THE WPCNR GEORGE W. BUSH OFFICIAL

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When the Master of the Photo Ops and Press Conferences No One Pays Attention to, Leaves for Good -- the Good of the country.

WPCNR POLICE GAZETTE. From Department of Public Safety. October 10, 2008:  White Plains Police are seeking the driver of a silver SUV that struck a White Plains resident at 9:51 p.m. last night at Maple Avenue and South Lexington Avenue. 

. The victim is a 39 year old White Plains resident and is in critical condition at the Medical Center with head injuries.

A witness describes a small S.U.V. possibly silver in color fleeing the scene eastbound on Maple Ave. 

We are asking for any possible witnesses to come forward to assist in the investigation. They should contact the White Plains Police Detective Division at 914-422-6200

Step Up! Girls, funded by the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services, began in February 2008.  Currently, twenty-two girls, ages 14-17, are registered with the program which meets twice weekly.  In April, 10 girls traveled with Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity on a five day college tour, visiting thirteen colleges.  Other activities include life skills development, academic assistance, employment assistance, among others.  Step Up! Girls is modeled from the White Plains Youth Bureau’s Step Up! Boys, a program which is being duplicated by many communities.

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From WPHS Guidance Center. October 9, 2008 UPDATED October 10, 2008: Lesley Tompkins, Director of Guidance and Counseling for White Plains High School delivered a report on Advanced Placement Programs (enabling students to obtain college credit based on successful passing of Advanced Placement Exams) Monday evening to the Board of Education showing the number of WPHS students taking the courses accelerated at four times the rate of  the rest of the state. White Plains students also scored higher than the New York State Average in the passing score range.

Ms. Tompkins, speaking with WPCNR Thursday, said that with 67% of the 416 students taking Advanced Placement Exams in 2008 passing with a 3,4, or 5 score that meant 278 of them received some level of college credit. She explained that the total college credits for these passing scores depends on the school.

 Between 1993 and 2008, the report shows, White Plains increased from 116 students taking 154 exams in 1993 to 416 students taking 716 exams in 2008, an increase of 259%.  By contrast the number of students taking AP tests state wide increased only 145%. (A total 46,231 New York State students took69,386 exams in 1993 grew to 113,368 students taking 193,014 exams in 2008)

Ms. Tompkins said “The AP program in White Plains is thriving. Depsite the significant increase in the number of students taking APs and the number of APs offered, when you examine the reference tables, there is not a significant decline in the percentage of students scoring a 3,4 or 5 on the exams. In many of the tests we consistently score higher than the global averages in this range of scores. In 2007 when scores of all students in New York are considered 67% of White Plains students scored a 3,4,or 5 on the exams, while 65% of all New York students was the average. In seven of the past 11 years, White Plains achieved at a higher level than the New York State average in this score range.”

Advanced Placement Courses are usually taken in the Junior year, however Ms. Tompkins did not have the advanced placement students  broken down by class.

WPCNR SERGEANT JOE FRIDAY REPORTS. From Don Hughes October 9, 2008: A frequent contributor to WPCNR, Don Hughes advises that communications from banks received by e-mail may be covers to access personal information, and not from your bank at all:

The current financial crisis has provided a fertile new area for scam artists.  They are blasting out e-mails claiming that it necessary for you to provide account and other personal details to the firms new owners for verification purposes.  Some of the scams are quite well done, even including links to legitimate web pages.

Do NOT respond to these requests.  Financial institutions would ask for such information via regular mail, not e-mail.

Here is a link for an example claiming to be from Chase: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10057180-83.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1009_3-0-20s

WPCNR LUSH LIFE. From 42 Restaurant. October 7, 2008 (Edited): The restaurant you go up in the sky for, 42, 42 stories above downtown White Plains in the Ritz Carlton Westchester Towers is coming down to earth. 42 invites Mr. and Mrs. and Ms. White Plains and Westchester to come on up and enjoy Chef Anthony Gonclaves' talents, and the spectacular autumn  sunset views while dining on what the Chef introduces as Small Plates. The new dining option begins October 14.

Here's the lowdown from haute cusine on high:

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER By John F. Bailey. October 7, 2008 UPDATED October 8,  11:25: The Common Council under the leadership of Council President Benjamin Boykin tabled  resolutions to spend $90,000 in bonds to construct a Tot Lot at Mitchell Place; $1,555,800 in bonds to purchase garbage trucks, dump/snow plow trucks, and street sweepers; $578,000 for the purchase of 2 fire trucks; and $523,000 to purchase police cars and sedans.

The delay in approving the  total of $2,656,800 in bonds  Monday night due to the  "precarious economic times" Councilman Boykin told WPCNR Tuesday. "We need to look at where we're at in the city budget." Boykin said it was the collective feeling of all six councilmembers that they needed the city finance Commissioner to update them financially before the bonds could be considered to go out to the frozen financial markets. He expected that  update to happen at the next Council work session October 23.

The Council did approve $225,000 to build a conferenceroom at City Court (funding from the New York State Office of Court Administration), $100,000 for Municipal Parking Lot Rehabiliation from the General Fund, and $300,000 in bonds for rehabilitation of City parking garages.

Boykin said there was no lending  being done in the financial markets anyway, and it would take months before the bonds had they been floated would have attracted buyers. He said the projects were not eliminated, just postponed.  Boykin noted that the Wall Street Journal Tuesday had an article noting how municipalities across the country were suspending projects due to credit not being available. He said there is no liquidity, credit has dried up.

Asked if the council was giving the Mayor's Office any direction on negotiating union contracts, Boykin said they were not, that it was the Mayor's responsibility to negotiate contracts. He did not rule out that other councilpersons were perhaps making suggestions individually to the Mayor.

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. October 6, 2008: Donna McLaughlin, Board of Education President, called for the board to “get involved in early with the way we do the budget” this year, saying a good way to start would on the finance committee working with the Superintendent of Schools and Assistant Superintendent for Business, Fred  Seiler, and finding what components go into making up the budget. Paying close attention to “line item involvement” and “what makes up the budget.”

The Superintendent appreciated her concern, but  said that the district first had to watch and interpret what the state was doing first and be aware of what it means for the district, and what “may reoccur so we do things that make sense.”

The Superintendent made no statement on the status of negotiations with the White Plains Teachers Association. Kelly Broderick, the President of the union told WPCNR after the meeting was over, there was no progress in her meeting with the district today: “It (negotiating) is going to be a long process,” she said. The union is seeking a two-year contract and is seeking a wage increase to offset a 17% increase in the health premiums the teachers pay, which the union feels has taken away much of last year’s 3.5% wage increase. Teacher salary and health benefits currently take up 75% of the $184.4 Million budget.

In other action...

WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. By John F. Bailey. October 6, 2008 UPDATED October 7, 12:30 A.M. EDT: Melissa Lopez, spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office confirmed today that David Birdsall has started today in the post of Budget Director, subject to approval of the Common Council. Lopez said Mr. Birdsall is reporting to the Mayor and working with Gina Cuneo-Harwood, the City Finance Commissioner and according to the Personnel Department is on the payroll as of today.

Ms. Lopez released this statement about Mr. Birdsall who comes to White Plains from the private sector with extensive experience in corporate finance. The statement:

"David E. Birdsall has more than 20 years of extensive corporate and  financial management experience. In his previous capacity as  Director of Finance for Guy Carpenter & Company,  a leading financial service firm, David was responsible for all aspects  of the global finance function and management of a staff of more than 100 employees worldwide. 

David has a  proven record of accomplishment as a business partner and trusted advisor. He has developed and implemented successful business strategy which resulted in industry-leading profitability. David is expert in the areas of financial planning, reporting and analysis; financial systems; finance transformation; forecasting and modeling as well as strategic and tactical planning.

David received his Master's of Business Administration Degree in finance, awarded with high honors, from Pace University in White Plains, NY. Mayor Jospeh M. Delfino welcomes David with full confidence that his experience in the private sector will spur further success as  Budget Director of the City of White PLains."

Lopez noted that Mr. Birdsall’s appointment will not be voted on this evening.

The Common Council made it a policy issue that the city needed a budget director as a second check on city finances. The post has been vacant since Ann Reasoner left the post in June 2006.

WPCNR THE CABLE ACCESS ADVOCATE.  Cable Commission Coverage Special to WPCNR by Don Hughes. October 6, 2008: The last year has been marked by unprecedented breakdowns in transmission of Common Council meetings and the quality of public access transmission of regular programming. Sixteen documented complaints were received within the last four months, and there were others not reported to the commission. The criticism of the programming reception quality included loss of picture, loss of audio, for hours at a time. One Common Council was completely blacked out. The complaints both documented and undocumented were frequently traced to different breakdowns in the transfer of Public Access Studio signals to Cablevision for distribution to the city. Don Hughes sat in on the Cable Commission meeting last Tuesday in which this trend was discussed. Here is his report:

Gina Cuneo-Harwood, the White Plains Finance Commissioner gave a presentation to the White Plains Cable Commission last Tuesday evening,  where she indicated that she wanted to address some unfounded rumors that no money was available to upgrade equipment that she  had been hearing. 

She indicated that White Plains Cable Access did have money available to address issues such as expanding coverage and replacing equipment.  She said that there was approximately $300,000 available in the fund balance for such uses.  She also recalled previous discussions where money was added to last year's budget to upgrade the TV equipment used at City Hall. The actual revenues  Cablevision and Verizon contributed to the city were not disclosed, but Cablevision, the Commissioner reported was "by far" the largest source of revenues.

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. News & Comment by Don Hughes. October 6, 2008: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is 451 pages long.  Unfortunately about 338 of those pages have nothing to do with economic stabilization and everything to do  with buying votes.  For a look at the full version go here: http://tinyurl.com/4utcew.

According to the Senate committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the stated purpose of the legislation is to provide "up to $700 billion to the Secretary of the Treasury to buy mortgages and other assets that are clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions and making it difficult for working families, small business, and other companies to access credit, which is vital to a strong and stable economy."   For the full summary go here: http://tinyurl.com/4g5uao.

Don't be fooled by the $700 billion price tag.  As of September, the government had already spent $900 billion in rescues and  loans: $300 billion for the FHA to refinance failing mortgage loans; $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; $200 billion for TAF loans to banks;  $87 billion to JPMorgan Chase for providing financing to bankrupt Lehman Brothers, $85 billion for AIG; $29 billion for JPMorgan Chase's buyout of Bear Sterns;  $4 billion in grants to local communities (see FACTBOX). 

Oops, and then today the Federal Reserve expanded it's bank refinancing operation listed as $200 billion above to $900 billion.  That brings the total, so far, to $2.3 trillion (would an exclamation point be redundant?).

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. October 6, 2008: The Board of Education meets this evening at Education House at 7:30 P.M. Highlights of the agenda include a report from Hazard, Young and Attea, the Superintendent of Schools search firm, on the qualifications they will be looking for in any candidates; there will be a report from the White Plains Foundation for Public Education to the Board, and recent certiorari refunds will be approved.

The agenda:

WPCNR QUILL & EYESHADE. News & Comment by Don Hughes. October 5, 2008: Personally I believe in free markets and limited government regulation. However, as the following discussion – which is based on The $55 Trillion Question in the 13 October 2008 FORTUNE and How to Burn the Speculators in the September/October 2008 Mother Jones – shows, there is a significant difference between 'limited' and 'no'.

WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. October 4, 2008 UPDATED 10:35 A.M. EDT: The Common Council resolved its dispute with Cappelli Enterprises over occupancy of the Ritz-Carlton second condominium tower before affordable housing owed on the project was completed by voting 7-0 Friday afternoon to accept a compromise.

In the agreement approved, 4 of the 24 completed units  built in the City Center garage will be "allocated and credited" to the City Center project, and 20 affordable units allocated and credited to the 221 Main project.

To complete Mr. Cappelli's obligation remaining from the City Center project, the council has allowed him to rent  13 similar apartments across the city, in apartment complexes such as Avalon, Bank Street Commons and elsewhere, thus resolving the dispute.

The upshot is that Mr. Cappelli can now receive certificates of occupancy without impediments as he opens the second condominium tower.

Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel advised the media after the vote that the Cappelli organization still owes 13 units to fulfill its obligation of affordable units connected to the City Center project. The organization had owed 16 previously.

By assigning 20 of the 24 units built in the City Center garage to the Ritz affordable housing requirement, 4 units were subtracted from what Mr. Cappelli owes from the City Center project, leaving 12 units to go to fulfill the City Center requirement. She said Cappelli has agreed to build one more, leaving 13 units he must provide. Until those units are built, she said, Mr. Cappelli has agreed to rent comparable amenitied apartments within the city.

Ms. Habel in post vote statement said that the council acted Friday, rather than at Monday evening's scheduled Council meeting, because the Planning Department wanted to begin renting the 24 units now complete in the City Center garage to the waiting list of 400 persons. She advised that persons interested in applying for affordable apartments should contact the White Plains Planning Department, because all renters of the apartments were subject to approval by landlords based on review of their financial qualifications. It became necessary, Ms. Habel, said to allocate the affordable units.

Under questioning by Keith Eddings of the Journal News, as to why the issue had been negotiated in executive sessions, Paul Wood, City Executive officer, said that  the issue of litigation came up in negotiations over the issue.

The agreement approved Friday evening, perpetuates the affordable housing units should the Cappelli organization eventually sell the City Center garage apartments.

Commissioner Habel said where the 13 units would eventually be built by the Cappelli organization within the city was not known. Asked where the 240 Main Street project stood, where it was presumed previously that the Cappelli organization would build theaffordable housing, Ms. Habel said the possibility of the building ever being constructed has been complicated by a bankruptcy of the Rotundi organization which is in dispute with Ginsburg Development Corporation, its former partner, and the litigation continues, blocking construction until that is resolved.