| WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2020. By Benjamin Boykin, Chairman of the Westchester County Board of Legislators. July 3, 2020: I have established a new Election Information Gathering Task Force. The Task Force will obtain public input about the June 23 Primary Election and about pro-active steps that can be taken for the November 3 General Election. It will provide a report to the Board of Legislators by August 7, 2020. The Task Force will hold a public input session on Wednesday, July 8 at 7 p.m. In order to ensure public health safety, the session will be conducted remotely, rather than in-person, pursuant to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.1 as extended. The public will have multiple ways to participate: Online: To register to speak via the Board’s Webex online teleconferencing system, please click this link: https://westchestergov.webex.com/westchestergov/onstage/g.php?MTID=e544cf7dd60ae8922a643c64a2ea73444. Speakers will be called in the order of registration. By Telephone: Participants who wish to speak by phone should register by 3 p.m. July 8. To register, members of the public may call (914) 995-2800. Please leave a name and a callback number where we can reach you when the comment session begins. In writing: Comments can be submitted in writing by emailing [email protected] or mailing them to the Clerk of the Board of Legislators, 148 Martine Ave., 8th Floor, White Plains, NY 1060. Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. on July 15, 2020. Speakers shall be limited to three (3) minutes. The session will be streamed live and archived on the Board’s website, http://www.westchesterlegislators.com The Board of Legislators members of the Task Force are: Vice Chairwoman Alfreda Williams Majority Leader MaryJane Shimsky Legislator Catherine Borgia, Chairwoman of the Budget & Appropriations Committee, Task Force Co-Chair Legislator Vedat Gashi, Chairman of the Public Works & Transportation Committee, Task Force Co-Chair Please forward this e-news to family and friends who may be interested in this information. |
Governor Holds Back Indoor Dining Go-Ahead in NYC Due to non-compliance issues
WPCNR THE LETTER TICKER. JULY 1, 2020:
New York City is expected to enter Phase 3 of reopening on Monday, July 6, but due to concerns about the risk of spreading the virus, indoor dining in NYC will be postponed.
As we see states across the country that have opted to reopen indoor dining experience upticks in the infection rate, we want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen in New York. And at this point, we can’t rely on citizen compliance or local enforcement alone to manage the risk.
The safest option is to postpone indoor dining in NYC. We need to continue to reopen based on facts and data—and we will be diligent and cautious. We will not risk the enormous progress New York has made.
Here’s what else you need to know tonight:
1. New York State will expand its testing criteria to all New Yorkers statewide. New York conducts more tests per capita than any big country in the world and we now have the capacity to expand the testing criteria. Any New Yorker can go to any of the State’s 750+ testing sites and get a test at no cost.
2. New York State will create an enforcement effort to supplement local enforcement of COVID-19 guidance and restrictions. It’s important that local governments enforce compliance of the safety protocols in place. If citizens slip and local governments don’t comply, we’ll find ourselves back on the mountain and we want to avoid that.
3. Six major retailers are requiring customers to wear face coverings while shopping at their stores nationwide. The retailers are: Costco, C-Town, Gristedes and D’Agostino, Stop & Shop and Whole Foods.
4. The number of total COVID hospitalizations continues to drop. Total hospitalizations fell to 879, from 891 the day before. Sadly we lost 11 New Yorkers to the virus yesterday.
5. Yesterday, the State conducted 56,710 tests. Only 625 tests, or 1.1%, were positive.
Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Latimer: $250 Million Deficit Possible–TAKES STEPS.
WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From the Westchester County Department of Communications. (EDITED) July 1, 2010:
Due to the societal shutdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the County estimates revenue loss as great as $250 million from sales tax, hotel occupancy tax and other revenues for Fiscal Year 2020.
The County is exploring the following avenues to close the budget gap: the CARES Act resulted in the County receiving an additional $30 million in federal transit aid, the federal government will contribute 50% of the cost of the Medicaid program, the US Marshal service is anticipated to increase its contributions by $3.8 million, and the Department of Correction is expected to accrue $2.8 million in salary savings resulting from a significantly reduced inmate population.
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt in Westchester for years to come, County Executive George Latimer proposed the Voluntary Separation Program.
The Program will allow Westchester County employees to voluntarily leave County service in exchange of a $1,000 payment for every year of service to the County. The move will amount to one to two million dollars in savings in 2020, and will save the County six to ten million dollars in 2021.
Latimer said: “In light of the impact of COVID-19 on the County’s budget, and the impact it is likely to continue to have, creating a voluntary separation incentive is a fiscally prudent step the County can take to mitigate the revenue shortfalls created by the virus. This is one more thing we can do to assist with getting, and keeping, the County’s finances on track.”
Elected officials, members of the County’s Police, Correction and District Attorney Investigator Unions, employees facing disciplinary proceedings, and employees of Westchester County Community College are not eligible to participate. Additionally, cognizant of the State’s budgetary concerns, the program contains a provision that, if the State also enacts some form of separation incentive, an individual cannot take advantage of both the State incentive and the County incentive, and must choose one.
Westchester County employees who wish to participate in the program must notify the County by July 24, 2020. Payments will be made to participating employees within 75 days of their voluntary separation from County service, which must occur on or before August 1, 2020.
Assembly District 93 Congressional District 17 Absentee Ballots Impounded. Court Date July 8 to Determine How 65,000 Absentee and Affidavit Ballots Will Be Counted.
WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2020. By John F. Bailey. July 1, 2020:
Absentee Ballots were to have been started to be counted today by the Board of Elections, but they were not.
Absentee and Affiidavit Primary Ballots have been impounded by Assembly District 93 Candidate Chris Burdick, delaying the beginning of counting ballots until after July 8, the court date at Westchester County Supreme Court in White Plains. Ballots were supposed have begun to be counted today.
The 93rd Assembly District race is very close with three candidates, Mr. Burdick, Kristem Browde and Jeremiah Frie-Pearson in a 1-2-3 race after 5,600 ballots have been counted between 10,000 and 11,000 absentee votes remain to be counted in that 93rd race.
In the 17th Congressional District, which Mondaire Jones is leading by a 2 to 1 margin over Eva Farkas, Farkas would have to grab 75% of the estimated 21, 000 or more absentee ballots to win.
In