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)

Jackson Appointed Acting Commissioner of Public Safety

Posted on November 20, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. November 20,2009: Mayor Joseph Delfino confirmed to reporter Richard Liebson of The Journal News Thursday that Daniel Jackson was appointed Acting Commissioner of Public Safety Wednesday, replacing the departed Dr. Frank Straub who resigned abruptly last Friday. The Mayor had been considering a national search, but was quoted by Liebson as saying it made more sense to appoint Jackson.

Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson,(head of conference table center, seated), and Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety John Cullen, (seated left). Mr. Jackson will now be Acting Commissioner of Public Safety according to Mayor Joseph Delfino until further notice.

Rethinking Westchester Government Calls for Charter Revision Study.

Posted on November 19, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR THE FEINER REPORT. By Town of Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner. November 19, 2009: Rethinking Westchester Government held their first post 2009 election meeting on Thursday evening, November 19^th and decided that their next initiative will be to call for a Westchester County Charter Revision Commission to redefine the responsibilities of county government and to consider transferring some of the current county government responsibilities to either the county or state governments. The commission could also commission a study to determine the feasibility of eliminating county government –actions that Massachusetts took in the mid 1990s. Connecticut and Rhode Island also have no county government.

The group will hold their next meeting at Greenburgh Town Hall on Monday, December 7^th at 7:30 PM. Greenburgh Town Hall is located at 177 Hillside Ave, Greenburgh (off of exit 5, 287). At this meeting the group will finalize the proposal creating a county charter revision commission.

The meeting on Monday December 7^th is open to the public. We plan to invite County Executive-elect Rob Astorino and members of the Board of Legislators to upcoming meetings.

Westchester County has the distinction of having the highest property taxes in the United States. A charter revision commission would be a positive next step that could lead to the end of this distinction.

Job Losses Mount in Hud Valley

Posted on November 19, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. From Johny Nelson, New York State Department of Labor Statistics, White Plains. November 19,2009:

White Plains showed its second consecutive monthly gain in residents employed in October, with 29,300 persons employed and 2,100 residents out of work for an unemployment rate of 6.7%, down from 7.2% two months ago. The White Plains workforce is doing better than Westchester County overall. The White Plains 6.7% figure is the highest jobless rate in 17 years.

The county unemployment rate shows 457,900 employed and 35,300 unemployed out of a workforce of 493,200 persons for an unemployment rate of 7.2%.

The region’s economy continues to feel the effects of the national recession, as private sector employment declined by 16,900, the largest October over the year job losses since 1991. Continued layoffs in the manufacturing sector is a concern. Over the past three months (August through October 2009), the manufacturing job count declined over the year by 7.1 percent compared with a 3.1 percent over-the-year decline in August-October 2008. Layoff announcements at Pfizer (Wyeth Pharmaceuticals) will likely further erode employment in that sector.

Private sector employment in the Hudson Valley Region decreased 16,900 or 2.2 percent, to 745,500 for the 12-month period ending October 2009. Employment gains were only recorded in educational and health services (+5,400).

Job losses remained broad-based, with the largest declines recorded in the following industries: trade, transportation and utilities (-6,100), manufacturing (-4,100), professional and business services (-3,700), leisure and hospitality (-2,900), natural resources, mining and construction (-2,600), financial activities (-1,600), and information (-1,300). The Government sector shed 800 jobs over the year.

Board Member Expert in Budget/Negotiations Recuses Himself on Teacher $$ Matters

Posted on November 19, 2009 by John Bailey

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. November 19, 2009: Jim Hricay, newly elected Board of Education Member disclosed Monday that due to his being married to a White Plains school teacher, he would not be voting on matters pertaining to teacher contracts, nor participating in Executive Sessions on teacher negotiations. Hricay told The CitizeNetReporter when asked how his expertise (in municipal finance with the cities of Stamford and White Plains in budgeting) could contribute to economical functioning when he could not vote on the issues, said he could still make suggestions to other board members, but not on teacher negotiations.

BOARD OF EDUCATION MEMBERS BASSANO, HRICAY, TAKE THEMSELVES OUT OF VOTING ON CERTIORARI AND TEACHER ISSUES, RESPECTIVELY.

At the time he ran for the Board position last spring, Mr. Hricay did not discuss the extent to which he would have to recuse on such teacher issues. Peter Bassano, another Board member, also had a statement read by the clerk to the Board, Michele Schoenfeld, that he, Bassano would recuse himself in voting on certiorari (tax refund) matters since he is employed by a law firm in the certiorari practice.

Bassano and Hricay, unfortunately, are the only Board members with extensive familiarity with municipal and labor experience, therefore become “advisory” sources in what appears to be a very limited and possibly ineffectual way. Other members of the Board can choose to ignore them in discussion and in votes on the two most sensitive areas the board has to deal with: the labor agreements with teachers, administrators, and labor and, in Bassano’s case, school acceptance of certiorari refunds. Mr. Bassano’s refusal to involve himself in certiorari matters has been known since Bassano came on the Board in 2003.

During the televised Board of Education meeting Thursday evening, the Board of Education approved $517,104.20 in certirorari refunds, (neglecting to announce the amount publicly), $301,000 to JP Morgan Chase (4 Branches) and $106,000 to “North Broadway” according to district “back-up” material.