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Area Still Discriminates—But is Making Progress–Housing agency says

Posted on January 25, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. FROM WESTCHESTER RESIDENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES. JANUARY 25,2011:

Westchester Residential Opportnities has announced the results of undercover fair housing tests to find out what levels of discrimination exist in housing in the lower Hudson Valley. The conclusion: Racial discrimination still exists.

The report released Tuesday found that Westchester County has made significant improvements since the last round of testing in 2005. At that time, 46.5 percent of test conducted found discrimination in rental housing. In the current round of testing, the percentage was 17.54 percent. For Rockland County discrimination was found in 34.6 percent of the tests and in Putnam 14.3 percent.

The details of these findings were unveiled in a study released today by WRO, at a news conference with County Executive Robert P. Astorino.

WRO credited the improvements in Westchester to a strong partnership with Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors, Westchester County Department of Planning and the Westchester Human Rights Commissions’ shared focus on the education of Fair Housing laws.

WRO Executive Director Geoffrey Anderson stated, “We have a moral imperative to service people who are underserved and treated differently because of what they might look like, who they are married to, or their bilities.”

Astorino said, “Any discrimination is unacceptable. However, this report shows that through education we can significantly decrease the instances. Westchester County will continue to support efforts by WRO and other housing agencies to educate realtors, management companies and the public about these important issues.”

County Legislator Bill Burton, chair, Housing, Planning, & Operations Committee stated, “Education and eternal vigilance are the two interlocked components of combating discrimination. It’s great to have this report, and I commend WRO not only for producing it but for setting many of the conditions that led to it.”

The report, WRO Fair Housing Testing: Equal Housing in the Lower Hudson Valley, is based on an 18-month Fair Housing testing program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). WRO conducted 111 “paired” audit tests in which minorities and whites presented themselves to various real estate offices, management companies and apartment complexes throughout 5 focus areas: Sound Shore, Peekskill and Mount Kisco in Westchester County and throughout Rockland and Putnam Counties. Any inferior or unequal treatment of the minority tester was assumed to be based on racial or ethnic discrimination.

Based on the test results, WRO has filed 4 complaints with HUD-certified agencies: three with the Rockland County Commission on Human Rights and one with the Westchester County Human Rights Commission. These included one real estate company in New City, two real estate companies in Pearl River and one management company in New Rochelle. Nine other real estate offices or management companies have received consultations and/or Fair Housing trainings from WRO staff regarding possible violations.

Waiting for a Puff of Smoke from the Board of Ethics

Posted on January 22, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. News & Comment By John F.Bailey. January 22, 2011:

The City Board of Ethics apparently continues its review of city Mayor Adam Bradley’s intercession on behalf of Walter C. Gabriele, owner of 19 Hall Avenue, to schedule a city meeting with Commissioners to discuss Mr. Gabriele’s purchase of property at the 19 Hall Avenue site. Mr. Bradley lived in the 19 Hall Avenue location at the time.

Efforts by WPCNR to find out from City Hall and Mayor Bradley’s spokesperson, how the eight-month investigation is going have so far not produced a “feel” for how close the Board of Ethics is to wrapping up the inquiry

Timing is critical. I’ll tell you why:

If a decision on whether the Mayor acted inappropriately in any aspect of the Gabriele matter is imminent,(and there is no indication that it is), the timing could be very timely for White Plains Mayoral possibilities like Benjamin Boykin,Tom Roach,(who would take over as Mayor until the Special election is held), and County Legislator Bill Ryan.

If the Board finds no misconduct or unethical behavior in the Gabriele matter, the investigation and its cost are moot.

If the Board decides the Mayor has committed an ethics breach in his dealings with Gabriele, AND that decision comes out in the next four weeks, the Common Council is handed a key weapon to remove the Mayor on a silver platter themselves through Section 30 of the City Charter.

They wouldn’t have to wait for Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Presently, the Council does not have that sixth vote (of Councilman Dennis Power), to remove the Mayor on the five convictions involving his wife.

Removal for Official Misconduct (that could be found by the Board of Ethics), neutralizes the embarrassment to the Common Council if the Mayor’s appeal on the Attempted Assault Conviction and four other charges is eventually successful.

If the Official Misconduct is the grounds for dismissing, the domestic abuse matter is moot. The Mayor cannot sue the city for lost income, damages to reputation, or whatever.

The Board of Ethics is facing a very historic decision on this Gabriele matter.

Section 30 reads “The common council…may punish or expel a member for disorderly conduct…but no expulsion shall take place and no vacancy on account of absence be declared except by the vote of three-fourths(3/4) of all members of the council, or until the delinquent member has had an opportunity to be heard in his defense.”

The 6^th vote of Councilman Dennis Power would have to be cast in favor of removing the Mayor. District Leader Zelle Andrews, a member of the City Democratic Party Nominating Committee has been reported by Ben Rubin in The Journal News as saying Power should be denied an opportunity to run for reelection this fall if he does not swing his vote in line with his other five Democratic Councilmen.

The timely combination of a Board of Ethics finding of a Mayoral ethical breach in the next 4 weeks and a Dennis Power vote change would grease the skids allowing a swift ouster of the Mayor.

Such an ouster would most likely be challenged in court, unless the Council furloughed him with pay, or one of the 42 District Leaders who called on the Mayor to step down, offered the Mayor a job, or Congesswoman Nita Lowey or Governor Andrew Cuomo offered the Mayor a job on a task force. The Mayor would probably challenge in court anyway.

If there is an ethics violation found by Feb 1 (or at the latest February 15) that finding could clear the way for the council to remove the Mayor under Section 30 of the Charter in the Feb 7 Common Council Meeting). They could give the Mayor his hearing in the week of February 22 to 25, toss him, and declare the election in April.

Any Special Election for Mayor would have to be held in April because May 1 is six months before the next general election, which is November 1, (first Tuesday in November). If the toss is nade in May, the Special Election will be held in July.

Section 46-c of the White Plains City Charter, specifies that :

“If a vacancy shall occur in the officeof the Mayor, the Common Council shall initiate the proceedings available to it for the purpose of ordering a special election to be held witin 60 days of the occurrence of the (mayor’s) vacancy, unless such vacancy arises within six months of a general election…”

Of course, the Board of Ethics could decide well after February 15, that there has been an ethics violaton, and the Council could remove the Mayor in May giving Tom Roach, who would become interim Mayor, 5 months of incumbency to shore up his campaign for nomination to run in November, and prevent Boykin and Ryan from seizing the nomination.

An early decision for an ethics breach if that is the way the Board of Ethics is going to go,appears to favor candidates other than the interim Mayor (Roach), who would only be Mayor for two months, instead of eight if the Board of Ethics decision is made within the next 4 weeks.

Of course, the judge sentencing Mr.Bradley could make this moot, by giving the Mayor jail time, which is unlikely, but you never know.

The timing of the Board of Ethicss finding is key—the way I figure it—they have to make it in favor of an ethics violation, in next month to call an election sometime in April, and the Council would be spared the downside risk of the appeal being overturned and the ousted Mayor suing the city.

Move on Mayor Now? Or wait for Appeal(s) to Complete?

Posted on January 22, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR MR & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS POLL. JANUARY 22, 2011:

The Common Council asked the Governor this week to act to remove its Mayor. The Democratic City Committee echoed the request by a 42-19-4 vote Tuesday evening. However Mayor Adam Bradley has vowed to appeal his conviction on attempted assault, Contempt, and three charges of harassment against his wife.

If the Mayor is removed by the Common Councilby use of City Charter Section 30 (a possibility if the City Board of Ethics finds he acted inappropriately in setting a meeting for a property owner who became his(Bradley’s) landlord last June), or if the Governor removes him, the city may leave itself open for substantial monetary damages if Bradley’s appeal, or possible further appeal is successful.

Should the city and Governor wait launch? Or act now to remove the Mayor, despite possible future liability? It should noted the governor may launch the state’s own investigation in determining whether to remove the Mayor. Vote in the poll at the right.

COUNTY SALUTES THE UNDEFEATED STEPINAC CRUSADERS

Posted on January 22, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR PRESS BOX. From Archbishop Stepinac High School January 22, 2011:

Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino recently congratulated members of Archbishop Stepinac High School’s Crusaders football team for their 2010 undefeated, 12-0 championship season, a first in the school’s history. They won both the Catholic High School League AA League title and the annual Turkey Bowl game against White Plains High School. Astorino presented the Crusaders with a proclamation, noting the achievement “brings pride not only to Stepinac but to all of Westchester County.”

Left to right are Westchester Deputy County Executive Kevin J. Plunkett, a Stepinac alum (class of ’67); Stepinac quarterback Tyrell Goodman, named co-state player of the year by the NY State Sportswriters Association; Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; NFL great Bob Hyland, also a Stepinac alum (class of ’63) and Coach Mike O’Donnell.

Private Sector Employment Slightly Up,behind State and Nation.

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR Marketplace. From Jonny Nelson,NYS Dept. of Labor. January 20, 2011:

Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley increased 2,700, or 0.4 percent, to 723,000 for the 12-month period ending December 2010. Employment gains were greatest in leisure and hospitality (+1,700), educational and health services (+1,500), and professional and business services (+1,400). Job losses were centered in trade, transportation and utilities (-1,200), manufacturing (-600), and natural resources, mining and construction (-500). Government shed 4,000 jobs over the year.

For the first time since mid-2008, the region’s private sector job count grew over the year in December 2010. This month’s turnaround was broad-based, with a number of sectors adding jobs. While this economic rebound is good news for area jobseekers, the region’s rate of private sector growth (+0.4 percent) still lagged growth in the state (+1.0 percent) and nation (+1.2 percent).

French American School of New York Closes on Ridgeway Country Club

Posted on January 20, 2011 by John Bailey

The French-American School of New York (FASNY) announced today it has completed its acquisition of the Ridgeway Country Club property in White Plains.

FASNY plans to consolidate many of its operations to the 128-acre property over a period of several years. Proposed plans include retrofitting the existing club buildings and adding several new buildings to create a low-density park-like campus.

The school also announced that it will hold an Open House for the White Plains community on Saturday, January 29 at the Ridgeway Country Club. The Open House, which will run from 10 am to 5 pm, will provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about the school and its future plans for the property.

FASNY’s plan for the property would preserve over 60 acres of the site as permanent and publicly accessible open space; restore and enhance the natural conditions of the site; and improve the existing stormwater and drainage conditions of the property. Less than five percent of the site will be covered by impervious surfaces.

William V. Cuddy, Jr., executive vice president, and Budd Wiesenberg, vice president, of CBRE’s Westchester office, handled negotiations on behalf of the Ridgeway Country Club.

The French-American School of New York was founded in 1980 to provide a bilingual, bicultural French and American education to an American, French and international student population from nursery school through 12^th grade. Today 825 students attend its Pre-School in Scarsdale, its Lower School in Larchmont and its Upper School in Mamaroneck.

Social Worker Is Stabbed

Posted on January 19, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From Department of Public Safety. January 19,2011:

A social worker was stabbed Wednesday morning at 235 Lexington Avenue,

Commissioner of Public Safety,David Chong reported:

At approximately 1045 AM, we responded to a 911 call to 235 South Lexington ave. Apt 10K Units arrived and found that a social worker, Francis Mortenson, age 47 an employee and social worker from St. Vincent’s hospital had been stabbed numerous times while making a home visit. Suspect identified as a Jamile Wilson was arrested at the scene and has been subsequently charged with Attempted Murder 2 and Criminal Possession of a Weapon. The victim is in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center.

Lowey Funds $1.9M to rehire 9 firefighters

Posted on January 19, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. JANUARY 19, 2011:

John Callahan, City Chief of Staff confirmed tonight that Congresswoman Nita Lowey has arranged a grant enabling rehiring of White Plains Firefighters laid off 9 months ago.

According to a news release issued Wednesday, “Congresswoman Nita Lowey announced today that the White Plains Fire Bureau will receive a $1.9 million federal grant which can be used to re-hire firefighers who were laid off at the Bureau.

Lowey remarked: “I am thrilled that the White Plains Fire Bureau will benefit from this federal grant, which will help ensure that we have the personnel necessary to keep our community safe. At a time of high unemployment, I am particularly pleased this federal investment will create jobs in our community.”

The funding is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program (SAFER), a funding initiative designed to strengthen the nation’s ability to respond to fire and fire-related hazards and improve the nation’s overall level of preparedness.

County Attorney Favors Astorino Tax Levy Challenges Board pf Legislators

Posted on January 19, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION_LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. January 19,2011:

In a formal legal opinion released Tuesday, County Attorney Robert Meehan concluded that the county’s 2011 tax levy currently stands at $555 million. This represents a 1 percent decrease from the 2010 levy and is the amount proposed by County Executive Robert P. Astorino and approved by the Board of Legislators on Dec. 10.

In his five-page opinion given to Astorino and Board Chairman Ken Jenkins, Meehan said that for the board’s subsequent proposed levy to go into effect, which amounted to $548 million or a 2 percent cut, the legislature would have to first override Astorino’s veto of it.

“Absent an override of the county executive’s veto, the amount of the tax warrants to be issued to municipalities by March 1, 2011 based upon the Westchester County Charter must be based upon the adopted tax levy in the amount of $555,053,491,” Meehan wrote.

The tax levy is the amount the county government collects in property taxes by sending tax warrants in March to local towns and cities, which in turn send tax bills to their residents.

In vetoing the second tax levy on Jan. 11, Astorino said that the board continued to support runaway spending and was relying on phony revenues and risky one shots, such as spending money put away to settle labor contracts, to balance the budget.

For its part, the board has chosen not to respond to the veto, claiming that the budget was “finally adopted” on Dec. 23 and that the County Charter does not require the county executive to approve the tax levy.

Responding to the board’s contention, Meehan wrote, “There are numerous fatal flaws in these arguments.” The county attorney said that because the tax levy must be set by an act of the legislature, the county executive has the power to veto it just like every other act. He added that the legislature has no authority to take away from the county executive this right to veto the tax levy.

“The veto authority cannot be taken away by changing the amount of the tax levy by a later amendment and claiming that the county executive has no authority to exercise a veto with respect to that change or amendment,” the opinion states.

The county executive said the detailed legal analysis by the county attorney showed that his office had correctly followed the County Charter. “There’s a legal process to be followed and the county attorney’s opinion shows my office followed it,” said Astorino. “The board has every right to disagree with me, but it can’t make up its own rules.”

It takes 12 votes of the 17-member board to override a veto.

Historic Common Council Letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo

Posted on January 19, 2011 by John Bailey

WPCNR FOR THE RECORD. JANUARY 19,2011:

Councilwoman Milagros Lecouna has furnished WPCNR with a copy of the letter the Common Council sent Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York Tuesday asking the Governor to begin theinvestigation (details of the procedure the Governor isauthorized to follow by Section 34 of the New York state Public Law are published in this morning’s story.

Here is a photocopy of the council’s historic letter: