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 PHOTO OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 9, 2009: Your Roving Photographer was not roving at the time he captured this photo, but news just finds him wherever he goes. Today’s photo shows that the 2009 political campaign has officially started, a “new, improved Bill Ryan” candidate, for County Legislator in District 5 (White Plains and Scarsdale) has officially started his walking tour of the district by introducing himself door-to-door with his aide-de-camp, Mike Amodio. Ryan, resident of White Plains, is running for reelection against White Plains Bob Hyland,  said the purpose of the walking tour was name recognition and making sure residents in his district knew who to call to discuss issues once the election was over.

“Hi, I’m Bill Ryan…”

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WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. September 8, 2009, UPDATED 3:03 P.M. with detailed analysis of the Con Edison Certiorari in Italics: White Plains enacted its first ever  Hotel Sales Tax of 3% Monday evening by a 7-0 vote with no public comment on the legislation. The hotel tax will go into affect October 1. The tax will be collected by the individual hotels in the city which include the Ritz Carlton, the White Plains Renaissance, the Crowne Plaza, The Esplanade, and the Hyatt Summerfield Suites, and returns will be due quarterly at the end of December, March, June, September. The tax has been touted as having the potential to raise $350,000 a year.

In other action, 

The Common Council approved a 5 year site plan approval for White Plains Hospital Medical Center planned expansion. It is the longest window of site plan approval ever granted by the city, and was done as a convenience to the hospital which is in the process of fund-raising for the major expansion of the facility, which pointed out in requesting the elongated period allowed to get the project under way, that it did not expect to raise the funds to build for at least that amount of time. This was approved in a time frame of  about six months.

The Council extended for another month the hearing on the North Street Community senior condominium and assisted living project.

The council tabled a resolution generated by the Mayor’s Office to transfer $2 Million to

Salary and benefit accounts. Councilman Boykin objected because of the vague nature of the request. Mayor Delfino said this was the best estimate of the monies needed for the expected binding arbitration settlement of the fire and police union contracts. Boykin said he wanted a more specific definition of what the end of the year deficit was and who would be getting paid the funds.

Rita Malmud said, in response to Mayor Delfino’s testy response to Boykin that these transfers are done every year and are nothing new, said that this was not the case, this year, with the council rejecting a 3.75% raise for the first year of the fire fighters’ contract last December, and the city being “forced into a voluntary binding arbitration.” Dennis Power suggested tabling the matter and it was done by a vote of 5-2, with Mr.Roach and the Mayor voting “No.”

The binding arbitration has not begun yet because the council has tabled until September 24 the discussion of selection of a city labor legal counsel. At that date the transfer of funds will also be discussed. The Mayor said he refused to identify how much of the $2 Million was for union and non-union managerial personnel.

Assessment Erosion Continues

The Council approved the lowering of the assessment rolls to the tune of $782,477, resulting in a total of $359,730.40. The School District will pay approximately a $1,440,000 certiorari tax refund, based on the ratio that for every $1 the city collects in taxes, the school district collects 4.

 The bulk of the total assessment reduction was made up by a $556,587 assessment reduction granted Con Edison properties on Water Street. Con Edison receives a $208,995.70 tax refund for the years 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. 

The assessment reduction represents the total assessment decline of 35 different Con Ed-owned lots around the city with various Con Edison installations and equipment on the premises, according to Lloyd Tasch, the City Assessor.  The 35 properties were reduced from $908,000 of Assessed Value to $351,413. Tasch said an expert was hired by the city to assess the properties and fight Con Edison’s claims involving depreciation, replacement value and other categories. Tasch said the city did the best it could but still wound up with “a real hit” that will be deducted from the city Assessement Roll in 2010-11.

CVS Albany LLC at 434-452 Mamaroneck Avenue and 434-440 received a $39,881.11 certiorari tax refund and a $93,800 reduction in assessed value. Tasch said this decline in assessment were partly as a result of decreased sales

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WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey. September 8, 2009: Judge Francis Nicolai, after a 2 hour and 45 minute hearing this morning, punctuated by two 1 hour recesses, the second of which he used to review an Appellate Court decision on a similar case, directed the Board of Elections to put the name of Councilman Glen Hockley on the November 3 ballot for the office of Mayor.

Judge Nicolai said the Board of Elections did nothing wrong in denying  Mr. Hockley a place on the ballot due to Mr. Hockley’s failure to file a Certificate of Acceptance, but that it was clear that Hockley wanted to run for the office.

Nicolai taking an hour recess to review a1987 Appellate Division decision of 1987 that had ruled against an independent candidate in similar circumstances, returned to the court room at 12:10 P.M. and then dismissed County Attorney Matthew Gallagher’s citing of the 1987 Appellate court case, saying that if the courts really felt a Certificate of Acceptance was necessary they would have said so.

Glen Hockley, in the hall after the decision, said, “the people have won this day. I will never forget it.”

Nicolai discounted the question of conspiracy against Hockley by the Board of Elections, as Hockley had claimed, saying that the notice the Board of Elections claimed they sent to Mr. Hockley, which Mr. Hockley said he never received, did not specifically deal with a candidate’s need to accept the nomination of a party.

Rather, Nicolai said, the intent of the notice(a postcard) copy advises the candidate of the last day to declaim (refuse) a nomination. Nicolai sharply rebuked Hockley’s attorney, Nelson Canter for Mr. Canter’s continuing refusal to see that distinction.

Nicolai said in reviewing the Irdine vs. Sachs case of 1987, cited by the County Attorney Mr. Gallagher as speaking to the  present Hockley case, said “that case was decided on strict construction of the law…if the legislature felt it (a Certificate of Acceptance) was as important, it would have said so.”

Nicolai said, in directing Hockley’s name be placed on the ballot,  that  running for office was “a very important right that must not be denied” unless there were very extenuating circumstances.

Commissioner of the Board of Elections, Reginald LaFayette told reporters he would be consulting with Mr. Gallagher whether or not  to appeal the Judge’s decision. LaFayette said that there were other candidates who had been denied places on ballots due to failures to supply Certificates of Acceptance in a timely manner, noting a case in Lewisboro where that also was the B.O.E.’s ruling.

LaFayette told reporters that Mrs. Hockley (Melody), when she was filing Mr. Hockley’s petitions that he had told her personally Mr.Hockley had to file a certificate of acceptance. LaFayette also said he had supplied Mrs. Hockley with a large paper clip to bind Hockley’s petitions, and advised her that she had to fill in “Mayor, City of White Plains” on the petitions, as evidence of how he had cooperated with the Hockley entourage. He said he resented Mr. Hockley’s conspiracy theories, considering how much he personally had helped Mrs. Hockley when the petitions were presented.

Hockley two weeks ago had told WPCNR that when petitions were filed, the Board of Elections had never told his representatives, including his attorney, Nelson Canter, that a Certificate of Acceptance needed to be filed.

When told of Mr. LaFayette’s contention he had told Mrs. Hockley personally that her husband had to file a Certificate of Accepance, Hockley  told WPCNR this afternoon, “That’s a bald-faced lie. My attorney was standing right beside her,” as far as giving Mrs. Hockley a paper clip and fill-out advice, Hockley said, “that’s what he’s supposed to do.”

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. By the WPCNR Roving Photographer. September 7:

Aspara Warrior

By Ouk Chim Vichet

Your Roving Photographer was reminded again of why artists create, when he turned the corner in a gallery at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and was confronted by this amazing sculpture. It represented the power of personal expression and imagination to say more than words can say. For the rest of the story…

The arms and torso are constructed of barrels of AK-47 rifles, triggers, handles. What is the warrior saying? What is the warrior’s message? The shock of seeing Vichet’s warrior for the first time is profoundly disturbing. It is haunting, evoking sorrow, repulsion, thought. What does the warrior say to you? What does the warrior inspire in you?

The sculpture points out the ability of one person’s imagination to state and evoke and to move us to another dimension of sensitivity.

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WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From White Plains Department of Public Safety. September 3, 2009 — Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse was recently awarded $10,000 from the Westchester County’s Women’s Research and Education Fund to continue its collaboration with the White Plains Police Department.  The WJCS Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse and White Plains Police Department jointly respond to women and children who are victims and/or witnesses to domestic violence. 

The number to call to seek the Treatment Center, if think you might possibly become a victim of violence of any kind, or are already a victim,  is 949-7699, extension 375, or call the police at 422-6111. The police advise persons that the Trauma Center will help them deal or even diffuse a potentially personally harmful situation.

“Recognizing that an effective domestic violence strategy goes beyond law enforcement response, the  White Plains Police Department partnered with WJCS to bring critical services to women and children who are  victims and/or witnesses to violence in their homes,” according to
Commissioner Frank Straub.

 “Through this ongoing partnership,” Straub said, “the Police Department and WCJS have taken significant steps toward breaking the cycle of violence as well as to connect victims to long and short-term services. The funding, recently awarded to WCJS will allow this partnership to continue, expand opportunities to provide critical intervention by specially trained police officers and WJCS clinicians.”

Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson told WPCNR  that no woman or child in a situation they think may lead to violence or lead to their being a victim of violence should hesitate to contact the Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse before something happens to them. Jackson said a woman or child or man, for that matter, could call the police at 422-6111, or the Trauma Center at 949-7699, Ext 375.

“This funding allows the Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse and the White Plains Police Department to continue the momentum of an initial project that showed much promise,” says Liane Nelson, PhD, Director of the Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse. “The project aims to increase the capacity of police officers to work with mothers, children and families affected by domestic violence and to identify children who may be in need of intervention.”

According to Dr. Nelson, children who have witnessed domestic violence, particularly by one parent against another, frequently suffer from psychological and behavioral difficulties including trauma. These
children often feel torn between two parents and have difficulty with trust, safety and separation. Early assessment and intervention offers children a critical chance to recover and heal from the damaging
psychological effects of the domestic violence. The project also provides families with important information and resources.

An award winning program, the WJCS Treatment Center for Trauma (TCTA) provides long-term solutions to victims of violence and abuse by offering a comprehensive team and multi-service approach that has the capacity to identify and treat the inter-related aspects of violence and abuse and the resulting long-term pain and trauma of abuse experienced by women, children and families.  For more information about the project or the WJCS Treatment Center for Trauma and Abuse, contact Dr. Nelson at 949-7699 ext.  375.