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 TAPPAN ZEE BRIDGE NEWS. From the New York State Thruway Authority. February 21, 2013:

To help ensure that the New NY Bridge to replace the Tappan Zee remains on schedule and within budget, the New York State Thruway Authority has named Peter Sanderson project director for the multi-billion dollar project, Thruway Chairman Howard P. Milstein announced Wednesday.

Sanderson will be responsible for leading a blended team of state employees and private sector design and construction experts to complete the new structure. He has more than 40 years of experience working on cable-stayed and other large and complex bridges throughout North America and around the world, including design-build infrastructure projects.

“The project director will be responsible for keeping the New NY Bridge on schedule and within budget, and Peter Sanderson is an outstanding choice for this role because he has extensive experience and a proven track record,” Milstein said. “Hiring an experienced project director is necessary and expected for a project of this size and complexity, and is generally viewed as an industry best practice.”

Sanderson was project manager for the design-build contract to replace the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed in 2007. The new bridge was opened to traffic just 11 months after the tragedy and three months ahead of an already accelerated 14-month schedule. He was also principal-in-charge for the Sagadahoc Bridge connecting Bath and Woolwich, Maine, the Maine Department of Transportation’s first design-build project, as well as the Clark Bridge, a cable-stayed bridge in St. Louis, Missouri, that was completed ahead of schedule.

“Peter Sanderson was a tremendous project manager for the new I-35W bridge at a very critical time in Minnesota’s history,” said Tom Sorel, who was Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner when the bridge was being constructed and is currently president and CEO of the American Automobile Association in Minneapolis. “Not only did he lead the delivery of the project in an exceptional manner, he realized that the building of the new bridge represented a healing process for an entire community and did all he could to rebuild public trust and confidence in the transportation industry.”

“Given the scale of the New NY Bridge project, hiring a project director is a proven method to control costs and keep a project on schedule, and has been used effectively on many major transportation infrastructure projects around the country in recent years,” said American Road and Transportation Builders Association President and CEO Dr. Peter Ruane. “The project director will play a vitally important role not only with the design-build team, but also with the community and other stakeholders. This project has worldwide importance and I commend New York State for recognizing the need for experienced, professional management.”

“Peter Sanderson brings an incredible breadth of knowledge, experience, and leadership to this Tappan Zee Bridge project,” said Business Council of Westchester President & CEO Dr. Marsha Gordon. “This is another example of how the new New York attracts the best talent to lead our state forward. The Business Council of Westchester looks forward to welcoming Peter Sanderson and creating many bridges for him to our members and the community.”

“The appointment of Peter Sanderson as Project Manager for the Tappan Zee Bridge and the wealth of industry experience he brings to this crucial project is another significant step forward toward the long overdue replacement of one of New York’s most critical pieces of transportation infrastructure,” said Mike Elmendorf, president & CEO of the Associated General Contractors of New York State. “We applaud Governor Cuomo, the Thruway Authority and New York State Department of Transportation for their dogged commitment to moving this project forward with unprecedented speed, as well as the bright light this process has shined on our significant infrastructure needs throughout New York.”

“The Hudson Valley region’s construction industry is thrilled with Thruway Authority’s appointment of Peter Sanderson as New NY Bridge Project Director, continuing the campaign to assemble world-class bridge builders who will deliver a Hudson River crossing to serve New York State taxpayers, road and mass transit users over the next century and beyond,” said Construction Industry Council of Westchester and Hudson Valley President Ross J. Pepe.

“With the addition of Peter Sanderson to the New NY Bridge project, Governor Cuomo and the Thruway Authority have taken another major step forward,” said Secretary of the New York Roadway and Infrastructure Coalition Stephen Morgan. “The New York Roadway and Infrastructure Coalition commends the administration for reaching out and getting the best team to build this most exciting and needed project.”

“Peter Sanderson’s vast engineering and construction experience, combined with his decades of experience leading complex infrastructure projects, make him the perfect choice to head the new NY Bridge initiative,” said New York Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “We at the Building Congress applaud the Cuomo administration for selecting an industry veteran with a sterling reputation for completing major projects on time and on budget. No single infrastructure project is more important to the long-term economic vitality of the entire downstate region than the construction of a safe, modern and larger capacity crossing to replace the obsolete Tappan Zee Bridge.”

The official project budget and schedule will be available on line at www.newnybridge.com starting in May. This will give the public the ability to track progress on the project and monitor the delivery team’s performance. Project costs will be updated and compared with the budget on a quarterly basis.

The New NY Bridge project is the largest transportation design-build project to date in the United States and the largest single construction contract in New York State history. Under the design-build process, engineering and construction firms join forces to compete for a single contract that covers both design and construction, and bids are selected based on best value offered. Design-build contracts foster private-sector creativity and innovation, shift risk, limit project delays and keep costs down.

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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.

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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

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WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE From the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance. February 13, 2013:

The White Plains economy is limping along with no sign of robust growth yet.

The January White Plains Sales Tax Receipts report from the NYS Department of Taxation & Finance position White Plains running 3% below last fiscal year pace in sales tax revenues collected in the first seven months of Fiscal  2012-13.

The city has collected $29.5 Million from July through January 2012-13. In fiscal 2011-12 the city collected $30.5 Million. That is approximately a 3% shortfall in expected revenue.

 If the city maintains last year’s pace of sales tax revenue growth the next five months ($20 Million), the city will top $49 Million, easily meeting the city budgeted $46.5 Million, but falling short of the $51 Million the city collected last year. Assuming 2% inflation the city should hit $50 Million in sales tax receipts by the end of fiscal 2012-13 in June.

This pace will supply just enough cash to replenish the  cash reserve they have anticipated adding to the fund balance  stabilization fund they are planning on using to pay any labor settlements with police and fire unions that are currently in the binding arbitration fact-finding process.

Westchester County collected 5% more sales tax receipts in January, the start of the county fiscal year, collecting $41 Million compared to $39 Million in January 2012.

The city collected $4.9 Million in sales tax receipts in January 2012 compared to $4.7 Million last January (a 4 % increase),

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WPCNR’s The Daily Bailey. By John F. Bailey. February 12, 2013 Retrieved from the WPCNR ARCHIVES.

Today marks the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, whose Presidential performance during the Civil War (1861-1865) was perhaps the most admirable of any American President. He had to create things as he went, dealing with a complex political issue: slavery, while deciding to fight a war to preserve a divided nation.

How did Abraham Lincoln handle pressure and political opportunists? He did not have press agents and spinmasters and talk show hosts and superior punditry critiquing his every move and loading him up with advice.

Though he did have the “crusading editors” and “editorial boards” of his day. Let’s take a look at the Big Guy from Illinois

In the days of Lincoln, media coverage was simply print media, however, the amount of reporting on the burning issues of the day was far more detailed than today with dozens of newspapers presenting the chronicles of burning issues. For Lincoln’s presidency was the presidency of the nation’s greatest crisis in its eighty-five year history: