2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)
City of White Plains Now Accepting Applications for a City Court Judge Position
The City of White Plains is accepting applications for a City Court Judge position. The City Court Judge position requires an attorney who is a resident of the City of White Plains and has been admitted to practice law in the State of New York for a minimum of five (5) years. The appointment will be for a ten (10) year term. Applications may be downloaded at www.cityofwhiteplains.com/judicialapplication and may be submitted to the City Court Judicial Review Committee, c/o Office of the Mayor, 255 Main Street, White Plains, New York 10601, or may be transmitted by e-mail to [email protected]. Applications must be received by 5 p.m. on May 30, 2019. Questions may be directed to Corporation Counsel John G. Callahan at [email protected] or (914) 422-1411.
White Plains Kat Brezler’s attorney presenter her appeal to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Brooklyn Wednesday for the court to reverse the New York Supreme Court decision that she had “insufficient number” of valid signatures on her petition to run in the Democratic Primary June 25.
Ms. Brezler issued this statement:
” We aren’t sure when the decision is expected. Hoping by the end of the week we will know.
Our lawyer felt like he put forth a compelling argument with a pathway for the justices to put us back on the ballot.
This process is exhausting and frustrating.
We believe that the people of White Plains will ultimately have the final say. We are on the ballot no matter what on the Workers Families Party line in November. “
When Ms. Brezler filed her petitions to challenge the nominations of Nadine Hunt=Robinson, Victoria Presser and Jennifer Puja as Democratic Nominees to run for Common Council, the Westchester Board of Elections approved her petition. Three persons filed a suit challenging the validity of the Brezler signees. The judge reviewing the case, ruled on May 7 to invalidate (Brezler’s) signatures based on them not matching registration cards. That ruling, in effect eliminated the primary election June 25.
Brezler appealed at the time, detailing why in this statement in a press release: “Signatures ruled invalid (by the judge) included those from women who had remarried, a voter afflicted with Parkinson’s, and newly registered voters.”
Brezler’s news release statement after the judge’s ruling the week of May 7 noted that she had
“collected 1,175 signatures of which only 696 were necessary to qualify for the ballot. The Westchester County Board of Elections validated 780 of them. We’re fighting for an appeal because voters should decide if we’re going to expand low-income and affordable housing in White Plains, not a few entrenched political operatives.”
Kat Bresler’s appeal to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn to have her petitions validated will be heard today.
Leo Glickman, of Stoll, Glickman & Bellina will represent White Plains’ Kat Brezler appeal argument for validation of her primary petitions to run in the June 25 Democratic Primary to the Appellate Court in Brooklyn today.
Brezler is contending that her petition signatures for the Democratic Primary approved by the Board of Elections were unfairly declared by a New York Supreme Court Judge as “insufficient” after the judge had reviewed them. The judge, Sam Walker declared her petitions invalid.
Unless the Appellate Court finds in Ms. Brezler’s favor, she will not be able to run in the Democratic Primary scheduled for June 25 against the Democratic Party nominated slate of Nadine Hunt-Robinson, Victoria Presser and Jennifer Puja for Common Council.
The argument is scheduled to heard at 10 AM this morning.
WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. May 21, 2019 UPDATED 12 mIDNIGHT.:
White Plains voters voted to approve the school budget by 85% today. The following video shows the moment when the final returns came in:
Michelle Schoenfeld, Clerk to the Board of Education emerged at 9:40 PM with the final results from Battle Hill and Church Street to complete the returns: recorded electronically and displayed on a screen, instead of the traditional chalk on the blackboard. WPCNR VIDEO
Dr. Joseph Ricca Superintendent of Schools expressed his thanks to the voters. WPCNR VIDEOBudget vote is displayed in the first two columns on the left. The votes for proposition 1 to spend $6.4 Million on infrastructure from the current Capital Reserve are in columns 3 and 4. The vote for Proposition 2, establishing a new $24 Million Capital Reserve are in columns 5 and 6. the last two columns are the votes for Sheryl Brady and Charlie Norris who ran unopposed for positions on the School Board.
As the school district explained in a previous briefing on the budget, Proposition 1, approved by a 994 to 106 plurality, does this:
Proposition #1 approves up to $6.4 million in expenditures for school improvement projects throughout the district, from the already existing 2016 Capital Reserve Fund.
(In 2018, the voters in White Plains approved a $10,000,000 expenditure out of the reserve fund created in 2016.) By WPCNR rough estimate the first Reserve Fund raised approximately 16 Million in its three year existance, spending $10 million last year, and another $6.4 million depleting the leftover cash was approved for the 2019-20 budget in Tuesday’s vote.
Proposition #2 approved by a 954 to 116 margin, approves establishment of a new 2019 Capital Reserve Fund of up to $25 million over a period of 10 years, to replace the 2016 Fund which will be depleted. Monies will be accrued through annual appropriation of unexpended funds and other legally available funds. No additional taxes will be incurred by either of these propositions.
The newly approved budget increases taxes by 3.44%, and is under the 2% property tax cap. Ann Vaccaro-Teich, Assistant Superintendent for Business said the budget was the result of good planning, cooperation, and hard work.
An unofficial total of 1,108 registered voters voted. There are 32,000 registered voters in White Plains, which means that 3.4% of voters eligible to vote voted. In 2017, 939 voters voted in the school budget election, meaning that voter participation increased 18% year to year.
This is Dr. Ricca’s second proposed budget the voters have passed. The first Ricca budget, the current 2018-19 budget , increased spending by 2.1 %. In the previous year, 2017-18, ending in June, the budget was increased 2.58%. Though the school district was allowed under the tax cap to raise the budget 3% in Dr. Ricca’s first year , the Board and Dr. Ricca held the increase to 2.1%.
Dr. Ricca’s second budget, passed Tuesday is up 3.66% from the $218.6 Million budget of 2018-19. However an influx of over $2 Million in state aid is behind that 3.66% increase in expenditure. Without the additional state aid you would have a budget of 224.6 Million, or an increase of 2.7% year to year.
