Monday, March 18, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Westchester Democratic lawmakers rip Astorino on social services
Photo credit: Rory Glaeseman | Democratic Westchester County lawmakers blasted Republican County Executive Rob Astorino and his allies on the Board of Legislators on Thursday for neglecting social services three years in a row. (Feb. 27, 2013
Democratic Westchester County lawmakers blasted Republican County Executive Rob Astorino and his allies on the Board of Legislators on Thursday for neglecting social services three years in a row.
"County government is the safety net," Legis. Pete Harckham (D-Katonah) told News12 at a news conference at the county office building in White Plains. "It's not the towns. It's not our faith-based organizations. It's county government."
Since 2009, the year before Astorino took office, funding for social programs has steadily declined or remained level even as tough economic times have forced more people to turn to the county for help, Harckham said.
"The numbers are both sobering and staggering," he said.
The Democrats highlighted how the cost of county-subsidized day care for low-income families has increased by 164 percent. In March 2009, families in the program paid $91 per month on average, they said. Now they pay an average of $240 a month.
"Has anyone's income increased at that level in the past four years?" asked Legis. Alfreda Williams (D-Greenburgh) at the news conference.
Astorino's communications director, Ned McCormack, responded by saying the Democrats' numbers were suspect. No one has access to the confidential records of day care recipients, he said, so he didn't know where they found their supposedly average families.
The Democrats also said the number of homeless families in the county has increased by 40 percent, yet funding for eviction prevention programs has remained level.
But McCormack said the eviction programs have remained level because the county has spent more money on emergency accommodations. "There's no homeless family that presents itself for shelter that doesn't get a place," he said.
Food assistance caseloads have increased by 53 percent, but Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to provide funding to theFood Bank of Westchester and the Coalition for the Hungry and Homeless, Democrats said.
McCormack countered that both nonprofit organizations received $72,000 this year and last at a time when the county budget was facing budget shortfalls.
When Astorino took office in 2010, the county Department of Social Services budget was $542 million, McCormack said. This year, it's projected to be $559 million.
"The county executive's commitment to providing a safety net for our neediest residents has grown every year he has been in office," he said.
Matt Richter, a spokesman for Republican legislators, told News12 that the Democrats' concerns were too little and too late. Last year, when seven Republicans and two breakaway Democratic legislators formed a coalition to pass Astorino's $1.7 billion budget, the eight mainstream Democrats had an opportunity to negotiate. Instead, they boycotted the vote.
"The fact [that] they got up and walked out basically made it impossible for us to work their view into the budget," Richter said.
The coalition did its best to preserve county programs that help the poor, Richter added.
"There is enough money to maintain the social safety net in Westchester County," he said. "Every nonprofit, every state agency is having to do more with less right now, which is difficult."
Jenkins wins Ossining Democratic Committee vote as candidates prepare for Dem convention for Westchester county executive
Westchester Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, won a vote of the Ossining Democratic Town Committee Monday, his campaign announced. The vote indicates he will have the support of the majority of district leaders from the town on April 24 in the county convention that will decide who will take on Republican County Executive Rob Astorino.
The vote was 72 percent for Jenkins and 28 percent for New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. Legislator Bill Ryan, D-White Plains is also running.
“The vote in Ossining was significant—and not just because of the landslide result,” his campaign said in an email to supporters. “This vote took place in a town outside of either candidate’s home base, so it shows Ken’s ability to win everywhere in the County, just as he has been notching endorsements from elected Democratic leaders all across Westchester, north and south.”
Thomasina Laidley-Brown, the Town of Ossining Democratic Chairwoman, said in the statement: “Ken Jenkins is clearly our strongest choice for County Executive. He’s got a record of standing up for Democratic values on issue after issue and fighting for the middle class. That’s exactly what we need in a County Executive. Ken is an exciting candidate who can turn out all those Democrats who stayed home on Election Day 2009.”
State lets domestic-violence victims shield addresses
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A new program in New York allows domestic-violence victims to shield their addresses from abusers by having mail sent to a substitute address handled by the Department of State.
The Address Confidentiality Program is free and is available to domestic-violence victims who have relocated or plan to move for safety reasons. Other individuals living in the same household, such as children, parents and siblings, may be able to participate too.
The state provides participants with a substitute address that all first-class, registered and certified mail could be sent to, and the Department of State forwards it to them. The agency also accepts legal notices on behalf of people in the program.
The program began Oct. 26, 2012, but it wasn’t formally announced until this week, said Laz Benitez, an agency spokesman. The state has been providing the information to shelters and other community service providers since last year.
It will cost just over $125,000 a year to operate the program, according to Benitez. The Department of State could not provide information on how many people currently are participating.
Applicants must fill out a form available atwww.dos.ny.gov/acp. Once accepted into the program, they will receive an identification card. State and local governments must accept the substitute address, although private companies, such as utilities, are not obligated to use it. The program members will be enrolled for four years and can reapply.
Mail is repackaged and sent on a daily basis during the week, except on holidays. The lag time in receiving the mail typically is five to seven days. The program doesn’t forward packages, periodicals and catalogs, unless they are clearly identifiable as prescription drugs or were sent by a government agency. For more information, call 855-350-4595, a toll-free number.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Carl Bell's firing as Mount Vernon top cop draws outrage at council meeting
The firing of Mount Vernon Police Commissioner Carl Bell by
Mayor Ernie Davis continues to be a hot-button issue in the city nearly a month
after Bell was let go.
Damon Jones,
a Mount Vernon resident and the head of the Westchester chapter of Blacks in
Law Enforcement, criticized Bell's termination as he addressed the City Council
during its meeting Wednesday.
"How are we going to fire a commissioner who is holding
officers to accountability?" he asked. "There are some police
officers that are out of control."
He said the victims of police brutality are African-American.
"The only people they're abusing are people who look like
us," he said.
Davis, who has sole responsibility over the police commissioner,
has refused to comment on why Bell was fired -- an issue that Samuel Rivers
questioned.
"An answer from the mayor that he doesn't discuss personnel
matters is not good enough," Rivers said.
None of the council's five members addressed Bell's firing.
Council member Roberta Apuzzo, the head of the City Council's Public Safety
Committee, said she was "looking forward to having a dialogue" with
Jones.
"I've been around here since 1986, and we've had 12 police
commissioners. Something's wrong with that equation," City Council
President Yuhanna Edwards said.
Jones said he plans to write letters to the Department of
Justice's civil rights division about police abuse of Mount Vernon residents.
In a Monday letter to Mount Vernon city Attorney Nichelle Johnson,
Jones said the organization would continue to question the motive behind Bell's
firing.
"This has completely jeopardized the process of
accountability and transparency in the Mount Vernon Police Department,"
Jones said.
Several members of the police force are under investigation by
the FBI
and U.S. attorney's office for possible ties to gang members, Newsday reported
Feb. 22. Sources familiar with the investigation said the probe was in its
preliminary stages and was not focused solely on officers from any one race or
any particular hometown.
FEDERAL PROBES
Davis, who is the target of a separate federal probe into his
finances, has said he knows nothing of the Police Department probe. Sources
have said that Davis and Bell have been kept in the dark about the police
investigation.
Bell, who is taking time off before deciding his next career
move, told Newsday he appreciated the support he has received from Mount Vernon
police officers and city residents since he was fired.
"It's nice to know there are people who appreciate the job
I did," Bell said. "But I'm looking forward, not looking back."
Davis fired Bell on Feb. 19, ending Bell's 2 1/2-year tenure as
commissioner. The firing came after a year in which shootings and homicides
spiked in Mount Vernon and relations between Davis and Bell -- who was
appointed in August 2010 by Davis' predecessor, Clinton Young -- deteriorated.
The mayor on Feb. 28 appointed Richard Burke as deputy
police commissioner. Burke
-- a former Mount Vernon police lieutenant who retired in 1994 after 21 years
with the force -- will run the 205-member Police Department until a
commissioner is named.
Sources said that Davis' first choice for the commissioner's job
is former Mount Vernon Police Officer Terrance Raynor, who heads the 35
investigators of the Westchester County district attorney's office.
Raynor attended Burke's swearing-in March
1 and said afterward he had not applied for the job. He didn't give a direct
answer when asked whether he was interested in the post.
Last
year, there were 10 homicides and more than 20 shootings in Mount Vernon. Only
two arrests have been made in the homicide cases. The 10 killings surpassed the
combined total of the previous two years.
Councilman uses Facebook, calls D.A. a 'sham' over lack of charges
Councilman Peter Tripodi has posted pictures and documents on his open Facebook page each day since Monday, showing a town Highway Department truck at a Brookfield, Conn., scrap metal yard selling off such scrap materials.
Highway Department employees, Tripodi said, collected $5,000 from 2004 to 2010 for the scrap metal and pocketed the money rather than put it back into the town’s general fund.
“Any department that gets any revenue must submit it to the finance department,” Tripodi said. “I don’t know why we are holding the Highway Department to another standard from other departments.”
The matter was referred to the District Attorney’s Office in 2010. Tripodi said it took a year — and him calling the office monthly — before the office found “insufficient evidence to warrant the filing of criminal charges.”
“I believe the D.A. had more than sufficient evidence for criminal charges, and I will wait no more and expose her office for the sham that it is,” Tripodi said.
“The evidence is overwhelming, and the public should know when their tax dollars are being abused. Furthermore, the public should know when the D.A. chooses to ignore clear evidence of the same. I will prove, through my Facebook posts, how wrong the D.A. was in their laughable determination to sit and do nothing,” Tripodi said.
District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s spokesman, Lucian Chalfen, said the matter was referred to the district attorney by the town attorney at the behest of then-Supervisor Catherine Borgia.
When they investigated, he said, they found that the highway superintendent had given the green light to the sale of the scrap metal.
The investigation began in June 2010, and the district attorney responded in May 2011, he said.
“Evidently we had found that this had been an authorized procedure, which, as the result of opening up the investigation, had stopped,” Chalfen said. “We found no criminal conduct in that activity.”
Highway Department employees, Tripodi said, collected $5,000 from 2004 to 2010 for the scrap metal and pocketed the money rather than put it back into the town’s general fund.
“Any department that gets any revenue must submit it to the finance department,” Tripodi said. “I don’t know why we are holding the Highway Department to another standard from other departments.”
The matter was referred to the District Attorney’s Office in 2010. Tripodi said it took a year — and him calling the office monthly — before the office found “insufficient evidence to warrant the filing of criminal charges.”
“I believe the D.A. had more than sufficient evidence for criminal charges, and I will wait no more and expose her office for the sham that it is,” Tripodi said.
“The evidence is overwhelming, and the public should know when their tax dollars are being abused. Furthermore, the public should know when the D.A. chooses to ignore clear evidence of the same. I will prove, through my Facebook posts, how wrong the D.A. was in their laughable determination to sit and do nothing,” Tripodi said.
District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s spokesman, Lucian Chalfen, said the matter was referred to the district attorney by the town attorney at the behest of then-Supervisor Catherine Borgia.
When they investigated, he said, they found that the highway superintendent had given the green light to the sale of the scrap metal.
The investigation began in June 2010, and the district attorney responded in May 2011, he said.
“Evidently we had found that this had been an authorized procedure, which, as the result of opening up the investigation, had stopped,” Chalfen said. “We found no criminal conduct in that activity.”
Tripodi said that when the practice was revealed in 2010, the Highway Department reimbursed the town $700.
He said department officials said the money raised from the scrap metal sale had been put into a petty cash fund for the department to buy birthday cakes and other such items for employees.
“Everyone involved was an elected Democrat,” said Tripodi, a Republican, referring to DiFiore, O’Connor and Borgia. “Was this the reason no criminal charges were filed?”
The scrap metal controversy arose in an internal audit conducted on the Highway Department last year. Also last year, the Town Board pitched a referendum to change the highway superintendent position from an elected to an appointed one. Voters soundly rejected the proposition in the November election.
Current Ossining Supervisor Susanne Donnelly also would not comment on Tripodi’s Facebook campaign. She did say that at a February board meeting, members had asked O’Connor to return March 19 with a detailed report on how those funds had been spent and to give his recommendations on dealing with scrap metal in the future.
Thanks for Bloomberg money Robin Kelly wins Democratic nomination for Jesse-Jacksons old seat
Robin Kelly has now won the special Democratic primary in Illinois 2nd District. She now heads to the April 9 general election.
Former Illinois legislator Robin Kelly captured the Democratic nomination Tuesday in the race to replace Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., after a truncated campaign season where she got a boost from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s super PAC.
Because the Chicago area district is overwhelmingly Democratic, this almost ensures that Kelly will be headed to Washington after the April 9 general election.
The former State Representative and Cook County administrator won with 54 percent of the votes.
Her stand on gun-control issues helped her win the support from Bloomberg’s super PAC, Independence USA, who poured more than $2 million dollars into the race. Kelly said that, “We worked really, really hard. We were on the right side of the issue and our message resonated.”
Bloomberg and gun control proponents seized on the results as evidence of momentum in their push to enact President Barack Obama’s gun control package. The mayor will take that message to Washington Wednesday in meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), according to Bloomberg’s public schedule.
Bloomberg’s visit coincides with a hearing the Senate Judiciary is slated to hold Wednesday on a proposal to ban assault weapons.
Kelly’s victory speech focused on gun control, which emerged as a key issue leading up to the Tuesday primary.
“You sent a message that was heard around our state and across the nation,” Kelly said Tuesday, per her prepared remarks. “A message that tells the NRA that their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end. And their days of scaring Congress into submission on gun control are coming to a close.”
CREDO Super PAC also supported Kelly and targeted Kelly’s opponent, Debbie Halvorson over her gun control positions. Becky Bond, the super PAC’s president, said in a statement Tuesday that Halvorson was “crushed” at the polls over the issue.
Halvorson conceded Tuesday evening, saying the outside money certainly played a role.
“It shows, unfortunately, you can’t go up against that big money. …That’s the problem with super PACs,” Halvorson said. “There is nothing I could have done differently.”
Thursday, March 7, 2013
New York lawmakers see funds for gun buybacks
Andrea Stewart-Cousins / File photo/The Journal News
YONKERS — State lawmakers are seeking more money for a successful anti-gun program credited with curbing violence in the city’s most crime-plagued areas.
State Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, will host a news conference Friday to call for new state funding for Operation SNUG, which could run out of money later this year. The event will be held at Elm and Oak streets, a crime hotspot targeted by SNUG because of its high concentration of shootings in recent years.
Modeled after the Ceasefire Chicago program launched in 2000, SNUG — or “guns” spelled backward — pays ex-gang members to mentor young people who are considered most at risk of being involved in gun violence.
SNUG workers also are on call to defuse conflicts before they turn deadly. For example, after a city man was fatally shot in a southwest Yonkers park Aug. 31, workers rushed to the scene to calm people and prevent any retaliation.
“People know they can step in and be the voice of reason,” said Councilman Christopher Johnson, whose nearby 1st Council District is patrolled by SNUG.
The number of shootings citywide dropped significantly last year, from 21 in 2011 to eight in 2012. There were four homicides in 2012, the fewest in years.
SNUG started out in November 2010 with $250,000 in state funding that ran out a year later. Since then, the program has limped by on periodic infusions of state and city cash.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Mount Vernon needs leadership
This is an
editorial in the Journal News. If other people can see the problems with our
city, why cant we?
Why is there is always a negative story written about the city
of Mount Vernon? Corruption and mismanagement are the topics of almost every
story.
When I drive through the downtown business district of the city,
I notice garbage on the sidewalks, in the street gutters, and overflowing
public garbage baskets.
This is a disgrace to the city and the department in charge. If
someone like myself is noticing this, why are the people in public office not
taking notice? What has happened to this once-beautiful proud city?
The people in this city who care need to unite and elect
politicians who will take charge and turn this city around.
This city is the embarrassment of the Lower Hudson Valley. When
I speak to people about Mount Vernon, especially nonresidents, I always get the
same “Mount Vernon is a mess” response. This is wrong and totally unacceptable
for any city or town.
People say it is too late to turn the city around. Put good
hardworking honest people in office and in every department in the city.
This city needs caring leadership, people who take pride in
their jobs, people who put their heart in the city for a better Mount Vernon.
This city needs a major change, people are moving out of the
city, and the school system is a mess as well.
What has happened to the memorial field renovation? Another
mismanaged project that has come to a halt?
Anthony Caparelli
Yonkers
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