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. February 25, 2011: 

A letter has gone out to members of the White Plains High School Hall of Fame, that this year’s induction ceremony, usually held in November “will take a hiatus,” resuming in 2012.

The reason according to a letter from high school Interim Principal Diana Knight and Amy Geiger, Co-Chair, (Hall of  Fame)Steering Committee, determined by the Steering Committee in consultation with Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Clouet and Ms. Knight is “all parties felt that the High School would benefit from focusing on its core academic programs for students in the year ahead.”

Nominations are being accepted for 2012. The Hall of Fame ceremony usually consists of visits to classes by new inductees in the Hall of Fame each year and takes up only one day.

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WPCNR Backroom Bulletin by John F Bailey. February 23, 2011:

The Republican Party threw open its tent today to outsiders, non-Republicans,to interview for the Republican nomination for Mayor.

City Republican Party chairman Brian Maloney told WPCNR this evening that the Republicans have established a nominating committee of (at present) four persons who will consider citizens of White Plains, who would like to run for mayor in the special election to complete the rest of Adam Bradley’s term for mayor.

 The special election date is expected to be a Tuesday in April (the 5th, 12th, 19th, or 26th) The county Board of Elections has not told WPCNR if the Common Council has picked a date that can meet Board of Election preparation requirements yet. Acting mayor Tom Roach told media on Tuesday he expected to have a date for the special election tomorrow.

The GOP’s Maloney told WPCNR that Republican personalities Tim Sheehan, Frank Cantatore, Iris Pagan  and a Special Senior Counsel, Alfred Del Vecchio, Mayor of White Plains from 1976 to 1993, will be on the nominating committee who will interview potential candidates to carry the Republican standard in the Special Election. Mr. Del Vecchio  will serve as a senior advisor, Mr. Maloney said, and would be  providing counsel to the members of the committee. He said other persons may be added to the nominating committee.

The main issue that the Republicans will concentrate on in the short campaign would be, Maloney said, “finances finances finances.” He said he did not believe that the city financial picture will be as good as Acting Mayor Tom Roach thinks it will be in 2012-13. He cited the unknown pension costs that the city (and the school district), will have to ante up to the state pension funds according to the latest projections by the Comptroller’s Officde.

He said that the committee will be  looking for candidate for Mayor  who will emphasize “policies, not politics.” To that end, Maloney said:

“We invite any person who would like to run for mayor even fiscally responsible Democrats. He said,  persons interested in interviewing with the Republican Party for the nomination should contact the party via e-mail at gopwhiteplains@gmail.com.

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WPCNR City Circuit by John F Bailey. February 22, 2011:

 

Acting Mayor Tom Roach on his first day in office after meeting with the Department of Public Works workers as they came to work this morning,called a news conference with the media Tuesday afternoon and in a freewheeling discussion of city issues answered his immediate feelings on key city issues.

 

Acting Mayor Tom Roach Meets Media at City  Hall

 

Mr. Roach said  he expected that a date for the special election for mayor would possibly be set Thursday. But he was not sure. John Callahan, City Chief of Staff told WPCNR at noon today that the City Clerk Anne McPherson was checking with the Westchester County Board of Elections on how possible dates could be set and procedures to be followed.

 

 Mr. Roach, Common Council President, is Acting Mayor of the City of White Plains, because Adam Bradley resigned his position as mayor on Friday afternoon. Ihe city charter required that Mr. Roach step in and become the acting mayor until a Special Election could be held in the next 60 days.

 

Firefighter Bring-Back top priority. 

 

Mr. Roach said his most immediate priority was to activate the SAFER grant, providing $1.9 million from FEMA office to put nine White Plains firefighters, eliminated last May by the Common Council, back on the payroll. He said he expected this would be brought to a vote in March. He said that it would be taken up at the Thursday work session this week.. He said it is not clear yet when the firefighters would start.

 

Budget Process Will Not Be Altered

 

Asked how the city budget would be affected under the unusual circumstances of his acting mayor situation, Mr. Roach it would proceed as scheduled with the Common Council reviewing the budget with the Department of finance as it has in past years, and reviewing department budgets.  He said his status as acting mayor would not change that. The Common Council is scheduled to take up review of expenses with various commissioners and departments in March, but the schedule has not been set yet Roach said.

 

IDA All the Way

 

Roach said he supported an industrial development agency for White Plains and would support Assemblywoman Amy Paulin’s  bill that she reintroduced recently in the assembly to execute an independent IGA for the city. Roach said that he did not expect immediate passage, but he’s supportive. Roach also said he had been in touch with Paulin, on the White Plains sales tax and also the increased ¼% sales tax last June, which need to be passed again by the legislatures, the two houses of the legislature  to continue the taxes.

 

Ridgeway Issues:

 

Regarding  in the former Ridgeway country club property now owned by the French American school of New York:

 

Roach said he had not been worked out yet with the school, how, but that he did expect the school to maintain the property. Roach said he expected the moratorium on approval of development on other golf courses, including the Ridgeway property and other recreational properties in the city to be voted on by the common Council in March after a public hearing scheduled for the March common Council meeting. He said a consultant to establish to prepare a study on possible uses of the properties covered by the moratorium has not been selected.

 

Roach Answered Questions for a full hour, ad-lib.

 

Downtown Economic Recovery Efforts

 

He expressed hope to establish an economic development effort to showcase vacant properties within the White Plains Business Improvement District, and the Mayor taking a proactive role in attracting possible tenets to empty storefront space. Roach said he had met with the bid within the last two weeks and that the members present “gave him an ear full.”

 

Schools

 

Roach said he’d be meeting with White Plains Superintendent of Schools  Dr. Christopher Clouet  to discuss the city’s relationship with the school district. Ae said the recent meeting between the school district Board of Education and the Common Council in which some $75,000 in savings in school vehicle maintenance by  having the city do it was the start.

 

Roach hoped for more savings by consolidating services between the city and school district, and he would work towards more in that area. Asked by WPCNR if the school district was reluctant to give up certain responsibilities they now administer,  Roach said that the $75,000 was just the start, and there would be more areas in which money could be saved for the school district.

 

He ruled out sharing any city sales tax receipts with the school district in the near future but did not rule it out. In regards to the city’s current financial position. Mr. Roche said that the city will be in much better shape in the budget year 2013 -2014  as more sales tax receipts could be drawn from the fund balance stabilization fund to fund  the budget. He ruled out seeking any further advance in sales tax at this time.

 

Shaking the hands of the city workers

 

Mr. Roach began his day by greeting member’s of the Department of Public Works, as they went out on their various assignments. After the news conference he was planning to meet police officers coming off their day shift and he is in the process of making the rounds of all departments to assure city workers how much he appreciated how hard they work and what a great service they do for the city.

 

He said he has been a councilman for nine years and he knows many of the workers, and he knows what a good job they do, and had terrific respect for them. “As a Mayor I can tell them that,” he said.

 

Council Role in Labor Negotiations

 

On the labor negotiations coming up, whether the common Council would be more closely included in negotiations with the unions, Mr. Roach said that he plans to work closely with the Council and include them in the procedure. In the past, the Common Council has charged that the Delfino administration had not included them on many of the offers to the various unions negotiations the past. Mr. Roach indicated that that would not be the case with him.

 

Mr. Roach said that he knows the commissioners of the various departments of the city. He’s work with them a long time, and at the present time. He is very happy with them. It should be pointed out, that while he is Acting Mayor, Mr. Roach may not make any appointments or dismissals of city personnel.

 

After the special election, which Mr. Roach said the date would be determined, hopefully Thursday, should he be elected as mayor in the special election, Roach said that the common Council would have the right to fill his seat with a selection of their own and elect a new Council president.

 

Unprecedented News Conference

 

The freewheeling question-and-answer session in where media  was invited to ask the mayor any questions on any topic was unprecedented in the 11 years your correspondent has been covering White Plains.

 

 Mr. Roach arriving at 2:05 answered every question for an hour. He was forthright. He projected confidence. Command. He fielded touchy questions. Asked if the  media could look forward to more sessions like this, Roach said “Yes.”

 

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WPCNR RETROSPECTIVE. By John F. Bailey. (Reprinted from the CitizeNetReporter, 2003): Tomorrow  is George Washington’s Birthday again. The time when we remember the first leader and the best. It is instructive to look at our first leader, George Washington, the father of our nation. 

 

The Jacob Purdy House, a National Historic Site, was built c. 1721, and served as Washington’s Headquarters both during the Battle of White Plains, on October 28, 1776 and again in 1778.
(Photo, WPCNR NEWS ARCHIVE)

One cannot help be reminded of the snowy winter at Valley Forge, when the bedraggled, poorly equipped rebel army suffered but held together, and attacked the Hessians in Trenton on Christmas Eve, 1776, crossing the Delaware River at night. What kind of man was he that George Washington could inspire his troops against all odds?

Washington was a man of tremendous character. Where did he get this character? He specialized in self-control at an early age:

 

 

Reenacters Marching to Raise Old Glory at Purdy House in Honor of George Washington’s Birthday. Photo, 2003 WPCNR News Archive.

According to The American President, Washington, at sixteen, had formed a code of conduct. He had written a book of etiquette with 110 “maxims” to guide his conduct in matters. In this etiquette book he had written,

Every action done in company ought to be done with a sign of respect to those who are not present. Sleep not when others speak; sit not when others stand; speak not when you should hold your peace; walk not when others stop;…Let your countenance be pleasant but in serious matters somewhat grave…Undertake not what you cannot perform but be careful to keep your promise.

The character sketch provided by the authors of The American President,  indicatesthis personal “rulebook” was a book that Washington wrote over the years and referred to it often, “for self-control, to avoid temptation, to elude greed, to control his temper. Reputation was everything to him. It had to do with his strength, his size, his courage, his horsemanship, his precise dress, his thorough mind, his manners, his compassion. He protected that reputation at any cost.”

 

Honor Guard Strikes the Colors to a Drum Roll. Photo, WPCNR News.

Earning respect by example. Quelling rebellion with a few words.

Washington inspired by example. He lived with his troops. He shared hardships with them, and there  was so much  respect for him that he was able to talk them out of armed rebellion at the end of the American Revolution. Washington had been asked by the army to join them to overthrow the Continental Congress, and make himself King.

Washington had been asked by one of the officers of the rebels to join them, and he wrote them,

You could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Banish these thoughts from your mind.

Hearing that the rebels who were planning insurrection against the new country due to not having been paid by the Continental Congress, Washington rode to Newburgh, New York, on March 15, 1783, to meet with the dissident insurgents. Washington spoke to the rebellious group, saying,

“Gentlemen, as I was among the first who embarked in the cause of our common Country; as I never left your side one moment, but when called from you on public duty; as I have been the constant companion and witness of your Distresses…it can scarcely be supposed …that I am indifferent to your interests. But…this dreadful alternative, of either deserting our Country in the extremest hour of her distress, or turning our Arms against it…has something so shocking in it that humanity revolts from the idea…I spurn it, as every Man who regards liberty…undoubtedly must.”

The would-be rebels fell silent, digesting what he had said. Then Washington withdrew a letter from Congress, but could not read the text, withdrawing some eyeglasses from his tunic, remarking,

“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.”

The men present were reported to have tears in their eyes at this gesture of Washington’s and abandoned their plot out of respect for their leader.

Washington retired from the military, surprising the entire new country. His action surprised King George III of England, who was astonished that Washington had refused to hold on to his military authority and use it for political or financial gain. The defeated King of England, remarked, “If true, then he is the greatest man in the world.”

Seeker of Diverse Views

As President, George Washington invented the Presidential Cabinet, whom he referred to as “the first Characters,” persons who possessed the best reputations in fields and areas of the jobs he was filling. Washington said on political appointments, “My political conduct and nominations must be exceedingly circumspect. No slip into partiality will pass unnoticed…”

Washington tolerated the relentless clashes between Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, and Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, but lectured them on the necessity for tolerance and moving beyond partisanship:

 

 “I believe the view of both of you are pure, and well meant. Why then, when some of the best Citizens in the United States, Men…who have no sinister view to promote, are to be found, some on one side, some on the other…should either of you be so tenacious of your opinions as to make no allowances for those of the other? I have great esteem for you both, and ardently wish that some line could be marked out by which both of you could walk.”

The Constitution Should be Protected

When George Washington left office after two terms, he made a farewell address which warned future generations of Americans about foreign entanglements and partisanship in the republic:

I shall carry to my grave the hope that your Union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the Constitution may be sacredly maintained; and that free government…the ever favorite object of my heart…will be the happy reward of our mutual cares, labors and dangers.”

Washington died in 1800, three years after leaving office in 1797. He was saluted on the floor of congress as being “First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

The Jacob Purdy House where George Washington planned strategy at  the Battle of White Plains,  Photo, WPCNR News Archive

Note: The American President By Philip B. Kunhardt, Jr., Philip B. Kunhardt III, and Peter W. Kunhardt (Riverhead Books. Penguin-Putnam, Inc.,1999) is the source for this information on George Washington.