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

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2014. By John F. Bailey. June 17, 2014:  

 

Terence Guerriere, of Gedney Farms has been offered the opportunity to contend for the final year of former Councilman Benjamin Boykin’s council  term by the Republican Party leadership, beginning in January 2015..

This morning, speaking to WPCNR by phone, Mr. Guerriere confirmed he was offered the candidacy and has accepted it. He said the party had approached him at the end of last year after Mr. Boykin won election to the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

Guerriere, one of the leaders of the Gedney Association effort to convince the city not to approve the French American School of New York plan to build a 7-building school campus on the defunct Ridgeway Country Club, told WPCNR he has decided to run.

He said behind his decision to run again was the current political condition where the city government is not listening to the neighborhoods. He told WPCNR his campaign would forcus on repairing labor relations between the city and its unions; concentrate on filling up the empty storefronts along Mamaroneck Avenue and the downtown which he said has the most vacancies of rental space since before the recession began in 2008.

He has not picked his campaign manager yet but expects to receive input from former Councilman Larry Delgado and Terry Conroy.

The Guerriere candidacy may be contested by another former Republican Council candidate,Richard Cerulli, who may chose to run on the Independence Party line in November.

Meanwhile over on the other side of town, as I reported on WVOX Radio during the new John Marino Good Morning Westchester program,

At the JUNETEENTH PARADE Saturday,  CHARLES MORGAN was observed campaigning on the sidewalks as the parade marched down Mamaroneck collecting signatures in an effort to launch a primary bid to win the right to be the Democratic candidate in the Special Election, replacing Nadine Hunt-Robinson, presently filling the seat on an interim basis, the last four months, having been appointed to fill the seat until a special election can be held in the fall

Morgan told an organizer of the Juneteenth parade he is definitely shooting to primary Hunt-Robinson in September.

To recall the scenario resulting in Morgan’s primary effort, Democrat district leaders were upset when Hunt-Robinson was unexpectedly named to the Common Council Boykin vacancy because Hunt-Robinson had never been a district leader, and worse was not a registered Democrat, being a member of the Independence Party.

Leaders were also annoyed  that she was suggested to the Mayor and Common Council b the Ministerial Fellowship of White Plains which persuaded the Mayor that Mr. Boykin, former holder of the seat was an African-American and the black community needed to continue to have representation on the Common Council.

Previously, Nick Wolf, who is white, and a well-known district leader in the Democratic Party highly active in black community issues,  had been attending a number of council meetings over the summer and fall, in anticipation of being named to the seat to replace Mr. Boykin.

Ms. Hunt-robinson a wife of one of the ministers in the Ministerial Fellowship was suggested to the Mayor as an African-American to fill the “black seat” quote-unquote.

Thomas Caruso who is on the Democratic City Committee Nominating Committee challenged the Robinson nomination and lost by 1 District vote, but decided he would not primary Ms. Hunt-Robinson.

Mr. Morgan, though, also an African-American was not deterred. He was bothered by the notion that there was any seat that would be determined by the color of a person’s skin and would belong to any race, and has apparently decided to make a run in a primary to make a point.

 

WPCNR PLAYLAND GO-ROUND. Commentary from Stakeholders. June 14, 1014:

WPCNR continues to receive reaction on the fate of the Sustainable Playland proposal having been withdrawn this week and where it leaves the county attraction, Playland.

From Marissa Brett, of the Westchester County Association:

“We are deeply disappointed that after three years of discussions and planning, Westchester County and Sustainable Playland, Inc., have abandoned their agreement to redevelop Rye Playland. While no one party is to be blamed for letting the process flounder, certainly the process is at fault.

“Whether one agrees or not with Sustainable Playland’s proposed plans, it is apparent that the group invested considerable thought, time, effort, and money to rescue and resuscitate a money-losing county venture. Unfortunately, they had to work with multiple government entities, some with conflicting visions for the property, in developing their plans. In the end, Sustainable Playland ran out of patience and money for this project.

“Our concern is that this decision may jeopardize future projects between the private sector and the County. We have supported the use of Public-Private Partnerships to improve our County’s infrastructure and to monetize government assets. We need to encourage, and not discourage, more projects between the public and private sectors, such as North 60 at Grasslands in Valhalla, where Fareri Associates has a plan to develop 60 acres of County property for use by biotech companies, a key growth area for Westchester.

“Westchester needs a clear roadmap for developers to follow so there is less risk that important projects lose momentum and die. The Westchester County Association is committed to working with business and government to streamline the process, and we already are meeting with municipal leaders and sharing ideas. It is essential to upgrade our approach to development, and prevent others from spending millions of dollars that lead to nowhere.”

From County Legislator Ken Jenkins, (and Yonkers IDA Director):

“County Executive Rob Astorino seems to be doubling down on a failed approach that makes pre-mature pronouncements on a 10 year contract that will require a super-majority vote of the BOL and wastes taxpayers’ money to perform an analysis that the County Executive claims to have used in making his initial selection of Sustainable Playland.

“The time is now for the BOL, as the governing authority for Westchester County, to bring together the two remaining RFP respondents, Central Amusements and Standard Amusements and develop a lease for the management of Playland’s Amusement area using the framework of the 2010 Resolution adopted by the BOL regarding Playland. 

These last two remaining RFP respondents are prepared today to invest $25 million dollars into the amusement area and get things up and running in time for the 2015 Playland season. The BOL did this with the Children’s Museum with a unanimous vote then a unanimous override of County Executive Astorino’s veto.

“Friends of the Parks are well established group that supports all of Westchester and is concession vendor at Playland.  It will be interesting to see how the Astorino administration addresses the concerns of disparities that have come from organizations like the Central Park Conservancy. 

“I am hopeful my colleagues on the BOL will combine the remaining RFP respondents and develop a lease to operate the amusement area at Playland based on over 2 years of Committee hearings and public review.”