Petitions and Financials In–DiFiore Raises $500,000 in First Filing

District Attorney Janet DiFiore with Westchester Democrats and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver

Political candidates throughout Westchester handed in their petitions and also their financial disclosure forms this week.

We will be getting the info and posting it–please comment any figures or information you find.

District Attorney Janet DiFiore let the field of candidates in announcing their contributions.

     ”Contributions from all corners of Westchester boosted Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore’s campaign fundraising this election cycle to $500,000, with $420,000 cash on hand as of July 15, 2009, for her re-election bid.

    ”I am pleased and proud to have broad-based support from so many people throughout Westchester and New York state who appreciate the quality and the integrity of the work I am doing,” said DiFiore.  “The list of contributors includes many lawyers and former judges, prosecutors, and police officers who understand the importance of my work. I am particularly pleased to have the support of Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project.”

DeGiorgio and Castro-Blanco Hold Sucessful Fundraisers

 

 

Mario DeGiorgio

 

City Council candidates Mario DeGiorgio and Jim Castro-Blanco recenlty held sucessful political fundraisers in Yonkers.

Castro-Blanco held his event at Plaza Garibaldi in downtown Yonkers, and DeGiorgio at the Old Stone Mill Restaurant in Northeast Yonkers.

While neither CB or DG have primary opponents, both will face opposition in the fall. Council President Chuck Lesnick is Castro-Blanco’s opponent, and in the 4th Council District, DeGiorgio a Democrat, will face either John Rubbo or Dennis Shepard, or both in November.

We will be checking petition submissions and financial statements on all candidates in the days ahead. We have been told that all council candidates have gotten more than enough signatures to get on the ballot.

We also hear wild things coming out of the 2nd council district race-with Democrats Wilson Tererro, Virginia Perez, and Jose Roman, all to be on the ballot in the Democratic Primary. Another 1,2 or 3 candidates are also circulating signatures to get on the ballot.

Colety Family Scores 3 Jobs at County Board of Elections

doug colety

The Journal News broke the story last week that Westchester Republican Chairman Doug Colety was recently hired at the county board of elections, as a voting machine technician at a salary of $64k.

It was also discovered that Chairman Colety’s daughter and nephew also work at the board of elections, for a total Colety family salary of $150,000 per year.

We hear some rumblings in the Republican party about Colety ‘acting like a pig’ and grabbing 3 jobs for his family–instead of spreading the jobs around.

While the top 6 positions at the BOE are reserved for Republicans and Democrats, 3 each, they are filled by Republican Commissioner Carole Lee Sunderland and Steve Levy.

It appears that Republicans, with no room for Colety at the top, took a technicians position. Will the Chairman be fixing voting machines on election day?

The other rant we keep hearing among the west politico is that now that Colety is working for the boe, should he still be brokering print deals for political candidates?

An analysis of political candidates in Westchester, and who they use to print their thousands of pamphlets, is needed.

Inspector General vs. BOE

A strange battle has ensued between Yonkers Inspector General Phil Zisman and the Yonkers Board of Education (BOE), concerning the school districts $65 million Employee Health Insurance plan. Zisman has requested for months that the BOE comply with his audit of the district health insurance payments.

The school district has refused, forcing Zisman to issue a subpoena for their health insurance records this week.

Several interesting points to note:

• Both Zisman, and Yonkers Public Schools (YPS) Superintendent Bernard Pierorazio, serve at the pleasure of Mayor Phil Amicone. It is extremely unusual for two Amicone appointees to conduct such a public fight.
• The denial of the YPS to accept a further review of their health insurance records has led some to believe, warranted or unwarranted, that the school district has something to hide. It’s either that or this is a classic battle of wills between two top city officials.

YPS, in a lengthy explanation of their denial of Zisman’s request, stated in part:

“The trustees of the Yonkers Board of Education declined the request of the city inspector general for production of materials regarding payments made for employee coverage. The BOE may legally decline such a request for any reason. However, in this case, the BOE is also guided by plain common sense.

The legal issues are simple and clear. The BOE and the City of Yonkers are separate governmental entities. Yonkers is a municipal corporation responsible for governing the city. It operates wholly independently of Yonkers, determines its own budget and manages its own operations. Therefore, BOE operations are not subject to the City Charter of Yonkers or offices created under that charter, like the inspector general’s office.
 
Notwithstanding existing legal and public policy, the inspector general feels he may investigate the BOE at his pleasure.

The question may be fairly raised — who examines the BOE if not the inspector general? The BOE is subject to intensive state financial regulation. The state comptroller regularly audits school districts; the BOE was last audited by the state in 2006. In addition, state legislation now mandates that school districts provide continuing internal audits (to examine financial risks and internal controls) and claims audits (to make sure all financial claims are properly documented and processed). Rather than hire permanent staff to perform these functions, the BOE hired independent contractors to perform each of these functions.

Combined with the work of an external auditor, who conducts the annual review of our finances, the BOE is under nearly continuous financial scrutiny from three independent financial firms. In addition to assuring our adherence to the law and general accounting principles, using independent firms for this work provides the professional detachment and objectivity the taxpayers deserve.

The BOE’s internal auditor, as part of his planned review of the district’s financial processes, is now conducting an audit of our payroll and benefits system. The audit will include an examination and audit of health and welfare payments. The inspector general has requested to do a similar audit of our health and welfare payments. In fact, he has discussed such a review with the BOE at various levels for months. The BOE position has been consistent — such an audit would be unnecessarily duplicative of the internal auditor’s work and be unnecessarily disruptive of the day-to-day operations of the district. It would be a waste of both Yonkers and the BOE resources at a time when such resources are scarce.

On May 12, after discussing the scope of such an audit with the internal auditor, the inspector general agreed that a similar audit by his office would be redundant and a waste of taxpayers’ money. Rather than engage in a dialogue about what level of description would satisfy him, the inspector general has requested to review the district’s health and welfare payments. The BOE is not authorizing the request.”

Zisman remains adamant that the school district comply with his subpoena, stating that “If they don’t have to comply with the inspector general, then they don’t have to comply with any reasonable requests by the city.”

Pierorazio’s only comment was, “I am compelled by case law not to respond to the inspector general’s subpoena.”

Who backs down? Or does this case end up in court? Stay tuned.

City and Rio at Odds Over Patio for Riverfront Whiskey Bar

 

The owners of the Whiskey Rio Bar, located on the Yonkers riverfront, and the City of Yonkers are at odds over the future use of a patio located outside of the bar; the city and the landlord, Collins Enterprises, are taking away Rio’s rights to the patio with Rio’s owners claiming that these actions are improper and illegal.

The Rio has been in business on the waterfront for four years. Adjacent to the Rio is the former Pier View Restaurant, which closed in January, with a new restaurant/bar set to open there in September Rising hears. This new tenant would like to expand their operations to include the Rio’s riverside location, with Rio’s owners claiming that the city and Collins are trying to force them out of business.

Both locations are part of Hudson Park, built and owned by Collins. While the lease for the Pier View was prohibitive, ($16,000 per month), the lease for the Rio is reasonable (a few thousand per month, plus a yearly charge of $10,000 for the patio. The owners of the Rio want to stay, but recently Collins claimed that Rio violated their lease by not staying open during the winter months and for not serving lunch and dinner every day. Based on that violation, Collins has begun eviction proceedings, and the city took the patio lease away from the Rio, padlocking the tables and chairs outside. Rio got an injunction to remove the padlocks, and that’s where both sides currently stand.

Mayor Phil Amicone, through spokesman David Simpson, said that there have been numerous complaints about the Rio’s noise and late hours of operation. But an inquiry we made shows that the Rio has not had any violations issued to them in the past two years.

While a few tenants in Hudson Park have complained about the noise, some in the business community downtown are wondering what this latest feud between Rio and the city is all about. “Anybody who rented an apartment above a bar should realize that there will be noise,” said one downtown business owner. “We are hurting in the downtown/waterfront and struggling to survive. The city shouldn’t be forcing one business out; they should be supporting local businesses. “

Another downtown property owner questioned the motivations of City Hall with Rio. “Collins will do whatever the mayor wants them to do. If a caterer comes in and opens the old Pier View, that’s fine, but why should they get the Rio also? It sure looks like they are playing favorites; we need to stop fighting with existing businesses.”