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WPCNR BACK ROOM BULLETIN. News & Comment By John F. Bailey. May 4, 2009: Sunday’s far-reaching Keith Eddings Journal News interview with Democrat Mayoral nominee Adam Bradley, in which Mr. Bradley levels a number of charges that lame duck Mayor Joseph Delfino is submitting a budget that understates the city deficit is striking, in  that Bradley is not running against Joseph Delfino.

 

Bradley and the present Common Council can slash the budget all they want now.

What Delfino recommends now — should not be used as an excuse to perpetuate financial make-believe, and collectively moan and groan a year from now when the city faces financial ruin.

 

 His budget makes a difference, especially if the council accepts it as is.  The council needs a reality check here, as they go into tonight’s hearing on the City Budget.

 

Will they jawbone? Will they yada yada yada yada the voters for television?

 

The Council is approving Adam Bradley’s budget – not Delfino’s – since Delfino is not going to be living with it – Adam Bradley, though, will be living with it.

 

Bradley and the Council next year will have nobody to blame except themselves if the budget goes through as presented tonight.

 

In the excellent Jennings interview, Bradley declines to give his formula for bringing the “deficit” under control. 

 

However there is no commentary on the constipation in the budget — the binding arbitration the city and the unions are entering into, or have entered into, or may enter into. No one seems to know for sure.

 

For that matter the city going to binding arbitration with the unions is a convenient Common Council cop out. If the council tells the public a year from now that they had no choice but to go to binding arbitration and that’s why they have to raise taxes and parking fees, or cut services, that just will not wash.

 

The binding arbitration the city may or may not have entered into already for the unions (no one will say), sets a scenario up for a total Democrat-lead city next year to blame Delfino for the 3.5% labor settlement likely from the arbitrators. 

 

But the council can put a stop to this – if the unions have not already agreed to an arbitrator.

 

City Hall has been mum on whether or not the unions have accepted the city choice of arbitrator yet.

 

Tip to Unions: better agree to that arbitrator like now, because the longer you delay, the city may just change its mind on arbitration.

 

If I’m in the union, I have to ask,  demand you get  anyone, even Scoop the News Duck in there to arbitrate, just start arbitrating or we could be jaw-boned back into talks!

 

Where is the Common Council on this?  They’re hiding behind the Charter of the city, which grants the Mayor the right to negotiate. But, shouldn’t the council intervene when the arbitration flag of surrender is raised?

 

Any arbitrator decision granting the unions a 3% across-the-board increase (compatible with recent settlements countywide) will eliminate any use of undesignated fund balance in 2010-11 because there won’t be any fund balance, it will already be “designateed” and “burned.” They’ll have to sell City Hall to pay the unions.

 

 What’s left at the end of 2009-10 will only be $5.3 Million, just about what would be needed to fund a round of 3% raises in 20010-11. Then you’ll be looking at tax increases of well over 30%.

 

Should be fun watching the Democrats fire union personnel next year, shouldn’t it? It will not be pretty.

 

But, perhaps the city is using the wrong strategy?

 

A Yonkers-like injection of stimulus for the city to preserve jobs may save  the Bradley administration down the road. The economy could turn around. After all, Yonkers seems to receive about  $20 Million every month or so from the state to help their consistent shortfalls. But maybe Yonkers is smart. Run things badly, wring hands, and you get helped. You’re too big to fail. (The mantra of Obamanomics.)

 

Bradley in the Eddings  interview says more (budget-cutting) must be done. He says he’s been counseling with the Democrat council members giving them his thoughts. So obviously Bradley must have some ideas.

 

Well, now is the time. Let’s have them. Now is the  time to cut or raise taxes.

 

I figure the council has to slash about $2 Million of the budget at a minimum, and $5 Million ideally to fund the union raises if the binding arbitration “cop out” strategy is followed – instead of negotiating the unions down using jobs as a ploy.

 

Of course there is the biting the bullet: Run in a 30% tax increase to eliminate the alleged deficit, and gives the city a chance to come back as the economy limps through 2009.

 

You can also roll in a tax rebate, or cut taxes substantially next year to relieve the tax payers.

 

A 15% tax increase  this year is a good middle position. It hedges your bet and preserves fund balance use and funds the coming arbitration settlement.

 

But, WPCNR asks why doesn’t the council do the tax thing?

 

Bradley is not running against anybody except perhaps his own fellow Democrats, whom he says he is advising of his thoughts on the budget.

 

If the Democratic Council does not slash and burn that budget or increase taxes, and the economy does not come back locally in White Plains, including the housing market, they will sow the seeds of financial havoc aplenty next year.

 

Do not forget the declining real estate prices on homes – that will only create more assessed value carnage – lowering city revenues – necessitating a tax hike next year of considerable proportions — in the city budget and (shudder) the school budget.

 

You just know the commercial properties are already getting their second round of certioraris under way. They are licking their chops and simmering those books.

 

Bradley needs some major budget cuts now – as a precautionary measure.

 

But blaming Delfino is not going to wash, next year.The Democratic Council went along with all the budgets and decisions that created the present situation. They cut a “whopping” $500,000 last year out of the Reserve for Financing. What prudence! How tough they were.

 

Ironically, the Common Council now is being presented with cleaning up its own mess, created by years of being walked through the numbers, never asking hard questions, never telling Commissioners “no.”

 

Delfino is out in 7 months and 27 days.

 

He is a lame duck.

 

The council needs to take over his budget big time, and slash the heck out of it, otherwise I can hear the wailing now: “If Delfino had managed finances better, we would not be in this mess. If we had a municipally experienced Budget Director, yada…yada…yada.”

Spare us the rhetoric, Councilpeople!

 

Let’s hear you tonight. Bring something to the table.

 

The mess is yours because you approved it every step of the way.

 

 

To date the council has shown admiration in the budget meetings for all the presentations and have not asked one tough question in the sessions this reporter has attended. Only Tom Roach, the councilman has shown any sense of budget urgency. Mr. Boykin has expressed concern the deficit may be more than predicted.

 

Concern must be taken out of the lineup and replaced with action!

 

Ask not what you can do to keep your $36,471 a year, but what you can do for your constituents.

 

 

How about, the council saying – no more cars for commissioners or anyone.

 

How about the council saying 10% wage cuts across the board.

 

 

The tough question I would ask would be – how will arbitration settlements in line with settlements in the area – effect the budget in year 2010-11? No one on the Council has asked that question publicly of the Mayor and his budget “strategists.”

 

 

The current Mayor has 7 months and 27 days before possibly retiring to his condominium in Portsmouth Rhode Island on the Sakonnet River  (where, coincidentally,  former Building Commissioner Mike Gismondi also has a condo, maybe they’ll reminisce about old times?)

 

The Mayor has presented a budget. He has had his commissioners parade in and tell the council how much they have cut – but in general terms. We have not seen the total number of laid off positions across all departments – yet.

 

When is the Council going to demand such a list of firings?

 

When are we going to have a total of millions cut from the administration? A little transparency, please?

 

When will the council have the leadership to demand the cuts that have to be made?

 

Now is the time for the Common Council to come to the aid of the Mayorally-annointed, Mr. Bradley, before the city faces economic Armageddon one year from now.

 

That’s when the assessment decline doubles to $10 Million, you have to cut union staff sharply, and plead with Mr. Bradley’s successor in Albany for a bailout.  But, maybe that is the ultimate strategy?

 

Perhaps Mr. Bradley might want to reconsider that run for Mayor. He will be mopping up the Delfino red ink.

 

He’s going to get it.

 

It appears the Republican Party in White Plains could be de facto endorsing Bradley as next Mayor by not nominating anyone to run for Mayor.

 

Tim Sheehan has told WPCNR he is considering running. But, why spend your own money on your own campaign when the numbers are overwhelmingly Bradley? Sheehan is too smart to be suckered in when the numbers of voters just aren’t there. 

 

Now if Glen Hockley should rise from the Democrats’ Burial Ground and snag the Working Families Party or Independence Party nomination for Mayor or both – that could make things interesting and give Tim Sheehan a chance – or even Bob Hyland.   Hockley might get union support, split the vote enough to sneak Sheehan in. But,most likely this will not help Sheehan either, since the lead Demo usually wins on the numbers anyway.

 

Or have the Republicans silently decided to clear the way for Bradley and not nominate anyone for Mayor seeing Bradley as unbeatable?

 

Anyhow – Joseph Delfino has 7 months and 27 days and the Common Council should realize and remember  the damage to America that another lame duck did to America in about the same time last year. Remember the George W. Bush “reign of recession?”

 

The Lame Duck is starting now to put together his last big deals, cementing the Delfino legacy very quietly — shapping the course of White Plains for decades.

 

The Mayor is setting up a Winbrook “gentrification” project that will gut the West Side of White Plains for years to come while rewarding  architects, planning firms,and consultants of the city.

 

If the federal government ends up buying out properties up and down Lexington Avenue, it will create a windfall for over 100 owners of property up and down Lex for years.

 

The Mayor is slipping through a tidy little item (# 78) Monday night that sets Winbrook in motion under the guise that in order to get stimulus money from Washington, the zoning change enabling Winbrook must be done now.

 

But, why does Winbrook have to be changed to residential/commercial? Some one tell me?

 

Because assisted senior living, middle income housing, personal service and professional offices and commercial retail are envisioned in the zoning proposal and the Request for Qualifications  which went out last week from the White Plains Housing Authority.

 

The item, number 78,  IS innocuously third to last on the agenda  for referral Monday night that proposes zoning Winbrook commercial as well as residential, and expanding Windbrook to include both sides of Lexington Avenue. This is a major zoning change and no one knows its possibilities.

 

This project will dominate the Bradley Administration for years to come. And put White Plains not in control of its own destiny but, control of that area under the planning wisdom of HUD and the Federal Government.

 

What is to prevent, HUD and the Federal Government super consultants from telling the Housing Authority: look, this idea of building new buildings first so the folks can move into the new buildings, does not work and is too expensive. We can’t do that. If you do not relocate them so the project can be designed all at once and built all at once, we’re not going to fund the project.

 

You can put any conditions you want, but as Eliot Spitzer learned when he tried to give drivers licenses to illegals in New York State, the Federal Government rules and does things the way they want to do it, regardless of what any state or local Housing Authority wants to do.

 

People of Winbrook should be well aware of that.

 

What’s pathetic is the planners, engineers,and consultants being used on the Winbrook project which just serviced officially last week, are not even minorities consulting on what is clearly a minority section of town.

 

But wait, I forgot, if you’re white in White Plains, you now are a minority. Perhaps the reason for giving consulting work (pro buono or for pay) to the city’s well-known “go-to” consulting firms, could be considered minority hiring.

 

The excuse for the quickie zoning change is to have the work on rebuilding Winbrook be eligible for “stimulus” money – i.e., shovel-ready.

 

The project (Winbrook) is not shovel-ready by a long shot.

 

The stimulus “rush” to push this zoning change is a sham, in my opinion — to ram through zoning and make one last killing for the well-connected, the sycophants who suck up tax dollars under the guise of public projects.

 

Another project the Mayor may be pushing through is privatization of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, or purchase of the Ridgeway Country Club.

 

There is all sorts of “creative stuff”  and “enduring legacies” a creative lame duck can create in 7 months and 27 days.

 

Is the George W. Bush “Reign of Recession” so quickly forgotten?

 

 

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WPCNR SOUTH END TIMES. April 30, 2009: The Gedney Farms Association, expressing concern over the possible sale of the Ridgeway Country Club, (located in the heart of one of White Plains most desirable neighborhoods,  has called a town meeting to discuss the issues and impacts of the possible sale.

The town meeting will be held Wednesday May 6 at Ridgeway School Auditorium at 7:30 P.M. The Association has announced that a representative of Ridgeway Country Club will attend as will a representative of the Westchester Land Trust, who is expected to discuss ways the property could be acquired with government assistance. The city of White Plains has yet to comment on whether it will entertain an initiative to acquire the property.

Historic Ridgeway Country Club: For Sale, $20 Million.

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WPCNR HOMELAND SECURITY NEWS. From Secretary of  Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. April 30, 2009: Last night we heard President Obama speak directly to the country about the H1N1 virus. The President made clear that the number one priority is the safety of the American people. That’s our focus and will continue to be our focus throughout the duration of this outbreak. Every action we are taking is meant to stop the spread of the virus and to mitigate its effect on our communities. Our decisions are being made based on the best science and best epidemiology that we know, and that is informing all of our decisions here. 

 Prioritized states are now receiving antivirals. And let me—there has been some confusion about the difference between a vaccine and an antiviral. A vaccine is something that one takes to prevent the occurrence of a disease. An antiviral is something one takes after you’ve already become sick.

We have stockpiled in this country 50 million courses of the right kinds of antivirals for this particular flu, Tamiflu and Relenza—50 million courses. In addition, the states have another 23 million courses stockpiled, and the Department of Defense has a number of millions of courses stockpiled. From the national stockpile, we’re already moving Tamiflu and Relenza out to the states where the priority—to states that have confirmed incidents of disease, and the complete deployment of 25 percent of the relevant part of the stockpile will be out to the states by the third of May.

 In addition, we are sending—in addition to the antivirals, we’re sending out gloves and masks and other similar equipment. As of this afternoon, antivirals and assets have already reached New York City, Indiana, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey, and of course the District of Columbia. And as I said, more continue to get distributed every day until we’re complete with the initial wave of distribution by the third of May.

 We are also working with our private sector and critical infrastructure partners to make sure they’re doing what they need to do to educate their employees. And they are making sure they’re working through their own planning checklists on what to do in this type of a situation.

 With respect to the borders, based on the information supplied to us by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the World Health Organization, our position has not changed. Customs and border patrol gents continue to watch for travelers who demonstrate signs of illness to make sure that they are taking appropriate action. We are also taking similar action at our nation’s airports. But as the President noted last night, closing the entire borders would have no benefit at this point because the virus is already present in the United States. The comparison is clear. It’s like closing the barn door well after the horse has left.

 In addition, the CDC continues to issue community guidance and guidelines for what localities can do, schools, school districts can do as we go through this. If you are a parent and you may believe that at some point your school, the school or schools where your children go may be temporarily closed, be sure you have thought ahead about what you will do with your children and how you make sure that that’s appropriately taken care of.

 And importantly, if a school is closed, it is not closed so that kids can go out to the mall or go out into the community at large. They’re being asked to stay home because the entire purpose is to limit containment and communication within the community. So if a school is closed, the guidance is and the request is to keep your young ones at home.

 Washing hands often with soap and water, covering your mouth if you cough or sneeze, staying home if you are sick, and contacting your health care provider or doctor if you have severe flu-like symptoms are all part of the common sense that we are following.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. April 30,2009: Six candidates have filed petitions to contend for the three open seats on the White Plains Board of Education at the annual School Board Budget and  Board of Education election May 19.

 

The candidates are:

 

Peter Bassano, a local attorney ( a Board of Education Member since 2002). They are being contested by 

 

Jim Hricay, former Deputy Budget Director for White Plains, now with the City of Stamford  Budget Department.

 

Dr. Elsie Lahrmann, retired Director of Emergency Planning, Natural Medicine Practioner;

 

Reynolds Longfield, a former sales and marketing cosmetics executive, now an educator;

 

Donna McLaughlin, Board of Education President.

 

Augie Zicca, Jr. Westchester County Correction Officer (retired), IBN System Analyst (retired).

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. April 29, 2009: Dr. Lenora Boehlert, School District Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, reported to WPCNR the details of new retirement incentives the school district is offering to members of the Administrators and Supervisors Association and Civil Service Employees Association, approved Monday evening.

 

Boehlert said the Retirement Incentives eliminated payment for accumulated sick days not used on retirement, and instead offered administrators one flat payment of $25,000 (as incentive to retirement) and a flat payment of $10,000 to CSEA employees.

 

Boehlert said as people retire, the district has the option to not fill those positions, enabling the district to avoid the laying off of  positions such as teaching assistants.  Savings might also be achieved in the2009-2010 budget by the district choosing not to fill administrator positions or if the positions were considered essential, to fill them with persons at a lower salary.

 

Boelert expects 5 Administrators and 11 to 15 CSEA employees to take advantage of the Retirement Incentives, at a WPCNR estimated total payout of about $275,000 total. A call is in to Fred Seiler, Assistant Supertintendent for Business to ascertain how the incentives are being funded.

 

Dr. Boehlert said the two unions had approved the new policy of flat payments instead of accumulated sick day payments.