Government

When David Schroedel was elected Sleepy Hollow trustee four years ago, he was told the job would take about 12 hours per month. The reality has been more like 30 to 40 hours. He thought he would be spending most of his time on “legal entanglements” having to do with GM, but has instead been primarily consumed with the water supply emergency in Sleepy Hollow.

“What you think you are getting into and you are actually getting into are two different things,” said Schroedel.  more »

An audit by the New York State Comptroller of the Village of Sleepy Hollow’s procedures and processes for selected financial activities revealed several deficiencies.

The review, which covered the time frame from June 1, 2009 to March 22, 2011, disclosed the Board of Trustees failed to establish written policies and procedures for the Police Department’s time and accrual records that resulted in inaccurate time, as well as attendance and leave time records. As a result, Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said two police officers received sick leave bonus benefits they were not entitled to, one officer used comp time three times that wasn’t earned and three officers were allowed to accumulate more comp time than was allowed.  more »

Eight trustee seats in the villages of Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown and Irvington will be up for grabs in the March 20 elections.

At least two new elected officials will be sworn in as incumbent Sleepy Hollow trustees Tom Capossela, who has served for more than six years, and David Schroedel will not be seeking new two-year terms.

Two separate slates of candidates have emerged in Sleepy Hollow. The Democratic ticket, which will also run on the Independent line, will be headed by incumbent Trustee Karin Wompa, who is seeking a third term. Wompa chairs the Downtown Revitalization Corporation and reestablished the Environmental Advisory Council.  more »

To hear their public comments, sharp conflicts between the Democratic majority on the Westchester County Board of Legislators and County Executive Rob Astorino will diminish as a result of last month’s elections.

Democratic legislators lost their 12-5 supermajority on the board that allowed them to easily counter vetoes by Astorino with veto overrides. Republicans gained two seats in the balloting to narrow the Democratic lead on the 17-member county board. A two-thirds vote is required for a veto override.

Astorino said that in pursuing budget reforms he, “...looked forward to working with Democrats and Republicans alike. The election, shows we are all in this together,” he said. He spoke of the “spirit of bipartisanship.”  more »

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino presented a $1.69 billion 2012 budget that freezes taxes and cuts spending, but also eliminates 367 county jobs and funding for three neighborhood health centers, including two that serve Sleepy Hollow and Greenburgh.

“My budget is responsible and follows my principles of providing tax relief, preserving essential services and promoting economic growth,” Astorino said. “I was elected on a promise that I would control county government taxes, and with this budget we have done so for the second year in a row.”  more »

Westchester County legislators MaryJane Shimsky (D/Greenburgh) and Alfreda Williams (D/Greenburgh) both had to fill big shoes replacing longtime county lawmakers Thomas Abinanti and Lois Bronz.
Now firmly entrenched in county government and a myriad of issues, Shimsky, who represents District 12, which includes Irvington and Greenburgh, and Williams, who represents District 8, which includes Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown and Greenburgh, are poised to be reelected as they face either minor party or no opposition in the November 8 election.  more »

The Town of Greenburgh will have two new justices sitting on the bench next year as longtime incumbents Doris Friedman and Sandra Forster finished at the bottom of a six candidate race for three seats in a Democratic Primary in September.

Friedman, who has been a village justice since 1999, and Forster, who has served since 2000, received nearly identical support with 1,533 and 1,534 votes respectively. The top vote-getter in the race was Delores Scott Brathwaite, executive director of the Westchester Human Rights Commission, who drew 2,124 votes. However, her victory has come under some scrutiny since some have questioned whether her candidacy violated the federal Hatch Act, a law that prevents some government workers from running for office.  more »

Four incumbent Democrats in the Town of Greenburgh find themselves forced to run a primary en route to seeking reelection.

In late May, the majority of the 126 district leaders who took part in the Democratic convention opted to endorse newcomers for the positions of town clerk and town justice instead of the current office holders.

Therefore, Town Clerk Judith Beville, vying for a third two-year term, will be facing off against Sherron Fantauzzi in a September 13 primary. In addition, town justices Arlene Gordon-Oliver, Sandra Forster and Doris T. Friedman will be squaring off against Bonnie Orden, Delores Scott Brathwaite and Walter Rivera.

Friedman has been on the bench in Greenburgh since 1999 and Forster since 2000. Gordon-Oliver has served since 2007.

The Citizens for Better Government of Tarrytown submitted a letter to the Board of Trustees last month seeking an independent probe of the actions taken by Village Administrator Michael Blau before and after the September 6, 2010 manhole accident that claimed the lives of John Kelly and Anthony Ruggiero, Jr.

“The residents of Tarrytown need to have faith in the integrity, conduct and capabilities of Village Administrator Michael Blau and the actions he took before and after the unfortunate fatalities of September 6, 2010, an event that still haunts our village today,” the letter states. “Open government requires that the people of Tarrytown have answers to these questions.”  more »

Defiant Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino accused federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of “unprecedented bureaucratic overreaching” and “unwarranted trampling of local zoning rights” after the county once again failed to meet standards outlined in a 2009 affordable housing settlement.

Astorino maintained the demands made by HUD were economically and legally impossible to meet and threatened to derail the agreement, which mandates that the county develop 750 units of fair and affordable housing in 31 mostly white communities over a seven-year period.  more »

“In the coming weeks and months I expect to wear out a few pairs of shoes knocking on doors every night,” Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner stated in an email to many of his Democratic constituents. The message announced his intention to run in November for re-election to the post he has held since 1991.  more »

The Village of Irvington has made several operational changes in its Village Court following an audit by the State Comptroller that identified deficiencies.

In a March 9 letter to the Office of the State Comptroller, former Mayor Jonathan Siegel and Village Justice Desmond Lyons maintained most of the deficiencies cited were attributable to a former village court clerk “who failed to perform her duties.”

“We agree with the content of the report and…have begun to implement the recommendations,” Siegel and Lyons jointly stated. “We strongly believe the corrective actions…will significantly strengthen controls and oversight and restore full confidence in the Irvington Justice Court’s internal operations.”  more »

Calling Westchester “both fortunate and fragile,” County Executive Rob Astorino pledged to not increase property taxes for the second straight year during his State of the County Address last month.

During his first year in office, Astorino, a Republican, was successful in delivering on a campaign promise to tighten the reins on the county’s finances by lowering taxes by two percent.  more »

Long a subject political leaders have wrestled with, a reassessment of property values may be one step closer to becoming a reality, at least within the Town of Greenburgh. The Town Council has given its approval for a study to determine the status of existing assessments and the impact a revaluation of properties for tax purposes would have on the town.  more »

Tentative budgets in the villages of Irvington, Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown include tax increases ranging from 4.5% to 6.5%.

Outgoing Irvington Mayor Jonathan Siegel stated significant reductions in personnel and operations were made to try to offset a decline in assessed value of properties of approximately $1 million and mandated increases in retirement, workers’ compensation and health insurance costs. The proposed 4.54% tax hike in Irvington would raise taxes for a property owner with an assessed valuation of $20,000 by $230.

One of the more controversial cuts in the budget is $73,782 to the Library Budget, which could entail the library closing up to two days per week. A budget hearing is scheduled for April 4 at 7 p.m. in Village Hall.  more »

The majority of voters in the villages of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown apparently approve of the current leadership as they returned all eight incumbent officials back to office during mid-March elections.

In Sleepy Hollow, Ken Wray was reelected to a second two-year term as mayor, outlasting independent candidate Daniel Scott by a comfortable margin of 725 to 473.

Wray’s Democratic running mates, trustees Bruce Campbell, Barbara Carr and Evelyn Stupel, also easily won the three available board seats with 745, 725 and 739 votes respectively, outdistancing independents Jack Gasko and Sumantha Sedor, who received 489 and 480 votes.  more »

Incumbent mayors and trustees in both Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow swept to easy victories Tuesday in village elections. Mayor Drew Fixell running on the Tarrytown United and Democratic slates captured 1,118 votes, more than twice the number,512, cast for his Republican-Tarrytown First opponent, Karl Hagstrom. The Mayor attributed the victory to the participation of voters from all parties. "This really is Tarrytown United," he said about the outcome. Fixell said the winning team would continue to "bring people in and work hard to solve problems. "We are always trying to make things better."  more »

Democrat MaryJane Shimsky defeated Republican Nicholas DeCicco in a special election February 15 to fill a vacancy on the Westchester County Board of Legislators.

“This is not my victory, but a victory for the families in the 12th legislative district and throughout Westchester,” Shimsky said. “We need to make government serve the people more efficiently, but government must be there to serve the people.”

Vice chairperson of the county Democratic Committee and former community relations director for longtime state Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, Shimsky received 2,359 votes to DeCicco’s 2,040 to earn the right to serve the final 10 months of the unexpired term of former Legislator Thomas Abinanti, who represented the 12th district for 20 years.  more »

An announced audit of Sleepy Hollow’s finances by the State Comptroller’s office this past week has gotten a welcomed response from Mayor Ken Wray. “I was hoping to have something of this order done for a good while, back even when I was a trustee, “Wray said. “I believe there were a number of strange things that took place that needed a closer look.”

Among those things, the mayor asserted, was the erection in 2006 of an 18-foot steel statue of Ichabod Crane fleeing the headless horseman on North Broadway. “I look forward to the state coming in so that they can help us to continue to clean things up”, he said.  more »

The experienced Tarrytown United slate takes pride in its non-partisan, team approach to making decisions for village residents and is asking voters on March 15 to take a close look at their accomplishments.

“I am proud to have served as a trustee for the past six years and am still impressed with our strong Trustee “Team,” its dedication, its commitment, and its public service to the community,” said Trustee Thomas Butler, Jr. (Democrat), a 26-year village resident and Operation Desert Shield/Storm veteran.  more »

If the Democratic slate of candidates in Sleepy Hollow looks familiar, they should since they are the same foursome that ran, and won, in 2009.

“The Carpenters once had a hit song: “We’ve Only Just Begun.” In the two years our team has been in office we have begun to turn our village around,” said Trustee Bruce Campbell. “Our village faces some difficult and complex problems. Now is not the time to turn to people with little experience, with the village or with government.”

Campbell, a former producer for CBS News, is seeking one of three available Board of Trustees seats, as are trustees Barbara Carr and Evelyn Stupel. Mayor Ken Wray, 56, is running for re-election for the first time.  more »

The uncontested election in Irvington in March will usher in a new mayor.

Republican Trustee Brian Smith will replace Democrat Jonathan Siegel, who declined to seek reelection. Also running unopposed are trustees Connie Kehoe, the deputy mayor, and Ken Bernstein, and acting Village Justice Desmond Lyons, who was endorsed by both the Democrats and Republicans.

All the candidates recently discussed what they had accomplished and what they hoped to achieve in the village during their next terms.

Smith

Smith said he decided to “accept the challenge” to run for mayor after Siegel said he was not seeking another term due to work commitments. Smith, who works for a private asset management firm in New York City, has been a trustee for two years.  more »

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D) has secured $413,811 in federal grants for the Tarrytown Fire Department for equipment and training.

“First responders serve their communities by responding to emergencies and helping those in need of assistance,” Lowey said. “It is our responsibility to ensure they have the equipment and training they need to help keep us, and themselves, safe.”

Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell said the Fire Department would use the funding to upgrade “a wide range of mission-critical equipment” and enhance training methods.  more »

Clarification: Sleepy Hollow Election Story

The Hudson Independent wishes to clarify a line in the Sleepy Hollow election story on page 6 of the March issue of the newspaper. A comment about the Sleepy Hollow United mayoral candidate, Daniel Scott by Mayor Ken Wray, a Democrat up for re-election, that was written as, "Wray, a non-profit administrator, questioned Scott's commitment to the village since he had not participated or volunteered in anything..." should be attributed directly to the mayor and is his opinion and not that of The Hudson Independent. We regret any confusion that may have been caused by the wording of the sentence, and note that candidate Scott maintains his record shows to the contrary.  more »

A special election to fill the seat recently vacated by longtime Westchester County Legislator Tom Abinanti (D/Greenburgh), who now serves in the state Assembly, is set for February 15.

Looking to succeed Abinanti is Democrat MaryJane Shimsky, former community relations director for Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, and Republican Nicholas DeCicco, a prosecutor in the Westchester County attorney’s office.

Abinanti, who represented the 12th legislative district for 20 years, replaced Brodsky in the Assembly after Brodsky ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general.  more »

Discussions of unfunded state and federal mandates may seem like an intergovernmental squabble, but according to local municipal and school officials, they drive up the cost of their budgets.

Tarrytown Superintendent of Schools Dr. Howard Smith said mandates will cost his district between $3 and $4 million this year. Since the state and federal governments do not provide funding for their mandates, “We have to pass it directly to the property taxpayer,” he said.

After years of discussion, the state may be poised to take action to reduce the burden of mandates. In his January “State of the State” address, new Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was going to appoint a task force to examine the issue and have it report back to the Legislature by April 1.  more »

There will be at least one local mayoral change when village elections in Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and Irvington are held in March.

Irvington Mayor Jonathan Siegel, elected in 2009, has decided not to seek reelection, citing work and family commitments. He will likely be succeeded by Republican Trustee Brian Smith, who was nominated to seek the position at a GOP caucus and has no Democratic opposition.

“I’ve enjoyed almost every minute of it,” said Siegel, a Democrat, who has served Irvington either as mayor, trustee or Architectural Review Committee member for the last nine years. “I make this decision with some sadness but being mayor is a very large commitment. I’ll be back.”  more »

Westchester County became one of the few counties in New York State to enact term limits for elected officials last month when the Board of Legislators approved the measure.

By a 10-6 margin, the board voted to limit the terms of county legislators to six two-year terms (12 years) and three four-year terms for the county executive. The legislation takes effect January 1, 2012.

County Executive Rob Astorino declined to sign the legislation but, under the county charter, it can be passed by just the board.

“This legislation is a victory for the citizen legislature,” said Board Chairman Ken Jenkins (D/Yonkers).  more »

The contentious budget battle in Westchester County was finally settled on December 23 with the Board of Legislators overriding nearly all of County Executive Rob Astorino’s 249 vetoes and approving a $1.79 billion spending plan that reduces property taxes by two percent.

The budget, which was approved 16-1, reduces spending from this year’s budget by $28.5 million, cuts the county workforce by 10 percent and restores many services for the needy that Astorino had proposed to eliminate.  more »

The long simmering issue of reassessing property values for tax purposes is drawing the continuing attention of Irvington and Tarrytown officials, encouraged by the efforts of Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner.  more »