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

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. February 19, 2013:

Former Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors reached at his home in Sutton, Massachussetts, told WPCNR this morning, he has not been contacted by the Board of Education as a possible interim superintendent of schools for the city, while the Board of Education considers whether or not to search for a new Superintendent to replace Dr. Christopher Clouet.

 “I have not heard from them at all,” Connors told me, though he said he had been telephoned by a person from White Plains, not a member of the Board, who informed him of Dr. Clouet’s decision to leave the district last week.

Dr. Clouet was appointed Superintendent of Schools for the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns  last Thursday night and has officially accepted the Tarrytowns  job, according to a Tarrytowns district spokesman Friday morning.

A member of the Board of Education told WPCNR Monday evening the Board needed a couple of weeks to sort things out as to how they were going to proceed, having just learned of the impending departure of Clouet last week.

Previously two Board members told WPCNR that Clouet wanted to reopen his contract, and the board did not want to reexamine his contract, since Clouet had 2-1/2 years remaining on it.

 Clouet had been earning $227,000 as White Plains Superintendent, and has been hired by the Tarrytowns for $253,000 according to the Tarrytown Board of Education Agenda last Thursday.  The White Plains Board member I spoke with last night said Clouet had not yet officially resigned from White Plains.

I asked the White Plains Board member  if the Board had been in touch with Connors,  the member said that since Connors left White Plains he had talked with the district and kept up contacts.

 Asked specifically if the Board had talked with Connors about possibility of helping out, the Board member said, “Of course we have.”

Asked if the Board had to release Clouet from his contract officially, the board member said they did not believe the Board had to do that.

Mr. Connors was the Superintendent Dr. Clouet replaced in 2009 when Clouet came to White Plains from New London, Connecticut.

Mr. Connors retired from the White Plains Schools in June 2009, and after applying for Superintendent positions in Worschester, Massachussetts  in 2008 and Nantucket, Massachussetts in the spring of 2010, he accepted the position of Interim Superintendent at the Hastings-on-Hudson School District for 2010-12, while that district searched for a Superintendent. After one year of searching, Hastings found no one that they could come to an decision on.

The Hastings district rehired Connors for a second year as an Interim Superintendent for 2011-2012, hiring  Dr. Roy Montesano in January of 2012, for the 2012-2013 year, with Mr. Connors finishing up his Interim assignment at the end of June, 8 months ago.

Connors told me he lived in White Plains for the two years he was Interim Superintendent in Hastings.

The President of the Board of Education, Rosemarie Eller, has not returned a WPCNR call asking for a statement about Dr. Clouet’s departure, and for clarification of whether Connors is being considered as a “go-to” option to fill the Superintendent position either interim or otherwise.

WPCNR PLAYLAND PRESS. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators. February 14, 2013:

More than 200 people flocked to the Little Theater at the Westchester County Center last night for a public information session on the four proposals to revitalize Playland, the 280-acre County Park and National Historic landmark. The event was hosted by the Westchester County Board of Legislators and moderated by Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the BOL’s Government Operations Committee

The info session began with trade show-style presentations from representatives of the four revitalization proposals—Sustainable Playland, Standard Amusements, Central Amusements and the Paidia Company / Legoland—and attendees spent over an hour perusing displays, talking with the various representatives and gathering flyers and other materials related to the different proposals. The BOL’s entire Democratic caucus and one Republican legislator also showed up for the event.

The four proposals were presented in detail to the public, and then Borgia led an hour-long Q & A period in which both broad and specific concerns were addressed to the representatives of the revitalization proposals.

“I’m very pleased that so many people turned out for this information session,” said Borgia. “It was important for our evaluation process to give members of the public an opportunity to see the four proposals side by side and discern the differences between them. That’s the level of openness and transparency to the decision-making process regarding the future of Playland rightfully deserves.”

The BOL moved forward last month with its evaluation of the top four proposals for the revitalization of Playland when the BOL Government Operations Committee outlined goals for the decision process and began in-depth discussions with the four Playland RFP respondents regarding proposed operations, financial viability and intended modifications to the park and infrastructure.

Many of the questions fielded by the representatives of the four proposals dealt with economic viability, maintaining Playland’s amusement offerings, environmental protections, public access and projected attendance figures.

“The Board of Legislators has made a lot of information is available on the decision process because the revitalization of Playland will impact residents throughout the county, as well as in Rye,” said Borgia, who added that the BOL Government Operations Committee will soon make its own recommendation about which Playland proposal is right for Westchester.

“After that, the Board of Legislators will look to collaborate with the Administration in working with the group entrusted with Playland’s future,” said Borgia.

In today’s meeting of the County’s Acquisition and Contract Board, BOL Chairman Jenkins (D-Yonkers) provided for the record prior legislation showing that in 1980 the BOL had approved the management agreement with Marriott to operate Playland.

Also, the BOL has retained the services of an outside auditor to review the financial aspects of all four Playland revitalization proposals.

Links to each of the Playland proposal presentation can be found on the Government Operations Committee page on the BOL website: http://westchesterlegislators.com/committees.html?id=2029