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 ALBANY ROUNDS. News & Comment By Governor Andrew M.Cuomo. Fromthe Governor’s Website. January 31, 2011:

As Attorney General, I uncovered schemes by lenders to exploit students, plots by insurance companies to defraud patients and attempts by Wall Street to deceive homebuyers.  In the past 30 days, as I have prepared the state’s budget, I was shocked to learn that the state’s budget process is a sham that mirrors the deceptive practices I fought to change in the private sector.
 
The budget process is a metaphor of Albany dysfunction:  special interests dominate the process with little transparency; programs continue with no accountability and the taxpayers get the exorbitant bills.  The greatest challenge – and opportunity – in this year’s difficult budget is to expose this chronic problem and reform it once and for all.  Here’s how it works.
 

This year it is widely accepted and often reported that the state has a $10 billion “deficit” (I myself have often repeated this number).  What does that mean?  It is the difference between state revenues and the state’s growth in spending in next year’s budget.  The next question is:  who is responsible for setting the growth in the state’s budget?  The answer is shockingly, no one. 

It is dictated by hundreds of rates and formulas that are marbleized throughout New York State laws that govern different programs – formulas that have been built into the law over decades, without regard to fiscal realities, performance or accountability.  The formulas operate year after year, generating liabilities that when totaled define the state’s budget growth.  The one thing the rates do well is increase year after year.  These formulas (predominantly in education and Medicaid funding) are often inserted into the law by pressure from well-connected special interests and lobbyists.  When a governor takes office, in many ways the die has already been cast.
 
Unbelievably, this year these rates and formulas in total call for a 13 percent increase in Medicaid and a 13 percent increase in education funding next year.  A 13 percent increase, in this economic climate, is wholly unrealistic.  Wouldn’t you like your salary or savings account to be based on a formula that gave you a 13 percent increase even though inflation was under 2 percent? The world doesn’t work that way – except in Albany.
 
Besides dictating numbers, this process frames the dialogue around the budget and biases the political discourse.  First, the rate of increase is rarely discussed.  The 13 percent increase this year is close to a state secret.  I spoke with numerous experienced Albany hands who had no idea the programs increased 13 percent.  In Albany speak, “deficit” means the amount needed to fund the 13 percent increase (as opposed to a normal rate of increase).  

For example, if one assumed these programs would increase at the rate of inflation (instead of 13 percent) the 10 billion dollar deficit is really a 1 billion dollar deficit.  A “cut” is then defined as anything less than a 13 percent increase.  By forcing the debate to start with such a large hike — the final budget ends up spending much more than the year before — even after the Governor attempts “cuts.”  For example, what is called a 7 percent cut in spending is actually a 6 percent increase over the prior year.
 
The expression used to explain this budget process is that the rates are in “permanent law,” and thus, cannot be changed.  “Permanent law” is a term to suggest differentiation from the state’s annual budget bills which are “temporary” as they only exist for one year.  This “permanent law” is really the way the “permanent government” of lobbyists, special interests and political friends manipulates the entire system and misleads the public in the process.
 
This is the system that has brought New York to the brink, and it is why we are the highest “spending-and-taxing” state in the nation with programs that fail to perform for the people.
 
This all must end. We need fundamental reform in the budget system that allows us to recalibrate spending this year to a sustainable level and replace “the special interest protection program” of automatic, unrealistic increases.   There is no such thing as “permanent” laws and they must all be reviewed and replaced or modified when necessary.  The state budget should increase based on objective, fair criteria such as the rate of inflation, enrollment, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or personal income growth.  Programs should be reviewed for effectiveness and terminated if they are not working well.  Reimbursement rates should be negotiated to get the best bargain.  Performance should be measured.
 
Albany must give up its insistence on pleasing the special interests rather than serving the people. This is the real budget battle that I will wage this year. We must balance this year’s budget but we must also reform the process so that the cycle finally stops.  This year’s budget is not merely about the numbers. It’s about our values and our future.

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS By John F. Bailey. January 27, 2011: 

While President Barack Obama and congress argue over tax cuts for the wealthy expiring, New York State has already raised taxes on the wealthy beginning in July  before Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2011-12 State Budget has even been presented. And,the state did last year.

Property owners in White Plains with Adjusted Gross Incomes topping $500,000 a year are receiving letters from the White Plains City Assessors Office this week telling them they will no longer be eligible for the BASIC STAR EXEMPTION that they have in previous been to deduct from their assessed value.

The letters are notifying these homeowners they are no longer will be able to deduct the BASIC STAR EXEMPTION from their assessments beginning in July, the start of the 2011-12 city fiscal year and their July tax bill will reflect it. The Assessors Office reports that residents have until February 24, to provide Federal and State tax documents proving they earn an adjusted gross income of  under $500,000.

This year the BASIC EXEMPTION was worth about $1,400 for each taxpayer “in real dollars,” City Assessor, Lloyd Tasch told WPCNR. Tasch said he, (and assessors across the state) were  notified one week ago by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance of names of taxpayers in the city earning over $500,000 a year and his department has scrambled to get letters out to White Plains residents..  

The change removing $500,000-and-up taxpayers from the BASIC STAR EXEMPTION was made in the 2010-11 State Budget,passed by both houses of state legislature and signed by Governor David Paterson, Geoff Gloak, spokesman for the Office of Real Property Services, told WPCNR. Asked why this was not widely publicized when the budget was passed, Gloak said that taxpayers would not have had the opportunity to protest their tax bill until this year anyway.

Gloak told WPCNR, the change would mean some $40Million additional revenue to school districts across the state.

Tasch, the  White Plains City Assessor said the change would reduce the White Plains Tax Levy by 1%–and provide an additional $1.5 Million in property tax revenue to the district.

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WPCNR BACKROOM BULLETIN. News & Comment By John F.Bailey. January 22, 2011: 

The City Board of Ethics apparently continues its review of  city Mayor Adam Bradley’s intercession on behalf of Walter C. Gabriele, owner of 19 Hall Avenue, to schedule a city meeting with Commissioners to discuss Mr. Gabriele’s purchase of property at the 19 Hall Avenue site.  Mr. Bradley lived in the 19 Hall Avenue location at the time.

Efforts by WPCNR to find out from City Hall and Mayor Bradley’s spokesperson, how  the eight-month investigation is going have so far not produced a “feel” for how close the Board of Ethics is to wrapping up the inquiry

Timing is critical. I’ll tell you why:

If a decision on whether the Mayor acted inappropriately in any aspect of the Gabriele matter is imminent,(and there is no indication that it is), the timing could be very timely for White Plains Mayoral possibilities like Benjamin Boykin,Tom Roach,(who would take over as Mayor until the Special election is held), and County Legislator Bill Ryan.

If the Board finds no misconduct or unethical behavior in the Gabriele matter, the investigation and its cost are moot.

If the Board decides the Mayor has committed an ethics breach in his dealings with Gabriele, AND that decision comes out in the next four weeks, the Common Council is handed a key weapon to remove the Mayor on a silver platter themselves through Section 30 of the City Charter.

They wouldn’t have to wait for Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Presently, the Council does not have that sixth vote (of Councilman Dennis Power), to remove the Mayor on the five convictions involving his wife.

Removal for Official Misconduct (that could be found by the Board of Ethics), neutralizes the embarrassment to the Common Council if the  Mayor’s appeal on the Attempted Assault Conviction and four other charges is eventually successful.

If the Official Misconduct is the grounds for dismissing, the domestic abuse matter is moot. The Mayor cannot sue the city for lost income, damages to reputation, or whatever.

The Board of Ethics is facing a very historic decision on this Gabriele matter.

Section 30 reads “The common council…may punish or expel a member for disorderly conduct…but no expulsion shall take place and no vacancy on account of absence be declared except by the vote of three-fourths(3/4) of all members of the council, or until the delinquent member has had an opportunity to be heard in his defense.”

The 6^th vote of Councilman Dennis Power would have to be cast in favor of removing the Mayor. District Leader Zelle Andrews, a member of the City Democratic Party Nominating Committee has been reported by Ben Rubin in The Journal News  as saying Power should be denied an opportunity to run for reelection this fall if he does not swing his vote in line with his  other five Democratic Councilmen.

The timely combination of a Board of Ethics finding of a Mayoral ethical breach in the next 4 weeks and a Dennis Power vote change  would grease the skids allowing a swift ouster of the Mayor.

Such an ouster  would most likely be challenged in court, unless the Council furloughed him with pay, or one of the 42 District Leaders who called on the Mayor to step down, offered the Mayor a job, or Congesswoman Nita Lowey or Governor Andrew Cuomo offered the Mayor a job on a task force. The Mayor would probably challenge in court anyway.

If there is an ethics violation found by Feb 1 (or at the latest February 15) that finding could clear the way for the council to remove the Mayor under Section 30 of the Charter in the Feb 7 Common Council Meeting). They could give the Mayor his hearing in the week  of February 22 to 25, toss him, and declare the election in April.

Any Special Election for Mayor would have to be held in April because May 1 is six months before the next general election, which is November 1, (first Tuesday in November). If the toss is nade in May, the Special Election will be held in July.

Section 46-c of the White Plains City Charter, specifies that :

“If a vacancy shall occur in the officeof the Mayor, the Common Council shall initiate the proceedings available to it for the purpose of ordering a special election to be held witin 60 days of the occurrence of the (mayor’s) vacancy, unless such vacancy arises within six months of a general election…”

Of course, the Board of Ethics could decide well after February 15, that there has been an ethics violaton, and the Council could remove the Mayor in May giving Tom Roach, who would become interim Mayor, 5 months of incumbency to shore up his campaign for nomination to run in November, and prevent Boykin and Ryan from seizing the nomination.

An early decision for an ethics breach if that is the way the Board of Ethics is going to go,appears to favor candidates other than the interim Mayor (Roach), who would only  be Mayor for two months, instead of eight if the Board of Ethics decision is made within the next 4 weeks.

Of course, the judge sentencing Mr.Bradley could make this moot, by giving the Mayor jail time, which is unlikely, but you never know.

The timing of the Board of Ethicss finding is key—the way I figure it—they have to make it in favor of an ethics violation, in next month to call an election sometime in April, and the Council would be spared the downside risk of the appeal being overturned and the ousted Mayor suing the city.

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WPCNR PRESS BOX. From Archbishop Stepinac High School January 22, 2011:

Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino recently congratulated members of Archbishop Stepinac High School’s Crusaders football team for their 2010 undefeated, 12-0 championship season, a first in the school’s history.  They won both the Catholic High School League AA League title and the annual Turkey Bowl game against White Plains High School. Astorino presented the Crusaders with a proclamation, noting the achievement “brings pride not only to Stepinac but to all of Westchester County.” 

Left to right are Westchester Deputy County Executive Kevin J. Plunkett, a Stepinac alum (class of ’67); Stepinac quarterback Tyrell Goodman, named co-state player of the year by the NY State Sportswriters Association; Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; NFL great Bob Hyland, also a Stepinac alum (class of ’63) and Coach Mike O’Donnell.

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The French-American School of New York (FASNY) announced today it has completed its acquisition of the Ridgeway Country Club property in White Plains.

FASNY plans to consolidate many of its operations to the 128-acre property over a period of several years. Proposed plans include retrofitting the existing club buildings and adding several new buildings to create a low-density park-like campus.

The school also announced that it will hold an Open House for the White Plains community on Saturday, January 29 at the Ridgeway Country Club. The Open House, which will run from 10 am to 5 pm, will provide an opportunity for the community to learn more about the school and its future plans for the property.

FASNY’s plan for the property would preserve over 60 acres of the site as permanent and publicly accessible open space; restore and enhance the natural conditions of the site; and improve the existing stormwater and drainage conditions of the property. Less than five percent of the site will be covered by impervious surfaces. 

William V. Cuddy, Jr., executive vice president, and Budd Wiesenberg, vice president, of CBRE’s Westchester office, handled negotiations on behalf of the Ridgeway Country Club.

The French-American School of New York was founded in 1980 to provide a bilingual, bicultural French and American education to an American, French and international student population from nursery school through 12^th grade. Today 825 students attend its Pre-School in Scarsdale, its Lower School in Larchmont and its Upper School in Mamaroneck.