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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators. August 27, 2012:

 During his presentation of the 2012 2^nd Quarter Forecast today, Westchester County Budget Director Lawrence Soule stated that unfunded salary and benefit costs associated with new contract agreements and a loss of revenue from securitization from the tobacco settlement were key components of a staggering $29.7 million deficit the county is facing.

The 2^nd Quarter report was delivered this morning to the Budget & Appropriations (B&A) Committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL). Especially frustrating to the Democratic committee members was that significant portions of this newly discovered deficit were included in the initial budget requests made by the County Department of Corrections and Public Safety.

When the 2012 County Budget was adopted and signed into law, there were no projected deficits and a 0% rise in the tax levy. Not only was the $18 million in salary and benefit costs not included in the budget presented to the BOL, but the Administration confidently listed $12 million in revenue from tobacco securitization, which the County is not going to receive.

In contrast to the 2^nd Quarter Report last year, Soule noted that, net of the tax levy difference, the County was projecting a $6 million deficit—and sounded the alarms significantly enough to cause Moody’s Investors Service to place the County on a negative watch.

Today, though, Soule said there was “no reason to hit the panic button”—even in light of two major financial gaffes by the Budget Director and Administration that are resulting in a $29.7 million deficit, nearly five times larger than last year’s 2^nd Quarter forecast.

“The piper will have to be paid,” said Soule today during his report, and acknowledged that he was hoping to identify spending cuts that can be proposed to the BOL.

“This Administration kept us in the dark about the contracts it was negotiating and did not request any added funding for two departments that were going to need it,” said Legislator MaryJane Shimsky (D-Hastings-on-Hudson). “On top of that, it relied on twelve million dollars of non-existent revenue. It’s time for the Administration to quit playing politics and present to Westchester residents a factual and transparent budget.”

One bright spot in the 2^nd Quarter forecast is that the Department of Social Services (DSS) is projecting $7.9 million less in expenses and a $2.8 million return to tax levy. This demonstrates that there is more than adequate funding in DSS to retain the parent share at 20% for child care subsidies for low-income working parents.

“Today’s presentation makes it clear that the Administration will try to correct some of its budget deficit by dipping into the Social Services surplus, which is just heartbreaking,” said Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the BOL Government Operations Committee. “Our human infrastructure investments in programs like public health and child care are right for Westchester. These programs should not be a place where we look to fix a structurally unbalanced budget. To put it simply, budgets should not be balanced on the backs of children and hard-working families.”

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR ROVING PHOTOGRAPHER. AUGUST 27, 2012:

An enterprising bicyclist decided to take the direct route north in Westchester County which this reporter believes prohibits bicyclists and pedestrians. Nevertheless, this intrepid cyclists noting the usual 2 mile standstill of northbound traffic going intothe Cross County parkway interchange, choose to peddle the Hutchinson River Parkway northbound.

He was doing very nicely until the ever-vigilant Westchester County Police swung into action and pulled the biker over.The unique, alert pull-over occurred at 5:44 P.M.Sunday afternoon on the Hutchinson River Parkway and was captured by the ever-alert companion to this reporter,Brenda Starr.

A Westchester County  Police patrol car responded to the intrepid cyclist interloper, the police officer, maneuvering carefully on the paved shoulder, approached, lights flashing pulling the cyclist over.Perhaps he only gave the bicyclist a warning. Photos by Brenda Starr on the Brenda Phone, the WPCNR Roving Photographer

Kirin O’Leary of the Westchester County Police said the bicyclist could have been issued a summons for driving a “restricted vehicle” on the parkway. O’Leary said that it is a New York State Law that restricts bicyclists from using parkways. He was checking to see what the penalty if any, is for riding a bicycle on a county highway. O’Leary said bicyclists could ride from the Bronx to the Putnam County border on the County Trailway that begins in Yonkers

Brenda wonders since bicyclists do not require a Bicylers License (now there’s a revenue -raiser to ease the new Tappan Zee Bridge toll!), and bicycles do not require bicycle license plates (Governor slaps forehead! Why didn’t I think of that?), and bicyclers will be accommodated on the new Tappan Zee Bridge, regulation of bicyclists, bicyle registration, and a Bureau of Bicycles are idea whose time is now.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER From the Westchester County Department of Communications. August 24, 2012:

In a news release Thursday, Westchester County said it would move ahead to reintroduce legislation that would require owners of affordable housing to accept Section 8 Vouchers without question. The County Executive had previously refused to consider such legislation.The county faced a possibility of being charged with contempt of court.

This move comes after a county appeal still not decided, of the Housing and Urban Development directive to do so as part of a housing settlement in the Astorino administration ongoing fight against HUD positions on the the county’s settlement on providing 750 units affordable housing.

County Executive Robert Astorino outlined the county’s dispute with HUD on constitutional grounds Wednesday evening before over 100 persons in a Town Meeting in White Plains.

The release details the reasons for moving ahead with the Section 8 mandatory acceptance legislation. The County Executive is also fighting HUD on its demand county cities and towns remove all restrictive zoning.

The release:

            In the letter to James Johnson, the monitor, Astorino makes the following points:

·        The county is well ahead of schedule in meeting the benchmarks for building the 750 units of affordable housing required in the 2009 housing settlement signed by former County Executive Andrew J. Spano and ratified by the Board of Legislators.

·        The county believes its appeal before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals will vindicate its position that the federal government’s demands go far beyond the terms of the settlement.

·        The county’s actions continue to demonstrate its compliance with the terms of the settlement.

            “Our case continues,” Astorino said. “The arguments we have made to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals are strong and grounded in the principles that are fundamental to our Constitution. While I think it would have made much more common sense for the government to wait until the Second Circuit rules in the case, the District Court has told me to move forward on source of income legislation and I am compelled to follow the order of the judge.”

            The letter to Johnson addresses the three points in Judge Cote’s order: reintroduction of source of income legislation, followed by analysis and signing of the legislation.

·        On point one, the county executive will submit a letter to Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins by Aug. 31, asking him to have the board reintroduce the prior source of income legislation that had been before the board.

·        On point two, the administration will provide information and assist the board in analyzing the impact of the legislation.

·        On point three, the county executive will wait to see the final legislation before making a determination of whether he will sign it because its content will not be known until then.

            The last point is at the heart of the county’s legal case. The county maintains there is nothing in the settlement that requires the county executive to sign source of income legislation – the agreement says only that he must “promote” it. In addition, the county believes the source of income requirement expired in 2009 because legislation referenced in the settlement was “currently” before the board at that time.

            “To compel an elected official to sign legislation sight unseen and to give up his or her responsibility to vote his conscience goes against everything our country stands for,” Astorino said. “We don’t think the settlement says that, and that is one of the issues we are fighting in court.”

            Astorino has taken a principled stand against source of income legislation because he believes it would take away the rights of property owners and hurt the prospects of building affordable housing. At the heart of the legislation is the requirement that property owners must accept Section 8 vouchers as rent. The program now is voluntary. If made mandatory, every property owner offered a Section 8 vouchers would be required to accept it and be bound by all the rules and regulations and potential fines attached to the program.

            Astorino stressed, “I will continue to abide by all lawful orders of the Court in effect at any given time.”

            The 2009 housing settlement requires the county government to take steps to ensure that 750 units of fair and affordable housing are built in 31 so-called “eligible,” or mostly white communities.

            Just this week, the county exceeded the two key benchmarks for the end of 2012; it has in place 130 building permits and secured financing for 207 units. The settlement required 125 building permits and 200 units with financing by the end of the year.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators.(Supplemented by WPCNR) August 21,2012;

A resolution for an independent audit of Playland, the 280-acre amusement park and beach facility owned and operated by Westchester County, received approval today by the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) Government Operations Committee and will now be set for a full vote at the BOL’s next regular meeting on September 10.

The resolution, was supported only by the Democratic legislators on the committee. The call for an independent audit implies that administration reports of Playland being 10% off in revenues has left out important sources of revenue.

In midsummer, Astorino gave legislators a grim report. He even told CBS Radio “Cash strapped Westchester losing $3 to 5 Million a year on Rye Playland is no longer going to be an option,” and that trend in losses is likely to continue. A decison on the park future will be made in September.

The resolution authorizes BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers) to employ an independent financial firm to audit and review the actual revenues and expenses of Playland along with the current procedures in place to ensure proper and accurate compilation of the data; and instructs the Budget Director and the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Conservation to provide the professional auditors with all information and documentation requested.

“This is a thirteen million dollar a year business that deserves a full financial and operational audit so that legislators can make informed decisions about Playland’s future,” said Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the BOL Government Operations Committee. “With this in mind, it is entirely prudent that we start planning for an audit right now.”

The County Charter mandates that the BOL “investigate the official conduct and the accounts, receipts, disbursements, bills and affairs of any office or officer of the county, or of any office or officer of any special county district or other unit of county government, and make such studies or investigations as it deems to be in the best interests of the county,” as well as “employ such…financial or other technical advisers as may be necessary from time to time, in relation to the performance of any of the functions of county government.”

WPCNR notes the cost of Playland’s deficit, that the Astorino administration has been wringing its hands over for the last 2 and a half years, apparently did not stop the county from spending $6.7 million (approximately two years of Playland’s revenue shortfalls) to ready the bathhouses for a Children’s Museum and giving that museum a $1 a year lease with no financial resources as yet revealed by the museum’s backers.

Ned McCormick, Director of Communications for the County Executive told WPCNR this month that the museum would have to demonstrate their financial resources before the County Committee on Contracts and Acquisitions would approve the lease. If that lease is denied, of course, it would mean the county wasted that $6.4 Million paid to fix the bathhouses that a developer could have paid for.

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U.S. Attorney Bharara said, “Money is the lifeblood of terrorist and narcotics organizations, and while banks which launder money for terrorists and narco-traffickers may be located abroad, today’s announcement demonstrates that those banks and their assets are not beyond our reach. We will use every resource at our disposal to separate terrorists and narco-traffickers, and the banks that work with them, from their illicit funds, even those hidden in foreign accounts.”

DEA Administrator Leonhart said, “As we alleged last year, the Lebanese Canadian Bank played a key role in facilitating money laundering for Hizballah-controlled organizations across the globe.

“Our relentless pursuit of global criminal networks showed that the U.S. banking system was exploited to launder drug trafficking funds through West Africa and into Lebanon. DEA and our partners are attacking these groups and their financial infrastructure while establishing clear links between drug trafficking proceeds and terrorist funding.”

According to the complaint, the affidavit in support of the seizure warrants and other documents filed in the case:

From approximately January 2007 to early 2011, at least $329 million was transferred by wire from LCB and other financial institutions to the United States for the purchase of used cars that were then shipped to West Africa. Cash from the sale of the cars, along with the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, were funneled to Lebanon through Hizballah-controlled money laundering channels.

LCB played a key role in these money laundering channels and conducted business with a number of Hizballah-related entities. Hizballah is a U.S. Department of State designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, a Specially Designated Terrorist, and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

On Feb. 10, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a finding and proposed rule under provisions of the USA Patriot Act that LCB is a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, based on among other things FinCEN’s determination that there was reason to believe that LCB had been routinely used by drug traffickers and money launderers operating in various countries in Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. FinCEN also determined that there was reason to believe that LCB managers were complicit in the network’s money laundering activities.

After the FinCEN action, another Lebanese financial institution, SGBL, acquired the assets and liabilities of LCB for $580 million, $150 million of which is being held in an escrow account at BLF (the “LCB escrow funds”). Because the LCB escrow funds are traceable to the assets of LCB, they are also subject to forfeiture; but since they are in an account in Lebanon, the United States is unable to seize the LCB escrow funds directly.

However, under U.S. law, the United States can seize funds located in a bank’s correspondent accounts in the United States if there is probable cause to believe that funds subject to forfeiture are on deposit with that bank overseas. Based on this provision and others, the seizure warrants were executed. A total of $150 million was seized from BLF’s correspondent account. These funds will be transferred to a seized asset account maintained by the U.S. Marshals Service pending resolution of the forfeiture action.

U.S. Attorney Bharara thanked the DEA for its leadership and praised the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force for its outstanding work on this investigation, which he noted is ongoing. The strike force is comprised of agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the New York State Police, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Marshals Service, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

The strike force is partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is a federally funded crime fighting initiative. U.S. Attorney Bharara also thanked the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the FBI, and the New Jersey State Police for their assistance.

This matter is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sharon Cohen Levin, Michael Lockard, Jason Cowley, and Alexander Wilson are in charge of the case.