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 John F. Bailey. May 23, 2010:  

 

Here I go again

He’s back in town again.

I’ll take his word again,

One more time.

 

Here we go again

Their promises will be made again

I’ll be their fool again.

One more time.*

 

*With apologies to the genius, Ray Charles, this was a great “B” side on an old Rayman  45 RPM record. The lyrics I have paraphrased sum up the significance of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s declaration of his candidacy for Governor of New York State yesterday.

 

Having read Mr.Cuomo’s very smooth, hard-hitting declaration of his candidacy, he says all the right things about what he wants to do to save New York State, and he is so clean-cut, heroic, macho, and charismatic – well, you want to believe he is the man. He’s got the women’s vote. He looks good. Sounds so good. You want to believe that he is really going to do all these wonderful things.

 

You can read it and see Mr. Charisma’s video delivery of the speech at www.andrewcuomo.com/theplan

 

To read the complete 250-page Cuomo plan for New York State, go to http://www.andrewcuomo.com/system/storage/6/34/9/378/acbookfinal.pdf

 

 

Well, unfortunately, he has to deliver

 

The question the press should be asking big time now,  is how?

 

In 8 pages of Obama-esque rhetoric that ring out like the Liberty Bell, Andrew Cuomo took the reform issue away from the Republican patsies who have no name recognition.

 

 What is the matter with the Republicans? If they want to win, they need to run Mike Bloomberg, Mayor of New York. Mike—the $1 a year man —  would win in a walk against Cuomo. But the Republicans vying for the nomination won’t. Why? They have no interest in changing things.

 

The Repubs had their legs cut out from under them with the intro “Mr. Charisma” delivered  Saturday.

 

He said, “I have gone to work with one mission: to represent the people – period. To fight for you, no matter how powerful the foe, no matter how long the odds.”

 

Great stuff! You know, it is Obamaesque!

 

But, is Andrew Cuomo “The Real McCoy” or “Fool’s Gold?”

 

 

Remember the forgotten governor, the governor they mock, the governor they ignore,  who took over from Eliot Spitzer? David Paterson made honest efforts to deal with New York’s financial crisis, whose efforts were thwarted at every turn by the legislature Cuomo is going to work with, or be stuck with. We may lose a few of these incompetents in the fall, but not enough.

 

Paterson painted the picture of financial mayhem and still the legislature would not listen. He put out the figures. The legislature savaged Governor Paterson, as did the press. The press mocked him.

 

But now, having heard this Declaration of his candidacy this weekend, we just know Andrew Cuomo will be different. He is seizing the crusader/reformer role He knows Albany. He says he knows what is wrong.He says:

 

“My campaign is this simple: I represent the people of the great State of New York and we want our government back.”

 

Here we go again.

 

Man that’s a great powerful commercial line that quote, isn’t it? Sounds great, says nothing.

 

He wants to pay New York companies $3,000 in tax breaks for every unemployed New Yorker they hire. Very nice. Very touchy feely.

 

Here we go again.

 

He wants to cut New York State Agencies, and “bring in the best private sector minds to reorganize the state’s 1,000 agencies, authorities and commissions with a mandate of at least a 20% reduction and to reinvent our government for a new century.”

 

Here we go again.

 

Cutting all those free-spending agencies sounds very good.  However, the governor as yet does not have the power to abolish government agencies approved by the legislature. He’d have to get that. How will that happen with a legislature that will not even cut the budget in the face of a $9 Billion shortfall?  When the governor pleads with them to do so. Has Assemblyman Sheldon “The Merciless” Silver bought into this? If so, Mr. Silver has been born again! 

 

OK, Mr.Cuomo –let’s start with hacking the Department of Transportation, the highly paid chimpanzees who are making all the wrong decisions all the time and burning millions every day. Let’s do something about those clowns. Then the MTA – mis-managed, top-heavy – building projects that take years. This is the state that has no clue where they are going to get $20 Billion to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge.

 

For Mr. Cuomo to say he is going to appoint a commission to cut the number of agencies, ahhh…just what is needed “task force diplomacy.” That’ll take two years and then he’ll be running for reelection and say give us time to finish the job.

 

Mr. Cuomo suggests Quixotically “we need to get the State’s fiscal house in order and start living within our means.”

 

Here we go again.

 

He said this, within two days of the revelation that the legislature gave unions 5 to 7% pay raises in an emergency spending bill because a court ruled they could not freeze wages. The courts are even with the unions. How can he possibly freeze wages?

 

Cuomo has the audacity to say that “My plan will cap state spending and freeze state taxes. I also propose to freeze salary increases for state workers.”

 

This is not Andrew Cuomo’s fault. His speechwriters should have revised that speech after the judge ruled the state could not freeze the wages. Very sloppy.

 

This is very original.  He wants to cut costs. He promises not to raise taxes. He wants to cap state spending. Good luck with that.

 

Has he observed what’s happened this year and last year? In face of plummetting revenues, the legislature he is going to work with, has raised spending, just racheted it on up. They thumbed their nose at Governor Paterson. This sounds very good though.

 

Property tax relief:

 

Here we go again!

 

He said in his video yesterday:  “We must stop the crush of local government spending by imposing a cap on rising property taxes. My cap would be two percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Taken together, these steps would be a major effort to right the financial ship of the State.” Of course it would. It would also force school districts to lay off thousands in bloated staff.

 

( The legislature has NO interest in property tax reform. Mr. Cuomo, let me inform you that the legislature has such a hand-wringing sensitivity to the property tax payer, but such loyalty to their pals in the legal certiorari lobby that they threw out the Adam Bradley/Suzi Oppenheimer separate commercial tax rate bill that would have taken away the incentive to file certioraris – the main reason property taxes go up across the state. Mr. Cuomo should look carefully at that little play out.)

 

But nobody wants to freeze the property tax rise, Mr.Cuomo. Please get those plans to cut it and make the property tax not as onerous out in front soon before they make decisions for this current year. Maybe we can do some reform this year with your guidance now. Give Mr. Paterson the summer in Lake Placid.

 

 

What will be your magic to turn both houses of the legislature members’ minds around on that property tax issue? Tell us your plan to cloud minds and bend the legislators to your will.  Eliot Spitzer couldn’t do it. The Sheriff of Wall Street quickly became ineffectual. 

 

I hope you can work with them better than he and Paterson have. How will you do that?

 

But, the few voters and perhaps more reporters than this journalist might ask that and look behind the very earnest rhetoric and simple messages and  will want to know how will this happen?

 

Mr. Cuomo I’m sure remembers what happened last year when Governor Paterson wanted to do the same thing—cap property taxes.

 

The Democrats in the state legislature proposed the circuit-breaker so as not to handicap the school districts too much. And nothing got done.  Both proposals were D.O.I. ( Dead-On-Introduction).

 

The legislators never even went through the motions of providing tables of examples on how taxpayers and school districts would be affected. That told me something.There is no incentive. How will Mr. Cuomo get them to wake up and smell the black coffee?

 

However, a little math is in order when proposing a 2% property tax cap. It is dumb. And it has serious consequences as long as certioraris are not checked.

 

To help you out, Mr. Cuomo, since you know law – but obviously have not beefed up on numbers crunchers who know anything about school district financial problems – here’s what will happen if a 2% property tax cap is slammed on the White Plains School District:

 

 In White Plains this year we are getting a 3.8% property tax hike on a budget the Superintendent of Schools said is the lowest White Plains can run without really affecting the quality of education in the district. 

 

To be limited to a property tax increase of 2% in 2011-12, (Mr. Cuomo’s first budget) the 2011-12 White Plains  budget could only go up $3,501,000 if the 2011 White Plains Assessment Roll remains the same.

 

I have news for our School Board.  The Assessment Roll  is not going to remain the same, and it is not going up either.

 

To cover next year’s (2011-12 budget) teachers 5% raises the district needs about $4 Million. If the assessment roll tanks $3 Million in 2011 – the district will have to pay that 2% to make up the assessment roll deficit and  layoff another 40 teachers.

 

They would actually have to cut the budget $3 Million if the assessment roll declines at its current pace, $3 Million a year dropping  the school budget to $180 Million and dropping, before they handled other increases in costs other than raises.

 

The Governor-all-but-elected is going to have to examine his property tax policy, because few districts around New York State can afford to be held to a 2% property tax.

 

The Gubernatorial Declaree said he wants new ethics laws. Ethics is a word not used in Albany. It is a dirty word. Ethics, Sethics!

 

Here we go again.

 

He said he wants full disclosure of all legislators’ outside income, and an independent monitor to police the legislators’ compliance. (Perhaps Meade Esposito can be exhumed to do this.)

 

He calls for new campaign finance laws and in shock I read he wants an independent redistricting commission. That will be fun. I will believe that when I see it.  This sounds very good, but do we really believe the legislature is going to go along with that, really?

 

He wants to convene a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the rules. What sense of coalition does he have now in the legislature to do such a thing?

 

He said, “the influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits.” Does he include the construction industry, the certiorari lobbyists, the independent business owners, Wall Street, the banks? New York voters hear this every four years. What possible assurance does the voter and the taxpayer have that Mr. Cuomo can do this? How will he do it?

 

 

Or does Mr. Cuomo take us for the same old fools? Or is he optimistic and naive? Or, are we?

 

I think it is we who are naive.

 

Mr. Cuomo is not naive, but he knows what sells to the voter.

 

This introductory declaration is eerily reminiscent of another man who campaigned for change, remember just 17 months ago?

 

There was going to be change we can believe in when President Obama came in. There was a lot of change, wasn’t there? He put the architects of the financial mayhem of the last fifteen years in charge and what has happened? Where is the change? The banks are still holding on to mortgage money. The banks are still cutting irresponsible loans. The thieves of Wall Street are making billions with our money.. The Afghan war has gotten worse. Iraq is not improved. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the worst corporate disaster ever, and the new administration is “Katrinasizing,” letting BP call the shots. (His Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Homeland Security are going to visit the Gulf tomorrow and verify there is oil there I guess. Aside: Tell BP to stop it or else.)

 

Perhaps the general press will press Mr. Cuomo on how we could get started on his laundry list of reforms now – when we need them this year –2010-11.

 

It is a disgrace they have not.

 

His complete 250-page plan is an amplification of the speech he gave in video form, but with few specifics on how all his suggestions and things he feels the state should do are going to be sold to the legislature. It all sounds good and that is my point.

 

Mr. Cuomo should take his plans and ideas to both houses now and share with them how he would solve this $9 Billion hole –now before it becomes a $24 Billion hole in his first budget next year, that is, if he’s serious. If I could smooth things for myself before I took a job — like prepare — make coalitions — collect markers — and was serious, that’s what I would do. I hope he does.

 

The press has cut Mr. Cuomo a tremendous break for months, by not asking him his take on the budget mess. He is bound to be governor unless Mike Bloomberg is tapped by the

Republicans

 

Here we go again, indeed.

 

Every time there’s a big election, the same bromides are laid on the voters: lower taxes, ethics reform, lobby reform, spending reform, we’ll keep you safe. We’re going to change things.

 

It is fascinating that the Cuomo speech rolled it out again – the same sound byte promises every candidate has rolled out ever since I was ten years old.

 

It is also highly significant Mr. Cuomo did not take questions from the assembled press Saturday. Perhaps because he has no answers? No beef?

 

I want to believe Mr. Cuomo has a plan. Just like Richard Nixon had for ending the Vietnam war.

 

I want to believe the Democrats who will nominate him next week will go on record supporting every one of these promises (“We will work together with Andrew to make this vision the New York State needs, happen.” I want to hear that.)

 

But, I hope Mr. Cuomo starts working with his Dem pals  now to help the frozen legislators “craft” this year’s budget. Cuomo cannot cross his fingers and hope the economy comes back.

 

Because it is not coming back.

 

Everybody, including Mr. Cuomo is crossing their fingers that somehow things will get better.

 

The final verse of Ray Charles’ song…paraphrased again – which I hope does not happen. The next governor cannot screw up.

 

We’ve been there before

And we’ll try it again.

But any fool knows

There’s no way to win

 

Here we go again,

They’ll break my heart again

We’ll play the fools again

One more time.

 

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WPCNR MAMARONECK AVENUE AMBLER. MAY 22,2010: White Plains Mayor Adam Bradley, YMCA Branch Executive/VP Hélène Mogridge, Westchester County Legislator William Ryan, White Plains Common Council President Tom Roach and YMCA President/CEO Deborah Bowles celebrated the White Plains Family YMCA’s 110^th Anniversary on May 18, 2010 at the YMCA at 250 Mamaroneck Avenue. Over 100 members, volunteers and friends of the YMCA were in attendance. Said Mrs. Mogridge, “For 110 years the White Plains Family YMCA has been building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.  Today our membership exceeds 4,000 and our programs benefit over 7,500 people in numerous communities. We serve people of all ages; we have members’ 6 months through 95 years of age.  Over the years people have come to depend on the YMCA’s diverse programs such as childcare, youth services, family programs, health and wellness activities and affordable housing.” 

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WPCNR MAIN STREET JOURNAL. From News Reports. May 20,2010: The White Plains Times website reports that Zanaro’s — the original City Center Restaurant there since 2003 along with Applebee’s since the City Center opened will close Tuesday, May 25. WPT reports it will be replaced by Buffalo Wings.  The spokesorganization for Cappelli Enterprises has not responded to a WPCNR query about this rumor which surfaced in the last 24 hours. Cappelli Enterprises has recently replaced one of the City Center’s major vacancies with a Shoprite and is in the process of preparing the space. The company has also promised a second major tenant to fill the other major space.

Zanaro’s never really caught on as a big time meet and greet place in White Plains, though the atmosphere in the old bank building was very intriguing and had nice ambience and tasty food.

Buffalo Wild Wings tends to duplicate the fare and atmosphere at many of the sports bars and restaurants along Mamaroneck Avenue making up the White Plains “Drinking District.” The Mamaroneck Avenue “Drink and Greet” strip is the destination for entertainment for 20 and 30 year olds throughout the tri-state area on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights– an audience that Zanaros did not cater to (in this reporter’s opinion).

Buffalo Wild Wings serves a lot of chicken with unique hot sauces — a specialty developed in Buffalo, New York. It could be called New York chicken, perhaps. Also on the menu are ribs, beefy burgers, wraps and Buffalitos, and sandwiches, and you can purchase 14 different varieties of hot sauce you can try at home.

But Buffalo Wings biggest advantage is it offers a full bar “with a wide selection of draft and bottled beer.”  The date for when the “Buffalo Bar” comes to town is not out yet.

 

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WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. May 19, 2010:

 

Buried on page 18A of the Journal News today was a chilling front page story,  that should have been on the front page, but was buried as usual because it is important.. The Associated Press reported:

 

“The federal government announced Tuesday it was nearly tripling the size of an area in the Gulf of Mexico that’s closed to fishing because of a massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana.

 

The National Oceanic  and Atmospheric Administration said it had closed nearly 46,000 square miles, or about 19 percent of federal waters.”

 

Well, this is sobering. Just 20%. No problem.

 

The new Black Death is still leaking with creeping horror into America’s greatest fishing grounds.

 

 

The geniuses at BP have fit a small pipe into the large pipe to capture “some” of the oil, but they do not know how much. They are hopeful they can perhaps refine it. This is being played as fixing the leak. But the black hole is still leaking.

 

Come on, saving your stinking investment is ludicrous.

 

At the beginning of this week, scientists in a New York Times dispatch, speculated that the Gulf currents are going to bring the Black Death  into the waters and perhaps onto the West coast of Florida, and onto the coral reefs of the Florida Keys.

 

Dead Sea II here we come.

 

Better get those mansions on the West Coast of Florida, Mississippi and Alabama up for sale now before the white beaches turn black—or the water becomes polluted.

 

So the Gulf is being turned into a dead sea by these energy experts. It is not the first blowout either. But they have not been able to cap this one. I want to repeat that: They have not been able to cap this one.

 

These corporate giants caused this horror. And they cannot fix it, yet.

 

BP and Haliburton in combination with systems maker are responsible.

 

What has our President done to them?

 

Nice concerned speeches.

 

Has he canceled all government contracts with Haliburton for their alleged incompetence?

 

No.

 

Has he suspended BP’s rights to drill elsewhere at other rigs across the  Gulf, or wherever they may be under U.S. control, pending termination of their contracts?

 

Forget about the law suits. Stop them making money and hurt them big time.

 

They have killed an ocean. Killed a way of life.

 

Of course not.

 

Theyr’e still drillin.

 

Haliburton and BP who ran this rig were on duty, folks.

 

This forgiving nature that is being extended by our condescending government to the corporate robber barons of 2010 – from Goldman-Sachs to Citibank to Bank of America, and all the banks, the Wall Street ganovim—(sounds like vermin) — to Haliburton to BP – fills me with disgust.

 

BP and Haliburton have wrecked an ocean with their technical incompetence that failed. Pointing to the past as proof all this technology should have worked, is no excuse.

 

The only organized activity that has any accountability is baseball and fastpitch softball  – when someone makes an error – the fans know who it is. No question. Even so, the official scorers are so lenient these days that unless you’re at the game, you really don’t know whose incompetence really created the win or loss.

 

I am tired of lenient government official scorers.

 

And where are the oil-soaked bird pictures? The dead fish photos? Is the national media covering up the damage?

 

Come on. If President Obama has any shot of getting reelected in 2012, he has to treat the oil boys really nice, and go through the motions of wrist-slapping and improving regulation, just like he’s doing the wrist-slapping of Wall Street, while ignoring the hoarding of loan money that the banks just are not  pushing out.

 

Everybody’s better on Wall Street, in boardrooms of the banks, and now even Detroit is getting better.

 

The Gulf is never going to get better.

 

Everywhere you look the incompetence, greed, and corner-cutting philosophies of the “captains of industry,” read that, “gang leaders” are every bit as dangerous to the well-being of the common man as street gangs – instead of tattoos and secret symbols they wear pinstripe suits and white shirts – and say they are “sorry,” and like Mercedes symbols.

 

 

 

Wall Street – hey – the government should have never allowed those bonus payments – earned thanks to the bailout – those should have been garnished once those dirty rats touched the money. And calling them rats, insults the noble rat who is resourceful, bold, and does not cheat, continue to float balloon mortgages, and forecloses because they can.

 

Does any one realize that the lower south and southeast part of the United States property values are about to be destroyed by this oil spill?

 

That our supply of seafood from the Gulf is about to disappear like that?

 

What are they going to do put up signs to fish saying: AVOID OIL AHEAD. OCEAN CLOSED.

 

That the southern Florida paradise may become a wasteland by the sea? The Coast Guard reported to the Senate Commerce Committee that tar balls had washed up on Key West. Admiral Thad Allen told the comittee the coast guard was analyzing the balls to see if they came from the Gulf Spill. How are they going to determine that? You think maybe they didn’t?

 

I do not want to hear about being green any more.

 

I want those responsible for ripping off the people and wrecking the planet with their greed suffering big time.

 

 I want all BP interests declared unwelcome in this country, and give them a year to divest themselves.

 

Remember Haliburton and their facility  Kellogg Brown Root’s  faulty showers that electrocuted soldiers,  built for the army in Iraq? No punishment. That company’s contracts were not cancelled.

 

Haliburton’s “connections” should not save them after this one.

 

Well failure again has cost us – this time it is costing us an ocean…and all the food in it and who knows.

 

The President  should go after these two behemoth bunglers. 

 

Put Haliburton out of the government contracting business big time  – and throw BP out of the country, strip them of their government contracts – suspend their wells, and if that is not practical—fine them the amount of their profits on U.S. sales or hey world-wide for that matter.

 

You cannot begin to imagine the cost the new Black Death is about to cause.

 

There will be more Gulf Horrors.

 

And where are the nation’s environmentalists on the Gulf spill?

 

Could we have a little protest please?

 

Where is the 100,000 march “Gulf Day” protest?

 

This is the greatest environmental disaster the United States has ever had and where are you?

 

On Memorial Day weekend the environmentalists need to memorialize the Gulf.

 

Meanwhile the black death continues to spew.

 

No American should buy any BP gas – not one gallon of it again.

 

Punish them on the bottom line.

 

And get those windmills up in the gulf  for wind power…because it is about to become a Dead Sea.

 

Hey Detroit – get those electric cars rolling.

 

Big Oil may have already cost us the planet.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. By John F. Bailey. May 18, 2010: Today the police and firefighter firings decided on last night in Common Council in Executive Session, were announced to the Department of Public Safety. 

A police veteran told WPCNR this afternoon, “this is a sad day in the department.” The officer told WPCNR he does not recall in his memory spanning two decades of any police or fire layoffs. He also lamented that  a good portion of remaining police officers might choose to retire. According to Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong (who was out of the city today on a planned assignment), 31 of the 206, (now 194 after today’s cuts) are eligible to retire, and about 18 of those officers are “senior” “ranking” officers.

As previously reported by WPCNR previously, the city strategy to eliminate 39 police and fire uniformed personnel became reality this morning.  

The Common Council implemented that policy and cut 12 police officers (all of whom are the most recently hired and trained police officers, who are placed on a preferred list and will be the first to be brought back should good times and city revenues turn up some day).

The city also announced the layoffs of 9 firefighters. The city has chosen to not replace the 9  vacancies in the police department (funded positions, now vacant) bringing the total cut in police strength down 21 officers.

On the fire side, in addition to laying off 9 firefighters, the Common Council in their Executive Session action Tuesday evening, by default, chose not to fill 9 vacancies in the fire bureau. That brings the dip in fire department strength to 18 personnel, bringing the final strength of the FD down to 152.

Mayor Bradley, commenting on the uniformed staff cuts released this statement to the media:

“My Administration has been focused on preserving jobs and dealing with a very serious fiscal crisis while protecting taxpayers who are already overburdened.

In the case of the Teamsters and the CSEA, we were able to guarantee those unions no layoffs and provided the City significant cost savings of approximately $2 million.

The Mayor’s office made every good faith effort to reach a similar resolution with our police and fire unions.

In light of the current budget situation, the Common Council felt it had to move forward with its decision night obligations.

However, the door is still open but the city needs similar concessions from the police and fire unions as those already obtained from the Teamsters and the CSEA.”

 

WPCNR asked Mr. Bradley why CSEA and Teamsters were guaranteed jobs over the next year without certainty that revenues would be there to fund the financial commitment. Bradley told WPCNR, “they gave us the savings we requested in return for guarantee of no layoffs.”

Asked how the city could commit to paying revenue it may or may not have, Bradley said his budget director  and Commissioner of Finance Michael Genito and consultant Eileen Earl Bradley were “very confident” in their projections of the revenues for 2010-11.

WPCNR asked why the city chose to protect the 45 non police-trained (CSEA personnel) in the Public Safety Department, thus leaving trained police officers as their only way to cut. Bradley said “Does it make sense to have a trained police officer doing those jobs.”

Bradley said that Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong and Police Chief James Bradley had assured him the city will have “the same number of police officers on patrol.”

WPNCR queried the Mayor on whether that indicated that Commissioner Chong felt the department was overstaffed (contrary to what the Commissioner himself had told the Common Council at the Department of Public Safety budget session two weeks ago)  the police department had been overstaffed for years. Bradley chose not to answer that question directly, pointing out that the Commissioner had assured him that the department could handle the layoffs. Asked if the vacancies in the department further complicated Police performance in the future, Bradley said there were always vacancies and the Department has worked around them.

 

Asked if either Jim Carrier (police) or Joe Carrier (fire) union heads had contacted Mr. Bradley about coming back to the table, Bradley said he was unaware of that. He confirmed that all aspects of the police and fire contracts would be open for discussion in July when the present police contract (awarded by binding arbitration in 2008) expires.