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 COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of  Communications. December 16, 2010:

Saying he could not sign a budget with phony revenues, wasteful spending and unfunded liabilities, County Executive Robert P. Astorino today announced that he would veto 247 lines of the budgets for 2011 approved last week by the Board of Legislators.

“What the legislators approved last week is flawed and puts Westchester County government at risk,” said Astorino. “While it is commendable that the board followed my lead to reduce county property taxes, the legislators did so in an irresponsible way. The combination of phony revenues, wasteful spending, unfunded liabilities, illegal actions and rejection of generally accepted accounting principles jeopardizes our AAA credit ratings. I cannot sign this budget in its current form.”

These vetoes include 220 to the operating budget, 200 involving about  $32.5 million in expenses and 20 involving almost $23.3 million in revenues; 24 to the capital projects budget; and three to the solid waste district budget.

In November, Astorino proposed a spending plan for 2011 that cut the county property tax levy by 1 percent, maintained all essential county services, protected the county’s needy and ensured fiscal responsibility. Last week, the Democratic-controlled Board of Legislators pushed through additions and deletions.

“I take very seriously my fiduciary responsibility,” said Astorino. “We only have to look at what is going on in Nassau County to see warnings of what not to do. Nassau cut taxes, without making the hard decisions on spending. As a result, its credit rating has been downgraded and a state oversight agency may take over.”

The Override Odds

Astorino’s vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds vote (12) of the legislators. The Democrats control the board by a 12-5 margin over the Republicans.

The vetoes announced today (the last day to do line-item vetoes under the County Charter) include many of the board’s additions to the operating budget for next year, including expenditures on the Section 8 program, day care, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Human Rights Commission, neighborhood health centers, one homeless shelter and community mental health clinics. Vetoes also include added revenues for the sales tax and the departments of Parks and Labs & Research.

Under law, Astorino may only use a line-item veto on the additions, not the deletions. However, he expressed his concern about some of the board’s deletions, saying some may be illegal. Of particular concern, he said, is the board’s deletions of all three deputy commissioners in the Department of Social Services.

No time for Review

Astorino also blasted the Democratic-controlled legislature for pushing through its changes without allowing any time for the Republican minority or the administration –  or the public –  to give them scrutiny.

“This is what the Democrats call transparency,” Astorino said. “Vote now and let the public find out the facts later. The reckless process that led to Friday’s passage of a $1.79 billion budget is a prescription for financial disaster.”         

SOME OF THE VETOES

Operating Budget Expenditures

• Section 8 Housing Voucher Program: The legislators restored $4.1 million for 40 people to administer this program. The county has no legal obligation to administer the program and Astorino has argued that it is costing county taxpayers about $1 million annually to do so, once short-term and long-term costs are factored in. Astorino had already given the state notice of the county’s plan to terminate the contract at the end of this year and the state is proceeding with plans to replace the county.


• Day Care: The board has added approximately $5 million for day care. Under the board’s plan, the parent share would be lowered to a level far below what most counties and even New York City pay. In addition, the board has restored a scholarship program that has failed in its purpose of getting people off unregulated day care. Even with the vetoes, the county will spend $29 million on day care next year, reflecting the administration’s support for these programs.                                                        


• Cornell Cooperative Extension: The board added $990,000  to Cornell Cooperative Extension to continue to run nutrition and farming programs. Astorino has maintained CCE’s programs are a complete duplication of programs run elsewhere by the county and various non-profit groups.


• Human Rights Commission:  The board has restored five positions at a cost of $575,500 (including benefits). Astorino had cut  the commission, saying it duplicates the work of local and state agencies.   


•  


• Neighborhood Health Centers: The county executive vetoed the $1.9 million subsidy the legislators  allocated to the Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center, Hudson River Healthcare and Open Door Family Medical Centers. “Putting a budget together is all about allocating resources to the greatest needs,” said Astorino. “The fact of the matter is they no longer need the county’s financial help because they have been reaping a financial windfall from the federal government. Last year, all three closed their books with multi-million dollar increases in their net assets.”


• Homeless Shelter: Astorino had proposed the closing of two homeless shelters: WestHelp in Greenburgh and Oasis in New Rochelle. The board added almost $950,000 to keep Oasis opened. Astorino vetoed this, saying the shelters were underutilized and not needed.


• Mental Health Clinics: Astorino had proposed closing two of the county’s mental health clinics in January and two others in June. These services would be provided by non-profit agencies, with  transition plans for all patients developed. The legislators added funds to delay the closing of two of the four clinics until June. Astorino vetoed this change. 


• Other Positions: The county executive had originally proposed a total of 226 layoffs based on recommendations of his commissioners. All but 95 of these position had been restored by the legislators. Including the Section 8 program, Astorino vetoed 134 positions of the 147 that the legislators had restored to the budget. This includes 118 positions that are currently filled.

Operating Budget Revenues

• Sales Tax: In his original budget, Astorino projected that sales tax revenues for next year would increase 4 percent from the current year. This projection is based on a regional consensus and was called optimistic but “reasonable” by the county board’s own auditors. The board has added almost $2.3 million more in sales tax revenue, which Astorino said is overly optimistic. He noted the county may not even hit its 2010 projected sales tax revenues. “The problem with over estimating is that it leaves a deficit for the following year. Making up sales tax numbers so the budget looks balanced is irresponsible,”  he said.


• Parks Revenue: The board increased parks revenues by $750,000. The legislators added $100,000 for the Playland pool. Astorino in his original budget had said that the pool would not be opened next year because it needs $50,000 in repairs. The board also added $500,000 for golf fees, beyond the $500,000 addition that Astorino had proposed. The county executive questioned whether the market could bear this further increase, which could in fact lower revenues. The approval is also needed from the Parks Board, which was not consulted on the board’s increase.

• Labs & Research: The board added $1.5 million in additional revenue from “enhancements” to the department’s business plan. Astorino noted that the board is claiming revenue from a business plan that has not yet been written.  He added that the legislators should have learned from the 2010 budget when the county added $2.7 million in revenue that never materialized.

Capital Projects Budget

Approximately $60 million in infrastructure capital project additions by the board were vetoed.

Astorino said some of the projects might be worthy but that the board had not followed the required legal process of vetting the projects through the county’s Capital Review Committee and Planning Board. “We have a process that must be followed,” he said. “Otherwise these projects are subject to the whims of legislators and become nothing more than legislator’s pork.”

Solid Waste District budget

The three vetoes include a position added without funds and $100,000 in expenses.

LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS  OF CONCERN

·        The board has eliminated all three deputy commissioner positions in the Department of Social Services. This is the county’s largest department with a budget of $575 million. The board’s action puts the department at risk. Under law, the department must have at least one deputy.

·        The board has transferred $500,000 from the Department of Law (County Attorney) to its own budget for “legal services.” By law, the county attorney and his staff represent all branches of government. “At a time when the public is crying for consolidation, why is the Board of Legislators setting up its own legal fiefdom and patronage positions that will have no legal authority to act on behalf of the county?”  Astorino asked.

·        The board’s adopted budget cut $10 million in funds allocated to pay for past and future labor contracts. Said Astorino: “While it sounds nice to say no county employee will get a raise in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the fact is six of our eight unions have unsettled contracts that are retroactive; five of which are subject to binding arbitration, over which the county has no control. This is a mandate that the board is leaving unfunded.”

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WPCNR ON THE TOWN. By John F. Bailey. December 18, 2010:

“Something’s Coming and it’s going to be big” Sutton Foster sang those lines to open her show  Sunday night and Sutton Foster was big!  Faster than a spotlight the audience lit up– face to face with the Broadway star of our time.

She’s the Top!

Sutton Foster, Broadway’s “Go-to” Leading lady playing the Irvington Town Hall Theater Sunday evening. She brought down the house! Photo by Peter Katz

Sutton Foster, the Broadway Baby who never says good night, played the Irvington Town Hall Theater Sunday night with her elegant accompanist, Michael Rafter.  The duo left the audience of young Broadway babies to be and lovers of musical theatre on their feet standing, roaring, clapping for more as the Tony Award winner drove up from her home in New York City and put on a show. She delivered three encores after her 80-minute, nonstop performance. And you know what, she didn’t seem to want to stop.

What a show! Personable,slickly timed, organized she made the performance still seem adlib and casual (extremely hard to do). Ms. Foster ignites instant rapport with her fans with humor, pace, ease, drama, emotions, genuiness and, of coure, the voice to remember. It must be extremely hard to deliver a performance that seems so casual and natural with a pace that is just right!

The packed theater audience saw the statuesque star of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Shrek the Musical, and (soon to be Reno Sweeney in the revival of Cole Porter’s Anything Goes! ), Ms. Foster –  booked through an absolute programming stroke of genius by Westco Productions Susan Katz— deliver the greatest audience reaction stage hands at Irvington Town Hall can ever remember, topping the Westco 2010 season with a show no one wanted to end.

That’s how good she was.

Even the old theatre seemed to enjoy the unique pefection of performer, voice, repertoire and rapport.

Sutton Foster signing autograph after autograph and having her picture taken with over 150 fans who stayed after the show. The Westco “Meet and Greet the Star” tradition is a unique feature of Westco concerts.

Sunday night Ms. Foster showed range, drama, actressing – the total package with one extra spicy ingredient – “niceness” – to everybody.

She delivered with the articulation and just-right nuances we rarely hear on the stage, up close and personal. This young lady needs no microphones, ladies and gentlemen. She takes you back to the days when singers had to reach the balcony without technology.

Her opening medley of Something’s Coming,(from West Side Story) and NYC (from Annie) had the audience from the first two words. She never let them go.

Her cabaret performance has been described as “bedazzling,” and she herself as a talent of the first order and the “go-to-girl” when Broadway producers are searching for a lead. You could see and hear why into the night. Every song commanded your attention because Sutton Foster sings that way.

From her comic performance of Air Conditioner— (“if you have an air conditioner, you’re the man for me”) showcasing Ms. Foster’s acting muse hilariously — an appropriate song for a cold night – to her fabulous riveting seductive “Gimme Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie – her unique enticing Up on the Roof,  and her “bring down the house” number Show-off from The Drowsy Chaperone — everything she did was beyond good.

My personal favorite was  her first encore.

The way Ms. Foster and her partner in patter on the piano, Michael Rafter, sketched Once Upon a Time, a ballad she handled so wistfully, so longingly with the piano embodying the feel of the memories was haunting. I have not heard this classic “music to make you misty” done this well since the Tony Bennett, Ralph Sharon Trio rendering in the 1950s. Foster and Rafter play together a duet of voice and piano.

I would strongly urge you to see her in Anything Goes! when it opens. Cole Porter would have loved Ms. Foster for that role, which has not had a talent like Ms. Foster do it since Ethel Merman created the role.

As Cole would say,

“She’s the Top!”

Jason Summers, well-known director for Westco Productions (who originally got his start acting in Westco chidrens’ productions) made his own cabaret debut opening for Ms. Foster and delivered a performance that got stronger and stronger, showing an ability to deliver a punchline,  showing manic humor in “I’m Catholic,” a satiric song romp that got the audience laughing, and that he set up beautifully. He gathered momentum and confidence,  touched memories and hearts with his “I Just Haven’t Met You Yet” and finished with a big Broadway windup of “This is the Moment” that the audience just loved.  

Next big Westco Night will be May 1 when Westco presents the legend, Ben Vereen, at Irvington Town Hall Theater at 7:30 P.M. Theatregoers have the opportunuity to meet Mr. Vereen at a dessert reception after the show for the benefit of supporting Westco’s shows and programs for disabled children. Contact Westco at (914) 761-7463, or go to www.westcoproductions.org

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. From New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. December13,2010:

Figures just in from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance tell a positive economic start for the city of White Plains in the key holiday shopping season.

November city sales tax revenue rose 7.8% (less than the proportionate increase in city sales tax of 12%), but still the first time since 2008-2009 the city has topped $4 million in sales tax receipts in November ($4,003,728 this year compared to last November receipts of $3,712,175).

The city has generated $20,615,401 sales tax the first five months of fiscal year 2010-11, compared with $18,591,570 the first five months of 2009-10, a year to year increase of 10.9% slightly less than the 12-1/2% proportonate gain the sales tax increased overall when tax was increased 1/4% to 2-1/2% that took affect last June 1.

If the city maintains the 11% pace of gain in sales tax receipts the city should approximate $48 Million in sales tax receipts for 2010-11.

Countywide, Westchester enjoyed a 4.8% increase in sales tax receipts, $33,056,729 compared with $31,525,664 in 2009. The county is on target to top budgeted sales tax receipts for the year. The county continues on pace to generate $437 Million in sales taxes by the end of is current 2010 fiscal year, giving tghe county about $6 million more than for forecast for 2010 when county prognosticators predicted the county would genrate $432 Million in salestax.

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the County Board of Legislators. (Edited)December 11, 2011:

The County Board of Legislators approved a 2011 County budget Friday that delivers a 2% tax reduction for County taxpayers by a vote of 16-1.  the budget reduces spending by $28.5 million dollars (from 2010 budget), reduced the County workforce by 10%, restored critical services for most in need, provides transitional timetables as the County continues to recalibrate agencies and an alternative to the County Executive’s budget proposal.

Last month, Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino presented his first County budget, which included severe budget cuts to the social safety net and funding for vital services for Westchester’s working families.

It remains to be seen whether Executive Astorino will veto the Board’s restorations to his original budget.

“Westchester County’s budget is balanced and on time, and it will lower the county tax levy. This budget right-sizes government, and not capsizes it,” County Board of Legislators Chairman Kenneth W. Jenkins (D-Yonkers) said. “This year, the County has to make exceedingly difficult decisions…the Democratic Majority has presented a budget that will preserve the most critical County services without raising taxes.”

Highlights of Legislature’s FY 2011 Presented Budget

·   Tax Reduction of 2% to the county tax levy vs. County Executive’s proposed -1%

·   Total spending $1.79B =       $28.5M from 2010 budget

·   Reduces County workforce by 10% (funded through grants, additional revenue & corresponding deletions)

·   Eliminates County Executive’s proposed one-shot to bond tax certioraris = cash vs. credit for operating costs (maintains fiscally responsible fund balance)

·   Fairly restores balances and protects public safety, health and essential services

·   Identified opportunities for shared services between Dept of Emergency Services & Dept of Public Safety; will continue stakeholder inclusion of merger discussion

·   Provides six-months transitional funding for community mental health clinics, pending contracts that must be in place per Section 41.07 of the NYS Mental Hygiene Law

·   Restores funding of community health centers & child care services

·   Reinstates County’s contract of the Section 8 program

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From the White Plains Department of Public Safety. UPDATED 4:40 P.M. E.S.T. December 10, 2010:

Commissioner David E. Chong and the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety announce the arrests of four subjects in the ongoing investigation of the armed Walmart robbery that occurred at approximately 0248 hours on Monday November 29^th, 2010. 

The two armed suspects entered Walmart during an employee break dressed head to toe in tyvex suits, with gloves and masks.  They proceeded to a backroom with a manager and tied the manager up with plastic zip ties and emptied a safe containing approximately $230,000 in cash.  The subjects then fled in a waiting SUV. No injuries occurred during this robbery.

Detectives working in three teams, round the clock, supervised by Det. Lieutenant Eric Fischer, Det. Sgt. Dennis Doherty, Det. Sgt. Patrick Oggeri and lead Detectives, Rick Lee, Patrick Kirby, Bryan Hembury, Edward Rutledge, and Timothy Byrne quickly noticed distinct similairities to the Robbery of the Old Navy store located at 100 Main Street in White Plains that occurred on September 7^th 2010. The amount reported stolen in this robbery was over $30,000.  Both robberies were committed after heavy holiday shopping weekends.

Throughout this investigation, the White Plains Detectives were assisted with the full cooperation and coordination of Walmart Security Director Anthony Williams and Old Navy Security Director John Dursten, both of whom provided Detectives with valuable leads in the investigation.  Multiple video surveillance systems from within the stores and in and around the City of White Plains also provided the Department with leads.

In all, four suspects were identified and arrested in the past 24 hours. They are as follows,

Christopher Fountain, 28 years of age, of 8 Custis Ave. North White Plains NY.

Phillip Fountain, 20 years of age, of 558 S. 7^th Ave. Mount Vernon, NY

Autumn Jordan, 22 years of age, homeless.

Tyrone Cramer, 36 years of age, of 1170 E. 229^th Street, Apt. 4H Bronx, NY

Each of these Defendants are charged with Robbery in the 1^st degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon 2^nd degree. Both Felony charges.

Additionally, Christopher Fountain and Autumn Jorden will be charged with Robbery in the 1^st degree for the Old Navy Robbery on September 7^th 2010.

During the course of the investigation, leads were developed in cooperation with the Clarkstown Police in Rockland County NY about a robbery that occurred in the Victoria’s Secret Store located in the Palisades Mall on June 7^th 2010. Working with Clarkstown Detectives Robert Shine and Lorraine McGrath, WPPD Detectives were able to positively identify Christopher Fountain as the subject wanted in connection with that armed robbery as well.  He is expected to be charged later in Rockland County for that robbery.

Multiple Search Warrants have been executed on the subject’s homes, automobiles, and a storage container/locker.  Bags of cash have been recovered but not yet counted, two vehicles have been siezed and multiple other items of evidentiary value recovered.

White Plains Public Safety Commissioner David Chong commended the actions of his Detectives and the cooperation and coordination with both Walmart Security and Old Navy Security. He also credited the assistance of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the Westchester County Intelligence center and the Clarkstown NY Police Department with assistance in this investigation. “This was a full court press by our Detectives, and our law enforcement and private security partners worked seamlessly to bring these individuals to justice”.

The investigation is ongoing and active.