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

“I would like to thank my colleague, Legislator Pete Harckham for 8 years of hard work on behalf of his constituents in District 2 and the entire County.  Peter brought dedication and an admirable work ethic to his job as Legislator and that’s why he will be successful in his new position as Assistant Director of the Office of Community Renewal.  I look forward to working with Peter in his new role.

The Westchester County Charter, specifically Section 107.11. directs how the Board of Legislators should fill vacancies within a legislative term.  I was the sponsor of that piece of legislation along with Vice Chairman Jim Maisano so I can speak directly to the technicalities and the intent of the law.

The law directs that if a vacancy occurs with less than seven months remaining in the term, as is the case here, the remaining sixteen Legislators will vote to appoint an individual eligible to hold the office.

An important clause which we worked into Section 107.11 is that the person selected to finish out the vacated term, may not be a candidate for public office and will not be allowed to run for the seat to which they are appointed.  This meets the highest ethical standards and transparency possible for a political appointment by giving the Legislators the freedom to select the best person to fill the position without impacting the general election which is just over 4 months away.

WPCNR COUNTY CLARION LEDGER From Michael Kaplowitz, Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. May 22, 2015:

While no one has been identified yet to replace Legislator Harckham, I am committed to appointing a member of the Democratic Party, which is the political party chosen by the voters in District 2 in the 2013 general election.  I have already begun discussions with BOL leadership and I anticipate having the position filled for our regularly scheduled BOL meeting on June 15th.

The appointee to the vacated seat will relinquish the office to the winner of the November 3rd election when the election is certified.  According to NY State law, elections must certified by December 1st which means the Legislator who is elected by the public will be in place to vote on the 2016 County budget.”

WPCNR PLAYLAND-GO-ROUND. By John F. Bailey May 22, 2015::

The resumption of the Parks Labor and Housing Committee hearing Wednesday on the County Executive designated developer of  Playland Standard Amusements contract was highlighted by by Councilpersons from the City of Rye raising the issue of the city’s desire to assess property taxes on any new revenue-producing restaurants and attractions brought in by the Standard group as part of their plan to make Playland more profitable.

The two councilpersons in addition said they were concerned about changes in the footprint of the Playland Park and wanted to review any changes on under their Land and Water Statute enacted in 1982. They also wondered how disputes or unmitigatable concerns would be decided and what sort of binding mechanism could be established. Peter Harcham, Chairman of the Committee did not explore the issue, and the issue of how disagreements with the City of Rye would be ultimately addressed was left for a later date.

Councilwoman Brent of the City of Rye said her city was concerned with expansion of the Playland footprint outside of the park, traffic growth, and raised the issue of assessing any new restaurants and attractions producing revenue outside the park that Standard Amusements is planning on bringing in.

Nick Singer said the county has the right to walk away from the agreement if any property taxes are placed on the Amusements enhancements. He said this was “a problematic issue for us,” and that Standard would not accept this and perhaps walk away from the deal.

County Legislator Katherine Parker, who represents Rye among other cities said that Rye might receive a Pilot In Lieu of Taxes from Standard to compensate Rye for increased expenses in dealing with the park expansion.

Peter Harckham sought to diffuse this first unpleasant moment in the hearings by chuckling “As Warren Zevon sang, ‘send lawyers, guns and money.’

Harckham who has said June 10 is the date when the committee will be deciding to approve the contract, will not be around for that decision. He is taking a new job with the Governor Cuomo administration effective June 3, which the Governor announced next week.

Michael Kaplowitz, Chair of the Board of Legislators sitting in on the meeting, praised the City of Rye for bringing their concerns, but he, too did not explore how an impasse between Rye and the county might be resolved bindingly.