WPCNR: The Next 10 Years in White Plains: The City

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WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. March 7, 2010(the following is from a presentation made to the White Plains Downton Residents Association, February 27: On the city side, the city has to examine the process of extending site plans indefinitely which is the current common council policy. The effect is that it simply banks land and prevents city growth, and enhances an asset to the owner.


 


I think the city must take a more pro-active stance in attracting development to the city by identifying what areas might be developed.


 



 


The development of the West side of White Plains and the revitalization of Winbrook by an as yet unnamed, though selected developer has to be carefully examined if the White Plains Housing Authority ever tells us what we are going to eventually do there.


 


It is inconceivable that the Common Council would give away the right of approval on what is done at that site when they approved the zoning for it. But, they did. The Bradley administration promised oversight to me last Friday(February 24). But Mayor Bradley did confirm that the city did not have right of approval. Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel said though when I gave this talk,  that a full environmental review would be done and in order to build more than 20 stories the mystery developer would have to seek a Special Permit. The buildings though are 12 stories now. They can build 20 stories, 7 buildings,as of right.


 


I was called a “fear monger” for daring to suggest that the project did not have final approval of the city.


 


 But neighborhoods around it especially the downtown have to look into this one when plans start being formulated. And they are going to build it one building at a time? No developer in their right mind does that because of the time. That’s the trouble with government developments. They take forever. We are told it will take 10 years. Could there be some transparency here? There have been conceptual designs presented.


 


How in the devil does the council approve zoning just for the money sounds like a repeat of the mistakes of the recent past.


 


The Executive Director of the White Plains Housing Authority refused to even name the three finalists for this development when asked last August. How transparent is that? And he says he will reveal the contractor when the contract is signed. Think about that when the contract is signed. Shouldn’t the memorandum of agreement be public so we can let the Housing Authority know — what sounds good and what does not?


 


Transparency. Poppycock.


 


If it’s secret. It’s secret. Fear mongering? Wait until this starts being built and drags on for years. Remember how long urban renewal took?


 


The  “chosen one” developer should have been introduced before the contract is signed. What are they hiding? Even the city knows who the developer is but refuses to tell because it is the Housing Authority project. Why is the city afraid to name the developer flat out? Does the White Plains Housing Authority run the city? The city is really going to have control of this aren’t they?


 


Selling out Winbrook in a quick-deal because there is lots of money to be made, and a gentrification of the West side (read minority removal) may have seemed like a good idea at the time. But, with the hundreds of condominiums and apartments approved in White Plains, and not even being built means that this project could start — and stall out.  Notice how fast 55 Bank Street is moving. (It is not.) No developer builds something they cannot sell. Is anybody really thinking on this one?


 


Does government ever think?


 


The development of the Post Office property is another mystery development the city has no control over except for zoning.  The positive aspect of these mystery developments is, if they are done efficiently – and don’t last 15 years – the city will gain revenue from them in some way. Perhaps the Corner Nook will come back. The government does what they want with their property.


 


But the city will be forever changed by Winbrook 21st Century. It will take a long time for those buildings to be completed, and it will make Fisher Hill and Battle Hill much less attractive than they are now while they are being built.


 


Illegal housing:


 


Everyone wrings their hands about this, but the tool to enforce and discover possible illegal housing exists. It is a list of well over a hundred homes in White Plains offering rooms. Centro Hispano distributes it. If the city really wished to upgrade the occupancy and living standards of  the hard-working persons who are forced to take rooms in rooming houses,and possibly live in substandard, crowded, unsafe conditions this list of homes should be systematically inspected by the fire department and building department, routinely, monthly. Weekly. What an idea?


 


 That would be a start. It appears no one has really wanted to find illegal housing. They could do sweeps of all multiple family zoned homes in the city on a monthly basis.At the very least the buildings could have their assessments increased to reflect the illegal residencie revenues (instead of fines). No one is thinking how to help the victims of illegal housing, because no one wants to.


 


The Uriah Heeps of White Plains contribute too much to the community, I suppose.


 


The city workforce: The city budget process this year is now going to be a problem every year thanks to the dwindling tax roll, and the equally soft sales tax receipts.


 


Can the advantages of White Plains housing – lower taxes compared to surrounding communities, for example, be promoted by realtors and the city to repair the sorry state of the White Plains real estate market to get more buyers into the White Plains market? Can White Plains realtors take a partisan interest in promoting this town?


 


Of course realtors are not working for White Plains, they are working for themselves and will move a house everywhere they can get a commission these days.


 


A campaign for White Plains as the best tax buy, believe or not, it is, in Westchester is in order, as well as the best place to move in. Could we see that kind of marketing?


 


 (But first, should not  commercial landlords lower their rents to prevent the storefronts from going vacant? And parking policies be reevaluated to stimulate shoppers to come to WP?)


 


Can the city administration move to get union cooperation to lower the cost of wages? I doubt it. No one wants to run against labor. Does the city want to cut services? I doubt it. Residents want their services.


 


 Infrastructure? We have only the Department of Public Works analysis of infrastructure and needs to rely on, and there does not appear to be any end in sight of DPW needs. This past Monday the start of millions in projects were approved.


 


The city dump clean-up that continues to be shrouded in mystery and the Department of Environmental Conservation continues to contemplate…that was once estimated by the DPW to cost about $10 Million. Hopefully it will be less. As of Wednesday, Wendy Rosenbach of the Department of Energy Conservation that the DEC has not made a decison on the DPW Closing plan yet, but it will come “soon.”


 


 They’ve been very leisurely  with that decision, the DEC has for four years! How about — Mr. Nicoletti, get rid of these TCE’s. But no, the DEC has dragged this out and dragged this out. It is something for them to do.


 


The dump has been affecting the quality and health of residents in that neighborhood since 1976.  No connection, as Paul Harvey used to say, but the cancer rate in the zip code around that dump is 50% higher than the average according to a brochure put out by the  White Plains Hospital Medical Center’s Dickstein Center. Could there be a connection? I would hope not.
 


This new administration may have inherited a situation brought on by a combination of economy meltdown and financially risky decisions, but that is in the past. We only have the future to work with now. I see, if the new sewer tax is any indication, a new round of subtle tax devices worked in on city services to raise revenue now. Trimming services, I do not think that is going to happen, maybe next year.


 


Meanwhile a lot more than $2.3 Million has to be cut…a lot more. Crossing fingers does not work when there is not enough money coming in.


 


 


Despite this, the city is better poised than any other in the county to rebound more quickly once consumers regain their confidence. We have the City Center, the Ritz,  the thriving restaurant strip downtown, and developments poised “to go” once the banks loosen up the money. The city has to call their bluff of landholders with dormant site plans, the next time they have site plans to renew.


 


How soon will consumers be willing to make the first home and upgrade home buys? When will the Manhattanites start fleeing here again?


 


Another down the road thing in the next 10 years will be the new East-West corridor attached to the Tappan Zee Bridge…how will the Bus Rapid Transit mode of choice by the DOT effect White Plains on above all the I-287 perpetual construction project? The Traffic Department says they are being briefed regularly by the Task Force, and that the city will have approval of where any bus lanes go in the White Plains streets. Let us hope so. That whole project has to be more closely scrutinized by the city moving forward.


 


That being said, the past, as Rich Rodriguez of the University of Michigan says, doesn’t matter. Everything that happened is in the past. How we react and deal the situations I have just outlined, will define the strength of the White Plains recovery.


 


 


I  have the slogan: The truth is a harsh mistress.


 


Why? It is easier to believe what you are told by government and the powers we deal with than to go after the truth, verify it, and report it and voice it.


 


Why, because the truth presents you with a moral choice: do something about it or choose not to, by doing so you condone it.


 


That is a self character-defining choice that many in public office and in the community stop short of doing and choose to go along as a result.


 


That is the purpose of journalism: reporting what really is happening and having the courage to report and say that is wrong and you should not do that.


 


It is not to cheerlead or point out how something bad happened. The tough part is reporting the plot before it happens, that’s really tough. It does no good to point out that the horse has left the barn.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

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The Next 10 Years of The CitizeNetReporter: What’s Ahead?Schools

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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. March 6,2010. The following is adapted from an address to the White Plains Downtown Residents Association February 27: Rob (Tamboia, President of the WPDRA) asked if I could comment in what could happen in the next ten years of the CitizeNetReporter.


 


First, despite holding the line on the school budget last year, and saying they will hold the school budget to last year’s budget this next year, the school district continues to face a dwindling tax roll and cannot sustain itself except by drastically increasing taxes. I am not making this up.


 


It is what the numbers say, and presently the school board seems to be burying its 7 heads in the sand. It is as if they never picked up a calculator. This week, as I mentioned earlier, assessed value on the 2010 City Tax Roll declined $3.9 Million, a $2.8 Million decrease in revenue for the school district. It is the eighth year in the last nine the roll has declined.


 


 



 


 


 The tax increases the middle class and White Plains seniors face are going to be devastating as real estate values and certioraris plummet. The city of White Plains can do nothing about this unless a way is found to get tougher on commercial and residential properties filing of certioraris. This is a problem.


 


The district so far has shown no taste for drastically cutting this year’s budget, by drastic…I mean cutting expenses to meet their revenue shortfalls. For that matter, the city has not either. Cutting $2.3 Million off the city budget is not a lot. Not when you are facing  $12 Million shortfall, and another $6 Million in fund-balance shortage.


 


Leadership’s failure to act decisively now affects the ability of persons in White Plains to continue to afford their homes and fuel the city economy with discretionary spending, home improvements, and make investments.


 


The people of White Plains believe in the good will of the district and believe education is important to their housing values and their children, however the school district reliance on citizens’ good intentions, no matter how many school budgets are passed do not bode well for citizens’ tax bills. The taxes are going up at the rate of $1,000 a year approximately. They have doubled over the last 10.  Going in to the revenue presentation Monday, the school district has to make up the decline in revenue from the tax roll. Then they have to fund the teachers raises around 5.5% for this year (including the longevity increases). They say they are looking at unloading 30 highly paid teachers eligible for retirement and probably, a lot of teaching assistants this would be especially true if they replace some of those 30 retirees with new teachers.


 


Last Wednesday the prediction in the above paragraph came true. They said they are looking at a budget of $184.7 Million, cutting 41 teachers and 39 support staff — along the lines of what WPCNR predicted in January. And they also admitted they negotiated a 2-1/4% raise in February 2012! Together with the step increases (2%) this means a 4-1/4% raise in 2012 when the assessment roll is going to be down another $8 Million ($4 Million in 2011 and $4 Million in 2012). How irresponsible is that extension? Very. You can’t give what you are not guaranteed you will have.


 


Come on you’re giving the teachers 5.5% on average this year, next year and 4-1/4% in 2012? That’s roughly 15% up going into the 2012-13 year that they’ll be negotiating in the beginning of 2012. Again, please send your unused calculators to the school board. The problem here is they are not cutting enough now. The revenue is not going to be there to fund these raises. Not at the way the assessment roll is declining.


 


Another district issue I see is that their expenses have to go up because the enrollment is going up. The district has to do better demographic analysis fast to predict future populations. You are going to need another elementary school soon and  perhaps a new middle school in 10 years, as well as complete staffing of those schools. That means probably another $100 Million bond to build those two schools.  Pure speculation you say? Fear mongering?


 


One person’s fear-mongering is  another person’s way of looking ahead.


 


 If this year’s enrollment trend (highest kindergarten enrollment ever) continues, it is alarming. Previously future enrollment predictions have been based on each year’s  birthrate projected five years ahead. The predictions of five years ago are already wrong.


 


Another thing: the population is changing. In the community 51% of the population is white (according to 2007 statistics), 29% is Hispanic, 13.4% Black,and 5.8%Asian. In the school population, however, the population is a different mix: 45% are Hispanic; 33% white and 19% Black, 3% Asian (2007-2008 year). This will mean White Plains has to build a more bilingual-savvy teaching staff.


 


It means that more than ever an aging, childless white population will be educating a rapidly growing Hispanic population. It is to White Plains residents’ credit that we enjoy our diversity and get along so well. But the financial burden of a growing school population which we had been lead to believe would stablize as short as five years ago is growing while revenues are evaporating. They’re burning up!


 


That is a problem. It is as if the school district is micromanaging feel-good projects while ignoring the influx of a growing population in the schools. They need to pay attention to this.

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BRADLEY CASE MOVED TO COUNTY COURT: MRS. BRADLEY WANTS CHARGES DROPPED.

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS  LAW JOURNAL. By Peter Katz – Special to WPCNR – White Plains, NY – March 6, 2010 – The wife of White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, Fumiko Bradley, through her attorney, Neal Comer, on Friday declared in court and to reporters that she does not want the case against her husband to go forward. However, the Deputy Chief of Westchester County’s Domestic Violence Bureau of the District Attorney’s Office, Amy Puerto, gave no indication in court that they were ready to drop the case.

 


The Bradley case was first heard in White Plains City Court on Friday morning, then was transferred to County Court. Police barricades had been set up on either side of the walkway leading to the steps of the Public Safety Building, where the White Plains City Court is located. Several uniformed police were on duty outside. Reporters and cameramen from television stations were in a barricaded area off to one side.


 


Several other cases were heard by City Court Judge Eric Press before the Bradley case was called. Mayor Bradley’s attorney, Luis Penichet, waived a reading of the charges, stated his client was not guilty, and stated that, in his opinion, this is not a criminal matter.


 


Jurisdiction was transferred to the Westchester County Court’s domestic violence part. Judge Press refused to hear anything substantive about the case, saying he no longer had jurisdiction.


 


However, Mrs. Bradley’s attorney, Mr. Comer, and Mayor Bradley’s attorney, Mr. Penichet, attempted to have Judge Press lift an order of protection which was issued last Sunday and prohibited Mayor Bradley from having contact with his wife.


 


Comer said Fumiko Bradley did not need and did not want the order of protection. He also told Judge Press that Mrs. Bradley does not want the case to go forward. He said that Mrs. Bradley does not feel endangered by her husband. Fumiko Bradley, dressed in black and standing with her attorney, was observed to be dabbing her face as if wiping away tears. Mr. Comer expressed the opinion that Judge Press retained jurisdiction until court closed on Friday and could lift the order of protection. Judge Press held his position, and the parties left City Court.  


 


Across the Street


 


The scene then shifted to the Westchester County Courthouse, where the case was quickly added to the calendar of Judge Susan M. Capeci. When the case was called in late morning, Mayor Bradley’s attorney, Mr. Penichet, told the judge that a deposition from Mrs. Bradley which was submitted in support of the third degree misdemeanor charges was not a “sworn document.”


 


A copy of document  had been obtained by a reporter and circulated among the news people covering the story at the courthouse.  It was not handwritten by Mrs. Bradley. It had been prepared by a White Plains detective, and was the result of an  interview with Mrs. Bradley.


 


Excerpts were broadcast and published Friday by some news outlets. Mrs. Bradley’s attorney, Mr. Comer, told the judge that English is not Mrs. Bradley’s first language, she did not understand the technical meanings of things she was signing and doing, and she was influenced by people giving her advice which was not in her best interest.


 


When asked outside the courtroom by WPCNR to identify the people to whom he was referring, Comer would not elaborate. Ms. Puerto of the DA’s office told Judge Capeci that Mrs. Bradley did not indicate to her during their interview that she had trouble with English. 


 


Penichet told Judge Capeci that they were ready for trial, and could even begin in a few hours. He emphasized that a speedy trial is important. He also said that they would want a jury trial.


 


The judge scheduled a pre-trial conference for April 1. Rather than completely lifting the order of protection as requested by the attorneys for both Mayor and Mrs. Bradley, Judge Capeci modified it so the two can again have contact with one another. It was noted that the order of protection did not prohibit Mayor Bradley from seeing their two daughters.


 


The order of protection had been issued after he was charged and arraigned last Sunday. Mrs. Bradley’s attorney, Mr. Comer, later told WPCNR that modifying of the order of protection will permit the Bradley’s to work together on resolving the difficulties their marriage has experienced. Comer also told WPCNR that he did not expect any further court proceedings until the April 1st conference.  

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COUNTY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURT CONTINUES MAYOR’S ASSAULT CHARGE TO APRIL 1. BOTH

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BULLETIN:


WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. Special to WPCNR from Peter KATZ. March 5, 2010: After appearances of Mayor Adam Bradley and his wife, in the Westchester County Court Domestic Violence Part this morning, the presiding judge set April 1 as the next date when Mayor Adam Bradley and his wife, Fumiko would appear for a Trial conference.


The Assault in the Third Degree (misdemeanor) charge against Mr. Bradley will be taken up on that date. The matter of whether the domestic violence charge will be dropped is now up to the discretion of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. It is not known whether the Domestic Violence unit will conduct their own investigation of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley in the interim.


The attorney for Mrs. Bradley, Neal  Comer,  told Peter Katz this morning after the  appearance in the Domestic Violence court that both parties, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley want to repair their marriage. The attorney repeated  that Mrs. Bradley wanted the charge dropped and would not testify in support of the charge,  if the District Attorney proceeded with the case.


Mrs. Bradley’s attorney said there would be “no discovery procedure” in the case.


Mr. Bradley’s attorneys indicated Mr. Bradley did not plan to move back into his home immediately.


The Order of Protection in effect against Mr. Bradley (since last Sunday) was modified to allow Mr. Bradley to see his wife. He has not seen his wife except in court since Sunday when Mrs. Bradley filed a charge that he intentionally held her arm and slammed her finger in a door, according to the police report. Mr. Bradley has seen his two children in the interim.

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BULLETIN: MAYOR’S WIFE WANTS ASSAULT CHARGE DROPPED.WANTS ORDER PROT. LIFTED

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BULLETIN


WPCNR WHITE PLAIN LAW JOURNAL. Special to WPCNR from Peter Katz. March 5, 2010: In proceedings finishing about fifteen minutes ago, Mrs. Adam Bradley, who charged her husband with assault last Sunday, said in City Court today, she wanted the charge of Assault in the 3rd Degree dropped.


She said she also wanted the court order of protection preventing her husband, Mayor of White Plains Adam Bradley, from seeing her, dropped.


Mrs. Bradley’s attorney, Neal Comer, said that if the county should proceed in the case, Mrs. Bradley will not testify to support the charges. Mr. Bradley is accused according to the police report  of forcibly slamming a door on Mrs. Bradley’s left middle finger Sunday morning. At about 3 P.M. last Sunday Mrs. Bradley filed charges against Mr. Bradley.


Judge Eric Press said he no longer had jurisdiction in the case and the matter is now moving over to the County Court Domestic Violence Part. Mrs. Bradley, appearing in court this morning appeared to be “in tears.”


Fumiko Bradley said she wanted the order of protection prohibiting her husband, Adam Bradley from seeing her or staying in their house lifted because it is interfering with her marriage. She indicated she never asked for an order of protection to be put into effect. The order was put in place by the City Judge at Mr. Bradley’s arraignment Sunday afternoon.

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WPCNR ANALYSIS OF THE DELFINO YEARS: The Renaissance & Decline

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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. March 5, 2010. (The following is adapted from a public appearance and presentation at the White Plains Downtown Neighborhood Association February 27.):


 


What was White Plains  like ten years ago?


 


Tishman Speyer was Mayor Delfino’s first choice to reinvigorate the shell left by Macy’s closing, but they had pulled out after Tishman Speyer’s movie tenant, Leows had departed due in part to a mysterious lawsuit filed by clothing merchant and horse racing enthusiast who filed a lawsuit which threatened to delay Tishman development of the empty Macy’s site. This mysterious suit was dismissed, but not before the movie tenant, Leow’s, condition had deteriorated financially and withdrew.


 


 


 





Mr. Cappelli would show an enthusiasm to move ahead similar to that of Robert Moses’ philosophy of “getting that first stake in” when attempting  to get a project approved. That City Center plan was approved by the Common Council in fall of 2001 after considerable architectural change, engineered by intense lobbying of the Common Council by the populace.


 


During that first year of WPCNR – Bank Street Commons, the first effort of the Delfino Administration was approved—the first to include required affordable housing component.  It was the beginning of the Renaissance.The approval of the City Center in 2001 eventually brought Fortunoff to town in 2003.


 


The Renaissance was in full bloom.


 


What was not approved — significantly — was a Delfino administration plan with New York Presbyterian Hospital in which the city would receive 60 acres of hospital property for a “central park” for White Plains, if the city would allow more commercial development of the Bloomingdale’s area. WPCNR covered this extensively, and here the forces against the commercial development prevailed.


 


An unfortunate trespass incident by a mysterious person WPCNR dubbed  “The Toxic Avenger” while this plan was being debated forced the hospital to close its grounds to the public for good to the people of White Plains. 


 


Eight years later those grounds are still closed.


 


As a result of that turn down of the 60 acres not even to refer it out,  the city bowed to a threatened subsequent lawsuit by the hospital and was forced eventually to consider and approve a proton accelerator project for the park property, however the New York Presbyterian Hospital never received committed funding for the technology and that project was never built.


 


The significance of that New York Presbyterian Hospital saga was that it demonstrated the vulnerability  the council exposes itself to, when it makes decisions based on politics, friendships and popular misconceptions. It creates precedents that threaten zoning and the city standards.


 


 Threats of lawsuits and creation of precedent setting zoning decisions followed as a result of this attitude by the common council, they consistently set themselves up in weak legal positions, to the extent that now site plans go on for years without starting. Land is banked by developers who don’t start projects crying poverty.


 


Also on the conservation front, a direct result of the hospital decision was the concept of buying land for conservation of open space which the city spent money on. Land was acquired for Liberty Park, with the county buying part of the land in return for a housing development.


 


The city spent $600,000 to create Liberty Park which has now due to an unforeseen algae growth problem in the lake created a park no one uses. The algae was thought by some experts to be caused by the fertilizer run off from the park grass. 


 


Land was acquired adjacent the Greenway for city money which also stopped possibility of development.


 


However, the council also sold off land to favored developers adjacent the Greenway in what amounted to a very mixed message.


 


Now the city has a net result of the hospital property still not accessable by residents, and virtually no plans yet to work out a way the city could again access that New York Presbyterian Property.


 


With the opening of the City Center in 2003 – White Plains entered a brief renaissance, culminating in 2005-2006 when the City Center was at its most successful – but still the sales tax did not reach the levels expected of it though they did hit a high of  $44 Million last year up from $34 Million before the City Center opened.


 


New condominium and retail projects were approved on Maple Avenue, and the Church and Barker Avalon Bay complex approved  and built. The JPI townhouse and condominium project was approved and has proved successful as has Avalon Bay on Barker Avenue, but as I write, the two Maple Avenue  projects, the Church and Barker condo  have yet to be started.  Site plans are consistently being extended by the Common Council and even for unprecedented lengths of time, creating precedents that may come home to roost in the future.


 


The idea of the PILOT, payments in lieu of taxes, has come under fire. The city used PILOTS to offer carrots to developers like Mr. Cappelli to make developing attractive. Whether Mr. Cappelli would have developed with higher PILOT payments is moot.


 


The city also drew another project from Louis Cappelli the 221 Main Project that the city approved in 2004, with a zoning change that allowed extension of zoning to adjacent lots, a key change that facilitated the 40 story now Ritz-Carlton and Condominium towers. Also approved is the Venue near Fortunoff . That stands stalled out at this point.


 


The city thanks in part to WPCNR reporting eventually convinced Cappelli Enterprises to line the sewer line to accommodate City Center and 221 Main future sewage at the suggestion of the Commissioner of Public Works to prevent an overflow problem, and construct a supplementary “Nicoletti bypass sewer line to take the effluent load off the Main Street sewer.


 


A tip of that hat goes to Susan Elan, former Journal News White Plains reporter for her routine FOIA of city records and communications, involving the sewer line which revealed the “stinking memo” (as opposed to “smoking gun,”) from Commissioner Joseph Nicoletti where Mr. Nicoletti predicted catastrophic overflows if the Main Street sewer alone served both 221 Main and the City Center.


 


An interesting aside on the Nicoletti memo: the comments were in the original legislation approving the the project, but the Common Council apparently missed it, as did the media, including yours truly.


 


Initial sales for the condominiums at the Ritz Carlton  were remarkably strong in 2005-6, but now 38 of those units are being offered for sale in a package at about $600,000 apiece, the project is perhaps victimized by the burst of the real estate speculation that collapsed in the last two years. Planned condominium projects are not being started because no market is available to buy the condos.


 


Even 55 Bank Street another model affordable housing, retail apartment complex is stalled at this time due to the paralysis of the financial markets – but not before the city granted them a PILOT, and sold the land for the building to them without putting it up for auction first – now that project is stalled.


 


The affordable housing restriction in which developers have to devote 10% of their units to affordable housing is another good-intentioned council policy that evolved because it was popular and “the right thing to do.”


 


Whether this will be a roadblock to future development remains to be seen. My guess is it will be. Who wants to build affordable housing in this economy?


 


The city government also changed primarily in union contracts that routinely followed the steady 3 to 4% inflation rate. That has now come back to haunt the city as inflation has ground to a zero rate. But soft negotiating with municipal unions is a pattern you see across the state. Politicians in power have no stomach for negotiating hard with unions and inflation rarely dictates the union settlements.


 


Sales Tax receipts have declined thanks to the economy, and perhaps White Plains parking policies possibly keeping customers out of White Plains, and city revenues have fallen from the real estate bust too. 


 


The government also, to fund those union contracts went to raise sales taxes and also created the Department of Parking to access the Parking Authority surplus to handle general fund expenses. I can not speak for the thinking behind this, but they were confident that the money used to pay for spending on increases in public safety, fire, and city expenses, would eventually come in as the economy expanded ever onward, driving up the sales tax.This is a simplification of what happened.


 


It has not worked out that way.


 


My friend Peter Katz whom  I do the WHITE PLAINS WEEK television show with – told me just today real estate values in White Plains have fallen to prices of fifteen years ago.


 


What White Plains faces as  a result of the national financial debacle, is a shattering of the upward mobility concept where people believe in the future, will extend their own personal risk to buy a better standard of living, confident they will be able to grow in their income and handle the debt of acquiring better places to live.


 


When the consumer loses that belief in the future, economic stagnation sets in. It has happened in just three years. From the soaring real estate values of 2005-6 we now see a  10% reduction in the value of the typical White Plains home – and that is a home priced in the $650,000 range. Condominiums are worth much less and are simply not selling.


  


Where does White Plains stand today: we are better off obviously for having executed the development of the Delfino years, (otherwise we would be in truly sad shape), but the tools used to execute the short-lived Renaissance may not have guaranteed a successful result, consequently the city is at another crossroads. Is this due to the economy? In part, yes. However, even before that, the sales taxes coming in were lagging, and not keeping pace with inflation.


 


 

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Employment in Hudson Valley Continues to Fall

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WPCNR LABOR NEWS. From Jonnie Nelson, New York State Department of Labor. March 5, 2010:

Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley decreased 23,100, or 3.2 percent, to 689,900 for the 12-month period ending January 2010.  Employment gains were focused in educational and health services (+2,500).  Job losses were centered in natural resources, mining and construction (-8,200), trade, transportation and utilities (-5,300), manufacturing (-4,500), professional and business services (-4,100), financial activities (-1,700) and information  (-1,300).  Government shed jobs (-2,700) over the year.

 

Analyst’s observation:

 

The regional job market continues to suffer from this protracted economic downturn.  In January 2010, private sector jobs in the Hudson Valley fell over the year by 3.2 percent, a slight improvement from the 3.6 percent drop recorded in January 2009.  Construction has been especially hard hit, with the sector accounting for more than a third of all private sector jobs over the period.

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School District To Cut 41 Full-time Teachers, 39 Support Staff as Predicted

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. March 5, 2010: At a public forum on the 2010-11 School Budget Wednesday, the school district announced it was planning at this time a budget of $184.7 Million, about $1 Million less than this year’s budget.


WPCNR predicted in January, that based on present revenue projections on the new city assessment roll coming in at $3.7 Million less, and the 5.5% salary increases next year for teaching staff,  that the district would either have to cut 100 teaching assistants or a combination of fulltime teachers and teaching assistants (between 40 teachers and 40 teaching assistants, which would total $6,000,000 in salary) to avoid about a 9 to 10% tax increase. WPCNR was told that “we are not firing 100 teaching assistants.”  “Support staff” apparent is going.


WPCNR’s prediction was right on the money. Last night, the district said at this time they were cutting 41 fulltime teachers and 39 “support” staff to bring the budget in at $184.7 Million. The cuts come to $6.5 Million.


WPCNR also reported last Saturday that  the District had unbeknownst to the public negotiated a one year contract extension with the teachers for the 2011-2012 year adding up to a 2-1/4% merit raise in salary in additon to the standard 2% step raise, meaning the teaching staff will receive a 4-1/4% increase in February 2012. This raise was negotiated without the district knowing what their 2012-12 revenue projects could possibly be (considering the very shaky state of the White Plains Assessment Roll.


Last night the district announced this extension, as reported by WPCNR last weekend.


Monday, the district is supposed to discuss their revenue projection for this year. Some 41 teachers are expected to retire, taking advantage of incentives approved by the Teachers union as part of the new contract extension.


WPCNR expects to hear more on Monday.


The district has also set up a similar situation to last when they presented a budget to the public lower or close to what a contingency budget would be if the district voters rejected the 2009-10 budget. WPCNR attempted to get the inflation rate the State Department of Education will use to figure contingency budgets but the press office has not delivered it yet. It has been a week and a half since WPCNR asked.

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The CitizeNetReporter: The First Ten Years. The Way We Were What We Became

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WPCNR NEWS & COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. March 4, 2010 (Adapted from a presentation given the White Plains Downtown Residents Association, February 27): The White Plains CitizeNetReporter idea came to  me in 1998 when I was struck by the news story that that major media and newspapers had not been reporting the large protests being staged at a President Clinton sponsored symposium being held in Seattle.


 


 The extent of the protests was revealed by independent websites internetting pictures of that violence around the world, forcing news networks to cover it, which they had not been doing. This brought home to me the potential the internet had for getting out important information unfiltered by the interests of mass-owned, politically controlled and establishment-motivated and controlled media whatever they may be.


 


At the same time, I was struck by the lack of news stories about White Plains in the Gannett newspaper. Mayor Joseph Delfino had just been elected. Macy’s had closed, the White Plains Watch was running stories complaining about the state of the downtown, I particularly remember a story The Watch ran with the headline, “Not another Dollar Store.”


 


1998 was also when the Gannett Chain consolidated 9 different county newspapers into one edition, The Journal News. It appeared that the Journal News to me was publishing one story a week, if that, about White Plains. Local radio newscasts were not too informative and were only listened to during snow days.


 


I thought to myself: what if I could supplement my reporting with information or news tips given me by local citizens a group of “Citizen Reporters” alerting me or giving me information on what was going on in their neighborhoods or as we found out “being done to their neighborhoods.”


 


I wanted to see for myself if there were any stories the Journal News was overlooking, whether a local news outlet could be created and attract an audience on the internet. I attended council meetings and work sessions practiced taking notes to see whether I would enjoy getting back into reporting again. I mock-covered the city for most of 1999 and explored how a website could be created. Needless to say, I found plenty of stories Gannet was not covering. I launched White Plans CitizeNetReporter in February 2000. 


 


At that time, I had a much more idealized version of city government than I do now: I used my year of mock coverage to learn how the council operated, the importance of work sessions, what the Planning Board, Zoning Board and what other departments did.


 


 I noticed particularly how little coverage there was of the school district, the largest budget affecting residents. I noticed the secrecy behind the dismissal of the school superintendent in 2001 that was kept quiet by the School Board for six months. That was an eye-opener.


 


Noticed and covered by WPCNR was the compounding affect of routine 7 and 8% school budget increases in the first 7 years of the CitizeNetReporter, compounded by an alarming increase in tax refunds initiated by members of the business community which effectively began in 2001 and certiorari after certiorari has since been approved by the city Assessment Review Board based on cases made by businesses, condominiums and co-ops, and the last two years, homeowners themselves whose equity has been whittled away by the robber barons of the 21st century.


 


This tax roll drain really began to hit taxpayers hard in the last three years as the assessment roll has been in free fall — $5 Million last year and this week, $3.9 Million this year.  $9 Million in two years.


 


Meanwhile no one has noticed or attempted to do anything about it – like maybe trim spending.


 


The School District mounted a campaign for a $100 Million construction upgrade to their 9 buildings, which was trimmed down to $69 Million and is now just being completed, after being narrowly passed. They even had a teacher contract dispute last year that wound up being settled for exactly what the teachers wanted all along. Now this week they have added another year on to the contract for another 4% when you include step increases.


 


The district also came underfire for their achievement gap between minority and white performances, which WPCNR explored in depth, and pointed out how advances in minority academic prowess are reported in total without pointing out that the level of passing grades achieved by most students of color is lower than that of whites. The district always releases aggregate statistics which shows improvement of minority students but does not present a true picture of the quality of the progress.


 


I found as the site started that there were three versions of every story: what the city government and school district said it was, what people who did not like city government and school plans said it was, and the truth, which is always elusive and somewhere in the middle. It was my first reality check. Because as I often say, “everything’s off the record in White Plains.”


 


People are reluctant to tell you the truth and stand up in public for the truth. And they would much rather believe what leaders say then accept the truth.


 


 

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The Adam Bradley Statement to the Media Sunday Night

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WPCNR  FOR THE RECORD. From The Mayor’s Office. March 1, 2010: The following is the text of the statement read by Mayor Adam Bradley to the media Sunday evening in the rotunda at City Hall, commenting on his being charged with Third Degree Assault for allegedly injuring his wife in an incident reported by police to have occurred “on or about” 9:30 A.M. Sunday morning:


STATEMENT


EARLIER TODAY I WAS ARRAIGNED IN WHITE PLAINS CITY COURT BASED ON A COMPLAINT MY WIFE FILED AGAINST ME.

I FEEL COMPELLED TO COME OUT HERE TONIGHT TO LET THE CITIZENS OF WHITE PLAINS KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PAST 12 HOURS.

THIS IS A DEEPLY PERSONAL MATTER, AND SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED WITHIN MY FAMILY.

I AM NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THESE CHARGES IN DETAIL, OTHER THAN TO SAY THAT I AM INNOCENT AND THAT I WILL CONTEST THE CHARGES.

BUT I HAVE TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT, I DID NOT IN ANY WAY MISTREAT MY WIFE

THERE HAVE BEEN PROBLEMS IN MY MARRIAGE FOR SOME TIME AND I HAVE MADE MANY EFFORTS TO DEAL WITH THEM.

AT THIS TIME, MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH MY FAMILY AND OUR TWO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS.

I WILL NOT TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PUBLICALLY ARGUE WITH MY WIFE IN A MANNER THAT WOULD EXPOSE OUR CHILDREN TO IT.

THIS UNFORTUNATE MATTER WILL IN NO WAY AFFECT MY COMMITMENT AND THE IMPORTANT WORK I AM DOING FOR THIS GREAT CITY

AS AN ATTORNEY WITH MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A LAW GUARDIAN REPRESENTING CHILDREN I DEEPLY BELIEVE THAT PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN IS MY FIRST AND PARAMOUNT OBLIGATION.

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND I HOPE YOU WILL ALL RESPECT MY FAMILY’S PRIVACY AT THIS TIME

THANK YOU

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