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 COUNTY CLARION LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators. December 10, 2013:

The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL) approved a 2014 County Budget tonight that includes funding to re-open the low-income Title XX child care program and for support of other social “safety net” programs that protect seniors, at-risk youths and homeowners facing foreclosure.

“This budget represents a commitment to the values and forward-thinking that makes Westchester a special place to live, work and raise a family,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “My colleagues on the Board and I understand that it is essential to keep the County taxes down through cost-cutting and smart spending. In fact, our future prosperity depends on it. But we must also remain dedicated to strengthening our communities by helping residents in need. This budget accomplishes all this, and I thank my Board colleagues for their efforts, and thank all those residents and advocates who spoke at the public budget hearings.”

The Title XX child care program has been frozen by County Executive Robert P. Astorino since 2010. For the past three years BOL members have tried to re-open enrollment in the Title XX child care program, but to no avail. In the 2014 Budget, the two caucuses compromised to post an addition of $900,000 that will provide a total of 180 slots for children, who otherwise might be put into programs that are less safe or too expensive.

“We heard from our residents and child care advocates loud and clear that creating more Title XX slots was a priority,” said BOL Majority Leader Pete Harckham. “The approval for this budget plan shows that healthy dialogue and a spirit of compromise can make good things happen. This will help to keep low-income parents working and contributing to Westchester’s economy rather than needing more expensive social services.”

While certain costs increased across the budget, the BOL was able to make a number of social “safety net” additions to the 2014 budget proposed by County Executive Rob Astorino without raising taxes by trimming projected expenses in the departmental budgets.

Among the additions put into the 2014 Budget by the BOL were nearly $1 million in advocacy programs for domestic violence education, literacy enrichment and resource centers for new immigrants.

“People are still struggling in our communities, whether they are seniors on fixed-incomes or working mothers,” said BOL Vice Chair Lyndon Williams (D-Mount Vernon). “Beneath the wealth and prosperity in Westchester, there is homelessness and residents with mental health issues. This budget works toward helping residents, and also gives them a chance to step up the economic ladder.”

This year, hundreds of Westchester residents and business owners attended the open meetings on the 2014 budget that the BOL hosted, and were able to participate in the decision-making process soon after County Executive Astorino introduced the Proposed 2014 Budget on November 15. The three public hearings and numerous department-by-department budget presentations were all streamed ‘live’ and then archived online at the BOL website (www.westchesterlegislators.com).

“The citizen participation in the County budget process receives is remarkable,” said Legislator Judy Myers (D-Larchmont), chair of the BOL Budget & Appropriations Committee. “It shows they’re paying attention to how their tax dollars are spent, and that they care about Westchester and the well-being of their neighbors.”

Although the entire 2014 County Budget spending plan totals $1.74 billion, most of the advocacy and safety net programs added to the budget by the BOL cost an average of $8,000 a year.

“I’m always amazed at how Westchester’s not-for-profit organizations stretch the dollars they get from the County,” said Legislator Alfreda Williams (D-Greenburgh), chair of the BOL Community Services Committee. “Their partnerships with the County allow residents to be served at the community level across the county, making a real difference in countless lives. The small investments we make with them always bring big results.”

“Good governance begins with openness and transparency,” said Legislator Bill Ryan (D-White Plains). “Westchester residents deserve to know which agencies and organizations are getting County funding. It gives them an understanding of how their tax dollars are being spent.”

The BOL considered adding $650,000 toward the reduction of pension amortization in the 2014 Budget, but the measures was not approved. When Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Westchester County’s general bond rating from AAA to Aa1 last month, one reason it gave was the County’s borrowing for its pension obligations.

“The financial picture in Westchester is a good one because of proper safeguarding over the years,” said Legislator Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining), chair of the Government Operations Committee. “Keeping the County’s bond rating at the top saves us money in the long run, so we will continue to take measures to limit borrowing and protect our fund balances.”

“Good budgets require that we act as responsible stewards of infrastructure, resources and investments, and of the fiscal legacy that is being left for future generations” said MaryJane Shimsky (D-Hastings-on-Hudson). “These are things that spur economic development and help attract new businesses and homeowners to the county.”

County Executive Astorino now has ten days to sign or veto the 2014 County Budget.

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER By John F. Bailey. December 9, 20013 UPDATED 5 P.M. E.S.T.:

The French American School of New York  Findings Statement expected to be approved by the Common Council this evening sets up thousands of conditions that the school will have to satisfy before they lift a shovel of dirt to build.

It has just been announced to WPCNR by the Mayor’s Office that it has been decided by the city to televise the meeting  on Government Access, channels 75 and 44, according to the Mayor’s Office.  Previously WPCNR had been told the proceedings would not be televised. Now they will be.

And anything can happen, including no vote. 

Among the conditions among thousands in the document:

1. 75 foot setbacks from all borders of the property to school facilities and parking lots.

2. Closing of Hathaway Lane subject to Council approval

3. Apparent elimination of the ball field

4. Individual special permits for each building.

5. An entrance on North Street, (requiring school district approval)

6. Limitation of traffic flow to 530 vehicles a day. 

7. A mandatory busing plan

7. Most significantly, the Findings Statement envisions cutting school capacity to 950 students, 250 less than the school proposed originally (1,200).  

The Common Council is holding a special meeting this evening at 7 in City Hall to consider a resolution determining the Finding on the French American School of New York proposal to build their 7-building campus on the former Ridgeway Country Club.

The proposal has been in the approval process for three years.

The Findings statement is  expected to be approved by the Common Council following the lines of the 5-2 approval of the Draft Final Environmental Impact Statement, October 16.

In that vote perquisite to tonight’s meeting,( which as of 11:30 A.M. is still scheduled), Mayor Thomas Roach,  Councilmen Benjamin Boykin, John Kirkpatrick, James Martin, and Council President Beth Smayda  voted in favor, while Councilman Dennis Krolian and Milagros Lecuona voted against finding the Draft Environmental Impact State complete and accurate. 

Since that date, the Common Council and city lawyers, consulting firms have been preparing the Findings Statement, which if approved by the Council will allow the project to proceed under the conditions set forth in the Findings Statement.

There are thousands of specific conditions, applications for special permits on a building-by-building basis, for example, plus it does not give the school what it wants: 1,250 student capacity. The hoops the school will have to jump through are painstakingly detailed in the 126-page Findings Statement the school would have to  meet and have approved in site plan process, the next step, in order for FASNY to lift one shovel of dirt. These conditions can be read on the City website in their entirety at

http://cityofwhiteplains.com/dataimages/12-09-2013s_common_council_agenda_backup.pdf

The Findings Statement approved the project subject to meeting the conditions and changes and restrictions in the various matters addressed in the statement, to wit:

In view of the foregoing, the Common Council as Lead Agency finds that the Modified Proposed Project using North Street as the primary access, as further modified by these findings and subject to the conditions contained herein, including but not limited to reduction of the proposed student body to 950 students, which is consistent with the projected needs of FASNY at least through the 2018-19 school year and it is also consistent with the reasonably projected compliance with mandatory busing and other variables addressed herein, will avoid to the maximum extent practicable the significant adverse environmental impacts addressed in  these findings.

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WPCNR White Plains Law Journal. By John F. Bailey. December 5, 2013:

The police retirees fight for guaranteed benefits for life they felt had always been guaranteed will continue to trial, police retirees attorney Albert Pirro told WPCNR today.

Albert J. Pirro is the attorney for 98 White Plains police retirees (hired before 1996) who are fighting the City of White Plains over the city decision to require they pay 15% of their health care costs, a measure arbitrarily introduced by the city in 2010.

The retirees sued the city in federal court, and yesterday, Pirro said,   Federal Judge Cathy Seibel denied the city’s motion to dismiss the case, allowing the sensitive case to move to trial.

Pirro said the sensitive case that could affect hundreds of public employees across New York State, could now proceed to discovery and a trial, pending a city appeal of Judge Seibel’s decision. Pirro said he did not know if the city planned to appeal at this time.

Pirro told WPCNR Thursday  morning, the judge denied all three city grounds for dismissal  advanced by the city-employed law firm of Lamb & Barnosky.

“The judge denied the first city grounds for dismissal that Federal law was not involved, because the city had won an arbitration award from the police in 1997. The judge said that did not apply to the pre-1996 hires. Second, the judge denied the city motion  to dismiss the case on grounds that the retirees’ constitution rights were  not violated.  We were able to convince the judge that citizen’s contractual rights were violated which are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.”

WPCNR notes: That constitutional clause appears  in Article I, section 10, clause 1. It states:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

“Third, (Pirro said) the city maintained police retirees should not have depended on the full health benefits being maintained forever (even though they had been receiving them for 20 years or more0 . We showed that the resolution of 1967 ( adopted 43 years prior to the demand the retirees pay 15% of health costs), guaranteeing full health cost benefits for life said it.”

Pirro estimated that the city has spent a half million dollars paying lawyers to fight the suit nearly half what the city would have to pay the affected police retirees.

Mr. Pirro said he had not received a copy of the decision yet, which Judge Seibel delivered yesterday at the Charles Brient Federal Court House in White Plains.

Previously, Judge Seibel in December 2011 had overturned the police retiree injunction against the city prohibiting the city from collecting from retirees. The Wednesday decison was her ruling on the city motion to dismiss, the city police retirees’ suit altogether. The action has been in dispute for three and a half years.

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. From the City Clerk. December 3, 2013:

The White Plains Common Council, it was announced by the City Clerk office today will hold a Special Meeting Monday  December 9 at 7 P.M, to make a Findings Statement on whether or not the Council will allow The French American School of New York to go ahead with developing the former Ridgeway Country Club property into a 7 building campus for the internationally known school.

In order for the process to go ahead the council needs a super majority of votes, 5-2.  Presently two members are opposed and in order for the proposal to be defeated, another member of the council must defect to the two members now opposed

Dennis Krolian and Milagros Lecouna were observed devising strategies at City Limits restaurant last Friday. Mr. Krolian and Ms. Lecouna voted against approving the Final Environmental Impact Statement that was approved  in October by the Common Council.

A 4-3  vote at that time would have said the statement was not complete and the council could have demanded more information. However, Mayor Roach, Benjamin Boykin, John Martin, Beth Smayda and John Kirkpatrick voted for the the environmental impact statement as being complete at that time.

The Gedney Association has announced intention to file a suit against the city if a positive finding that the project can go forward is adapted by the Council

The Agenda:RESOLUTIONS: 1. Communication from the Environmental Officer in relation to the application submitted by the French American School of New York (FASNY) for a Special Permit and Site Plan Approvals to develop a private elementary and secondary school with accessory nursery school at 400 Ridgeway, White Plains, New York, and a resolution adopting an Environmental Findings Statement.
2. Environmental Findings Resolution of the White Plains Common Council
adopting the Findings Statement issued under the State Environmental Quality
Review Act, Environmental Conservation Law Section 8-101, Et. Seq. regarding
the application submitted on behalf of the French American School of New York
(“Applicant” or “FASNY”) in relation to Special Permit and Site Plan Approval and
related approvals for a private elementary and secondary school, and an
accessory nursery school, to be located on the property of the former Ridgeway
Country Club, such property consisting of four parcels (Section-Block-Lots SBL
131.14-9-3, SBL 131.14-2-3, SBL 131.10-1-6 AND SBL 131.10-3-32) and having
an address of 400 Ridgeway, White Plains (“Application”).

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WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Board of Legislators, December 3, 2013:

The Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL), nearing the end of its review of County Executive Robert P. Astorino’s Proposed 2014 County Budget, formally approved Monday a $2.5 million increase of funding support for the Title XX child care program, as well as the restoration of two professional positions, as additions to the final spending plan.

The BOL approval was made during a meeting of the Budget & Appropriations Committee, chaired by Legislator Judy Myers (D-Larchmont). The total spending increase would be paid for through expected revenue from a forthcoming operations deal at Playland, offset savings found in another child care program and a reduction in staff spending already proposed in the budget.

“It’s important that the 2014 County Budget provide a crucial umbrella of protection for the lives of Westchester residents and our natural resources,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “We have focused on balancing the needs of our residents and making decisions that are fiscally responsible in these budget additions. I’m confident that they’ll be part of the final budget negotiations with the Administration.”

Enrollment in the Title XX child care program has been frozen since 2010. The BOL’s spending addition will increase program enrollment to approximately 400 slots, which many residents and child care advocates stated at the last two public budget hearings as being necessary to meet community needs.

“This is simply a matter of the Board responding to the concerns we’ve heard at the budget hearings over the past few years,” said Myers.

The two professional positions the BOL is seeking to restore are the Director of Water Agency and Environmental Project Director, both of which are involved with the County’s responsibility in complying with Federal law requiring the maintenance of a safe public drinking water system.

“These two staff members have a great deal of experience and institutional knowledge,” said BOL Majority Leader Pete Harckham (D-North Salem). “Right now, the County is in a sensitive situation regarding environmental protection, and letting these two veteran professionals go at this point seems like a bad idea.”

Two groups of additions are being made for the sake of greater budget transparency. First, a number of Department of Social Services staff positions are being moved out of trust accounts and into the operating budget. (These are positions are fully paid for by Medicaid administration and have no affect on the tax levy.) Second, program funding is being broken out of the Community Based Initiative line in the Proposed Budget’s Miscellaneous budget and placed in the proper Department budgets.

The BOL Budget & Appropriations Committee will consider deletions to the Proposed 2014 Budget on Friday, December 6. A special meeting of the BOL will be held on Monday, December 9 at 10:30 AM in the BOL Chambers to consider an Act adopting the 2014 County Budget.