WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. June 27, 2014:

The White Plains Examiner reported in this week’s issue that the White Plains Teachers Association had rejected a third, tentative contract  offered them by the White Plains City School District in the last week.

The clerk to the White Plains Board of Education Michele Schoenfeld confirmed to WPCNR Friday  the White Plains Board of Education had not announced publicly in any public meeting  or news release that a tentative agreement had been reached with the teachers who have been without a contract for two years. There has not been an announcement by the district of the offer, the proposed new contract, or announcement of the rejection of the offer.

The “secret from the public” contract (the district’s third offer to its teachers since 2012) was rejected in a vote held Friday, June 20, one week ago.

Tthe President of the White Plains Teachers Association, Kerry Broderick,  (above, shown in a photo from the WPTA website) told WPCNR Friday the  vote of rejection was  273 “No’s” to 254 “Yes,” a margin of 52% against the contract and 48% in favor.

The teachers have rejected an offer that would have slowed the pace of step increases by paying half the proposed increases in September and the other half in January in the three contract years ahead.  The rejected agreement would have increased salaries across the board by .9 % beginning in 2014-15,  3/4 of a percent in 2015-16, and .4% in 2016-17. The rejected agreement did not offer across the board retroactive salary  step increases for 2012-13 and 2013-14, the year ending in 2 days.

Broderick said reports that no increases would be received by teachers in 2012-13,2013-14   was technically not correct. She told WPCNR that the teachers were paid step and lane (academic degree progress)  increases they were entitled to under the New York State Taylor Agreement the last two years under the previous step chart of the old contract that took effect February 1, 2012

Also part of the rejected contract teachers at the top step of 20 years experience, would have received a $600 one-time payment added to their 2013-14 pay.

For example, in the second year without a contract, 2013-14, a teacher with a BA plus 15 credits towards an MBA in their 7th year in the district this year received a $2,394 salary increase automatically as part of the previous contract effective February 1, 2012 under the Taylor Law provision.  White Plains teachers got step increases in 2012-13 and 2013-14. The proposed  now defeated contract did not add increases to those step increases

There was also one-time incentive of a flat $3,000 one-time cash payment  to induce teachers currently on a health plan other than Statewide Schools Health Insurance (the state schools insurance cooperative) to switch to SWSCHIP

Health care premium payments for teachers in the three years ahead would have gone up from 10.5% to 11.5% beginning July 1,2014; in 2015-16, 11.5% to 12.5% and in 2016-17, 12.5% to 13.5%.

The Memorandum of Agreement notes comparable settlements of school districts in the area:

The complex but now in limbo proposal may be viewed, at www.wptaonline.org, the White Plains Teachers Association website by clicking on “Tentative Contract,” “MOA, JUNE 14” and “Draft 2014-15 Step Chart,” “Draft 2015-16 Step Charts,” “Draft 2016-17 Step Charts.”

The previous two offers from the district occurred under the previous Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Christopher Clouet, and  were rejected though Dr. Clouet did not directly negotiate the contracts.

Last week’s losing 52% to 48%  margin was exactly the same of the first contract rejection during Dr. Clouet’s Superintendentship (though Clouet was not involved in the negotiations) in September, 2012, 52% to 48%.  Two months later the contract was reoffered to teachers without change and was resoundly rejectd by a 2 to 1 margin.

Kerry Broderick, President of the White Plains Teachers told WPCNR that the new contract grew out of negotiations begun during the fact-finding process with the Board of Education negotiating team and the Teachers negotiation team.

She said the fact finder (supervising the process) has not made an official report, and Broderick said it was normal that in any fact finding process, negotiations were always possible and considered.

Asked if she had a sense of why the contract that expanded step salary increases to 20 levels, offered generous incentives for teachers willing to reject present health, and offered across-the-board salary increases, after no salary raises for the previous two years was reject, Broderick said she did not know and would have to get a sense of her membership when teachers started preparing for the new school year August 1.

She said she did not participate with her 7-teacher team of negotiators, whom she said represented a cross section aware of all salary levels, seniority and teacher universe demographics. She declined to name negotiators for the school district, but said that Interim Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors participated.

As of late Friday night, the White Plains Board of Education has not issued a statement.

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IF YOU MISSED 

WHITE PLAINS WEEK’S

PREVIEW OF THE FASNY HEARINGS LAST WEEK.

SEE IT TONIGHT  ON

www.whiteplainsweek.com

(Download and view)

PETER KATZ     JOHN BAILEY     JIM BENEROFE

ON

THE TROPICAL HEAT WAVE

COUNCILPERSON NADINE HUNT-ROBINSON’S CHALLENGERS

GEDNEY ASSOCIATION HAS ONE LIFELINE LEFT

THE LEFKOWITZ DECISION AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE FASNY HEARINGS COMING UP!

CLOUDY FUTURE FOR PLAYLAND BUT ATTENDANCE IS BRIGHT AHEAD

INSIDE THE COUNTY’S NEWEST AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN BRIARCLIFF MANOR

CONSTRUCTION ROUNDUP

ONE OF GOP STRATEGISTS — WILLIAM “F” O’REILLY —  

ASTORINO ACE NOT  PLAYED.

AND

ON PEOPLE TO BE HEARD

“Westchester County’s Most Relevant Interview Program”

you’ve got

 WHITE PLAINS OWN

CHARLES LEDERMAN

Co-CHAIR OF THE WESTCHESTER COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CRIMINAL BAR

OUTSTANDING DEFENSE ATTORNEY

ON

THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION REQUIRING WARRANTS TO SEARCH CELLPHONES.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR POLICE AND FUTURE CONVICTIONS.

THE ABORTION BUFFER DOWN RULING

WHAT IT MEANS FOR FUTURE DEMONSTRATIONS

AND MORE ISSUES AFFECTED BY THE SUPREME COURT

‘DOWNLOAD FROM THE NET FOR THE COMMENTARY FROM THE MAN EO

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WPCNR HUD WATCH. From the County Board of Legislators. June 26, 2014:

James E. Johnson of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, the HUD Monitor appointed to supervise Westchester County compliance with its affordable housing settlement, challenged the county yesterday to do better and put together an acceptable “Analysis of Impediments” to building affordable housing to compete HUD’S demand the city provide 750 of affordable units.

Failire to do so, in a timely fashion will result in a permanent loss of additional $5.2 Million in HUD community development aid  withheld from the county in 2012, bringing the total of aid taken away from the county to $12 Million. He concluded his 70-page chronicle of the dispute to date with this paragraph:

“If the parties are unable to resolve this dispute, the County will lose an additional $3,915,674 in CDBG funds, $846,884 in HOME funds, and $465,789 in ESG funds, a total of $5,228,327 in funds that would aidthe County in furthering the purposes of the Settlement as well as bettering its community.

The uncompromising concluding paragraph ended  a  70-page Progress Report on the ongoing dispute between Westchester County and the Department of Housing and Urban Development over resolving alleged discrimination in zoning in 31 Westchester Communities.

Johnson wrote 17 of the 31 communities have failed to adopt a model ordinance that would remove zoning restrictions. Johnson writes in the report:

“As of March 31, 2014, 17 of the 31 municipalities have failed to adopt a versionof the model ordinance. See Ex. 16 (2014 Q1 Report) at 17. Paragraph 33(c) of the Settlement requires the County to “create and fund campaigns to broaden support for fair housing . . . including public outreach specifically addressing the benefits of mixedincome housing and racially and ethnically integrated communities.” A concerted public education campaign directed at existing Westchester residents would raise awareness and reduce the potential for the local approval process to be used as a vehicle for racialanimus. The County has yet to fulfill this obligation under the Settlement.”

In the report, Johnson blames County Executive Robert P.Astorino for blocking the Board of Legislators initiative to pave the way for creating a zoning code that could meet HUD’S adjustments, writing:

“…the Chairman of the BOL (Mike Kaplowitz) engaged with HUD in an effort to resolve the impasse. In a letter dated May 6, 2014, the Chairman represented that the BOL had the “necessary authority” to provide the requested assurances to HUD, and provided the legal justification for doing so. 

HUD requested that the Chairman provide HUD with: (1) a timeline and benchmarks for enacting a local law that commits the County to providing the necessary assurances; (2) a “plan for completing the required zoning analysis;” and (3) an “explanation of the Board’s authority to subsume traditional executive functions necessary to implement” astrategy to overcome exclusionary zoning practices. As part of its effort to revise the County’s AI (Analysis of Impediments), the BOL asked the Monitor to task his housing experts to conduct an evaluation of the 31 eligible municipality’s zoning ordinances under the federal standard for exclusion 

The Monitor (Johnson) agreed to oversee the analysis, and provided HUD, the BOL, and the County Executive with the proposed methodology to be used in conducting the analysis, and requested that the parties notify him with any objections.

The County Executive (Mr. Astorino) has opposed this approach. In a press release issued on June 5, 2014, he characterized the Monitor’s letter as “a plan to rewrite the 2009 federal affordable housing settlement” in such a way that would give HUD “unprecedentedpower to dismantle local zoning.”  

The County Executive also sent a letter to the 31 eligible municipalities stating that the alleged “changes to the Settlement” would result “in the loss of Home Rule, your authority to control local land use – as guaranteed by the New York State Constitution,” and that “HUD could dictate local zoning changes and open your municipality to never-ending investigations by the federal government.”

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. From the City of White Plains (Edited). June 26, 2014 UPDATED June 27, 2014:

The City of White Plains is bringing Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT to Turnure Park July 15th and 16th.

The Curtain Call production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night will be held on Tuesday, July 15th and Wednesday, July 16th (rain date July 17th). Show time is at 7:00 p.m. on both nights. This production is free and open to the public.

The  White Plains Performing Arts Center box office, the local city sponsored non-profit theatre was unaware the Mayor’s Office was bringing in this production when contacted by WPCNR Thursday morning. WPCNR’s phone call was the first time they had heard of it.

Curtain Call is a non-profit production based in Stamford, producing plays on a year round basis, a staple of which is the company’s Shakespeare in the Park productions. Curtain Call also provides theatre classes and performance opportunities in the City of Stamford, very similar to the programs of the White Plains Performing Arts Center.

Last year, Mayor Roach received a letter from long time White Plains resident, Karen Hanley, suggesting that the City consider bringing Shakespeare in the Park to White Plains. A summertime tradition that is enjoyed all over the world should be enjoyed here in White Plains as well.

Ms. Hanley has appeared in one Curtain Call Shakespeare In the Park production as a member of the ensemble in Othello last summer, and most recently in the Curtain Call production of When We Are Married in January of this year.

After meeting with Lou Ursone of Curtain Call Productions, the City identified Turnure Park off Lake Street as offering the right setting for such a production. Residents will be familiar with Turnure as the location of the City’s Annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The performance will take place on the Great Lawn of Turnure Park.

Picnicking is encouraged! So gather your friends and family, bring your blankets and lawn chairs, and settle in for what is sure to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

“We are so pleased to be able to offer this new, family-friendly event to our residents in conjunction with ArtsWestchester,” said Mayor Roach. “We hope this performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night will herald the start of a wonderful White Plains summertime tradition!”

WPCNR placed a call to the White Plains Performing Arts Center, the city-supported theatre, and the box office persons we spoke to said they were unaware of this production. It was the first time they had heard of it.

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WPCNR FBI WIRE. Special to WPCNR from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (EDITED) June 25, 2014:

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), today announced conspiracy and securities fraud charges against BENJAMIN DURANT and  DARYL  PAYTON, two former stock brokers at a securities trading firm (“Securities Trading Firm-1”), for their alleged involvement in an insider trading scheme.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations.

Specifically, in today’s indictmants, DURANT, PAYTON, and their co-conspirators allegedly traded on the basis of material, non-public information (“Inside Information”) concerning IBM’s acquisition of a software company, SPSS, Inc., in 2009, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits.

DURANT and PAYTON were arrested this morning at their homes in Manhattan, New York, and will be presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger this afternoon.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, Benjamin Durant and Daryl Payton not only acquired inside information about a corporate acquisition and made illegal profits from it, but they colluded with others to conceal their crime, even holding a secret meeting at a hotel the night the acquisition was announced to devise their cover-up plan. This kind of dishonesty is profitable only in the short run, ultimately leading to arrest and prosecution.”

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said: “The defendants bought SPSS stock and options before a leaked acquisition by IBM, violating the law and breaching their duty, as alleged. When Durant and Payton were asked about their trades in an internal investigation, they doubled down and lied. Today they find themselves under arrest. The integrity and fairness of our financial markets are paramount. It’s a matter of national security. We will police this type of illegal behavior and make as many arrests as necessary until people stop cheating and ripping off others to get ahead.”

In a separate action, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced civil charges against DURANT and PAYTON.

The following allegations are based on the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:

The Inside Information concerning IBM’s acquisition of SPSS originated from a corporate lawyer who was part of the legal team that represented IBM in the transaction (“Attorney-1”) in 2009. On May 31, 2009, Attorney-1 shared Inside Information concerning the transaction, including the names of the parties and the fact that IBM was going to acquire SPSS for a significant premium over its market price, with his close friend, Trent Martin, a former research analyst at an international financial services firm. The information was shared in confidence and, based on their longstanding history of sharing confidences, Attorney-1 expected that Martin would not share the information or use it to trade.

However, in June and July 2009, Martin bought SPSS common stock and call option contracts based on the Inside Information he was given by Attorney-1 and, in turn, shared the tip with his roommate, Thomas Conradt, who worked as a stock broker at Securities Trading Firm-1. In July 2009, Conradt passed along the tip to DURANT and PAYTON, his co-workers at Securities Trading Firm-1, who then bought SPSS call options based on the Inside Information.

When IBM announced its acquisition of SPSS on July 28, 2009, the share price of SPSS common stock rose by 41% in one day. Thereafter, DURANT, PAYTON, Martin, Conradt and David Weishaus, whom Conradt also tipped, sold their SPSS positions, yielding total profits worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

After IBM announced its acquisition of SPSS, DURANT and PAYTON took steps to conceal their illegal insider trading activity. On the evening the IBM/SPSS transaction was announced, DURANT and PAYTON met Conradt, Weishaus, and another co-conspirator at a hotel in Manhattan.

At that meeting, DURANT, PAYTON, and the others discussed their trading in SPSS securities and how much money they made. When they were all together, DURANT suggested that if anyone asked why they had traded in SPSS securities, they should simply say that they liked technology stocks.

Thereafter, prior to the sale of his call options, PAYTON transferred his options from securities accounts at Securities Trading Firm-1 to two securities accounts that he opened at a different brokerage firm.

In doing so, PAYTON falsely informed the new brokerage firm during a recorded telephone call that he was a “self-employed real estate consultant,” rather than a stock broker at Securities Trading Firm-1. In that call, a representative from the new brokerage firm specifically informed PAYTON that if he worked at a broker/dealer, duplicate account statements might have to be sent to his employer.

Nevertheless, PAYTON did not inform the new brokerage firm that he worked at Securities Trading Firm-1. Later, in November 2009, when Securities Trading Firm-1 conducted an investigation into the trading activity of DURANT and PAYTON in SPSS, both of them offered cover stories for their SPPS trading and neither indicated that he had heard about SPSS from, or spoken about the company with, Conradt, Weishaus, or another co-conspirator.

***

2

DURANT, 37, of New York, New York, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of securities fraud (Count Two and Three). PAYTON, 38, also of New York, New York, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and three counts of securities fraud (Count Four through Six).

Count One, the conspiracy charge, carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. Counts Two through Six each carry a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5 million. The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Martin, Conradt, and Weishaus have previously pled guilty.

Mr. Bharara praised the investigative work of the FBI. He also thanked SEC for its assistance in the case.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Telemachus P. Kasulis and John T. Zach are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.