Board of Ed Gets Out Worry Beads on the Budget — Money Meetings Ahead

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 17, 2009 UPDATED 4:51 P.M.: While White Plains schools are closed this week for winter vacation, the School Board will be worrying about the budget. They will be wondering how many “ObamaBucks”Governor David Paterson’s New York State Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet will be floating down the Hudson River to White Plains, and of course, whether or not the legislature will ease the Governor’s stealth property tax increase via his suggested cut of 18%  off STAR Basic and Enhanced Exemptions.


Meanwhile the Board of Education is sticking by its request of outgoing Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors to slice more off the $190.3 M School Expense Budget submitted two weeks ago. 


Here is the schedule of upcoming meetings:


The Governor’s “manna distributors” in his Reinvestment Cabinet will have $1.7 Billion to distribute statewide to school districts spread over 2009-2010 and 2010-11, according to the Governor’s news release last week. The funding will be provided directly to school districts through the State Education Department, subject to specific federal formulas. The state also has $7 Million to distribute for education of homeless children; and $61 Million for education technology to share.


Meanwhile, the legislature according to Assemblyman Adam Bradley is attempting to restore cuts to the STAR Basic and Enhanced Exemptions “floor” which exacted a hidden property tax increase last year, forcing White Plains residents to pay for about 75% of their increased state education aid the school district received last year and claimed enabled them to cut taxes. Actually the increased state education aid given White Plains last year resulted in a school property tax increase. 


The 18% cut  in the STAR Basic and Enhanced Exemption floors which Governor Paterson’s office has suggested for  the 2009-2010 budget would mean about $109 Million less in reimbursements to school districts, which would be paid instead by state property tax payers,  according the Geoffrey Gloak of the Office of Real Property Services. 


Here are the big meetings coming up, released by the School District today:


 


            The next meeting of the Board Finance/Audit Committee will take place to discuss the Superintendent’s proposal prior to the meeting on the budget prior to the crictical Monday night, February 23 proposal:


 


                        Monday, February 23rd,  Board Finance/Audit Committee 5:30 P.M. at Education House — Open


 


            February 23:     Special Meeting, Education House, 7:30 P.M. The Superintendent of Schools is expected to unveil the Preliminary Budget — cut from the $190.3 Million figure now in play.


                                                   


                        February 25:     Special Meeting, High School B-1 Room, 7:30 P.M.


                                                     Community Budget Forum: The public will be presented with the budget that the Board settles on based on the February 23 meeting.


 


                        March 9:          Regular Meeting, Education House, 7:30 P.M.


                                                     (Note change of location from listing in calendar)


 


           


 

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Somebody’s Polling Me. I Wonder Who?

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WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. By John F. Bailey. February 16, 2009: The calls are going out. Pointed, probing telephone polls with questions  of White Plains voters asking residents how they feel about four key White Plains personalities, positive or negative are being conducted this past weekend.


 


The personalities are Adam Bradley, the assemblyman who is officially undecided about running for Mayor of White Plains; Bill Ryan, the Chair of the County Board of Legislators, viewed as perhaps hurt politically by his touting raises for himself and county legislators, and for tolerating Gary Kriss, the dismissed former spokesperson for the County Board of Legislators and assistant to Mr. Ryan, and Andrew Spano the  Westchester County Executive, and one non-Democrat, the three term Mayor of White Plains Joseph Delfino.


 


Conspicuous by their absence from the poll are Benjamin Boykin, Thomas Roach and Rita Malmud and Glen Hockley, Common Councilpersons with extensive experience on the council.


 



County Executive Andy Spano February 2009 — Performance Being Polled


 



Chair of the Board of Legislators, White Plains’ Bill Ryan — Performance Ratings Sought.


 



Assemblyman Adam Bradley of White Plains — Approval Ratings Asked.


 



The Target? Or a Challenger for Andy Spano:  Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains — Rating of the Mayor’s Performance Being Asked for. Asked Monday if the Mayor had ruled out a run for County Executive, Mayor Delfino in a statement to WPCNR said , “He had not ruled it out.”


 


 


 


 


 


According to persons who have received these calls, the questions asked them asked “my feelings toward” each of the political personalities  “positive or negative” in terms of a percentage.


 


In addition, the poll, our correspondents said asked their opinion of the White Plains Common Council “as a whole” “positive or negative” in terms of a percentage.


 


And finally, the poll asked the pollee their “attitude toward development,” whether development had been based on “good planning”  and whether or not they felt developers had “gotten too many” breaks.


 


The poll appears to be testing the waters perhaps by the undecided  Mr. Ryan and the undecided Mr. Bradley, about the vulnerability of Mr. Delfino among Democratic voters, though it is unclear whether voters of both parties are being polled. Nevertheless the calls are going out. 


 


 The poll also asked pollees  to rate  the Common Council performance.


 



The popular Tom Roach — voter ratings of him not sought in poll.


 



The Council President, Benjamin Boykin, ten years on the Council — His popularity not sought by poll.


 



Rita Malmud, twenty years of Council experience — Voter Rating Not Polled.


 


Benjamin Boykin, and Tom Roach, two possible Democratic Mayoral candidates from the Common Council ranks may be being tested here by this Common Council question. 


 


Roach, with eight years on the council,  Boykin with ten  years on the council, and Rita Malmud, a councilperson with twenty years  of experience behind the Common Council ballustrades not even being asked for ratings among voters is curious. If this is a Mayor poll testing the waters for Ryan and Bradley, if I were Mr. Boykin, Mr. Roach, and Mrs. Malmud I’d be miffed.


 



Glen Hockley Seven Years Experience on Council — Not Analyzed by Poll


 


More interesting is why the Democrats, if this is a Democrat-sponsored poll, would not get a bead on the Hockley strength.  They may be lulled into a false sense of security by their recent primary drubbing of Mr. Hockley in the District Leader challenge primary last September.


 


If Hockley should wrangle nomination for say County Legislator running against Mr. Ryan, or running for Mayor on the Working Families Ticket, or for his Council Seat as a Working Families Party or Republican candidate, he could draw votes from the Democrat Mayoral nominee. The Democrats should remember when Nick Beilenson lost to Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio when Michael Keating split the Democratic vote.


 


Development only issue polled.


 


 


There are three questions of the development issue — seeming to get at whether running anti-development is a major issue of substance in the city. What is surprising is there is no question on city finances or city property taxes. 


 


One question asks the pollees What is your attitude about developoment in the city. That is followed up by a question as to whether the city development had “good planning” and how the pollee feels about how the city was developed. 


 


 


At this point it is unclear who is funding this extensive poll whether it is the County Democratic Party, or the Democratic City Committee, the County Republican Committee, or perhaps Mr. Boykin, or even the loan wolf of the Common Council, Glen Hockley, whose desire to become the Mayor is well known, though Mr. Hockley is not mentioned in the survey.


 


The Mayor’s Office said Monday that Mayor Delfino and none of his supporting organizations were conducting this poll.


 


Paul Schwarz of the White Plains City Democratic Committee said his Committee was not paying for the poll.


 


 

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Governor Details $24 Billion in Stimulus for NY

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From The Governor’s Press Office. February  16, 2009 Governor David A. Paterson announced Saturday that a preliminary analysis of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act shows New York can expect to receive at least $24.6 billion over the next two years. This critical legislation will provide significant funding for State fiscal relief, as well as for education aid, infrastructure projects, direct benefits to low income and unemployed New Yorkers, and other critical priorities.


“With New York State at the epicenter of a nationwide financial crisis, I have been working for months with governors around the country advocating for federal aid to help states weather the current economic storm,” said Governor Paterson.  “I am grateful to Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, Congressman Rangel and the entire New York Congressional Delegation for taking swift action on President Obama’s economic recovery agenda.


 



“However, this funding does not absolve us of our responsibility at the state level to bring spending in line with what our government can afford over the long term,” Governor Paterson continued. “We still have to address a $13 billion deficit next year and a multi-year deficit of over $48 billion. Most of these recovery funds will be spent within two years, in some instances, sooner. Therefore, this federal stimulus legislation does not in any way diminish the need to reevaluate our operations and produce a smarter, less costly, more efficient government.”


Governor Paterson this week created the New York State Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet to manage the development of State and local infrastructure projects financed through these federal funds. The cabinet will be composed of State agency heads and senior members of the Governor’s staff, and will work closely with local governments to ensure federal dollars reach critical projects and put people to work as quickly as possible.


Senior Advisor for Infrastructure and Transportation Timothy J. Gilchrist, who leads the Cabinet, said: “These funds will allow critical infrastructure projects to progress at a time when state and local governments cannot move these projects forward alone. Now we must work with local officials to outline an aggressive agenda to ensure that the State utilizes these funds quickly and efficiently, for job-creating projects with lasting value across the State.”


National Overview


Overall, the national cost of the provisions included in the legislation is expected to total $789 billion. This includes approximately $463 billion in spending and $326 billion in tax cuts. Of the $463 billion in spending, $374 billion is for programs that directly impact our State.  New York is expect to receive $24.6 billion of that funding.  


State and Local Fiscal Relief


Several portions of the federal stimulus legislation will provide direct fiscal relief to State and local governments, many of which are addressing significant budget deficits. Some of these major provisions include the following:


Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP)


The stimulus bill provides a total of $87 billion in fiscal relief through increased Medicaid reimbursements (FMAP). New York’s share of that funding (which includes funding for the State, counties, and the City of New York) is nearly $11 billion over a 27-month period – $1.9 billion in 2008-09, $5.0 billion in 2009-10, and $4.2 billion in 2010-11.


Based on preliminary analysis, it is expected that approximately 70 percent of this relief will accrue to the State and the remainder will be provided to local governments.


Education


The legislation includes a State fiscal stabilization fund that totals $53.6 billion over two years, which primarily consists of funding for education.


There are three main components of this fund.



  • Education Restorations.  New York is expected to receive $2.5 billion out of a total of $39.5 billion that will be provided to restore proposed reductions in funding for education. The federal legislation requires that this money be used for that purpose.  It is expected that half of the $2.5 billion will be committed in 2009-10 and the remainder in 2010-11.


  • Flexible Relief.  New York is expected to receive $556 million out of a national total of $8.8 billion provided for other fiscal relief to state governments over the next two years. Like FMAP, this funding would be flexible and can be dedicated to support any government service.

 



  • Incentive Grants.  An additional $5 billion in education grants will be available for states meeting key performance measures as determined by the United States Department of Education. While the amount New York would receive is subject to the grant awarding process, we expect that New York will be in a strong competitive position to receive substantial funding.

 


Other Education Funding


New York is expected to receive $940 million out of a total of $13 billion in Title I funding for high needs students and $760 million out of a total of $12.2 billion in IDEA funding for special education over the next two years.  Both of these funds would be split roughly evenly between the next two fiscal years. This funding will be provided directly to school districts through the State Education Department subject to specific federal formulas over which the State has no discretion.


Other major education funding for New York includes increasing the maximum award for Pell Grants by $500 (National Share: $15.6 billion, State Share: $180 million), and providing substantial increased support for education technology (National Share: $650 million, State Share: $61 million) and the education of homeless children (National Share: $70 million, State Share: $7 million).


Infrastructure and Energy


The stimulus legislation delivers substantial support for infrastructure projects. At the national level, this includes $48 billion in funding for transportation capital projects ($8.4 billion for mass transit, $27.5 billion for highways and bridges, $9.3 billion for rail, $1.3 billion for airport improvement projects; $1.5 billion for discretionary surface transportation projects). Of this total, New York is expected to receive at least $1.25 billion for the mass transit and $1.1 billion for highways and bridges. The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet will be working with State agencies and local governments to aggressively seek funding from other sources of transportation funding.


The legislation also includes $16.8 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and technologies, including research and development. New York will receive $126 million through the State Energy Program and $31 million in alternative energy block grants. It provides $4.5 billion for energy research and development projects nationwide, including $2.0 billion for energy storage technologies, which could provide funding for the Governor’s proposed battery storage consortium. 


New York State is also projected to receive $435 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund; $85 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund; and $404 million to help weatherize the homes of low-income individual.


Other Major Spending Provisions


The federal legislation will also provide funding for a number of other critical initiatives over the next two years. New York is expected to receive $1.3 billion in enhanced food stamp benefits; $1.3 billion to fund 33-week expansion of unemployment benefits (to a total of 59 weeks), as well as provide additional weekly benefits through December 31, 2009 instead of March 31, 2009; and $100 million for child care services for low-income individuals.


In addition the federal legislation provides funding for several programs that will be administered at the federal level.  The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet is analyzing the legislation to identify programs that the State and local governments can take apply for funding.

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Photograph of the Day

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. February 16, 2009: Today’s shot highlights frostbite sailors off the entrance of Mamaroneck Harbor Sunday afternoon.


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Mayor to Brief Council on State of Exchequer. No Union layoffs w/o Consent

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. February 14, 2009: In response to repeated inquiries about specific cuts department-by-department in White Plains, rumors of job cuts, and rumors of city hall closings, the Mayor’s Office issued a statement to WPCNR Friday evening declaring that a briefing on the state of the city finances would be given to the Common Council next Thursday evening, February 19.


The statement from Melissa Lopez, the Mayor’s media spokesperson reads: ” (at) the Common Council meeting on Feb 19 the council will be updated on all budget concerns.

He (Paul Wood, City Executive Officer,  also said that, “legaly, contractually, we cannot cut union jobs mid year without an agreement from the unions.”

Mayor Delfino wants to preserve jobs not make cuts so we are continuing to speak to the unions about various alternatives that cannot be disclosed right now.”


At the Council of Neighborhood Associations meeting this week, Augie Zicca, reporting on the state of the Department of Public Safety told delegates present that the firefighters loved their new 24-hour shifts, there had been no absentees, and no overtime. He also told the CNA, the department was a full strength and that there would be no layoffs.   


The city has been working on cutting the city budget since early December, but has not issued a specific overview of all cuts and savings, though noting cuts of approximately 25 part-time personnel at the White Plains Library, the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Department of Public Works. This week the annual Camp Chill camp for ice-skaters at Ebersole Rink was not held, apparently because of budget cuts at the Department of Recreation and Parks, despite earlier reports that no programs would be cut as a result of the layoffs.

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Looking at the Long Tall Lean Guy from Illinois

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 WPCNR’s The Daily Bailey. By John F. Bailey. February 12, 2009 Reprinted from the WPCNR Archives: Today marks the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, whose Presidential performance during the Civil War (1861-1865) was perhaps the most admirable of any American President. He had to create things as he went, dealing with a complex political issue: slavery, while deciding to fight a war to preserve a divided nation.


How did Abraham Lincoln handle pressure and political opportunists? He did not have press agents and spinmasters and talk show hosts and superior punditry critiquing his every move and loading him up with advice. 


Though he did have the “crusading editors” and “editorial boards” of his day.  Let’s take a look at the Big Guy  from Illinois:





 

In the days of Lincoln, media coverage was simply print media, however, the amount of reporting on the burning issues of the day was far more detailed than today with dozens of newspapers presenting the chronicles of burning issues. For Lincoln’s presidency was the presidency of the nation’s greatest crisis in its eighty-five year history:


The Civil War.


 It is interesting to note how President Lincoln conducted himself in dealing with America’s interests, its factions, pulling him to free the slaves.

When Lincoln was running for the Presidency in 1860 at the Republican Convention in riproaring Chicago, he was up against James Seward, a powerful New York politician. However, the western states at the time were highly distrustful of the New York political machine. Lincoln won over support by taking a position of what was good for the nation as a whole.

Taking a Position and Working To it

Lincoln first gave notice of his potential for the Presidency when he impressed Horace Greeley, influential editor of the New York Tribune with a fiery speech at the Cooper Union in February, 1860, delivering a sharp criticism of the South, hard on the heels of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. The speech included these words,

You say you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! (The northern states) That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, “Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!”

Greeley printed the speech in his Tribune the next day, scooping the other New York papers, by simply asking Lincoln for a copy of the speech. The subsequent printing in the popular Trib, sent Mr. Lincoln on his way. As William Harlan Hale’s biography of Mr. Greeley (Horace Greeley: Voice of the People)describes the scene at “The original Trib’s” offices, as remembered by Amos Cummings, a young proofreader:

Amos Cummings, then a young proofreader, remembered the lanky westerner appearing over his shoulder amid the noise of the pressroom late at midnight, drawing up a chair, adjusting his spectacles, and in the glare of the gaslight reading each galley (of the Cooper Union speech) with scrupulous care and then rechecking his corrections, oblivious to his surroundings.

A Comeback President

Lincoln had been a highly successful politician from Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s. He was three times elected to the state legislature, and The Kunhardts’ The American Presidency reports he was “a recognized expert at forming collations…he learned how to keep secrets, how to trade favors, how to use the press to his advantage. And he cultivated his relationship with the party hierarchy.”

Graff’s book writes that Lincoln was described as “ruthless,” that he “handled men remotely like pieces on a chessboard.” Humor and frankness were character traits.

Lincoln was elected a congressman, only to serve just one term.

Lincoln had been practicing corporate law privately and had lost interest in politics by 1854, until the repeal of The Missouri Compromise, which had restricted slavery to the southern states. Lincoln felt stirred to come back. He spoke out against the spread of slavery, running for the senate in 1858 against William Douglas, unsuccessfully.

Saving the Union His Mantra

As the furor over slavery and the South’s threats to secede grew, a crisis of spirit and purpose in this nation which makes today’s concerns about terrorism as a threat to America, pale in comparison, Lincoln realized that the Union was the larger issue. He expressed this in response to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, an influential figure at the Republican (Whig) Convention in Chicago in 1860. Greeley was the kingmaker at the 1860 Chicago convention who eventually swung the western states for Lincoln, giving the man from Illinois the nomination on the third ballot over William Seward, the candidate of the Thurlow Weed “New York Machine.”

Greeley then tried to influence the President-Elect to free the slaves. (Lincoln was being lobbied by the still-powerful Weed-Seward faction to compromise with the southern states on the issue of slavery).

Standing Tall Against Pressure.

Lincoln refused to free the slaves as one of the first acts of his presidency, standing firm to hold the union together, when he announced his attention not to do so, on his way to Washington after being elected. His words in this time of international tension, are worth remembering as America considers starting a war for the first time. Lincoln said:

I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy (the Union, he means), so long together. It was not the mere matter of separation of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the single people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.

Seeing the Big Picture.

After Fort Sumter was fired upon, Lincoln was pressured harder to free the slaves. Still, Lincoln held firm. Mr. Greeley published a blistering open letter to the President, he called “The Letter of Twenty Millions,” meaning his readers (slightly exaggerated)in The New York Tribune. Greeley’s letter took the President to task for not freeing the slaves now that the Civil War was on, writing, “all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile.”

President Lincoln responded with an open letter which Greeley published in The Tribune. President Lincoln’s letter is instructive as to how a President moves in crisis, when a nation is ripped apart to calm and state his position. He begins with a conciliatory tone, calming Greeley’s bombast:

…If there be perceptible in it (Greeley’s letter) an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing,” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution.

The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be – the Union as it was.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.

If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it – if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it – and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.

What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.

I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.

I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be new views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my views of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free, Yours

A. Lincoln

Wearied by War

Horace Greeley described the toll the Civil War had taken on Mr. Lincoln, seeing him in person shortly beforeGeneral Lee surrendered. Greeley wrote:

Lincoln’s face had nothing in it of the sunny, gladsome countenance he first brought from Illinois. It is now a face haggard with care and seamed with thought and trouble…tempest-tossed and weatherbeaten, as if he were some tough old mariner who had for years been beating up against the wind and tide, unable to make his port or find safe anchorage…The sunset of life was plainly looking out of his kindly eyes.”



Note: In recognition of Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday Monday, WPCNR reprints this column about perhaps the greatest President of them all.

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City of White Plains Idling Less, Reducing Carbon Footprint!

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From The Mayor’s Office. February 11, 2009: White Plains Mayor Joseph M. Delfino announced today that a city practice is cited as one of “5 Ways to Turn Traffic Greener” in the February issue of AAA New York’s Car & Travel Monthly.  “The article deals with what government can do to improve fuel economy, cut greenhouse gasses and boost safety, it and praises White Plains for having computer synchronized traffic lights in place for years,” said Mayor Delfino.  “If you were to visit Traffic Commissioner Tom Soyk’s office here in City Hall, you’d think you were in NASA’s ground control center.  It’s very high-tech, with screens and monitors showing the actual real-time traffic flow.”

 

 

 

As one of the first Mayors in the nation to sign the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ “Climate Protection Agreement,” Delfino has committed White Plains to reducing its carbon footprint by taking action to reduce the City’s global warming emissions and preserve and enhance its natural environment.  To determine the best means toward that end, Delfino appointed the Green Technology Committee in January 2008.  This advisory committee — comprised of key City staff, private sector architects, engineers, lawyers, planners, developers and contractors, and a representative from each of the Common Council, Planning Board, and Design Review Board — will soon present to the Common Council its recommendations on ways the public and private sectors of White Plains can work individually and collectively to accomplish the Mayor’s objectives.

 

As one forerunner to the Green Technology Committee, the current traffic light system was initiated years ago.  Known nationally for his expertise and cutting-edge innovations in the traffic field, Commissioner Soyk has received numerous awards for blending state-of-the-art technology with sound, common sense practices. “There are many ways that we improve the economy and safety of travel for both drivers and pedestrians in White Plains, but one of the most impressive is our traffic monitoring which feeds data to computers that control the City’s 130 traffic lights,” explained Soyk.  “In responsive mode, the computer can select the optimal signal timing based on conditions and plans we’ve defined and this saves drivers about 900,000 hours in delays and 875 gallons of gas annually.” 

 

When traffic flows as it does in White Plains, decreased idling at lights reduces exhaust emissions and lowers the City’s carbon footprint.  In addition to the benefits to drivers and the environment, Mayor Delfino points out that despite the growth of the city by 7,000 in the last eight years and an ever-increasing traffic volume, “the injury-related collision rate in White Plains is the lowest it’s been since 1969.  For all these reasons, we are so very fortunate to have such a professional Traffic Department managing the traffic operations in our City.”

 

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Party Leader: Democrats Have Not Made Their Choice:

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WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. February 11, 2009: Elizabeth Shollenberger, Chair of the White Plains Democratic City Committee has issued a letter to WPCNR assuring the public no Democrat candidate for Mayor next fall has been decided. Strong rumors had surfaced last week saying that Benjamin Boykin, the Common Council President, was the front runner for the standard bearer to unseat the Delfino Administration after twelve years, and that Adam Bradley the Assemblyman was not the choice. Mr. Bradley contacted by WPCNR after the rumor refused to  confirm, Yes or No,  whether he was interested in running for Mayor. Tuesday he told WPCNR in a wide ranging conversation he would do what he thought would be in the best interests of the people he serves. He also said it was premature. Benjamin Boykin did not respond to a message left at his residence as to whether he was building a strong base of support for the nomination.


Queried on who was in the running, Shollenberger declined to name any possibilities, saying that would be premature, though it is to be taken up next month. Asked what she thought was the major issue the Democrats would run the Delfino Administration, she said “transparency,” saying that the administration did not work with the Common Council and did not let the council in on their planning. She also said the deals the city made with developers the last eight years should have been better negotiated. 


Ms. Shollenberger’s letter::  


 


To the Editor:


 


            You recently ran a story saying that the White Plains Democratic City Committee had already made its choice for Mayor.  Your unnamed “informed sources” are dead wrong.  As the Chair of the group, I can assure you that we have reached no consensus, formal or informal 


 


It’s the first week of February, and the City Committee, not surprisingly, has not yet begun to screen candidates for the 2009 November election, now still nine months away.  When we begin the process, we will let you and other media know.  I assure you that  the party will be fielding a slate of hard-working,  community-minded  Democrats for the local elections, including a strong, intelligent, and experienced mayoral candidate, but we have not yet done so.


 


Liz Shollenberger


 


 


WPCNR notes that what WPCNR actually wrote was “Adam Bradley, widely expected to run for Mayor next year, will not be the City Committee choice to run for Mayor, and that  Councilman Benjamin Boykin is currently the Democrat being groomed to run for Mayor, according to informed sources.”


 


When WPCNR heard these reports, WPCNR  contacted Mr. Bradley to see whether he had informed the City Committee he did not want to run. 


 


 Mr. Bradley would not say he was interested in running for Mayor and a candidate, and would not say that he was not interested either, saying it was too early. Conversation with Mr. Bradley Tuesday indicate he is weighing rather to run for Mayor, but has not made a decision. He feels he has done a lot of good in the Assembly in passing meaningful legislation and appears torn between the opportunity for continued good work in the Assembly, and pressure to run for Mayor.


 


 

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Teacher Leader: Assess Administrators. Smart Cuts. Ideas Lost in Translation

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 10, 2009:  Kerry Broderick, President of the White Plains Teachers Association, addressing the Board of Education last night,  called for the school district to assess the performance of its administrators and district-hired consultants, advocating putting teachers back in charge of their classrooms and listening to the teachers, claiming teachers’ ideas are often “lost in translation.”


 



 


.In a five-minute address to the Board of Education, Kerry Broderick, President of the White Plains Teachers Association gave new evidence of a festering schism that has been driven between teachers and administration by annual almost ritual reinventions of the curriculum to fix test scores and achievement gaps driven by consultants and teacher improvement programs. The thrust of her address was that teachers know best – not outsiders – or administrators who are not in the classroom and that the administration does not want to listen to the teachers  on classroom procedures.


 


The White Plains Teachers (numbering 651) are approaching their second  mediation session with the school district being administered by a New York State Public Employers Relations Board-appointed mediator, scheduled for February 26.. (The teachers have been working without a contract since last June.)


 


Broderick said: “Last September we were aware of the economic fall. Our White Plains Teachers Association focused on the bigger picture that involved the entire community to create a bigger picture that served the best natural resource of White Plains the students of White Plains.


              In November, we reiterated our concerns on spending large amounts of money on so-called experts who have imposed initiatives on teachers with minimal financial support and absolutely no independent assessment on the impact these initiatives have had. We ask the Board (of Education) and administration to please tell the teachers and the community why any assessment has not been done, why it cannot be done.


             I’m here again this evening speaking on behalf of my 651 colleagues.  We are in very difficult economic times. We must work together to make smart cuts and maintain smart spending. We need to maintain the educational gains we have made and to do that we must agree to put our teachers in front of the students, not consultants.


             We have good ideas. Money-saving ideas for program changes. But, alas, our requests are lost in translation. The goals of the White Plains Teachers Association are to maintain the educational quality of this district, to insure our members are treated fairly and the district uses its resources wisely.


             We can only do this when we work in an open and honest environment  where the hard decisions are made collectively in the light of day.”

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Board Approves Contract for New Superintendent. Nothing New on Budget Cuts

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. February 9, 2009 UPDATED 10:00 A.M. E.D.T.: The Board of Education today voted unanimously to hire Dr. Christopher Clouet, currently Superintendent of Schools for New London, Connecticut, as the White Plains Superintendent  for four years through 2013. Clouet told WPCNR the Board of Education has charged him with following out the District Strategic Plan, which Dr. Clouet said was specific. Clouet said he would be “keeping abreast” of  current budget development, but did not anticipate making any suggestions. He said he planned to move to White Plains and become part of the community and participate in White Plains.



“I’m very happy to have this opportunity,” Clouet told WPCNR, and said that when he came on board July 1, one of the first tasks he would undertake is program evaluation.  “I have yet to know all the programs, and I’ll be getting to know them as my first priorty and I’ll be doing an analysis of the programs with the administration. A lot of  what’s right in the White Plains schools is because of the programs.”


Clouet told the audience, “I’m indeed very excited about following the very big footprints  left by Tim Connors. I look forward to the challenge but it will take me awhile before I catch up with what Tim has been able to accomplish here. But I look forward to that challenge, I am delighted to be moving to White Plains with my wife to be a member of the community and to participate on a regular basis, a daily basis, in the schools with parents, students who are here tonight, staff and other members of the community…I’m honored, I look forward to the challenges. I feel very much competitive and up to the challenge, although I know there will be joy and sorrow as there always is in life, but I look forward to that and look forward to being a part of your community.


According to Michele Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board, Dr. Clouet will receive a salary of $210,000 a year for four years (with possibility of the Board increasing the salary). Clouet will also receive a $10,000 allowance for relocation expenses, and will be paying some of his benefits. There is no buyout clause, according to Ms. Schoenfeld. There is also no district payment for purchasing a home , she said.



Donna McLaughlin, President of the Board of Education, paid tribute to the outgoing Superintendent of Schools, Tim Connors, (left), remarking; “Tim will be leaving us soon. Tim has been an unbelievable Superintendent, taking the district to the next level. He came in at a time when we were struggling a little bit (2002), and the district was not very happy with the board. He was very helpful in mending all those fences and bringing everybody together again. At this time, I wanted to say thank you, Tim.”



In other action, the Superintendent of Schools said he would not be submitting a revised Preliminary Budget Monday evening as previously promised. He said he “needed more time” to work with the administration to review how and where cuts were to be made. He said the new preliminary budget would be presented to the Board of Education February 23 and presented to the public February 25 at the second Community Forum.


 


“We’re very excited about bringing Dr. Clouet to the district. We’ve had a long search that started last spring.” McLaughlin said Hazard, Young & Attea, the superintendent search firm the district used, sampled opinion in White Plains and put together a profile of the kind of superintendent White Plains wanted based on that profile. McLoughlin expained:


 


 “They  (Hazard, Young & Attea) did an unbelievable job. They brought in five wonderful candidates that the Board interviewed and narrowed it down to three. We had some other people from the community as well as our staff interview the three finalists. After that we decided on Dr. Clouet. We all were very excited about him. We took a team up to New London School District. It was wonderful. The people up there were wonderful. Dr. Clouet has surrounded himself with terrific staff. They’ve done a lot up in that area. We were very very impressed. Then Dr. Clouet came and spent the day in our district, and I know I’ve gotten a lot of wonderful feedback from everybody here and I know Dr. Clouet enjoyed his stay with us.”


 


McLaughlin cited no accomplishments that Dr. Clouet has achieved in citing the reasons for the Board decision. Clouet, according to WPCNR research has improved performance in the New London elementary schools, while the schools are still struggling to meet state standards. (See previous stories on the New London School District)


A WPCNR source who had interviewed the three finalists, said that one candidate did not demonstrate knowledge of their district to their satisfaction, and the third whom they expected to be impressive did not interview well, whatever that means. The source said Dr. Clouet was by far the most impressive in his answers compared to the other two finalists in the interview they had.


 


In other action…


The Board was presented with an explanation as to why costs for the White Plains High School pool filter replacement were going up. Russ Davidson, the architect for the infrastructure project said the Westchester County Department of Health demanded structural changes be incorporated to the pool itself, along with the filter project. This will cost $500,000, he said. Kaeyer Garment & Davidson was approved to receive $51,000 in fees for doing the pool study as to what had to be executed to satisfy county demands.


Fred Seiler reported that the $66.5 Million capital project was $5 Million under budget. The Superintendent reported that that $5 Million by law could not be transferred from the capital project into the general fund to fund next year’s budget.


Dr. Margaret Dwyer presented a new Language Other than English program for the Middle School that would bring additional language courses to the Highlands Middle School. It was well received. If the program was to involve seventh and eighth grades only at both Eastview and Highlands, the additional $360,000 in costs would be paid for out of savings from retirements going into next year. If the option of beginning language at the sixth grade levels in both schools was chosen it would cost $560,000 and the additional $200,000 would be an additional expense in next year’s budget. Donna McLaughlin cautioned that this was part of the school budget challenged, keeping the district moving forward while balancing budget concerns.


Two parents and one student spoke in support of keeping the Newcomer Center. Kelly Broderick, the had of the White Plains Teachers Association spoke challenging the district to negotiate with the teachers and to limit consultants and administrators. Augie Zicca spoke urging the district to hold any budget tax increase to zero, and to look into a law he said Eliot Spitzer had signed last year, allowing the district to defer certiorari payments into the future.



Board Applauds After Voting to Approve Dr. Clouet’s contract.


 



Dr. Clouet, (Center), watching his future being created.  Robert Stackpole, left, and Jacqueline Mackin of the district business office look on.

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