WPCNR Ridgeway Report. By John F. Bailey. January 13, 2004, UPDATED 3:15 A.M. E.S.T.:
The Citizens’ Plan Committee failed to “bell the cat” last night.
At the end of two hours of a citizens meeting, no strategy on how more citizens could participate in the review of the Comprehensive Plan, who and how many persons would participate in the review of the City Comprehensive Plan, or how long it would take, and what the process would be, was decided.
The Citizens’ Plan Committee Addressing a Crowd of about 180 Persons Thursday Evening at Ridgeway School. The Committee was making its case for wider citizen participation in the city Comprehensive Plan Review. Photo by WPCNR News.
WPCNR discovered the comprehensive plan review process was begun without consulting the populace Wednesday evening with uncovering of the Mayor’s Plans to form his own review committee headed by Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel, who last night denied she was running the Mayor’s Committee.
The Leaders of the CPC: Dr. Saul Yanofsky, former Superintendent of Schools opening the meeting. John Kirkpatrick studying notes, Mike Graessle, and Robert Stackpole. Photo by WPCNR News.
Habel Hangs the Mayor Out to Dry.
Representatives of the Mayor’s Office appeared to be unmoved by the demands for wide citizen participation from the audience.
Ms. Habel the highest ranking city hall Commissioner in attendance, did not make a statement assuring the 150 (by WPCNR head-count) to 180 (by organizers count) that the Mayor would make an effort to include any of the audience present in the review the Mayor said he would begin Wednesday, and that their opinion would be sought.
Mayor Has Prior Engagement with Westchester Municipal Officers.
White Plainsians counted to be 150 persons by this reporter were still streaming in at 7:50 P.M. when Dr. Saul Yanofsky began the Citizens’ Plan Committee community meeting on the Comprehensive Plan controversy Thursday evening at Ridgeway School.
Luminaries from White Plains’ past history attended this meeting including former Mayors Sy Schulman and Alfred Del Vecchio, former councilpersons Mary Ann Keenan, Dennis Power, Bill Waterman, and Robert Ruger. The present Mayor of White Plains, Joseph Delfino did not attend.
The Mayor, Ms. Habel told WPCNR was attending, instead, a meeting of the estchester Municipal Officers Association last night in Lewisboro upcounty. The Mayor, Habel said was Chairman of that organization and that he had to attend it.
Asked what the critical issues were that the Municipal Officers were considering that were more important than White Plains Comprehensive Plan, Ms. Habel said, “You’ll have to ask the Mayor.”
Seven hours after the Mayor had stated in a news conference that “there was nothing the city couldn’t achieve if they did not work together,” no representative of his stood up at this meeting to assure the citizens the Mayor was interested in their input, nor invite any members of the Citizens’ Plan Committee to work with the city, or that the city even wanted to work together with them.
Robert Ruger told WPCNR he felt it was terrible the Mayor had said publicly that the intent of the meeting was political, and said, “If I was the Mayor, I would have been here.”
What do You Think? Who Will Review the Plan? Who’s the Chair? Who’s On it?
When asked if the Mayor would invite any of the members of the Citizens’ Planning Committee that staged the meeting, Habel said that was up to the Mayor.
When asked if she had any comment on the meeting she had just witnessed, where former Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio charged that “We’re in trouble now because decisions are being made by people who are only looking for profits for developers,” Habel said she had none.
Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio giving the group a history lesson on how White Plains turned into a legal and retail center in the 70s and 80s. Del Vecchio said it was time the city had to determine its own fate. Photo by WPCNR News.
When asked who she was inviting onto the Mayor’s Comprehensive Plan Review Committee since she was chairing the committee, first reported by WPCNR Wednesday evening, and confirmed by Mary Cavallero who said she was a member of that committee, Habel said she was not chairing the committee.
WPCNR asked if she would invite any members of the Citizens’ Planning Committee to be on the Mayor’s Committee. She said, “I don’t know. Ask the Mayor. It’s up to the Mayor.”
Consciousness Raised.
Two hours earlier, the meeting had begun with 10-minute presentations by three key Citizens Plan Committee members. and an hour of questions and pontifications by a series of citizens no plan or strategy was decided upon “to bell the cat.”
“Belling the cat” in the eyes of the Citizens’ Plan Committee would be a community group of “at least a hundred or more” White Plains citizens in the review of the Comprehensive Plan as was done in creating the original 1997 Comprehensive Plan. A 14-person committee is favored by Mayor Delfino who announced he was forming that Wednesday, after WPCNR had broken the story .
Mike Graessle, commenting afterwords, said he was very pleased at the turnout and that the committee had demonstrated that more White Plains citizens want to determine what they want to happen in the city.
Roach Stands Up Clarifies Legal Dispute.
Tom Roach, Common Council President, who responded when Dr. Yanofsky asked if any elected officials wanted to speak said that he believed the state statutes on city law give the Common Council the right to determine how the city Comprehensive Plan is reviewed, but that the Mayor’s Office believes an ordinance created in 1977 gives the Mayor the right to determine the procedure and appoint the committee. Mr. Roach was the only councilman to accept Dr. Yanofsky’s invitation to speak.
Tom Roach, Common Council President, Defining the Legal Dispute Between the Mayor and the Common Council. Photo by WPCNR News.
He said once that dispute was settled with the Mayor in the next work session, he felt the council would take a role and weigh in and involve all of White Plains citizenry in the review of the plan, which he strongly advocated.
The Ordinance from 1977 Establishing the Comprehensive Plan Review at that time. Roach describes it as allowing the Mayor to appoint the committee, but points to the clause (d) calling for the Committee to be open to all residents. Photo by WPCNR News.
The “Open to All” Paragraph. Photo by WPCNR News.
Asked if his colleagues, Robert Greer, Benjamin Boykin, Arnold Bernstein, and Rita Malmud (who was enroute from Washington, D.C.), would back him on this, Roach said he could not speak for them. Mr. Greer does not speak to WPCNR, and Mr. Boykin and Mr. Bernstein could not be located for comment.
Background and Financial Concern.
Land use and environmental lawyer John Kirkpatrick spoke on the legal facets of the Comprehensive Plan Review, in which he explored the effect of New York General City Law 28-A which he said gives the power to determine how a Comprehensive Plan is reviewed, including appointing boards and citizens to do so to the Common Council.
Mike Graessle spoke on the what has happened in White Plains during his segment since the last Comprehensive Plan was adapted in 1997.
Robert Stackpole Addressing the White Plainsians. Photo by WPCNR News.
Planning Board member Robert Stackpole dwelt on the current state of the city. In Stackpole’s opinion the city is facing continued financial troubles due to the declining assessment base of commercial properties in the downtown over the last ten years. Stackpole did not offer any solutions to this problem, but as the three speakers pointed out they were here to highlight issues that needed to be considered.
Stackpole said the problem of commercial properties continually filing certiorari claims had lowered the city accessibles. Stackpole said that this long term trend over the last decade was leading to placing more and more burden on the home owner and taking more and more money away from the school district which they had to get from the homeowner.
He said the city needed to begin cutting costs in order to shore up its bond rating. He noted that the Parking Authority Absorption into the general fund was a one-time fix that would not be available in fiscal 2005-06, though he did not criticize the strategy, actually praising the city for doing it.
School District Bad News on Nordstrom’s Certiorari Makes Stackpole’s Point.
The announcement by the School District last Monday evening that they are going to lose $613,469.17 in property taxes from the Nordstrom’s department store in The Westchester serves to underline Stackpole’s prediction that this trend is going to continue. Nordstrom’s School Tax payment to the District reduction is the result of Nordstrom’s winning a certiorari proceeding against the city.
As a result of that proceeding, Nordstrom’s Total Accessed Value was lowered from $1.4 Million in 2004 to $927,485 in 2005, resulting in the loss of the $613,469.17 the District has to pay back to Nordstrom this year and will not have in next year’s budget. Dr. Yanofsky actually made the point that the city does not involve the school district in negotiating certriori settlements.
We’ll Be Back to You.
Mike Graessle after the meeting was over and the majority of the mostly white, over-50 crowd with about 10 minorities represented in the audience had left the Ridgeway School Auditorium, said he was gratified by the attendance and felt the committee had succeeded in raising the conciousness of the city that all of White Plains needed to participate in the city Comprehensive Plan Review.
In closing the meeting, Dr. Saul Yanofsky said the committee would be back in touch with all who attended as efforts to involve more of the citizenry in the review would continue.
