourage kids to eat healthier and exercise more.

On June 15th, we will launch the second half of the campaign with a fun and fitness festival at Kensico Dam. Using our beautiful parks as their private “gym” and by taking advantage of activities that we offer, adults and children can start an outdoor regimen of biking, hiking, skating, and swimming.

Life is not easy today. Savings have been lost due to the stock market. Jobs for some may be hard to find. Cultural and language barriers may create unbelievable hardships. Added to this there is the anxiety of the war in Iraq and the possibility of terrorism at home. To help those residents who seem to be losing the battle of depression, our Community Mental Health Department has put together a Depression Support Network.

We know that factors leading to depression come from many situations and can affect anyone at any age. We also know that individuals may shy away from getting help because of embarrassment or shame. We want to educate friends, family, relatives and the public about the causes of clinical depression, how to notice warning signs, and how to get assistance. The program will be formally announced later this month, and we are gratified that we have the assistance of so many mental health agencies, hospitals, and professional associations.

Despite the economic downturn and the uncertainty around the country, Westchester County remains on strong financial footing. We continue to be the only Triple A rated county in New York State. All three credit agencies, in reaffirming this highest rating, hailed our sizable, residential tax base, our diverse, commercial tax base and our strong government management strategies with demonstrated internal controls. They predict that Westchester will continue to maintain a satisfactory credit profile despite significant budgetary pressures, specifically referring to the rising costs of state mandated services.

Let’s talk about this for a moment. Without reliving history, 2003 saw the increase in the county property tax and a drastic cut in county spending to pay for the rapid expansion and escalation of the costs of state mandated services. Our county government is required to pay the State Government an additional $33.4 million dollars in Medicaid costs this year. We are required to pay an additional $10.8 million dollars for Services for Children with Disabilities. And, unless there is a change from Albany, we will be required to pay an additional $18 million dollars in pension costs.

To make up the difference, as we all know, we were forced to take the knife to our budget, cutting $70 million dollars in county programs. It doesn’t make me happy that we had to cut funding to our non-profit agencies who not only enhance the quality of our lives, but who also make meaningful differences in the wellbeing of those at risk.

But we cut internally even more, imposing harsh austerity measures. The county workforce has been slashed by 347 positions. Our staff departments — those “nuts and bolts” departments — are working with less so that many of our public programs could be saved. Human resources, budget and finance, law, information technology, planning and public works saw their workforce cut from 5 to 15 percent and their expenditures cut 14%. These are the departments that the public rarely sees, but are the wheels that keep us going.

We reformed our fiscal management practices and made budgeting more open and honest. we have streamlined our internal operations, to increase productivity, root out duplication and reduce costs.

A special mention goes to the Department of Social Services, which I consider to be the safety net for thousands of Westchester residents who need special assistance. Since 1998, their staff has been reduced by 236 positions or 16.4%. Yet, the services and programs they provide have increased to the extent that almost 6000 people are off public assistance and on the road to self-sufficiency. Congratulations, Commissioner Mahon, to you and your staff.

But we must do more. we continue to look at ways to reinvent government … to make it leaner, and more accountable. Therefore, I will explore the feasibility of instituting Performance Based Budgeting and will ask the Michaelian Institute to assist us. A performance-based budget will tell our taxpayers what services are provided with their tax dollars, the results produced, and the costs to achieve these results. This will shed light on how effectively and efficiently we are running our agencies.

I would like to make a point here about tobacco securitization. According to recent news reports, Philip Morris may not have the money to continue its payout of tobacco settlement funds. Because we acted to bond the tobacco money back in 1999, we have secured those funds, regardless of what happens to Philip Morris. There have been naysayers to our approach; however, this proves we did the right thing. It was smart for us to act then, rather than having to react now. A special thank you to legislators on both sides of the aisle who had the courage then to take this path.

As I said in last year’s address, I did not want to raise property taxes, cut vital services, or raise bus fares for our poorest population, to pay for these state programs. With your board’s assistance, we felt that a sales tax increase of one penny on the dollar would be far less onerous…especially since we have the lowest sales tax in New York State. As everyone knows, your board’s majority and I worked together for a year to get the state legislature to give us that authority.

I would like to make special mention of Richard Wishnie, chair of the Budget Committee. It was a very difficult task to fashion this budget and I commend his leadership and compassion.

While state delegations from other counties approved such home rule requests, ours did not…which leads us to where we are today. Unless the State Government reduces the costs of these mandates, county programs and services, in Westchester and throughout the state, will continue to be cut and county taxpayers will continue to see property taxes increase.

This must not happen. It is unfair and unjust for state government to make county taxpayers pay for its programs. Simply put, the system of mandated programs is broken, we must all work together to repair it. For the first time, that is exactly what everyone is trying to do. Recently, we stood with Mayor Bloomberg, the New York State Association of Counties, the County Executive’s Association and representatives of 21 counties throughout the state to call on the Governor and State Legislature to cap Medicaid costs at the 2001 level.

To use Mayor Bloomberg’s words, “It is inherently unfair to require the City of New York and county governments … to pay for expensive state-mandated health services without allowing us any involvement in the decisions to provide those services.” He called it “taxation without representation.”

I implore the governor and the state legislature to act on our mutual request to freeze these crippling Medicaid costs. I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO ASSIST THEM. This action would not only save Westchester County taxpayers $46 million dollars next year, but it would be a positive blueprint for New York’s economic future.

As we look toward the future — what kind of Westchester County are we leaving the next generation? Will our land be protected? Will our water stay pure? Will our economy continue to grow? Will our minority population reap the benefits that others have?

The work we do today will secure that future. We must care about our county — even though we may not be around to see it.

Westchester County’s buildable land is diminishing. Even in the seemingly open areas of the Croton Watershed of northern Westchester (which includes 40% of the entire county), less than 14% of the land is undeveloped. Less land is available in the rest of the county.

I am very proud that we have put in place over the past 5 years, a policy that helped trigger the preservation of over 5000 acres of open space. We continue our commitment to purchase Hilltop Hanover Farm’s 175 acres in Yorktown and the 110-acre Houlihan Property in Lewisboro. At the same time, we are moving forward on three Hudson Riverwalk Projects to provide a public promenade from Yonkers to Peekskill.

Davids Island is still on the “to do” list, but in this current economic climate and with clean-up costing millions more than we expected, we will need funding from state, federal, private and non-profit sources to assist us.

We have also recently finished our Parks Master Plan — a strategic look at all of the county’s parks that lays the foundation for their future development and management. We have a 78-year history of parkland planning and preservation. This will continue the legacy. Legislators Lou Mosiello, chair of the Parks Committee, and Vito Pinto, who serves on the Parks Board, have played important roles in our efforts to enhance our Park system.

But we also have to address the flip side. Looking ahead, we must learn to marry two seemingly conflicting ideas. We need open space and parkland to enhance our quality of life, but, for the county to remain vibrant, we also need lower housing costs to support our population, decreased travel times and continued economic growth.

We must plan for our future not in isolation, but with a global perspective. What a perfect time to have a new Commissioner of Planning, Jerry Mulligan. I am not going to make Jerry’s life easy. His charge as “county architect” is to put Westchester on the map as a professional and distinguished department. His task will be to bring a wider exposure to county planning. We have a talented staff, now we must give that staff the means to channel that talent towards broader issues — urban development, design, innovation. We must institutionalize not only good planning, but also creative planning. When planners get together to discuss “world class counties,” I want Westchester to be one of them.

The time is right to find new ways to grow that not only maintain the quality of life but also improve it by providing new housing, increasing mobility throughout the region and protecting critical components of our environment.

Interestingly enough the 287 corridor and the Metro-North train stations hold promise.

After successfully insisting last year that Westchester County have a meaningful role in the Tappan Zee/I-287 decision-making process, I now intend to make full use of our position to define what is feasible and what is right for Westchester, our residents and our business community. We will not support any proposal that has a negative impact on our Hudson River communities. We will not support additional lanes on 287. Instead, our cities, towns and villages must work together, so that our future is based on something smarter, a new infrastructure — a mass transit component — that will lay the foundation for this century’s growth.

Westchester has 43 stations along Metro-North’s three rail lines. Many of these stations have been at the heart of cities and villages for over 100 years. They prove to the rest of the country that we had smart growth decades before the term was ever used. Now it is time to show leadership again. Many of these stations and the land around them – often covered with acres of surface parking lots – hold the potential for becoming 21st century transit villages where people can live, work, shop and be entertained all within walking distance, free of dependency on a car.

We must continue to work with local communities to explore the potential for transforming station areas into multi-use places that would not burden local streets or services. Our initial efforts are already underway in White Plains and we will look for other opportunities to work with interested local governments.

Westchester County has an abundance of water resources – reservoirs, lakes, streams and wetlands; and the Hudson River and Long Island Sound.

Common factors impact all of these precious resources. Some we have no control over: Last summer we had a drought and this winter we broke snowfall records. But other factors, our own activities for example, we can control. Every municipality is now required to pay more attention to activities that impact water quality. And the County is here to assist them in their efforts.

One way is the establishment of a Water Institute for Best Practices. These may range from the best land use ordinances to the best erosion control practices. Our Planning, Health, and Environmental Facilities departments will join forces with Westchester Community College to provide quality education on water issues for municipal staff, the construction industry and interested individuals.

We will continue our efforts to keep Westchester’s Water H2OK. You have additional legislation before you to keep mercury out of the groundwater. Our airport is on its way to becoming ISO14001 certified — which means that every action at the facility has to pass environmental scrutiny. We appointed a new director of environmental security, and we initiated a new septic management system to keep pollutants from entering the watershed.

We adopted the Pesticide Notification Program and stopped using toxic pesticides on government property to send the message to our homeowners that there are other ways to get rid of pests. Now we are working closely with the State Attorney General’s office in looking for ways to reduce the use of lawn fertilizers.

When it comes to the economy, despite the trials our nation faces, Westchester’s future continues to look bright. Our unemployment rate is a low 4.3%. Our workforce remains at a very healthy 450,000. Our vacancy rate is going down, while other metropolitan suburban areas have seen increases by significant margins. While I don’t want to gloat, Westchester is now outpacing Fairfield County, which has long been considered our strongest competition.

The number of outside companies signing leases has increased from 15% to 36% in the last year. This obviously reflects the desire of some New York City firms to open satellite offices in the wake of September 11th. We have not solicited these companies; they have chosen Westchester because of where we are located, our personal approach to business development, and our quality of life. I am happy to welcome Morgan Stanley, New York Life, and several major law firms who now call Westchester County home.

Our strong economy also hinges on the expansion of our larger companies and the growth of our smaller ones. Fujifilm, MasterCard, Taro Pharmaceuticals, Pernod Richard are a few that fall into this category.

At the same time, Westchester is experiencing historically high levels — over $1 billion dollars — of new construction. Cappelli’s City Center and Fortunoff’s in White Plains, Kendal on Hudson retirement community in Sleepy Hollow, and G and S retail centers in Port Chester and Mount Vernon are bringing new jobs and new opportunities. Downtown revitalization is going on in virtually all of our major cities.

My efforts to keep Westchester business friendly also include sponsoring programs that help companies find skilled employees and to ensure that individuals have jobs. The Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment System has benefited over 500 county businesses with services that included onsite job screening, customized training programs and access to information.

At the same time over 250 employees representing these companies have received additional skills leading to their job retention, promotion and wage gains and more than 1500 Social Services customers secured employment. Well over 23,000 people have taken advantage of the program.

I mentioned previously programs we have put in place to foster the growth of our children. Regardless of our budget situation, we continue to make efforts to try to be sure that no one is left behind.

Westchester Community College reached its highest enrollment this year in its 55-year history. We have currently almost 12,000 credit students and over 13,000 non-credited. My thanks to Joe Hankin, president of the college, and his able staff for working with me to provide community resources both on and off campus.

As an educator, I have always believed that a community college should be in communities. For several years now, we have worked together to open satellite campuses. We doubled the size of the Peekskill site for art and multi-media. We successfully launched the Ossining Extension related to healthcare education and a Yonkers computer technology site.

I am happy to announce that this summer, our new site in Mount Vernon will open offering day, evening and weekend classes in business, culinary arts, computers, healthcare and English as a Second Language. I thank Legislator Clinton Young for helping to make this happen.

Three years ago, with the sponsorship of the Jandon Foundation, we began a college scholarship program that has since provided funding for high school seniors on public assistance. By the end of this year, over $270,000 dollars will have been given out to 48 worthy students.

But this is only part of the picture. In order to get these students to meet the criteria in their senior year, we knew we would have to start working with them when they were in the lower grades. So the Westchester Scholars Program was born where we give computers, encyclopedic software, Internet connections, and mentoring services to children in the 7th to 11th grades as incentives for achieving academic excellence. 228 students, whose families are on public assistance, have been participating—70 in last year alone.

I am proud of their achievement, grateful to Jane and Don Cecil for their generosity, and tremendously pleased that Westchester County has made a substantial contribution to the future of these children. These programs must continue so that all youngsters — no matter what their circumstances — have the opportunity to become all that they can be.

We continue to make a similar effort to meet the needs of our diverse population. Whether it is financial security for Latina women, incentives for minority businesses, anti-discrimination efforts by our Human Rights Commission or simply outreach to those residents who need the most assistance, this administration remains committed to improving the quality of life for everyone. We must continue to recognize our growing Hispanic population, and I rely on the advice of Legislator Jose Alvarado to help us meet their needs. With the financial assistance of our non-profit and corporate community and our public/private partnerships, we will continue this mission.

People change worlds. Not governments. While government puts in place programs that we think will assure our future, it’s really the action or the inaction of the public that makes the difference.

Westchester County is home to over 4,800 not-for-profit organizations. These businesses have total annual revenue of over $5.4 billion dollars and $7.5 billion in assets. Those figures represent 12% of Westchester’s economy. Forty-one of these businesses have annual revenues over $25 million each. However, most are small and often struggling, but are fueled by the volunteer efforts of Westchester residents.

Our volunteer community has become increasingly important and deserving of recognition, especially in these times of economic uncertainty. I’m speaking of the unsung heroes who work hard solely for the satisfaction of a job well done. We should do everything we can to encourage even more of that volunteer spirit.

With budget cutbacks hitting non-profit agencies hard and much of their funding drying up, they will need to rely on volunteers more than ever to help fill the gaps. This is a time when individual efforts can really make a difference.

Community Service is something that our high schools are now requiring, as a way to help our youth prepare for their future. I commend these efforts and want to expand them. Later this month, we will launch a new campaign with the Volunteer Center that will include the announcement of dozens of new community service venues with the county. A new website will also begin helping people search for opportunities in both the private and public sector.

With about 85% of Westchester residents on the Internet, our Website is the chosen method of providing information and services quickly and accurately. In 2002, over 620,000 different individuals logged on. There were over 2 million visits and 32 million hits. (In one visit you can “hit” many web pages).

Five years ago, we had no Website. Now, everything we do is on our award winning “westchestergov.com.” We are expanding our electronic Quick News service so residents can sign up to receive updates on specific topics, like park events and health information. We instituted a voice-activated system, so that consumer information, like gas prices, is available by phone straight off the website.

This month the Office for Hispanic Affairs will unveil a site in Spanish, and our Community Mental Health Department will open a site to help people identify and fight depression.

Interactive as never before, our GIS technology allows you to click on a map and find the nearest post office, senior center or a dozen other community resources.

We live in the 21st century and our technology as well as our stewardship must be progressive, intuitive, and meaningful.

I have presented to you this evening a snapshot in time. The things we have accomplished up to now, position us for a positive future. Yes, there are challenges. We need Albany to come to grips with the rising costs of Medicaid and other state mandates. We need Washington to give us the funding it promised to pay for our security efforts. We need to find ways to limit the property tax burden on our residents. And we need to do all of this while still providing the programs and services our residents have come to expect.

But, at the same time, we have many strengths. After a harsh winter, there is always a welcome spring. We have spent the past five years building a solid economy, preserving land for generations to come, investing in technology, and protecting the health and safety of our people. These policies provide a solid foundation for the future. Working together, our government and our people will continue to make the County great.

And, with that, ladies and gentlemen, let us pray for peace and for the safe return of our troops. Godspeed.

Thank you.