THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 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)

Westchester Board of Legislators Pass Immigrant Protection Act, 11-3. Awaits County Executive Signature. First in State to Pass Such a Bill

Posted on March 12, 2018 by John Bailey

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. Release from the County Board of Legislators and Neighbors LINK. March 12, 1018:

The Westchester County Board of Legislators voted Monday night to approve the Immigration Protection Act.

The bi-partisan measure passed by a vote of 11-3. It was supported by all of the chamber’s 12 Democrats, but two were absent from the meeting for reasons unrelated to the vote, which is reflected in the vote total. It also was supported by Yonkers Republican David J. Tubiolo.

Chair of the Board of Legislators Ben Boykin, District 5 – White Plains, Scarsdale, Harrison, said, “I applaud my colleagues for the passage of the Immigration Protection Act. Moving this legislation, which had been thwarted by the prior County Executive, was a priority for the new Board and I commend all those who were involved in crafting this latest version. The Immigration Protection Act will foster the safety of all of the County’s residents by removing any trepidation some might have in the interactions with the County’s law enforcement agencies and I’m proud that we’ve been able to craft something that has the full support of both advocates for the immigrant community and the County Departments responsible for public safety, corrections and probation.”

The legislation is not a sanctuary bill, but defines what county law enforcement can ask about a person’s citizenship or immigration status and what information the county will share with federal officials.

The Westchester County Departments of Public Safety, Corrections and Probation all supported the legislation and agreed that it will protect all people without violating the law.

Neighbors Link, in a news release tonight noted that Studies have long shown that immigrants are more reluctant to report crime when they fear that police are acting as immigration agents. The Trump administration’s indiscriminate and aggressive immigration crackdown has led to dramatic decreases in crime reporting among immigrants across the country. Decreased reporting makes criminals harder to catch, endangering the safety of all local residents.

Neighbors Link, John Jay Legal Services, the New York Immigration Coalition, and Make the Road New York collaborated with other Westchester-based member organizations, to advocate for the bill’s passage and engage community members on the issue. All partners are members of the NYIC Westchester Steering Committee, a coalition of 20 organizations in the area.

“Strong, safe communities depend on good relations between law enforcement and locals. Today, Westchester became the first county in the state to put public safety first for all residents, regardless of immigration status. We applaud Legislator Borgia for her leadership, and eagerly await County Executive George Latimer’s signature to turn this crucial legislation into law,” said Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition

“We have made history tonight by passing the Immigration Protection Act, which enhances safety in Westchester County by increasing trust and cooperation between county employees, particularly law enforcement, and all residents,” said County Legislator Catherine Borgia, District 9 – Briarcliff Manor, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Ossining, Peekskill, chair of the Board’s Budget & Appropriations Committee.

“I am very grateful to all of the members of the large bipartisan coalition that helped bring this Act to passage after a year of extensive research and negotiation. Special thanks to my colleagues on the Board, particularly former Legislator Jim Maisano; the Law Enforcement and Social Service commissioners and union members; the Latimer administration including County Attorney John Nonna; the Westchester Chapter of the NY Immigration Coalition; the New York State Attorney General’s office; and advocacy groups such as A Better Road NY, Neighbors Link, and the many citizen groups who kept this issue in the forefront of our agenda. I am very proud of the work we did together to ensure justice and equal protection for all Westchester residents.”

An earlier version of the measure was vetoed by then-County Executive Rob Astorino.

Dr. Joseph Ricca in Candid Meeting on School Security Tells Over 100 the State of Security of White Plains Schools

Posted on March 12, 2018 by John Bailey

WPCNR School Days. By John F. Bailey. March 12, 2018:

Dr. Joseph Ricca, first year Superintendent of Schools for White Plains held well over 100 parents, students and city officials, who came out the day after last week’s snow spellbound March 8. He sought and succeeded in easing many concerns on the state of security in White Plains schools.

He accomplished this by taking a long list of questions submitted prior to the start of the meeting and with a panel of the school district security consultant, principals from White Plains High School, middle school and elementary schools, pyschologists, the school buildings and grounds administrator, and social workers serving students, the professionals who know the school district and the procedures they follow every school day in handling a variety of matters.

In an hour and a half, Dr. Ricca and his panel spelled out how the schools handle very complex security concerns with established, detailed protocols, drills, and precedures on how potential threats are investigated and dealt with.

The transcript of the entire meeting as well as a television tape of the meeting is expected to be put up on the school website “in a few days,” according to the school district.Dr. Ricca urged strongly that parents not attending the evening, and parents who did attend that any threat a child makes on social media, (Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Instagram,) would be reported to the White Plains Police by the school district and their child would receive a police visit.

He said parents concerned about how to deal with their student’s behavior can call their school and get immediatnce help from the school psychologists and social workers, or receive referrals to an agency “readily” available. He ecouraged parents to take advantage of these resources and the social workers and psychologists elaborated on the circumstances they are prepared to deal with and look for in the students in their schools, in cooperation with teachers.

The security expert who analyzed all 9 of the White Plains schools beginning last spring, said he found White Plains was very involved in security and advanced in their training and protocols.

Dr. Ricca told those in attendance the White Plains does have School Resource Officers, who are trained police officers from the White Plains Police Department who are armed.

In a statement on the meeting, Dr. Ricca commented,

“In the short term, we have:

* Ensured that all schools follow a limited point of entry (single or double)

* Have buzzer/camera systems enabled for all visitors

*Coordinated on-going training and drilling

*Coordinated with the White Plains Department of Public Safety for SROs, (School Resource Officers) patrols/visits and training

*Reinforced with our school communities (including all students) that no visitors should be let in at any time through any door save the designated main entrance

*Provided support to our pupil personnel staff. We are also exploring additional community partnerships to engage with students who may be experiencing difficulty

* Reinforced digital citizenship expectations with our students (in an age-appropriate manner)

He said during the meeting that by next fall, White Plains High School and other elementary schools would receive upgrades in communications systems, door security and window upgrades. The following slide gives details on these security enhancements:

Con Ed Restores 5,487 to Power in Westchester Over Last 24 Hours. 1,767 Unconnected as of 12 o’clock E.D.T.

Posted on March 11, 2018 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE POWER STORY. March 11, 2018:

The major communities in Westchester County have had most customers without power restored over the last 24 hours by Con Edison. As of 12 noon, 1,767 remain without power in small pockets across the county.

Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, Rye, Pelham have most been restored to power.

To check on your community go to the storm map here:

https://apps.coned.com/stormcenter/external/default.html

Beth Smayda Honored Today by League of Women Voters

Posted on March 11, 2018 by John Bailey

WPCNR MILESTONES. From the League of Women Voters. March 11, 2018:

The League of Women Voters of White Plains will present their Civic Engagement Award to Beth Smayda. The award will be presented from 3 – 5 p.m. at the home of Janice Abbott and Richard Benjamin 177 Soundview Avenue in White Plains.

A public finance professional for over twenty-five years, Beth was elected to the White Plains Common Council in 2009 and began serving as a councilwoman in January 2010. She was Chair of the City Budget and Management Advisory Committee throughout her eight years on the Council and was chosen by her Council to be Council President in 2012 and 2013.

Beth has a long history of involvement in the
White Plains community, having served as a past
President of the White Plains League of Women
Voters, Chair of the League’s City Budget
Committee for twenty years and Chair of the City Government Committee.She also served on the White Plains PTA Council, chairing the School Budget and Legislation Committees, work for which she received the PTA Jenkins Award.

Beth’s public finance career began at Moody’s Investors Service after working as a researcher on intergovernmental and local government financial issues for the New York State Legislative Commission on State Local Relations. At Moody’s she was an Assistant Vice President in the Northeast Group.

She then went to MBIA where she worked for 18 years analyzing, marketing, executing, monitoring, and remediating municipal bond transactions. At MBIA she managed the Public Finance Enterprise Insured Portfolio Management Group, headed up the Armonk office of the Public Finance Western New Business Group, and was Managing Director and Head of the Healthcare New Business Group. Beth then went to BondFactor Company as Managing Director and is now a Director at the ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation.

In 2006 Beth co-founded the Northeast Woman in Public Finance
(NEWPF), a network of 1,000+ women from all fields in the public finance
industry. She served as Co-President through 2012 and was named in
December 2013 as a Trailblazing Woman in Public Finance by the Bond
Buyer. She has been a long-time member of the Municipal Analysts of
New York.

Beth received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public
Administration from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois and a Master
of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas,
Austin, TX.