And the blame goes to.....

Westchester Legislators back in the news – this time bemoaning 'where's the plan'. 

Remember, pay no mind to their words – only their actions. Legislator and Majority Leader Peter Harckham (D-Katonah) said: “It’s worrisome that, so far, the Astorino Administration has been silent on how it intends to convince the financial industry that Westchester officials are working hard to strengthen our fiscal position. We need to reassure the local economy that we’re a AAA rated county while we continue to cut costs and do things more efficiently.” 

Here's what's really worrisome - they were warned by the Republicans on the board that the county's high bond rating would be put at risk by the Super Majority's "reckless use of the county's fund balance and the questionable revenue sources" and ignored them!

Try as they might to twist reality, the cold hard fact remains - it is Harckham and Co. that earn ALL the blame period.

http://westchesterlegislators.com/media-center/1951-westchester-legislators-ask-county-executive-wheres-westchesters-bond-outlook-improvement-plan.html

Two for Tuesday

Seems my letter to the editor http://chappaqua.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-lisa-douglas-sounds-off-on-spending hit a sensitive spot with Pete so he called in his big guns to do his bidding. Not sure how I missed it but I did - The Bedford-Katonah Patch printed 4 support letters for Peter Harckham (2 of those 4 were against me) on August 2nd. The funny thing about these 4 letters is that they read as if they were written together over coffee. Equally amusing is that they repeat the same lies. I guess they're from the old school of 'if you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it'. Sad and funny all the way around! The real story is a comment posted under the 4 letters written by a Democrat – Charmain Neary – be sure to read that one!

http://bedford.patch.com/articles/letters-to-the-editor-re-elect-peter-harckham-for-county-legislator-district-2

A little research went in to these ‘letter writers’.

Phyllis Ross is an Art Historian – she’s an Obama supporter.

Bea Rhodes ran for Town Clerk of Bedford in 2009 on the D/WFP lines and lost to Lisbeth Fumagalli – also part of the Bedford Tree Advisory Board.

Jeremy Mand – a 2008 Manhattanville graduate, he’s a young Dem who, in 2010, was the co vice chair of the Bedford Democratic Committee and the Treasurer for the Westchester Young Democrats – he also began his career working for John Hall and this year for Nita Lowey.

Thea Fry is an environmentalist who supports open space and riding trails. Thea and her husband designed a PVC Shoplight-Growlight Frame – it’s pretty cool just google it.

So, why is it important to know who’s writing a letter – simple – you need to understand their frame of mind. When people are spoon fed information (insiders & friends) vs. doing their own research it becomes quite apparent, as these 4 letters ultimately prove. (I realize using someone else’s information is easier - as is cheating off of someone else’s test, but jeeze).

At any rate, if they spent some of their time perusing the county board minutes, they’d retract their own letters and maybe even issue an apology but I won’t hold my breath. In the end the truth will win out – it always does!




Speaking of truth - this morning you will read that the BOL overrode Astorino's veto, again. This time to spend $700,000 on the pool at Mt. Lakes in North Salem. Jenkins stated to the Journal News that this move was mostly administrative and making sure financing and laws approved by the board were consistent. "We're making sure the books are in order", he said. "All this was doing was cleaning up the books." Got that? The work was already done - the money wasn't needed but hey it was allocated so let's spend it. Seriously - this is a waste of YOUR money. The Spend, Spend, Spendaholics are killing Westchester!
When Astorino vetoed Harckham's proposal of this money I wrote about how North Salem residents were no victim - they took care of what had to be taken care of - that's what excellent Supervisors do. You'll notice in 2009 an engineering study was done that showed the pool losing water so money was budgeted to fix the problem. Hmm, it's 2011 - why did it take so long for the board to dole the money out leaving North Salem to fix the 'pressing problem'? Because it wasn't an election year! Harckham thought he could use this on his list of 'great accomplishments'.  Of course this time, it purely shows their arrogance - they don't care that it's your money; they don't care that the money is no longer needed. Any questions?  http://tinyurl.com/3z5vxxs   

Politics on the Hudson Reports:

The Westchester Children’s Museum has their lease.

The Board of Legislators unanimously approved a $1 a year lease over 10-years in exchange for millions in renovations last evening.

Under the terms of the deal, the museum would pay $1 a year for 10 years to occupy 21,390 square feet in the north wing of the 1928 historic landmark. The museum would also cover up to $6.44 million in upfront repairs and interior work.

Despite calls from County Executive Rob Astorino’s administration to postpone approval of any contract until the county knows what its doing with the property in terms of running it, both Democrats and Republicans said a children’s museum would be an asset for Playland.

“This is a museum that is shovel ready and this is a building that has sat vacant for years and years,” said Legislator Judy Myers, D-Mamaroneck, whose district includes Rye. “The Westchester Children’s Museum is the perfect example of a public private partnership.”

I honestly don't understand what the rush was but then again I don't understand the motives behind this Super Majority of ours. They ALL need to go!

Here We Go Again!

Two issues for you this morning:

Ken Jenkins tweeted this morning the following article from the Journal News: Lawmakers tout early retirement program: http://tinyurl.com/43pnesk

The last paragraph is most telling of the true deceit of the Super Majority to the taxpayers of Westchester: "We will continue to look for dynamic and creative ways to save taxpayers more money — plain and simple," said Westchester County Board of Legislators Majority Whip Judy Myers, D-Mamaroneck.

How exactly are we ‘saving taxpayers more money’ when we’re kicking the can down the road while paying additional interest and principal over the next 5 years of our County budget?

Next up – Jenkins Tweeted:

Ken Jenkins Tweet: Thousands attend #Westchester Indian heritage festival |The Journal News|LoHud.com http://t.co/RKoLQLM funded over CE veto - @westchesterBOL

He fails to mention how much this cost YOU, the taxpayer however, I am awfully glad that he’s taking credit for spending YOUR tax dollars over Astorino’s veto.

Here’s the thing – instead of kicking the can down the road and spending money on ‘niceties’ that most likely could have been privately funded, shouldn’t we be doing ALL we can to REALLY save taxpayers money? 

The problem with Facts - they require more investigation

Mr. Jenkins wrote 'Some facts regarding the End of the CSEA Lawsuit against Westchester County’ below. I’ve taken the liberty to respond to his letter to ‘we the taxpayers’.

Here are some facts regarding the dismissal of a lawsuit against Westchester County by the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) on behalf of 38 former county Section 8 employees.

1 Fact:  Judge Hubert did not uphold the County Executive’s decision to dismantle the Section 8 program in Westchester. The judge dismissed CSEA’s case against both the County Executive and the Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL).

Here we begin with the magic of word smith used by the Super Majority ad nauseam. Jenkins states the case was ‘dismissed’, Astorino claims the Judge upheld his argument. Here’s the official definition of ‘dismissed’  ready: As a matter of law, the prosecution, or the plaintiff, has failed to present sufficient evidence to prove the claim'.  


So much for Fact Number 1. 






2 Fact:  The BOL voted to restore funding for the Section 8 program in the 2011 Budget, but did not join CSEA in the lawsuit, as County Executive Astorino has previously stated. The BOL was a defendant in the case, along with County Executive Astorino and New York State.

This statement has been proven false time and time again – but, let’s revisit it one more time. Astorino was required by the state to give at least a 60 day advanced notice that Westchester was going to relinquish their role in administering Section 8. THIS was done well before the budget process of the BOL was to begin. Once the budget process began, Jenkin’s super majority decided to include the program in the 2011 budget anyway thus restoring 38 CSEA eliminated positions believing their override would rule the day.

As to ‘not joining the CSEA in the lawsuit’ may I ask just one question here…Jenkins went on record in March stating: “We might not save 40 jobs; we might only save 35,” said BOL Chairman Ken Jenkins (D). “But that’s better than [nothing] in this current environment.” 

Does that sound like someone who is ‘not joining’ with a taxpayer lawsuit?

ALSO be sure to read Fact #5

 So much for Fact #2

3 Fact:  HUD, or the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, determines the amount of funds available to Westchester County for public housing and Section 8 vouchers. Dismantling the Section 8 program in Westchester, which had been in existence for the last quarter of a century, meant that the County lost $4 million in funding. Contrary to what County Executive says, New York State paid for the administrative costs associated with the Section 8 program in the County, including all benefits and expenses. Any additional funds spent would be at the discretion of Westchester County.

Ahh that funny accounting gimmick rears its ugly head again. The Section 8 Housing cost $4.5 MILLION to run. The State gave us $4 Million. Unless my calculator is broken – that leaves us with a $500,000 SHORT FALL. Unless Jenkins can prove that the additional $500,000 was ‘discretionary spending’ this is a moot point.

So much for Fact #3

4 Fact:  The $4 million in Section 8 funding the County was to receive goes to an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that now administers the County’s Section housing program. Millions of dollars that were once deposited into the Westchester economy now get shipped out of state.

Now if you read that one quickly you’d think Atlanta just hit the jackpot and we lost – but remember – that $4 million goes to running the Section 8 program that cost us an extra $500,000.

So much for Fact #4

5 Fact:  County Attorney Robert Meehan had to recuse himself from the case—at a cost of $55,000 to tax payers for outside counsel—because he provided privileged advice to County Executive Astorino. The BOL voted to waive Meehan’s conflict issues and thus allow him to represent the County Executive.

OH Jeeze – This one is a little more detailed - Jenkins stated back in February of this year that ‘although he thought this might be a conflict of interest’ for Meehan, he wanted him to stay with the lawsuit.  On Feb. 4, Meehan sent the BOL a letter that officially announced his recusal from the case due to conflict amongst clients. “Under the New York Rules of Professional Conduct,” the Feb. 4 letter read, “I cannot represent any of the parties in this matter. Consequently, I hereby withdraw the County Attorney’s Office from any legal representation of the County and its officers in the lawsuit.”

Chairman Jenkins said that Meehan could not do that and that the law was on the BOL’s side. He cited Section 501, subsection 2 of the Laws of New York State which read that Meehan was required to side with the county in the case of conflict and that Astorino would have to pay for an attorney at his own expense. “The state law requires that you represent us,” Jenkins said. “If the county executive has a differing position then he is certainly entitled to hire an attorney at his own expense, not utilizing taxpayers’ funds.” Now because Meehan had recused himself (you know following the law not the ‘we’re above the law game’ Jenkins & co were playing) he then suggested in that letter that the BOL and Astorino “secure separate counsel to represent conflicting interests.”

Meehan was questioned about this – his response - “I’m not going to debate the issue. On the laws of the Code of Conduct, it’s inappropriate for the County Attorney Office to be attorneys in this matter. We will not represent conflicting interests in the same lawsuit.”

So, long story short – the bullying Super Majority chose to take on ‘We the Taxpayers’ when they went against Astorino’s common sense move to SAVE MONEY and now cry that it cost $55,000.

So much for fact #5

6 Fact:  The Astorino Administration states, in its recent Analysis of Impediments document, that it will ‘address the issue of limited subsidized housing and assistance programs within Westchester’ by preserving HUD subsidized properties. Westchester County was the largest administrator of Housing Choice vouchers for Section 8 housing.

We may have been the largest Mr. Jenkins but it was a money pit. Now, we’re leasing space TO THE STATE and receiving about $237,000 a year in rental income. That amount goes to the PLUS side of our budget.

So much for fact #6

As always – feel free to ‘fact check’ this for yourself. You’ll soon learn that although the Super Majority states their own ‘facts’ the truth is their facts leave much to be desired. 

Voter Beware!

BOL Chairman Jenkins was invited to join the NACO’s Community and Economic Development Steering Committee where he will discuss housing programs, public works and economic development. I find this extremely troubling for many reasons. 

This is the same man that refuses to take responsibility for fudging our budget with fake cuts; refuses to realize spending money on food is ridiculous at the taxpayer’s expense; spends the majority of his ‘op-ed’ time blasting our County Exec on things that usually prove to be false accusation. Jenkins takes the ‘blame game’ and ‘redistribution of wealth’ playbook of Obama’s to new heights. 

Let’s also not forget that Peter Harckham is a big fan of Mr. Jenkins and votes accordingly (Please keep in mind that Harckham ignores consistently the fact that he is supposed to represent District 2 not Yonkers - so it's all linked together and it's all very troubling).

Voter beware!

http://www.thedailyharrison.com/news/ryan-jenkins-join-us-county-gov-association