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 POLICE GAZETTE. April 8, 2010 UPDATED 5:50 P.M. with detail from District Attorney’s Complaint: In the complaint filed against Mayor Adam Bradley today in City Court at approximately 3 P.M., the Mayor is accused by Criminal Investigator Aldo Nastasi of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office of two misdemeanors and one violation based on Mr. Bradley’s alleged actions on March 5, when a temporary restraining order was in effect preventing him from having any contact with his wife, Fumiko; March 10, March 11, March 25 and April 2.

The new charges filed are CONTEMPT IN THE SECOND DEGREE (Misdemeanor); TAMPERING WITH A WITNESS IN THE FOURTH DEGREE (Misdemeanor) and HARASSMENT IN THE SECOND DEGREE (Violation)

Investigator Nastasi alleges, “Defendent’s course of conduct as described herein was in violation of a duly served temporary order of protection issued by Honorable Susan M. Capeci…on March 5, 2010 to remain in effect March 5, 2011, while the defendent was present in court and which he did acknowledge and sign. Said order of protection requires defendent, amongst other things, to refrain from harassment, aggravated harassment, menacing, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, intimidation, threats on any criminal offense or interference with the victiom of the alleged offense, Fumiko Bradley.”

The complaint details the dates of the alleged incidents, spelled out in a new signed statement by Fumiko Bradley, taken Monday, April 5, hours after Mr. Bradley appeared in court Monday morning and refused to accept the District Attorney’s indicated willingness to dismiss the charges if Mr. Bradley would volunteer to undergo counseling. M

Mr. Bradley appeared in court on the original Third Degree Assault Charge April 1, several additional charges were added at that time.

The complaint alleges that Mr. Bradley visited Mrs. Bradley in Scarsdale where she was staying on March 5. He is said to have approached Mrs. Bradley, accusing her of lying in the pending criminal action against him. Mr. Bradley is alleged to have claimed Mrs. Bradley was the one who attacked him, that he was defending himself and that the criminal case was going to result in him losing his career. He was said to have spoken in a loud voice that became increasingly louder. Mr. Bradley is alleged to have said Mrs. Bradley should “check herself into a mental hospital for five days.” When Mrs. Bradley asked why, Mr. Bradley is alleged to have said in order to save him and his career she had to either go to a mental hospital and say she was crazy or say that she lied in her statement to the police and go to jail. The complaint says, “defendent’s physical confrontation and verbal barrage did wrongfully attempt to induce the victim from providing testimony in the criminal case and did violate the above referenced temporary order of protection.”

On March 10, the complaint continues, Mr. Bradley is said to have come to 3 Fernwood Road in White Plains where Mrs. Bradley was sleeping. He, the complaint says entered her bedroom, approached her and said “you did it. You lied. It’s all your fault.” He continued to yell, and indicated that if she did not admit she had lied to the police they would “have no future together.”  When Mrs. Bradley asked him to stop, he, the complaint says, “See you’re crazy, you’re emotional.”  The complaint concludes  the defendant’s actions caused the victim, Mrs. Bradley, “to become fearful and to start shaking.”

On March 11, the next morning, Mayor Bradley attem[pted to speak with Mrs. Bradley again. At 5:30 that evening, the complaint says the defendent “started yelling at her and blaming her for the criminal charges pending against him. Again, the complaint says this caused the victim to become upset and cry.

On March 25, when Mrs. Bradley was taking a shower at their home, Mr. Bradley is alleged to have entered the bathroom “shouting he had received a telephone call that more e-mails had come out. The defendent screamed, the complaint says, “It’s over. It’s over, you should hang yourself!” Bradley then left, slamming the door.

On April 2, the day after the defendent appeared in court for a pre-trial conference, one week ago,  the complaint reads that Mr. Bradley entered Mrs. Bradley’s residence at 3 Fernwood Road holding The Journal News.  Mr. Bradley, the complaint alleges, then strode over and “hit the victim’s hand that she had been resting on the table several times and said loudly ‘you have to read it. you have to read it.” The victim, Mrs. Bradley then, the complaint narrates, ran upstairs to her bedroom. The victim, to “get away” (the complaint’s wording) from Mr. Bradley then went into the bedroom bathroom. Bradley, the complaint says, followed her into the bathroom and stood in the doorway of the bathroom so Mrs. Bradley was unable to leave. The victim’s mother observed this the complaint says.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From the District Attorney’s Office. April 8,2010: Mayor Adam Bradley was arrested today on new charges stemming from his ongoing domestic violence case. The District Attorney’s Office is sending a description of the charges. No other information is available at this time.

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WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. April 7, 2010: Yours truly, has received e-mails, been stopped on the street, and in stores by citizens shocked, shocked at the 19% property tax increase. Even the Common Council, four of whom (Mr. Boykin, Ms. Lecouna, Mr. Roach, Mr. Power) have passed the budgets that have lead to the present budget crisis, is shocked, shocked there is such an historic tax increase. Now the Council and the Mayor are going to “work together” on the budget. What would Mr. and Mrs. White Plains do?

Select from the choices at the right, below are explanations of each suggestion. If you have some, let us know:

Cut Garbage, Recycling, Leaf Pick ups – When suggestions like this were floated last August, the ire of White Plains citizens rose as one when they were asked to bag leaves. But, what if garabage pick up was cut to once a week, and recycling forced to be taken to the city dump? Would this save gas, truck crews, etc.? Sharpen your pencils, let’s find out! Better yet, let’s bring in the carting companies and dump the garbage pickup altogether.

Cut Recreation and Parks Programs – A tough choice, I know. But at least raise fees more than they have already so the city makes more money on them. And, let’s dump the programs that are money losers. If people do not use them, why are we running them? Fees for field use should also be raised substantially more than they have for organizations renting the fields, including ones that use the fields free.

Close, Curtail the Public Library – A sacred and luxurious cow. How can the city justify $5.3 million – when there are 9 libraries in the 9 school buildings to serve children’s needs – in this budget nightmare?  The public library might be spun off as a self-liquidating fund much like the new administration’s ingenious sewer rent to take the sewer expenditures ($770,000) off the new budget. How they create the fee mechanism that would take it off the books is another matter. That has to be seriously looked at. The library with the advent of the internet is an anachronism. It takes no time at all to find info on the net. You waste incredible time going and finding a book in the labyrinths of the library. Research needs for children are provided at the school system, including computer labs. I know people use it, but it costs the city $5.3 Million a year to run , 18 and a half times the cost of running the Slater Center which caters to a vastly more fragile population.  Am I crazy?

Halt Capital Expenditures for One Year – in the budget capital expenditures spending around $8 million in loans, $275,000 cash out of the general fund are called for. Could they be delayed a year? Could the whole capital program really be analyzed hard to see if things are really needed? Probably, yes they are, but the Common Council is always told capital projects are needed.

Institute a Wage Cut of 10% —  The salaries the city pays in the proposed budget total $76,000,000. If a 10% cut is instituted across the board this would save the city $7.6 Million. Is it possible? What’s involved here?

Lay off 100 Employees – The tax increase would be wiped out or at least cut back to manageable size by wholesale layoffs, when you figure benefits and salaries, one hundred layoffs would probably save about $10 Million at the very least.More than enough to replenish the fund balance in one year. It might curtail services, though. City needs to look at combinations of layoffs to see what’s possible.

Rezone Overcrowded Housing to raise money from scofflaw Landlords – Fines have not worked; inspections have not worked, but you could solve the city alleged illegal residents’ problem by creating new zoning that would legalize new capacities for residences now overpopulated, but make them subject to weekly inspections. To pay for the inspections and regular official surveillance (something the city is supposed to be doing now, but does not do so effectively – otherwise there would be no overcrowded illegal housing, would there?), owners of these newly legalized buildings would pay through the nose for housing persons unsafely, which would be corrected and profiteering would not be profitable any more. It would be interesting to see how much property tax increase could be defrayed if landlords paid surcharges on what they really made on these scurrilous gold mines that bleed the veins of the poor and the hopeful.

Institute Stiff New Certiorari Filing Fee – The real reason the city is in such financial trouble is certioraris filed by property owners in the commercial sector. If their properties are so unprofitable that they are over accessed, they should sell them. However, the city could with a little legal creativity make it very capital intensive for future certiorarists – hit them with a massive certiorari filing fee with the city to defray the city costs of analysis of the certiorari and a full forensic accounting audit of the certiorarists’ books.  The city has never to this reporter’s knowledge forensic-ed any certiorari’s books. I’d say a nice tidy fee of $1,000,000 fee paid up front to cover the cost of a foresenic audit would be nice just for starters. Consider it certiorari “bail.” Make them pay, it might discourage future certs. Better yet, pass a law that any property owner filing certioraris for past year would have to pay the cost of a forensic audit of their books by a private accounting firm supplied by the city.

Bond for Certiorari Refunds – The city is currently paying certioraris out of its reserve for financing. The School Board of Education lays off the cost of lousy assessments and ineffectual certiorari analysis by the city by bonding certioraris. The city should do the same thing but, is that good financial practice? For a few years maybe it would help the city, rebuild that fund balance an time to jawbone the certiorari artists down or price them out of the market with paperwork, hoops, filing fees, cost of paying a forensic audit.

Establish Infrastructure Charge of Businesses – I can hear the howls of outrage from business owners now. But, it has to be done. The business property owners complain about the high rents, that business  is down, but they stay. Business Property owners, and their tenants,especially retailers and restaurants have to be held accountable for the cost of furnishing the services to their establishments.

Charge them for police, fire, sidewalk, parking upkeep, any charge you can think of so they that utilize the city services the most pay the most. This is another idea spawned by the sewer rent legislation this week. Do away with the BID, and let these businesses new charges pay for a real economic development office that will fill their pathetic empty store fronts – negotiate reasonable rents that will contribute to the city economy rather than fuel money windfalls from certiorari filings from deliberately devaluing their properties for a profit.

Raise Taxi Fees add surcharge – With the windfall in taxi medallions, the city should raise taxi fees, which would help cab owners, and by raising them enough…they could add a little something extra, better a lot of something extra, a green fee perhaps. How much this could raise needs to be researched. But a $4 green fee, half to the cab owner and half to the city…direct into the general fund per rider would not be missed. If you need a cab, you need a cab right?

Consolidate City Departments – The Parking/ Recreation and Parks merger was intriguing. How about merging Planning with Building – One Commissioner. Merge Purchase with Finance. Put Department of  Traffic in Public Safety. Let’s eliminate the Department of Information Services, and outsource it. Merge Assessment into Finance. Put Rec and Parks in the Youth Bureau. Why didn’t we think of this decades ago? Let’s “Feinerize.”

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. April 7, 2010: Two seats on the White Plains Board of Education will be up for election during the School District Budget vote May 18.

Petitions are available to residents at the School District Headquarters, 5 Homeside Lane. One hundred signatures are needed to obtain a slot on the ballot.

Presently, two incumbents have taken out petitions, Charles Norris and Sheryl Brady, to run for reelection.

Petitions are due April 28. For further information, contact the Clerk to the School Board, Michele Schoenfeld.

To run for the school board, you must be a resident of White Plains and over the age of 18, and a resident of the city for one year.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL-CHRONICLE EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. April 6, 2010: David Buchwald, the new Councilman was the first to, after looking at the 2010-11 Proposed Budget on his council desk Monday evening, to say to the Mayor, the $160.2 Million budget incorporating a 19% property tax increase was “unacceptable,” because it  struck at White Plains “affordability.”

Later in the Council meeting, Councilman Benjamin Boykin flatly declared, in discussion of approving 12 new city layoffs effective this month, saying he would support the new layoffs, said “I don’t think people will stand this18.88% property tax increase. We need to consider furloughs, wage cuts, layoffs. I think we’re in a financial emergency here.”

The council approved,7-0, after much soul-searching by Councilman Buchwald, the 12 new layoffs which will save $975,000 in the new 2010-11 budget, and about $250,000 the last quarter of this year. The measure eliminates $525,000 from the Department of Public Safety personnel costs in 2010-11.

Boykin in the city hall parking lot told WPCNR, “This budget is Dead on Arrival. The administration needs to go after the unions for furloughs, wage cuts, and failing that, layoffs.”

Asked if he had a specific target in mind as to what the property tax increase should, Boykin said he could not pin it down now.

As an guide for the White Plains citizen, in order to get the property tax increase down under 10%, the council would have to cut approximately $4 Million out of the budget. To get it down to 5% the cuts would have to top $6 Million. Out of the $148 Million budget proposed. Michael Genito, the Budget Director/Commissioner of Finance told reporters Monday afternoon that each percentage of property tax equals $440,000 of expenses.

Beth Smayda, chair of the Budget and Management Committee said in discussion of the 12 positions being eliminated, that if the twelve positions elminated were not eliminated, that by her own calculations the property tax increase for the new budget would be 21% not  19%. 

Smayda said that the passage of the Sewer Rents legislation which passed 7-0, was a financial device (charging by usage for key services) that the committee and the city should be looking at to find other sources of revenue. The sewer rents charge water users, including tax-exempt properties, 15% of their annual water bill. It is expected to earn the city a $1.1 Million net a year after the $700,000-plus in annual sewer costs is paid for.  Smayda relayed the information that 200 communities across New York State employ the Sewer Rent device to pay for sewer services. No persons spoke at the public hearing on the Sewer Rent legislation, though one person attempted to, after the hearing was closed, but was denied the right to speak by Mayor Bradley because the hearing had been closed.

Thomas Roach in his comments on the layoffs approced Monday night, said laying people off had to happen because 70% of the city budget was labor costs. Dennis Power did not favor cutting the property increase directly, and said the council would get together over the weekend and think about cuts.

In other key action, the Council approved  continuing Bensidoun USA as operators of the International Farmers Market, and the moving of the location of the market to the Church and Quarropas parking lot.

The council approved a new parking violation: parking without a valid registration. The fine if a vehicle does not have a legal and valid registration will be $50, a second office $100, and a third $120, according to Commissioner of Parking,Albert Moroni.

The new budget will have its first public hearing on May 3 (the next public Common Council meeting).

The media was also informed by Budget Director and Commissioner of Finance  Genito Monday that the city would be looking at the feasibility of developing a “Rent” charge applied to Garbage Collection, charging a fee passed upon garbage service. Genito said the state allows such a charge to be collected by communities.

The public hearings on permitting outdoor dining at Elements Restaurant, and parking of motor vechicles at service stations in the BR-1 District were adjourned to future Council Dates.