Amy Paulin’s Albany: Amy’s Campaign Spending Curbs Headed to Senate

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From the Albany Offices of
White Plains’ Assemblywoman


Amy Paulin announces passage in the Assembly of her campaign finance reform measure designed to stem the influence of special interest money on elections. It now awaits Senate consideration.

“It’s time to restore public confidence in the way elections are run in New York,” Paulin said. “This legislation helps open up our election process and rebuild faith in our democratic system.”

Paulin sponsored the Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 to provide public matching funds to campaigns for state office that limit contributions and campaign spending (A.8524a).

“To reform how political campaigns are financed, we must first curb the vast sums of special interest money,” Paulin said. “Publicly financed campaigns will help protect the integrity of candidates and the legislative process.”

Income Tax Checkoff Ready for Signing

The legislation also creates an income tax check-off to help build a non-partisan, state-controlled campaign fund for eligible candidates. In addition, the legislation:

• sets limits on the amount of money that can be donated to candidates or political committees;
• closes loopholes that allow corporations to avoid campaign contribution limits by funneling donations through subsidiary companies; and
• bans fundraisers by state legislators or statewide candidates within 40 miles of Albany during the legislative session.

Turns Soft Money Hard

The legislation bans unlimited ‘soft money’ contributions to political parties’ housekeeping accounts. Those accounts are currently exempt from the contribution and receipt limitations applicable to campaign accounts.

Assembly sensitive, Paulin says. Urges Senate cooperation.

Paulin noted that the Assembly has consistently passed legislation to reform the way campaigns are run and financed in New York:

“The Assembly has a strong record of supporting reforms to the state’s arcane campaign finance system,” Paulin said. “Unfortunately, the Senate and governor have failed to share our sense of urgency. I urge them to join us in enacting these initiatives this year.”

Paulin’s aggressive stance on campaign finance reform grew out of her having served as president of Westchester’s League of Women Voters, and on the Westchester Campaign Finance Commission, which recommended the public financing of county campaigns.

“Sponsoring this legislation is part of my ongoing commitment to a fair and positive election process in New York State,” she concluded.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of the 88th Assembly District represents the city of White Plains in Albany. She reports regularly to WPCNR on issues affecting White Plains. You may reach her at (914) 723-1115, in Westchester, or in Albany at (518) 455-5585, or e-mail the Assemblywoman at paulina@assembly.state.ny.us.

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Rotunda Roundup: Council votes 5-1 to study Splitting Police Fire Ops

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Saturday Special from City Hall, Filed 3/16/02, 3:00 PM EST: The Common Council voted 5-1 Friday morning to hire CGR, the Center for Government Research, to conduct a study of the White Plains Department of Public Safety.
The sweeping study will interview police, firemen, managers, city officials, citizens and outside sources to conduct a sweeping analysis of the efficiency, economy and effectiveness of White Plains Police and Fire Department operations and organization according to the proposal.

The study will cost the city $84,000, and will be completed, it is hoped by July.

Councilman William King was the only dissenting vote. Mayor Delfino, who is of the opinion that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” according to a City Hall spokesman, voted for the measure, to assure “that once and for all we can put this question (of Public Safety Department organization) behind us.”

In other City Hall Happenings: The Mayor’s Office announced it was moving the Human Rights Commission from the Thomas Slater Center to the first floor of the Planning Department annex. The purpose, the Mayor’s Office said, was to give the Center back the space it lost when it gave over the second floor of the Slater Center to the Digital Divide Computer Center. Loss of that space, Slater Center said, has cramped their day care and after school programs. The city made the move to correct this situation.

The Planning Department is moving upstairs in the Planning Department annex. Planning Commissioner Susan Habel was moving boxes upstairs herself yesterday.

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Glen Hockley Sworn In as Sixth Councilman at City Hall

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Six O’Clock Lightning Edition, By John F. Bailey, 5/15/02, 6:30 PM: Glen S. Hockley was sworn in today by City Clerk Janice Minieri in the Clerk’s offices at City Hall at 12:15 PM Friday afternoon. After Adam Bradley delivered the official Board of Elections Certification Certificate and election results to Ms. Minieri, Mr. Hockley took the Oath of Office and signed the “Oath Book,” officially bringing to a close the 2001 Elections.

“I SOLEMNLY SWEAR:” Glen Hockley takes the oath of office as City Councilman today, with Janice Minieri administering the oath.
Photo by WPCNR

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White Plains Week Friday: Adam Bradley Calls for New Voting Machines

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Friday Getaway Gazzette, By John F. Bailey, 3/15/02, 4 PM EST: Adam Bradley, discusses the Thursday Court of Appeals ruling reversing the lower courts’ calls for a new election in White Plains, on the Friday night edition of White Plains Week, the city news round-up show this coming Friday evening at 7:30 PM on Public Access Channel 71 in White Plains. He calls for new voting machines, and suggests possible primary of Assemblywoman Naomi Matusow, if she remains opposed to sales tax for White Plains.

THE PERRY MASON OF WHITE PLAINS, Adam Bradley, is seen (second from right), appearing at the Friday morning taping of White Plains Week with Alex Philippidis, left, of Westchester County Business Journal, John Bailey, The White Plains CitizeNetReporter, and Jim Benerofe, far right, Editor of SuburbanStreet.com, on the City News Roundup Show, WPW.The lively exchange with the relentless attorney commenting on the statewide impact of the Court of Appeals decision can be seen next Friday at 7:30 PM.
Photo by Lyn Storey

Calls for new voting machines to prevent future jams.

The head of the White Plains Democratic Party City Committee calls for the new 6-0 Democratic Common Council to install new “high tech” voting machines for the city as a major priority on their agenda to avoid future voting machine counting problems (in light of the Court of Appeals decision).

Mr. Bradley appears as a guest on WPW to discuss the historic decision which he argued, that decided the White Plains disputed Councilman election after 128 days. He is interviewed by John Bailey, the White Plains CitizeNetReporter, Alex Philippidis, Editor of Westchester County Business Journal and Jim Benerofe, Editor of Suburban Street.com.

In a freewheeling analysis of the implications of the Court of Appeals decision, Mr. Bradley discusses the quo warranto process of approaching the Attorney General. Quo warranto is the only avenue remaining open to Larry Delgado to pursue a remedy to the jammed voting machine in District 18. The Court of Appeals, responding to Mr. Bradley’s argument of February 14, reversed the Trial Court and Appellate Court decisions calling for a new election in the city yesterday.

Their unanimous ruling allowed Glen Hockley to be sworn in as the sixth Common Councilman at 12:15 PM last Friday.

MR. WHITE PLAINS LAW AND THE DEAN: Adam Bradley left, and Jim Benerofe, “The Dean of White Plains Journalism,” relax after videotaping Monday’s edition of White Plains Week
Photo by WPCNR


New Assembly District Guidelines: primary of Matusow threatened.

Mr. Bradley also discusses the proposed new Assembly Districts released by Albany that move present Assemblyperson Amy Paulin more into Scarsdale and New Rochelle, and gives Naomi Matusow, Democratic Assemblyman for the current 89th district, most of White Plains.

Bradley outlines the circumstances in which he feels White Plains Democrats might primary Ms. Matusow who is up for reelection this fall.

Bradley remarks that he hopes Matusow will change her traditional opposition to sales taxes, and support the sales tax White Plains needs, in order to avoid a 30% property tax increase.

The City Committee Chair said that he hoped Ms. Matusow, a 10-year Assemblywoman, would listen to her new constituents’ concerns and support the White Plains 1/2% sales tax, otherwise he would have to give strong consideration to putting up a candidate to primary her.

The White Plains Week program is cablecast Friday evening at 7:30 PM on Public Access Channel 71.

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School Board to Interview Superintendent Candidates Sat, Wed.

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Milkman’s Matinee News, Special to WPCNR, 3/14/02, 1:30 AM EST: School Board President Donna McLaughlin advised the PTA Council last night that the Board would be interviewing six candidates beginning this Saturday for the post of School Superintendent. She made the statement at the monthly meeting of the PTA Council.
According to a WPCNR observer, the topic of the superintendent search was not raised until a little before 10 PM, when President McLaughlin brought the subject up on her own. Our correspondent reports Ms. McLaughlin told the PTA Council the Board would interview six candidates with some interviews conducted this Saturday and next Wednesday.

McLaughlin told the Council the plan is for the Board to select two “finalists” from the six, and then conduct a second round of interviews, with a select number of members of the PTA and community groups present at the interviews.

They will be meeting “mover and shaker” types, according to the consultant heading the Superintendent search.

Dr. John Whritner, one of the Hazard Young & Attea consultants fielding candidates for the Superintendent position, last week told us he is bringing in strong candidates for the job. As of last week he said there were four and hoped to bring in two more.

Whritner said the circumstances surrounding Dr. Yanofsky’s departure were not a detterrent to quality superintendent candidates. He reported candidates approached about the job around the country, on the contrary, are impressed with the district’s high interest and passion about education. Candidates, he said, love White Plains history of making a substantial, sustained budget commitment to their children, year after year.

He said they are eager to accept the challenges articulated by the community. He reports candidates look upon White Plains as a chance to address major educational concerns of today in a great school district and personally make a difference.

In other news from the PTA Council

Board of Education members were asked by the members of the council about their goals for the district.

According to the WPCNR reporter present, Ms. McLaughlin said she wanted to provide tools and leadership to improve academic performance, focusing on policy. Later, in discussing the budget, Ms. McLaughlin said she would prefer in the next school budget process to start from zero and build a budget from there, rather than asking the schools what they wanted, then cutting it down.

Dorothy Scher said she thought bringing a new superintendent on who would stay for more than three years and bring stability to the school district staff was her key issue, rather than changing leadership every three years.

Larry Geiger said he sought to work to keep White Plains a school district of choice where people choose to come here because of the school district.

Michelle Tratoros said she was very concerned about addressing “the acheivement gap” documented by the eighth grade middle school tests. On those tests, white and Asian students scored 50% better than black and Hispanic students.

Dr. Saul Yanofsky was asked about evaluation of programs. He said that was hard to do in a scientific way, according to our correspondent.

Yanofsky illustrated the problem by saying anecdotal evidence indicates that the Newcomer Center is working well. But, he said, to scientifically evaluate the difference the Newcomer center makes, you would have some new children in the district go directly to Kindergarten, with other children sent to the Newcomers Center and track their progress.

Our observer said that the lack of discussion on many future concerns especially the superintendent search was because of the presence of Dr. Saul Yanofsky. It was our observer’s feeling that the council members felt uncomfortable about talking about White Plains school matters that Yanofsky would not be responsible for any more.

Our correspondent said so many future matters depended on who the new superintendent is, and this became apparent on many issues brought up.

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Delgado Mulls Quo Warranto Hockley Staffs Up, “Walk-Abouts” to Start

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Midnight Special Edition by John F. Bailey, 3/15/02, 12:30 AM EST:Larry Delgado, now officially by order of the New York State Court of Appeals Thursday, former Councilman Delgado, told WPCNR Thursday evening that he had not made up his mind whether to take a quo warranto proceeding to the Attorney General’s office.
In a statement to WPCNR by telephone, Delgado said,

“I’m in very good spirits. I’m glad we have some clear direction from this court. The clear direction is the proper way is through a quo warranto proceeding. The court wiped the slate clean on prior case law, and set a new direction which is ‘go tell it to the Attorney General.’”

A lot of thinking to do before he proceeds :

“I have to sit and consider all the options, as far as the time involved, the financial, the impact on the city and its citizenry of such an action. I have much to consider. So I’m not going to jump and say I will or I will not go through with a quo warranto proceeding.”

He noted that the Court of Appeals recognized there was a wrong committed, saying,

“What the Court left undisputed was there was a wrong committed, there was a broken machine. That everybody’s votes were counted except mine. The result of that injustice was that I lost the election. I still feel it’s something I had to do because to not complain that there was an improper machine count would not have also been proper. I don’t mind losing, it’s just the way it occurred it’s not right.
The voters were disenfranchised in that district (18) and that’s too bad.”

Hockley gears up to assume the sixth Council seat.

Glen Hockley speaking to WPCNR Thursday, said he is eager to assume his seat, which we have learned will be “in a few days” after the Board of Elections certifies his election. Board of Elections computers were down Thursday, according to the Mayor’s Office, so certification could not proceed.

Hockley had been campaigning in anticipation of the new election that now will never be. He told us he had knocked on 3,246 doors during his second campaign, not all had answered, and he said he had asked all he had talked to “what their concerns were.” He revealed that the main concern he found, to his surprise, was “speeding through the neighborhoods.”

Asked what those he spoke to felt about the New York Presbyterian Hospital proposal, Hockley said he found it was not a prominent concern with most residents he talked to. He said some even wanted the New York Presbyterian Hospital biomedical complex to be built. Some did want a park. He said tenants, especially in the downtown, he had talked to were not concerned about it, one way or another.

Hockley Promises “Walk-abouts Tours” to all Neighborhoods.

He said, that even though he was now an “official” politician, he would, within a couple of weeks begin regular “walk-abouts,” two neighborhoods at a time, to continue to keep in touch, resident-to-resident, and “listening to people.”

Contemplates reassembling his campaign advisory staff.

Mr. Hockley told WPCNR he would move very quickly to bring the city personalities who had helped him in his campaign on board again to help him represent the city effectively.

He gave much credit for his strong run against Mr. Delgado to Arnold and Ann Bernstein, campaign managers, Jonathan Appel, his Treasurer, Bill Campbell, President of the Tenants Association, Ginny Scanlan, Henry and Luisa Chapman who directed his volunteers, Rafael Vega, a District Leader, and Rosa Boone, Executive Director of the Coalition of the Hungry and Homeless. He said Melody Hockley, his wife, would continue as his Information Officer.

He made a point of thanking these people who had worked for him. He wants them back with him, if they are willing, as he prepares to start his work for the city. He wants them to continue their input as he begins, because they “resemble a good cross section of the city.”

He said he would also, of course, be consulting with his Democratic colleagues on the Common Council, and County Legislator William Ryan.

In his statement to the media at Mr. Bradley’s offices earlier Thursday, Hockley said he looked forward to working with “his good friend,” Larry Delgado, too, on city issues in the future.

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Bradley Credits Detailed Case Law for Favorable Reversal. Latest News.

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5 O’Clock Report By John F. Bailey, filed 3/14/02, UPDATED 5:00 PM EST: Adam Bradley, Glen Hockley’s attorney, whose arguments won an historic reversal from the Court of Appeals today, credited the decision favoring his client, Glen Hockley, with his detailed presentation of case law, showing that quo warranto proceding had only been waived once and that was because of a death in office.

SUNCIN PAYS OFF FOR HOCKLEY BRADLEY TEAM: With smiles a legal brief wide, Glen Hockley, left, and Adam Bradley, his relentless attorney, relax in Mr. Bradley’s office Thursday afternoon in a WPCNR interview. Hockley said “He was ready to go,” on the council and “euphoric” about the decision. He said he planned to begin his walking tours of White Plains neighborhoods shortly. Bradley told WPCNR that any further legal action would involve Mr. Delgado filing a request for a quo warranto procedure with the Attorney General. Bradley said the Attorney General only has to decide whether a court action is warranted. He said that any court decision unfavorable as a result of that action would likely be appealed. City Hall said Thursday afternoon, it had learned that certification of Mr. Hockley by the Board of Elections is being delayed “a couple of days” because the Board’s computers were down, so it would be “a few days” before Mr. Hockley was certified allowing him to be sworn in on the Common Council. “Suncin” is Japanese for “focus,” a trait that Mr. Hockley says he lives in his karate training and his community service.
Photo by WPCNR


“The court listened very carefully, to my summary of case law,” Bradley told WPCNR this morning in a telephone interview.. “There has only been one case where quo warranto was not available, (the Shiels case, 1937) where a declaratory action was undertaken, and that was because an incumbent died in office.”

Bradley detailed the arguments for WPCNR weeks before the Court of Appeals decision handed down today. Bradley said he had no problem with the Larry Delgado camp filing a quo warranto procedure with the Attorney General, as suggested by the Court of Appeals.

Where are the affidavites?

However, he did say that he was surprised that the Delgado forces had not presented sworn affidavites from voters in District 18 who said they had voted for Delgado. Such affidavites, Bradley said, were routine procedure when election results are contested.

In any quo warranto procedure with the attorney general, should the attorney general grant it, affidavites, with evidence of the voting machine breakdown would buttress the Delgado case. The quo warranto procedure is “legal proceding undertaken to recover an office, franchise, or privilege from the person in possession, initiated upon an information.”

The next step in the procedure to install Glen Hockley as the sixth Common Councilperson is for the Board of Elections to certify his election as stands, including the District 18 results as of November 6.

In that proceeding Mr. Hockley defeated Mr. Delgado. However, Delgado received 100 votes less than his Republican running mates, Mike Amodio and Robert Tuck, whom he had been running ahead of in every district. Had Delgado received the 100 votes or so that he felt had been taken away by a jammed voting machine, Mr. Delgado would have been thewinner. The voting machine was discovered, upon court-ordered inspection, to have jammed on election night.

The Court of Appeals decision today clears the way for Glen Hockley to be sworn onto the Common Council without a new election. Only after Hockley is seated can Mr. Delgado, based on the evidence of a jammed voting machine, petition the Attorney General Elliot Spitzer for a jury trial to find a remedy. Mr. Spitzer has to consider whether or not to open a proceding should Mr. Delgado petition the Attorney General.

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FLASH!Court of Appeals Reverses Appellate Decision. Hockley Can Take Seat

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FLASH! By John F. Bailey, 3/14/02, UPDATED 11:25 AM EST: The New York State Court of Appeals this morning, in a 8-page decision, has dismissed the Appellate Court ruling calling for a citywide election in White Plains to decide the disputed Larry Delgado/Glen Hockley District 18 voting machine jam. The ruling effectively means Glen Hockley can take a seat on the Common Council after the Board of Elections certifies the election results.
Buys Bradley Argument All the Way — Delgado has one recourse– the Attorney General

In the concluding paragraph of the brief, the Court of Appeals said they did not accept the caselaw cited by John Ciampoli, Mr. Delgado’s attorney, allowing for a declaratory judgment action.

The judges upheld Adam Bradley’s argument that Mr.Delgado’s only relief was to file a quo warranto action with the Attorney General’s office. Mr. Bradley, in a WPCNR interview, explained his principles of argument in detail. He also argued that only the legislature had the authority to change the law. And, the Court of Appeals agrees.

Ciampoli, Delgado’s attorney, commenting to WPCNR moments ago said that he expected his client, Delgado, would file a letter with Attorney General Elliot Spitzer requesting a quo warranto proceeding.

The decision appears to be asking the Attorney General to step in:

Ciampoli’s reading of the case, he says, indicates that the Court of Appeals wants the Attorney General to set up a proceeding to address the issue, or else “they will.”

However, the seven Court of Appeals judges unanimously declined to break new ground in election law, which had been Adam Bradley’s (the Hockley legal counsel) argument all along.

The key text:

Delgado and Supreme Court below relied on Matter of Felice v Berger (1992), in which the Appellate Division converted an Election Law article 15 proceeding into a declaratory judgment action, declared the election invalid and ordered a new election because of a defective voting machine. In converting the proceeding the Felice court, however relied on dicta from other lower court cases.

The only other authority that arguably supports the availability of a declaratory judgment action as an alternative to quo warranto is Shiels v. Flynn(1937). In Shiels, however, unlike this case, quo warranto was not available because the declared officeholder had died and the aggrieved candidate, who sought to establish the term of the office, had been appointed to fill the vacancy. Irrespective of the validity of Shiels, the Corrigan dicta should not be read as supporting the availability of a declaratory judgment action, commenced before the declared winner has taken office, to resolve a challenge such as the one raised here.

Delgado nonetheless urges that, entirely independent of quo warranto, when there are circumstances such as those presented here, the courts should determine whether the irregularity affected the election process and be empowered to order a new general election. We do not find such authority under the statute (See Election Law 16-1024) or decisional law. If such authority is to be accorded the courts, it should be by act of the Legislature.

In sum, quo warranto is the appropriate remedy in this case. We need not determine at this time whether a declaratory judgment action might lie as an alternative remedy where quo warranto has ceased to be available to the aggrieved candidate because the Attorney General has declined to act (various cases cited). Nor need we address Hockley’s remaining arguments.

Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be reversed without costs and the petition dismissed.

The complete decision can be downloaded from the Court of Appeals Website, by clicking on “Latest Decisions,” Clicking on “March” and clicking on the Delgado vs. Sunderland line. The Court of Appeals website can be reached by going to White Plains Links on this site, and going to Courts in the News, and clicking on the CofA site.

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“Good Job!” City’s Best Looking Ballplayers Go for 6th Title in 7Yrs

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WPCNR Press Box, by John “Baseball” Bailey, 3/13/02, 10:30 PM EST: There’s a quiet dynasty in town that’s had a better record than the New York Yankees the last six years, and never received a parade, championship signs, or a big recognition ceremony.

When you spell “softball,” you spell it W-H-I-T-E P-L-A-I- N-S.


THE WHITE PLAINS TIGERS CHAMPIONSHIP SOFTBALL TEAM. Tryouts over, Ted O’Donnell’s club heads to Virginia next week. They are getting ready to defend their League 1A Championship. The veteran team has won two championships in a row and five of the last six “A” titles. The champions (24-4 last year), will be together for their final title run as a team this spring in a tougher league. Coach O’Donnell is at far right. Coach John Roselli at far left.
Photo Courtesy, Ted O’Donnell White Plains Tigers


WPCNR interviewed Tiger mentor, Ted O’Donnell, “O’D” as his players call him, at his WPHS office to get his perspective on the “Champions nobody knows.”

O’Donnell is entering his seventh year as varsity softball coach, and he cannot say enough about his players’ dedication to getting better in their sport. His bushy steely gray reddish hair, soft-spoken voice, and perpetually sunburned complexion just says brands him a student of the game. Softball is his sport.

O’Donnell looks like Earl Weaver, the Baltimore Oriole Manager of the 1970s. And he’s been just as successful. O’Donnell is the former Junior Varsity coach who built the “feeder” system that created the “quiet” dynasty. It is his system that equipped White Plains girls to play fastpitch softball better, more consistently than any other program in the county.

The Quiet Coach Talks.

He doesn’t like to talk about himself, giving the credit to his players and their work ethic. O’Donnell, however pioneered encouraging girls with the talent to play at higher levels, and play summer travel ball. He brought in a new windmill pitching style, the California Drag. This style enabled the Tiger pitchers to dominate the county the last five years.

He gave such a pride and love of playing ball to his players that they play it all year round, just to get better. They love playing ball so much that all practice six days a week, play all summer, and deep into fall. They do drill after drill, many of which O’Donnell designed. They hone their trigger- step-explode hitting styles. They work at it.

The Quiet Players Do the Winning.

The White Plains Tigers show you how it’s done on the field, at the plate, and how to conduct yourself on the field. More than any other White Plains team, (all known for their good sportsmanship), the softball team sets the standard for conduct during a ball game. Nothing ruffles them.

Losses are quietly suffered, and any loss encourages them to just work harder. In fact, when the Tigers lose, they are at their best. They don’t take it personally. They don’t throw gloves. They don’t make excuses. They take responsibility.

Wanting to get better.

O’Donnell attributes the start of the championship run to when he was the Junior Varsity coach for six years prior to taking the Varsity job in 1995. He said he always felt White Plains had the talent to be a competitive team. In his time at the JV helm, he started a summer softball travel team and acquired players willing to “devote a lot of extra time developing their game…year-round.”

He and John Roselli won three consecutive titles after O’Donnell took the Varsity job. Roselli’s daughter, Kristin, was their dominant pitcher as a ninth grader.

All Softball. All the Time.

“Year-round” is the key to O’Donnell’s success. His players think and play and work at softball all year. He feels that to field a really good varsity program, you have to select the best athletes for the team, regardless of grade in school.

If they can play up to the varsity level, he brings them up. The result is there is no varsity learning curve. He gets three good varsity years out of them. Has a brief rebuilding year, where his players still win and is ready to win it all again. The only year they did not win the title was 1999. They lost to Ursuline 1-0, and 3-2 to lose the title by one game. That was an “off year.”

A veteran team poised for their final run.

This year the “Tiger Ten,” features seven seniors, one junior and three sophomores. He feels he will select two players from the Junior Varsity to bring up to complete the team, but has not decided on them yet. He prefers the players to play as much as possible.

Pitching

This year the Tiger duo of crafty lefty Senior Jesse Orfe and sophomore Tara Pollard will split the wind milling. Orfe is coming off a 12-2 year in ’01, with a 0.77 Earned Run Average. Orfe’s poise, pitch selection and cool demeanor recall Whitey Ford, if Whitey Ford could windmill. Pollard, the straw-haired sophomore right-hander was also 12-2 with a 1.09 ERA. Last year Orfe and Pollard pitched 98 and 96 innings respectively. They averaged one walk a game.

This year the duo may be better. O’Donnell worked both pitchers with Olympic pitcher Lorie Harrigan, over the summer. (Hannigan pitched a no-hitter against Canada in the 2000 Olympics.) Harrigan, who uses the Drag, has refined the Drag to where she strides about three quarters across the power line to the plate to give her more speed. O’Donnell likes this theory.

He has fine-tuned Orfe’s and Pollard’s motions to give them a little more speed. Instead of striding straight to the plate in their California Drag motion, the coach, at Hannigan’s suggestion is having his “Koufax-Drysdale Team” “stride into the power line” with their stride leg about “three-quarters to bring more of their hips into the pitch.”

Catching

Behind the plate is senior Ciara DiFrancesco, the All-Section Catcher, and Hudson River Bandit, who will be backed up by Sophomore Jessica Issaacs. Jessica was the starting third sacker in 2001. This year when DiFrancesco is catching, Issaacs will play third, and when Issaacs is catching, Ciara will be on the hot corner.

Around the Horn

Out at shortstop will be senior, Cristin Pasqua, the All-County First Team Second Baseperson in 2001. O’Donnell describes her as having “excellent lateral movement, a strong accurate arm, with speed” to get to tough chances.

Moving to second base when she is not pitching is Tara Pollard, who can hit as well as pitch. When Pollard is pitching, impressive sophomore Kelly O’Neill will be at second base.

At first base is the statuesque (5’ 10”) and fearless Kathryn Fitzmaurice, a senior who stands in to choke off the bunt almost on top of the plate. She reacts incredibly fast getting back to take a throw or cut off a grounder in the first base hole with a great stretch. She is in her third year on the varsity.

Senior Picket Duty

The Tiger outfield is a trio of seniors.

Out in Centerfield, this is our last year to watch the graceful, far-ranging Leslie Busch cover “O’Donnell’s Bluff.” Leslie is a four-year starter, who made All-County First Team in 2001.

In a testimony to just how good she covers gaps, goes and gets’em, and shoestrings ‘em, Leslie has won a softball scholarship at SUNY Albany, a Division I school, next year. O’Donnell is very impressed with Leslie’s achievement saying Division I scholarships are very tough to get.

Flanking her in left field is senior Cyndi Carnaghi, the Hudson River Bandit, and another four year starter for Ted. He describes Cyndi as having a good arm and a good glove.

Cyndi, he says, played on an elite fall softball team, the Jersey Girls playing clubs in Delaware, California, Texas and Florida.

Out in right field is senior Kara Younkin in her second year on the varsity. A member of O’Donnell’s Rockland Stix summer team, he describers her as very committed.

A freshman making the team this year is the Little League standout, Candace Abbott, and Illinois native, who performed extraordinarily in the Little League Senior Softball Division last year.

Virginia swing coming up.

The team will be traveling to Virginia the weekend of March 23, to start a spring training swing playing top teams in the South to get ready for their opener April 5 at Ossining.

O’Donnell’s White Plains Fastpitch organization funds the trip through his clinics and fundraisers to charter a bus to take the team on down. The coach describes the Virginia Swing as a great bonding experience, good training conditions, and stimulating competition.

“The weather there is a little warmer. We get to play teams we would never see normally. Virginia’s got very very tough softball teams,” Ted said. “I set the games up against the top teams they have to offer. Last year we didn’t score a run in any of the scrimmages. But we were competitive. But that’s how good the pitching was. They’re a few weeks ahead of us, but we ended up the number 2 Class A ranked team last year and lost 2-0, and really played well.”

A Tougher League Awaits

This year the league has been trimmed to include the usual suspects: New Rochelle, Ursuline, Mamaroneck, Scarsdale, and stranger in town, Yorktown has joined the league.

Dropping out of the league are the weaker clubs: Mount Vernon, Gorton, Roosevelt and Lincoln. It will mean playing five competitive teams twice instead of the Yonkers schools which were usually breathers in the schedule. It will be tougher to win it all. But the Tigers love good competition.

O’Donnell has also scheduled Pascack Valley, the Horace Greeley Tournament, North Rockland, Arlington, and wraps up the season with the Morabito Tournament which he describes as the top high school tournament in New York State, with Horseheads, Cornwall or John Jay as scheduled opponents.

O’D’S OTHER CLUB, THE ROCKLAND STIX: Many players from his Tiger roster, played in the AAU Nationals in the summer of 2001, splitting 8 games against what O’Donnell described as “all-star teams” from around the country. They enjoy playing the best. The season of 2002 is the last year White Plains will be able to see this great team together. Enjoy them. They will be talked about for years to come in terms of “Remember when?”
Photo Courtesy, Ted O’Donnell, White Plains Tigers


“Good Job”: the Praise that Pays.

Coach O’Donnell closed our talk expressing his admiration and respect for the dedication and commitment to the game that his players have shown him over the years.

He said they were totally unselfish, outstanding individuals, dedicated, who are dedicated to filling whatever role is asked of them. They just win, baby.

The quietest bench in softball.

A factor in the Tigers’ poise is the way O’Donnell manages them: He never yells at them for a mistake.

O’Donnell once told me that raising your voice at a player makes them unwilling to risk getting yelled at again. He feels yelling at the girls makes them tentative, afraid to make the same effort, or a greater effort for the next chance or at bat, or next pitch, in fear of failure.

Yelling just insults them, he feels. Instead, he always attempts to say what they did well first, before making a suggestion on how they could execute better next shot.

The “Good Job” Coach.

O’Donnell’s trademark chatter during the game is “Good job. Good job. Good effort. Good eye.” with a lot of “get-em next time’s.” He rarely ever loses his control during a game.

His total emotional balance is reflected in his players’ demeanor. Players do not question his moves. They do not pout when taken out or substituted.

There have been a lot of “Good Job’s” the last six years.

Make your plans to see the best.

The Home Opener at O’Donnell’s Bluff at the High School is April 8 against Scarsdale at 4:15 PM. You all come on out.

The White Plains Tigers Varsity Softball Schedule

March 23-26: Virginia Swing
Friday, April 5: At Ossining, 4:15
Saturday, April 6: at Minisink Scrimmages
Monday, April 8: SCARSDALE, 4:15
Monday, April 15: ROOSEVELT, 4:15
Thursday, April 18: NEW ROCHELLE, 4:15
Friday, April 19: MOUNT VERNON, 4:15
Monday, April 22: CLARKSTOWN NORTH, 4:15
Thursday, April 25: at Ursuline, 4:15
Saturday, April 27: The Horace Greeley Tournament Doubleheader at Horace Greeley
Sunday, April 28: Horace Greeley Tournament Doubleheader at Horace Greeley
Monday, April 29: MAMARONECK, 4:15
Wednesday, May 1: at Yorktown, 4:15
Friday, May 3: at Scarsdale, 4:15
Saturday, May 4: CLARKSTOWN SOUTH, 11:00 AM
Monday, May 6: at New Rochelle, 4:15
Thursday, May 9: URSULINE, 4:15
Saturday, May 11: NORTH ROCKLAND, 11:00 AM
Monday, May 13: at Mamaroneck, 4:15
Wednesday, May 15: YORKTOWN, 4:15
Saturday, May 18: Morabito Tournament, at Port Chester playing Mechanicsville at 9 AM, and Cicero North or Brewster, time TBA
Sunday, May 19: Morabito Tournament, 2 games, times TBA
Friday, May 24: Sectionals Opening Round
Tuesday, May 28: Quarter-Finals
Thursday, May 30: Semi-Finals
Saturday, June 1: Finals

2002 White Plains High SchoolVarsity Softball Team Roster

3 – Jesse Orfe** 12th
11 – Candace Abbott 9th
12 – Cristin Pasqua** 12th
13 – Leslie Busch** 12th
15 – Cyndi Carnaghi 12th
19 – Ciara DiFrancesco 12th
21 – Tara Pollard 10th
26 – Kara Younkin 12th
31 – Kathryn Fitzmaurice 12th
34 – Jessica Isaacs 11th
36 – Kelly O’Neil 10th
Head Coach: Ted O’Donnell
Assistant Coach: John Roselli
** Denotes Co-Captain


Photo by WPCNR

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Common Council Hears First Reading of Police/ Fire Study Authorization

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WPCNR MATINEE NEWS, UPDATED by John F. Bailey, 3/13/02, 2:00 pM EST: After receiving a revised proposal from the Center for Government Research (CGR), the Common Council heard the ordinances authorizing an $84,000 study of the city Police and Fire Departments. No councilperson commented on the revised proposal submitted by CGR last week.
The Council will meet again Friday morning at 8:30 AM to hear the second readings and vote on the authorization of the study that will study the fire and police operations, and exclude emergency services from the study.

No Comment.

Last Wednesday, the council raised the issue of the competency of the CGR-recommended fire department expert, who it was revealed had only managed a volunteer fire department in his work experience.

This troubled the Council.

Councilman Tom Roach discovered this situation, through a routine casual question. Charles Zettek, Jr., Director of Government Management Services, and Project Director for CGR, revealed that his fire department consultant had managed a fire department but not one that was unionized.

Last week, Councilman Robert Greer expressed reservations about an expert passing judgment on a professional, union-run fire department without the experience of running such a department.

Zettek agreed to seek out a fire department consultant with more heavyweight professional fire department background.

Zettek’s most recent proposal issued Friday finds big time fire guy.

In the new proposal, Zettek writes that CGR plans to use James Harrington, described as being “active in the fire services for over 30 years, which included 19 years working for I.S.O., and worked with CGR on the New Rochelle Fire Station Study, as well as having conducted fire department studies as an independent consultant.”

Second “Fire Hire” Sought.

Zettek reports in his final proposal to the Council that “CGR also intends to use a veteran who has served in a large city fire department and has working knowledge of the requirements of the professional fire service in a union environment.”

The proposal as received, we believe on Friday of last week, reports “CGR has several candidates for this service and is currently negotiating with them. The city will be notified of the person selected once that person becomes a part of the CGR team for this project.”

Other Metro Areas to be Studied. Budget Impacts of Alternatives to be Modeled

The CGR study in addition to studying the present Department of Public Safety structure in White Plains, will go to other areas and attempt to find governments similar enough to White Plains, and then identify those factors that are unique to White Plains that have to be considered in any comparison analysis. CGR will identify a range of comparable municipalities to use in the study to put White Plains’ performance, service, cost/performance and cost/service performance parameters into perspective, and relate these parameters to alternative management structures.

Study to provide a model of a separate police and fire department.

CGR is expected in their study to compare the present combined police-fire operation to a “separate Police and Fire department model, and possibly other models, if they appear applicable to the White Plains/New York environment.”

Budgets to be Projected.

The money question is expected to be answered by the study. CGR states, it will be important to use cost and performance data over a multi-year time period and that it plans to develop recommendations based upon an analysis of trends within the comparables, and to make reasonable projections for the next 5 to 10 years.

The study is expected to take 12 weeks.

The Common Council will meet in the Mayor’s Conference Room at City Hall again at 8:30 AM to hear the ordinances a second time.

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