THE WPCNR BUSH COUNTDOWN CLOCK

146

DAYS

TO

INAUGURATION DAY 2009

When America Will Once Again -- Maybe -- Have a President Who Thinks, Reasons, Plans and Counts. 

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            WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michele Schoenfeld. August 26, 2008: The White Plains Board of Education has announced a schedule of community meetings to develop a profile of the new Superintendent of Schools who will be appointed in the coming year.  The  public is invited to meet and provide input to representatives of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates,  Ltd., the consultants leading the search.  The same organization conducted the search which led to the  appointment of Superintendent Timothy P. Connors, who will retire in June, 2009.

            Members of the public are encouraged to attend one of the following sessions:

Monday, September 22nd, 7:30 P.M., White Plains High School B-1 Room

            Tuesday, September 23rd, 10 A.M., Education House Assembly Room

            Sunday, September 14th, 12:30 P.M., El Centro Hispano (St. Bernard’s Church Chapel Hall)

            Monday, September 15th, 7 P.M., Bethel Baptist Church

            In addition, the consultants will meet with groups of staff members, students, PTA representatives and others in September.  Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates will report on the resulting profile at a public meeting of the Board of Education on Monday, October 6^th, 7:30 P.M., at Education House.

            To facilitate the information-gathering process, the consultants have developed a questionnaire which may be obtained online at www.whiteplainspublicschools.org.  These should be completed and 

brought to a public meeting or returned to the consultants as indicated on the questionnaire.

            For further information, contact Michele Schoenfeld, District Clerk, at 422-2071.

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. August 25, 2008: New York Supreme Court Judge Francis Nicolai  told WPCNR he did not “recollect” writing the key word “overnight” into the margin of the court order spelling out how Hockley District Leader Candidates’ attorney Jay Boyarsky was to deliver a show cause order to ten persons of Hockley District Leader challenger petitions August 4.

Judge Nicolai does not remember how the “overnight” found its way onto the court order spelling out how the Hockley attorney was to respond to the Board of Elections denial of 10 Hockley petitioners.

Nicolai, asked by WPCNR why he wrote overnight into the margin, which according to the Hockley/Garfunkel attorney  said “To my recollection I did not write (“overnight”), somebody in the administration court system must have added it,” he said. 

The "overnight" word in the margin was key in creating the situation resulting in the removal of ten supporters perhaps sympathetic to Glen Hockley from the September 9 District Leader Democratic Primary contests for district leader in White Plains.

WPCNR SPORTS. From Wendy Traskos. August 24, 2008: "New York Pole Dancing" has recently opened up a studio at 110 Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains, bringing a trendy new fitness craze to Westchester County -- poledancing. This latest fitness trend has gotten thousands of women in shape, from young hot Hollywood to trendy China, and has finally arrived in White Plains.

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. By John F. Bailey. August 22, 2008: The Circuit Breaker Bill passed by the Assembly  Tuesday of this week, lowered the tax relief proposed originally by Assemblyperson Sandra Galef's bill that had been the basis for the new bill the Assembly passed, and subject of an extensive analysis by WPCNR this week, showing the effects of eliminating the Middle Class STAR Rebate. The Middle Class STAR Rebate is preserved under the whirlwind rewriting of the bill. However, the tax relief has been cut substantially. WPCNR will provide an analysis of how it affects White Plains.

The new bill  was introduced for the first time in the Ways and Means Committee August 16, after WPCNR's interview with Assemblyperson Sandra Galef, the original sponsor of bill A01575.

The new legislation cleared the Assembly Tuesday after 5 days of being given life.

Taxpayers earning below $90,000, will be eligible for a refund of only 25% of their property tax bills exceeding 5% of their income, instead of the previous 70% in Assemblyperson Galef's original proposal. Taxpayers earning between $90,000 and $125,000, would receive a refund of 20% on property taxes exceeding 5% of their income, and taxpayers earning between $125,000 to $250,000 are cut down to 15%  of the property tax exceeding 7% ot their income--  down from the original 70%.

Renters now are included in  the tax relief, being allowed to a special tax reduction based on relationship of income and rent.

The gentry are profoundly affected by the Circuit Breaker Law the Assembly passed. Persons earning between $1 Million and $5 Million, will pay a new tax rate of 7.85% on all of their income; taxpayers with incomes above $5 Million would pay 8.6% on all income.

Signifcantly missing from the Assembly bill, Assemblyperson Galef introduced,  is the repeal of the Middle Class STAR Rebate, which Ms. Galef saw the Circuit Breaker replacing. Now the Circuit Breaker is in addition to the Middle Class STAR Rebate, though the "Assembly approved" Circuit Breaker puts significantly less of individual taxpayers' property taxes subject to the tax refunds granted by the "Breaker."

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. August 21, 2008 UPDATED 10:07 A.M. EDT. UPDATED 11 P.M. E.D.T.: Fire broke out at the hydrogen filling station at the White Plains Department of Public Works garage this morning shortly after 9 A.M. according to Melissa Lopez, press spokesperson for the Mayor's Office. It was contained and extinguished by 9:45 A.M.

Ms. Lopez in a statement received by WPCNR Thursday reports that Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti reports  it was an electrical malfunction inside a Hydrogen Compressor that caused the fire.  The sensors at the facility notified the fire department immediately.  It occurred at 9:11am.

Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson reports  to WPCNR that the fire was called in about 9:10 A.M because of a compressor, used to cool the hydrogen had apparently overheated. Jackson said "there definitely was a fire there, but our guys are trained for this situation." He said at no time was any hydrogen ignited. There was no explosion.

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & Ms. White Plains Poll. August 21, 2008 UPDATED August 22, 2008: This week, ground was broken on a new 14-unit "affordable housing" project on Minerva Place. Since this and projects like it have been funded with contributions to the affordable housing fund made by developers who have opted to "buy out" of building actual affordable units in their projects, WPCNR wondered how the populace feels about this continued policy of subsidizing projects like this. The last two projects took some $1.1 Million in city money. The Minerva Place project will use another $1 Million. Some of the apartment units themselves  built previously approach $300,000 per unit to build, and generally pay the developer a developer's fee, and provide the land at reduced cost.

Paul Wood, the Mayor's Executive Officer, wrote WPCNR saying to make clear no tax payer dollars were used in these two products, that all money came from the Affordable Housing Fund, that is funded by developer contributions in lieu of building affordable units. However, tecnically it is city money to use as the council sees fit within the purposes described by the Affordable Housing Fund. 

The affordable housing is meant for so-called "workforce" housing for police, teachers, city employees, then it is thrown open to every one else.  How do Mr. and Mrs. White Plains feel about this on-going effort?  Choose from the following choices:

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2008. August 20, 2008 UPDATED AUGUST 21, 2008: Candidate for the 88th Assembly District,  Anthony Pilla of Battle Hill, rode Representative Greg Ball's Tax Cap Express Bus to Albany Tuesday morning, and described what the contingent of tax cap supporters experienced.

WPCNR followed with Mr.Pilla, based on the first edition of this story, asking him if he had met with any Assembly members on where the tax cap goes now. He issued this statement in addition to his first report below:

Mr. Pilla is second from left, above, as the Tax Cap Express left Yorktown Tuesday morning, and he is shown second from left in the front row on the steps of the Albany Capitol below.

Here is Mr. Pilla's report:

WPCNR THE HOUSING NEWS. From The Mayor's Office.  (Edited) August 20, 2008. Updated 9:36 P.M. :  Community Housing Innovations (CHI), along with White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino, hosted the groundbreaking for the city’s latest affordable housing development—14 for-sale units called Minerva Place Condominiums.  The units are being developed, constructed and marketed by Community Housing Innovations, Inc., a White Plains-based nonprofit organization founded in 1991, with the aid of a $1,050,000 subsidy from the City of White Plains Affordable Housing fund, plus a donation of the land.

Melissa Lopez of the Mayor's Office  clarified this figure Wednesday afternoon, reports that to date the city has given Community Housing Innovations $800,000 and at a Special Meeting of the Common Council Thursday evening, CHI will be asking the Council for $200,000 more.

Common Council and Mayor Joseph Delfino Break Ground on 14 "Affordable Units" Tuesday, to be built on 7 Minerva Place. A design of the complex appears below.  Left to right, above:  Alexander Roberts from CHI, Hon. Thomas M. Roach, Hon. Mayor Joseph M. Delfino and Hon. Rita Malmud
Photo, Courtesy, The Mayor's Office/ 

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. August 19, 2008: Police report an 11-year-old boy was struck while riding a bicycle at the intersection of Baylor Circile and Havilands Lane Tuesday afternoon approximately 4: 15 P.M. Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson reports:

11 year old child struck by a vehicle. Minor injuries, parents on scene. Transported to WP hospital for treatment. No summons issued at this time.

Just a quiet intersection -- Baylor Circle and Haviland Lane-- scene of child's bicycling accident Tuesday afternoon. I

WPCNR LAKE STREET STORY. By John F. Bailey August 17, 2008 UPDATED 10:30 P.M. EDT: After three weeks of reluctance on the part of the City of White Plains to report to WPCNR the status of when an elite squad of algae and weed-eating carp fish  "specialists" would be approved or banned from cleaning up the stagnant algae and weed-choked Liberty Park Silver Lake, the Town of Harrison Supervisor Joan Walsh announced Friday that the long-awaited "Carp Squad" would be introduced to the lake in September.

                                                                            "GUMS"

Move along, buddy! A Grass Carp -- soon to be introduced to Silver Lake to control the bottom weeds. The Carp grows rapidly, can eat up to three times its body weight in a day, and can grow to a length of 4 feet as an adult and weigh 70 to 90 pounds. Carp juveniles (8 inches)  can grow to 18 inches in one year. Walsh told media 256 carp would be put into the lake.

The carp will hopefully find the bottom weeds tasty and will clean up the lake whose unsavory appearance every summer has  turned Liberty Park, built at the cost of $500,000 in real tax dollars by the City of White Plains in 2004, into a park no one wants to go to or be in. The lake has been unusable for boating for three years due to the unexplained weed growth in the lake. It is so deserted there is evidence of campfires along the trail.   

The "carp solution" was suggested by White Plains Commissioner of Public Works, Joseph Nicoletti. one year ago as preferrable to the alternative of dredging the lake for hundreds of thousands of dollars and has finally been give the "Go" signal by the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Liberty Park & Silver Lake, August 5: The Park that no one wants to use. A "Carp Squad" is on the way to clean up the lake, Harrison Town Supervisor John Walsh announced Friday. This is how Silver Lake looked August 5, two weeks ago, and how it has looked all summer long the last three years. It has cleared up a little since then (See Sunday, August 17 shot below), due to cooler nights killing the algae, and it sinking to the bottom.

Silver Lake, August 17: Cool nights last week killed the algae scum which sunk to the bottom, so the lake looks better, but note the slime dockside.