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

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WPCNR Common Council Chronicle Examiner by John F Bailey. February 9, 2011 . Updated 11:45 AM EST:

Councilman Dennis Power said he would not run for reelection to the Common Council this November today at a news conference held at the law offices of Oxford,Tulis, Kirkpatrick, Whyatt &  Geiger at 120 Bloomingdale Road.

Dennis Power, (L),Councilman announcing his decision not to seek a third full term in November. To right are Paul Schwartz, Bill Brown, former Councilman and Bonnie Hagan, three of the well-wishers who packed the conference room.

Power spoke to a gathering of 20 persons, (and invited media by invitation only) mostly Democratic friends, party members and personalities around town that he has worked with extensively on White Plains projects  over the last 20 years. He told them he was not seeking reelection in the fall for his council seat, but would finish out his current council term through December. He  said he would retain his County job at the pleasure of the County Executive and the Board of Legislators and would be spending more time with his family and grandchildren.

He said he would continue to be active in the community and follow through on  city sustainability efforts and recent endeavors to bring the school board and the city government together to share resources and services. He said that the other Common Council Democrat members had not pressured him at all not to run again or to change his support for Mayor Adam Bradley. He expressed his continued support for Mayor Adam Bradley pending the results of the Mayor’s appeal of his conviction in Family Court of  Attempted Assault, Third Degree, Contempt and three chargesof Harassment December 9,  is decided.

Well-wishers after Mr. Power’s statement,often emotional, sentimental,spoke of his sense of commitment to the community. Jack Harrington, the activist,said “few people could do what you have done.”

Late this morning, Mayor Adam Bradley of White Plains, issued this statement on Mr. Powers’ decision not to run:

“I want to thank Dennis Power for his years of service to the city of White Plains.

Dennis is a lifelong public servant and has been a tireless advocate for the residents of White Plains. His decision to retire at the end of his current term will be a loss to the Common Council.

In the meantime, I have no doubt that during the remainder of his term as a member of the Common Council, Dennis will continue his work to make White Plains a better place to live.”

Here is the text of Mr. Power’s statement this morning:

Thanks for being here today. Thanks for taking a leap of faith and not knowing what announcement I was going to make. And, thanks for being there at different points in my life.

But, cutting to the chase – the time has come for me to return to private life, not to seek re-election, and to finish out my second, full 4-year term as a White Plains Council Member. The time has come to step aside and let others rise to the challenge.

In 1987 I answered the call to serve – Bob Greer pounding on my door! I served a full 4-year term and then returned to private life and my children. I liked the music to Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle,” but not the lyrics [especially the line “… when you coming home, dad?”]

In 2005 I again responded to the call from the Democratic Party and accepted the challenge to run for Mayor against an entrenched incumbent. Out of public office for 14 years, with a small “grass roots” bank account and 5 short months to get the word out, guess we did not do too badly, capturing over 43% of the vote. The people had spoken, they wanted change.

In 2006 I responded to the call again when Councilman Bob Greer passed away. I was appointed in July ’06, ran in Nov. ’06 to fill out term and ran again a 2^nd time in ’07 – primary and general election. Actually, over the years, not a bad campaign record:

·        4 successful Council races [squeaked in with a last place upset finish in ’87 and a top-vote getter in ‘07]

·        unsuccessful Mayoral run

Now, as I recognize that I am in the lead pack of Baby Boomers and I’ve served close to 10 years in elected office, I am going to spend more time with my wife of over 40 years, MG, my children and my 3 grandchildren, ages 8, 4 and 2, who live in White Plains. I will be continuing in my job at the county, Director of Program Development in the Department of Environmental Facilities, as long as the Commissioner, the County Executive and the Board of Legislators feel that my services are essential and needed.

I have enjoyed my years in public service, but, the time is right. I have sensed for a while that I would not seek to run for another term. Recent comments in the Journal News by a certain member of the Nominating Committee of the White Plains Democratic Party have had no bearing on my decision. Those comments were inappropriate, were over the line, quite

disrespectful and do not reflect the open approach to diversity of opinion that the Democratic Party has come to stand for over the years. The Nominating Committee has been restructured since that time and party chair, Liz Shollenberger, can explain that to you later.

I and the other 5 members of the Common Council share different opinions on the disposition of the Mayor Bradley situation, and that has been well covered by the media. What has been asked or implied in an open-ended way is whether Council Members have been pressuring me to change my mind. The direct answer is NO. I know they would like me to, but there have been no calls, emails or entreaties asking me to do so. The main collective focus is city business and issues.

I have not changed my position on whether the Mayor should be asked to leave office. I still believe in the basic rights of the American judicial system that entitle every citizen the right to appeal. In his case, the right to appeal misdemeanor and violations convictions revolves around domestic abuse. The city has been functioning well and I believe he has the good common sense and deep respect for this city to come to decisions himself, if, at any point in the future, he chooses a different course of action.

Back to why we are here … I am not winding down my life; I’m just redirecting some of my energies, my strengths and my life experiences. Service to the community still is and will continue to be my focus.

That’s my message to the community and especially the younger people and not just those who have recently registered to vote. Being elected is all about public service, not about furthering political ambitions. Yes, the political process is the street you have to travel and you’d better know what you’re doing once you step onto that fast lane. But, it’s the call to service that puts you on that path in the first place.

Everyone here today understands how many different ways there are to contribute to your community.

Reflections on memorable moments, contributions and the future of White Plains …

Again, back to why we are here … I am not winding down my life; I’m just redirecting some of my energies. Service to the community still is and will continue to be my focus. And, I guess, in reflection at this point in my life cycle, it’s about the development of community that’s important.

I look forward to working hard for the next 10 months, joining with the Mayor, the Council, the Administration and the Boards and Commissions to face some steep fiscal and environmental  challenges. Most people know about my work ethic – there won’t be any slacking.

I extend a warm thanks to you and all the people of White Plains who have provided me with opportunities to serve in public office.

I look forward to continuing our work together on behalf of and with the people in developing a meaningful, productive and sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren’s children.

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WPCNR Common Council Chronicle Examiner by John F Bailey February 7, 2011:

The introduction of the new local law  tonight at the Common Council, imposing a six-month  moratorium on development of recreation lands: Fenway Golf Club, the former Ridgeway Golf Club, Westchester Hills, Maple Moor, and the Hutchinson River Parkway corridor will not result in any delay of the proposed development or hold-up in submission of the site plan for a new school campus by FASNY the French American School of New York.

This comes from Councilman Benjamin Boykin speaking to WPCNR Monday afternoon.

Councilman Benjamin Boykin

Boykin said he did not believe in moratoriums. He said the delay was for the Common Council to get an idea of exactly what could possibly be built on these various lands.

Boykin said it is the council’s intention to hire “outside experts” to analyze the properties and decide what and how they might be developed or what could be developed on the lands, since the development potential has never been officially quantified.

Boykin said the moratorium fit state guidelines in that it was not for an extended period of time and that all the moratorium did was say that no approvals could be made during the time period of the moratorium will be in effect

Boykin explained that the moratorium call for is just six months and he felt would give the council enough time to commission studies,the scope of which has not been determined.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. fROM THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY POLICE.  FEBRUARY 7, 2011 UPDATED 3:25 PM EST:

 A traffic stop by a Westchester County police officer,Donald Palmer, last Thursday on the Saw Mill River Parkway has lead to the arrest of a Florida man on charges that he forced at least three women into working for him as prostitutes through intimidation, acts of violence and threats to harm their family members

     Westchester County Police and the FBI believe that the suspect has victimized more women in similar fashion and are currently conducting a multi-state human trafficking investigation. Investigators have determined that the suspect, Nicholas Alvarez, transported women between New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C. and Virginia to engage in acts of prostitution under his coercion.

Kieran O’Leary, spokesperson for the Westchester County Police told WPCNR that police detectives determined the women Mr. Alvarez was traveling with (when stopped) had previously worked as prostitutes.

O’Leary said Mr. Alvarez became aware of the womens’ activities by reading their advertisements on the internet. Mr. Alvarez alledgedly contacted the women and forced them to work directly for him, with Mr. Alvarez getting the money from their prostitution earnings.

O’leary said there was no immigration issues with any of the women.

     Alvarez, 35, of Miami, Fla, was arraigned late Friday in U.S. District Court in White Plains on three counts of transportation for illegal sexual activity. He is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.

The investigation stems from a traffic stop made at noon last Thursday by Police Officer Donald Palmer, who pulled over a van on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Yonkers that lacked a rear license plate. The occupants gave Palmer a variety of documents as identification, which he recognized as forgeries. A subsequent check revealed that the van had been reported stolen in Virginia.

Palmer and other members of the county police took four persons – a male and three females – into custody. Detectives from the General Investigations Unit subsequently determined the women had a previous history of prostitution and conducted interviews with them. Although the women initially refused to cooperate, the detectives, through their training and experience, suspected the women were victims of human trafficking.

“These women were extremely fearful of Alvarez, but we were able to establish trust with them after many hours of interviewing. They eventually told us that he had beaten them regularly and threatened to kill them and their family members if they tried to stop working for him,” Police Commissioner George N. Longworth said.

After detectives determined that Alvarez had transported the women from state to state to engage in prostitution, they contacted the two county police detectives who serve on the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force in White Plains. Those detectives and the FBI then joined the investigation.

    “We are grateful for the cooperation of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in this ongoing investigation,” Longworth said.

     The commissioner said the case highlights the growing problem of human trafficking and he has directed that a block of instruction on the topic be added to the Department’s Unified In-Service Training Program. That program provides ongoing training for veteran officers of the county police and municipal police departments in Westchester.

     “The exploitation of any human being is unconscionable and beyond the bounds of decency,” Longworth said. “We want to ensure that all officers are equipped to identify the signs of this growing problem.”

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WPCNR Police Gazette From the White Plains Department of Public Safety. February 5, 2011:

On Tuesday February 4, 2011, at approximately 2:10 AM, members of the White Plains Police arrested two men on narcotics charges stemming from a month long investigation.

The investigation stemmed from resident and area complaints of drug activity at 159 South Lexington Ave.  After a month long investigation, Wilson Miller age 20, and Devone Byyant age 23 were arrested by Narcotics Detectives as they were walking out of 159 South Lexington Ave.  White Plains Police Emergency Services Personnel then executed a search warrant to Suspect Miller’s apartment on the 9^th floor. 

 Inside the apartment they seized 56 packages of crack cocaine, small amounts of powder cocaine, ecstacy pills, marijuana, 29 rounds of live 9 MM ammunition and a replica 9 mm pistol.(shown above)  Also seized in the raid was packaging and weighing paraphernalia consistant with a drug dealing operation.

Public Safety Commissioner David Chong stated “We believe that these arrests will have a positive effect on the close-knit community living in the Winbrook apartment complex. I applaud them and the neighborhood for showing no tolerance to this behavior.”

Both defendants were charged with two felony counts of Criminal Possession of a controlled substance as well as various other drug charges.

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