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Eric Sevareid
When I got the idea for Perspective ’26, it came when “60 Minutes” the CBS weekly news magazine replaced the Executive Producer, and I remembered how good it was in the times it first started. The best feature of the program was the last 2 minutes, not the first 57.
Those 2 minutes were the sacred domain of the oracle of our times, known as “The Grey Eminence”
Eric Sevareid
He was the first news essayist of provoking perspectives on what the events of the week actually could mean for the future. These thoughts were delivered by Mr. Sevareid’s measured delivery. Every word he spoke had gravitas.
After being introduced by Walter Cronkite, Mr. Sevareid would often begin with the genial words,
”Well, you know Walter…” and you the viewer would be invited into the private thoughts of a man who has seen it all working for CBS for 38 years 1939 to 1977.
“Well you know Walter,” perhaps was the best first words of any commentators who followed him to open a report.
Thinking how White Plains Week could close with a higher dimension, I decided to try my ability to deliver a news essay that would make viewers think, persons responsible for doing something about something might actually “do something.”
Mr. Sevaried and the reporters of his day were dedicated to reporting the truth as much as military censors and their producers would allow.
The more I think about what happens every week, the more I see what is ahead in the future. So I have decided to reprint my White Plains Week Perspective ’26 Essay each week.
Here is the Perspective ’26 of August 15, 2026 broadcast of White PlainsWeek:
This just in yesterday.
Westchester Beaches closed again Thursday on the South Shore
The Surf Club and Harbor Island Club beaches closed because again a bacteria level was over the limit.
This is happening every time it rains. This is unacceptable. I have pointed out this has been happening every summer for the 25 years I have reported on White Plains Week
No statements from the county on this sweltering summer of beach closures meaning you cannot swim because sewers cannot contain or store the rains on the south shore as well as the shores of the Hudson River’s edge.
No statements from the county on how much money is going to fix the New Rochelle, Rye, Mamaroneck, Larchmont overflow problems. By the way, shouldn’t those communities attack the problem themselves?
Where is the Westchester County Sewer Relief Plan?
A previous legislator was given the job five years ago of coming up with an orderly timely sequence of sewer rehabilitation. It is way past due.
County Executive Ken Jenkins has been left holding the bag by his previous predecessor County Executives from 1992 to 2026.
25 years of irresponsible budgeting by raising expenses every year and running deficits by managements where sales taxes been assumed to rise above inflation every year. But surprise!
They do not!
In the last 6 years inflation and expected automatic raising of the County sales tax anticipated revenues has been used to keep balancing the budget. Last year the county received record sales taxes when the 1% sales tax increase of several years back finally came through when the county needed it.
This year as Mr Soule the Budget Director explained last Monday, Westchester in running a 9.4 Million budget gap because the sales tax revenues are behind. Sales tax receipts are not booming. They need another big time close in the next 4 months to avoid a deficit and budget cuts in the 2027 budget.
Overestimating the sales tax continues with no learning from results of the past. No taking into the account of the fickleness of consumer spending and ever wishing for the magic of inflation to raise county revenues.
In 2025 Westchester received a windfall that paid off the $19 million they were running behind from overestimating sales tax revenues for 2025.
The unrelenting high tide of the county budget this year (the highest in county history $2.5 billion) approved with great expectations so far are not being met.
Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins is a County Executive at a crossroads.
He knows he cannot cross his fingers every year after this year of funding uncertainty from the state and Washington. He is faced with choices of
- A sales tax increase.
- A property tax increase.
- A surtax of some kind.
- Cutting County expenditures now to narrow the shortfall, from Washington withholding promised funds.
- Cross fingers and rely on a spending spree by Mr. and Mrs Westchester County to mop up the red ink like they did last year.
The infrastructure of the sewers continues createmisery of the county.
The overflow of the sewers is an appalling condition for the wealthiest county in the state. The fact that 25 years of County Executives have not addressed this chronically deteriorating network of sewers says a lot about leaders of the last 25 years. They do not lead.
Mr. Jenkins’ predecessors talked a good game, but they did not do “a good game.”
Mr. Jenkins has to take a serious approach and timely fix of of the chronic flooding of the sewers in Rye, Mamaroneck and Larchmont and New Rochelle, as well as the outrageous shutting down of the Yonkers sewage treatment plant by Con Edison that allowed polluting the Hudson River with raw sewage, to avoid loss of power to the public.
(This outrageous fiasco by Con Edison should prompt the state to call for an investigation of Con Edison ability or in this inability to supply adequate power to the New York metropolitan area–by the legislature, the state and the public service commission and the Governor, in my opinion.)
Mr. Jenkins should call the Con Edison management to explain this environmental outrage.
Have New York decisions to guarantee Con Edison a continued monopoly on the largest power consumers in the metropolitan area?
Has Con Edison put stock holders ahead of power generation to meet demand? It looks like it. Are inadequate sewer capacities related to failure of Con Ed to generate enough electricity?
The other Con Edison issue is pricing of electricity and the egregious “Delivery Charge.”
The inability to receive power relief from Con Edison and New York Electric and Gas is a consistently repeating drama that aggravates the ability of Westchester County’s population to survive thee cost of living in this county.
This is a problem. A habit of the State Legislature and Governor. They rollover for whatever Con Ed wants.
Their reaction to the Con Edison rate increase last year was to cave in to Con Ed on the rate increase and RESTORE the revenue Con Ed lost to the consortium Westchester Power and 29 towns and cities in Westchester who proved people would pay for green energy and save money with a fixed electric rate.
Look at your electric bill for July:
Bills for electricity have gone up hundreds of dollars in this hottest summer of all time for Westchester customers. State policy on cost of electricity by requiring power companies accessing the grid to pay the highest cost of electric rate (natural gas) assured that the Westchester Power rates could not get bids for lower rates of supply and make them fixed. It worked. The state enabled a rule that put Westchester Power out of the power supply business
January 1st of this year Westchester Power suspended power supply and all 29 towns electric supply returned to Con Ed where rates always go up to reflect demand and the fixed rates kill the consumers in summer and winter.
The cave-in on the rate increases approved for 2026 was a disgrace that the state legislature and governor did nothing to stop or even complain about. The negotiating committee got Con Ed to lower rates a little. It was a show compromise.
Westchester customers now pay whatever Con Ed wants. Their only recourse is to lower the air conditioning and lower their thermostats in the winter.
There is nothing County Executive Ken Jenkins can do about the consortium concept of combining purchasing power, but he and other county executives have got to make Con Edison receive greater scrutiny and demand the State comptroller do audits of Con Ediison’s real costs, assure green energy conversion plans after putting Westchester Power out of business. The free market concept worked under the combined purchasing power of 29 towns.
Retention of customers year to year for the five years of Westchester Power was very good, when customers could be assured of the same fixed rate no matter what their usage.
This year it is back to and Con Ed charging more for peak demand in summer and winter and more for delivery. Now customers are back in the Con Ed web and watching their electric bills soar.
The Final Problem:
The cuts from Washington on Westchester County have not been accounted for yet?
How come? Legislators in Albany do not know? Do they know? Why won’t they tell us? County Executives, Mayors, Supervisors of Westchester towns and cities in all counties in the state need to know this. How can you budget without the figures?
Decision to come: Playland has had a bad weather year and is a million dollars off in expected revenue
They opened a new ride last Thursday and this was a good thing.
What does the county do about that? Can attendance be lifted with lower admission prices next year.
Do we operate it at all?
Marketing innovations have be to thought of- “Business Day at Playland- during the week for individual companies with meeting places,” (City and Town Days at Playland, Concerts after 9 pm, Pro hockey games at the rink featuring Rangers, Islanders, Devils, or Knick, Nets games at the rink—all the franchises can do is say no, ask?, “Winter Wonderland at Playland’ ”Yankee day at Playland or Mets Day—teams bring their families and linger with with the visitors take rides with them”
More rides are needed. How many more to come?
What does the county need in revenue to keep Playland playing?
When the beaches started closing in the hottest summer in history, this had to have limited attendance.
Playland is a great place. It is one of the most wholesome things to do for children of all ages.
Mr. Jenkins was right to keep it open. But the rebirth continues.
The problems the County Executives of Westchester have kicked down the road the last 25 years to their successors have met their match in Mr. Jenkins.
He fixes things.
He sees clearly the problems.
He will be different than his predecessors who created the problems he faces. He can, but he has to be very strong.
The strongest leader the county has ever experienced.
This is John Bailey reporting for White Plains Week.
Good night and …thank you.
