WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR BORDER-TO-BORDER. Special to WPCNR. January 30, 2006:  The City of White Plains has been invited by the Town of Harrison to apply jointly for a grant from the New York State Quality Communities Program Environmental Protection Fund to restore and preserve Silver Lake, to avoid a repeat of the sewage emmission that resulted in the closing of the Lake for six weeks last summer.

Silver Lake, September 5, 2006: Raw Sewage escaping into Silver Lake from the Harrison sewers from a July 19 rain created an algae bloom that lasted for six weeks in Silver Lake. Now Harrison and White Plains are teaming for a grant to preserve the lake in the future. Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

The two municipalities will hire a consulting engineering firm for the purpose of restoring and preserving Silver Lake. This will include an interpretive nature walk and a boat launch on the Harrison side, and functional improvements to the existing boat pier on the WP side.

There are plans to  examine the water quality regularly and conduct mechanical weed harvesting from the lake’s bottom to remove “invasive species.” Sediment removal is also planned.

Storm Water Management

 The engineering firm will examine  management of storm water that comes into the lake (the primary source of which is from Harrison). This initial phase has an estimated total cost of $201,643.00, of which $161,314.00 will come from the State, and the City and Harrison will split the remaining $40,328.00.

Commissioner of Public Works for the City of White Plains, Joseph Nicoletti, is requesting the White Plains Common Council to authorize application for the grant. The Harrison Town Board passed a similar resolution December 15.  

Once the grant is in hand, Commissioner Nicoletti reports the city will meet with Harrison and the consultant and work out the details.

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WPCNR Common Council Chronicle-Examiner. From Don Hughes January 28, 2006: Robert Greer has been a member of the White Plains Common Council for 15 years. He has had Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) for two years.

Bob recently received an award form the city’s Human Rights Commission for his work with agencies that include Family Services of Westchester, Head Start, and the White Plains Public Library.

The disease began slowly in January 2004 with just a few muscle spasms and has progressed to where he is currently wheelchair bound and needs a full time aide. Still, he has no plans to give up his seat on the Common Council. “I’m fully engaged with City Hall and my colleagues. I was elected in 2003 to a four-year term, and I intend to complete as much of it as possible”, he said recently.

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Councilman Greer has been a White Plains District Leader since 1983. He was chairman of the local Democratic party, and he ran for Mayor in 2001. Some of the things that he lists as his accomplishments while on the Common Council include voting for the improvements leading to the Westchester Mall; supporting SHORE’s imaginative plan for combining housing for working families and formerly homeless families; working to save The Greenway; fighting for movies at Main and Mamaroneck; fighting for a Stop & Shop supermarket; sponsoring legislation establishing minimum fines for landlords violating occupancy codes; working to end the public safety badge drain; and generally trying to encourage White Plains to take advantage of 21st century technology. He is especially proud of working for the construction of the new children’s room at the White Plains Library and the opening of the White Plains Performing Arts Center.

During a Common Council meeting early last year Mr. Greer said, “One area of the body that is not attacked by ALS is the mind. I will always be me. My life has been enriched by the opportunity to serve as your councilman for the past 14 years. I intend to remain your councilman and serve the White Plains community as long as I am able.”

Some of the things that Mr. Greer misses most are the Handel concerts at Lincoln Center and reading.

I have started a fund – Friends Of Councilman Bob Greer – where people can show their appreciation for the dedication that Councilman Greer has given to the residents of White Plains. But, far more important than the amount of money raised, will be the number of people participating. You can donate either on-line using the following link http://www.whiteplainspolitics.com/DonationsFCBG.html or by sending a check payable to FriendsOfCouncilmanGreer to PO Box 203; White Plains, NY 10602. Or, just send a note of appreciation without the donation. The donations will be used to buy recordings and Talking Books. I have started the fund with a $50 donation. All funds raised (less a bank fee for credit card donations) as well as a list of contributors will be forwarded to Councilman Greer.

Please feel free to forward this note.

Background information: http://www.rideforlife.com/archives/001284.html

Don Hughes

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. January 27, 2006: WPCNR has learned from Office Max  sources that the Office Max store in the City Center opposite Filene’s will close in March. The store previously had been in the Westchester Pavillion mall and had moved to City Center last spring to the third floor. The store said it was planning sales in March to clear inventory.

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WPCNR THE HOMELESS NEWS. By Geoffrey Ruff. © 2006, The White Plains CitizeNetReporter. All rights reserved. January 27, 2006: Geoffrey Ruff, nightly client of the 85 Court Street Homeless Drop-In Shelter in White Plains, continues Part III of his report on what happens to single homeless men who choose to accept Department of Social Services “services” instead of staying in the Drop-In Shelter nightly. 

This report was presented by Mr. Ruff to the Commissioner of the Department of Social Services of Westchester County in a meeting Monday, January 23. (See Parts I & II published previously). Herewith Mr. Ruff’s report, on a typical sequence a homeless person, choosing to cooperate and accept DSS services by participating in a DSS Placement program (readers should be aware, this program is not available unless a homeless person chooses to accept Department of  Social Services “Services”):

Placement

Step III

At this step, the applicant’s status is deemed a resident. He is placed at a determined (Westchester County) Government-Funded Shelter, where within a week, if not less, he starts his “program.”

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The “Program” will consist of  1 of 3, Drug Treatment Program, Mental Health Program, or Work Program. A Shelter Case Worker makes a treatment plan. A majority of the time the resident follows the determination of the Case Worker. If the resident must go to a Drug Treatment Program, it is usually the Drug Treatment Program Case Worker who determines when he will graduate from the facility.

Usually, the D.T. Case Worker says 6 to 9 months, but it is often longer due to lax monitoring, or if any of the requirements, i.e., urinalysis, are broken. But usually the stay is more like 12 months.

The same standards also apply to Mental Health, concentrating on his mental health needs.

When the resident is deemed “Employable,” he usually goes to the Vaughn Glanton Employment Residence. There he is made to work on 1 of  2 crews, that are contracted by the County, the Bronx River Parkway, or Grassland Department of Public Works. This (program) is called “Pride In Work.”

Here, the resident works, and on his off-time, he fills out “Job Contact Sheets,” and is given opportunities for vocational training, which usually, but not always is no use due to his Criminal Felony background.

Exit

Step IV

This process is the Major problem. This step is where the accumulation of numerous breakdowns within the process occur, and fail the resident, and Social Service.

Either the resident, within the course of these Steps, fails to comply with the standards for “whatever reasons” or DSS just isn’t aware of the current needs of the resident.

Some of these reasons could be justified, but the case workers don’t take into reason any Mitigating Factors. They just want to follow the rules. Unfortunately, for the resident, non-compliance will normally, after a few times, send him to the Drop-In Center (85 Court Street) for a minimum of 5 days as a form of punishment. If there are any more compliance problems (with his treatment program), the Resident is sanctioned for 45 days.

Some Residents usually just leave the process to live back on the streets. In the sanction process, all grant funds (benefits, food stamps, money), except for Medicaid, are disabled for the 45 days. This is where the Resident becomes again Homeless, and is once again in the Drop-In, or on the street only to start the process again.

(The Conclusion of Mr. Ruff’s report, (Proposal & Opinion)  appears tomorrow in The CitizeNetReporter. The report was submitted to the Westchester County Commissioner of Social Services Monday, January 23 personally by Mr. Ruff who met with the Commissioner and a Westchester Housing Official to discuss conditions and Volunteers of America consumer attitudes at 85 Court Street.)

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WPCNR HOMELESS NEWS. From Westchester County Department of Communications. (EDITED) January 26, 2006:  With Westchester’s homeless population half the level it was in 1998, County Executive Andy Spano announced today that the WestHab Family Shelter in Elmsford will be closed at a savings of more than $5 million. 

The 46 families still living there will be relocated to other county shelters by March 31. A plan is currently being developed to ensure that the children’s schooling is not disrupted and there will be a continuation of other services. 

By closing this facility and relocating the families, the gross annual savings will be about $5.2 million, of which one-quarter of the money comes directly from county taxpayer dollars. 

 The number of homeless single adults in 1998 was 635. The number of homeless families in 1999 was 839.

As of November 2005, the number of homeless single adults was 333  (first reported by WPCNR  in a story dated January 5, 2006, though the figure given then was 331), and the number of homeless families was 317. This is approximately a 50 percent reduction in homeless people since 1998. 

The WestHab Family Center in Elmsford, on Tarrytown Road, presently has a 48.7 percent vacancy rate in its 103 units.

To accomplish the reduction in homelessness the county has done the following

·        Used all possible tools to prevent homelessness, including special grants to prevent eviction;

·        Collaborated with providers of mental health services to serve this needy population, and moved about 200 of these individuals into permanent housing;

·        Gave rental assistance through a special county-initiated program to families to help them get into permanent housing (families with earned income who were taken off public assistance);

·        Moved 400 families into permanent housing through a state/county program that allowed higher rent subsidies to prevent homelessness; 

·        Continued various job training programs (through welfare to work programs) that helped homeless  individuals get job training and employment.