Politics on the Hudson

Not so fast, Mr. Astorino.

Responding to County Executive Rob Astorino’s announcement that his administration is well ahead of schedule on the affordablehousing settlement, Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Ken Jenkins says the self congratulations are premature.

The board, the Yonkers Democrat noted, hasn’t seen any report that shows that the county is in the clear on the decree reached with the federal government in 2009 that has had its share of challenges.

“The Westchester County Board of Legislators has yet to see any of the documentation to support the information in the Administration’s Quarterly Housing Report regarding the number of new fair and affordable housing units that are ‘in the pipeline,’ and so it’s difficult to respond accurately to such a simple declaration,” Jenkins said in an email. “The Administration’s self-congratulatory tone in its statement (Monday) needs to be balanced against the fact that the County has been asked by a federal court to answer a set of questions concerning the Administration’s position on source of income legislation passed by the Board, which, according to the terms of the stipulations of the housing settlement, may end up nullifying the settlement and exposing the County to a judgment  of upwards of $500 million.”

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal monitor, the Astorino administration maintains that 540, or 72 percent, of the required units are at some point in the planning pipeline.

“The county has made extraordinary progress and it is the result of our approach to work closely and cooperatively with municipalities, developers and non-profits around common goals,” Astorino said in a statement released Monday. “This will continue to be the county’s approach until we have fully met our obligations under the settlement. The numbers tell the story.”

The federal housing settlement mandates that Westchester spend $52 million to help build 750 units in mostly wealthy and white communities over seven years. It also sets benchmarks along the way, notably that 200 units have financing and 125 have building permits by the end of 2012. The county expects to meet those goals by spring.

Despite a continued stalemate with the federal government, County Executive Rob Astorino says Westchester remains well ahead of schedule on its affordable housing settlement.

In its quarterly report to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the federal monitor that was released today, the Astorino Administration maintains that 540, or 72 percent, of the required units are at some point in the planning pipeline. Read the report here.

“The county has made extraordinary progress and it is the result of our approach to work closely and cooperatively with municipalities, developers and non-profits around common goals,” Astorino said in a statement. “This will continue to be the county’s approach until we have fully met our obligations under the settlement. The numbers tell the story.”

The federal housing settlement was reached in 2009 and mandates that Westchester spend $52 million to help build 750 units in mostly wealthy and white communities over seven years. It also sets benchmarks along the way, notably that 200 units have financing and 125 have building permits by the end of 2012; the county expects to meet those goals by Spring.

So far, 15 communities including Ardsley, Briarcliff Manor, Cortlandt, Hastings, Larchmont, New Castle, North Castle, North Salem, Pelham, Pleasantville, Rye Brook, Rye, Somers, and Yorktown are at various stages of approval or in construction.

One three-family house in Pelham has residents living in the units.

More than 200 site reviews have taken place across all 31 communities, according to the report. The county has also set up a $2.5 million revolving loan fund to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosures in eligible municipalities. The county expects to an additional 14 units under this program.

But progress hasn’t been easy, in part, because of disagreements with HUD and the federal monitor, James Johnson, on a range of issues, including local zoning and an income discrimination law that Astorino doesn’t support. HUD has also held back millions in community development block grant monies because of differences.

Those disagreements are now being addressed in court.

“Even though that’s going on, we’re continuing to make progress,” said Ned McCormack, Astorino’s senior advisor and director of communications. “It’s important to keep moving … The process is working.”

HUD had no immediate comment today.

 In an act of protest, the Board of Legislators today opposed County Executive Rob Astorino’s cancellation of a bus route in Rye.

Lawmakers, in a meeting that was called to address this matter, won’t back Liberty Lines application to the state to reconfigure a route that covers some stops lost with the elimination of Route 76 line.

The resolution, which passed 10-5 with one Republican supporting it an a Democrat voting against it, merely sends a message to the state Department of Transportation that the county board doesn’t agree with any route changes that don’t encompass all of the lost stops.

“It eliminates bus service to an important area in Rye,” said Legislator Judy Myers, a Democrat from Mamaroneck who represents part of Rye. “There is a great need for this (bus). This is definitely an area that needs to be served.”

Myers and other legislators don’t like that the county executive cancelled a contract with a smaller carrier operating the Route 76 line and that Liberty Lines, the operator of the county-wide system, would only cover part of the line with its changes to the Route 13 line. They were also upset that there was no public hearing.

All the legislators want is for some excluded areas, notably Milton Point, to be covered under a new route, they say.

Legislator Sheila Marcotte, R-Tuckahoe, said while she understood their concerns, this resolution may hurt riders because it could jeopardize all of the modifications. She said the wise thing to do is to talk with Liberty Lines to see if they’ll cover the entire route.

“(It’s) going to hurt the residents they’re actually trying to help,” she said.

Democrats, however, also feel snubbed that Astorino made the changes without consulting them and after they added the roughly $243,000 back into the county’s $1.8 billion budget to continue this service.

Any changes should have been discussed with them, they say.

“The law says there is a process for that and that was not followed,” said Majority Leader Peter Harckham, D-Katonah.

Democrats on the Board of Legislators say they won’t back County Executive Rob Astorino’s nixing of a bus route in Rye.

So they plan on communicating with the state Department of Transportation as it considers approving changes to county bus routes, notably one that would cover some, but not all, of the cancelled 76 line.

During a committee meeting this week, legislators questioned Astorino’s chief of staff, George Oros, on the change.

During the meeting, Oros acknowledged that the Milton Point neighborhood in Rye was cut off and added that the county couldn’t provide “door-to-door” for everyone.

“We can’t cover every street with a bus line,” Oros told legislators. “Not everybody can get door-to-door service with a public transportation system.”

Democratic legislators say they won’t back changes to the Liberty Lines contract with the county, which they maintain is needed since the bus company is picking up a portion of the route that was run by another operator. The board’s Government Operations Committee, by a 6-1 vote, with Legislator Michael Smith, R-Greenburgh, being the lone nay, on Thursday voted to protest Libert Lines application.

Residents have protested the changes and asked Astorino to restore the route or at least ensure that another bus covers all of the stops.

Democrats on the Board of Legislators today accused County Executive Rob Astorino of undermining them on child care and they are calling on him to stop making “mean-spirited pronouncements.”

The rebuke came a day after the Republican executive announced that some county’s child care programs are going broke and will be out of money by July.

“It’s time for the Astorino Administration to get a handle on the numbers, do its job and give up on trying to undermine legislative actions that are right for Westchester,” said county board Chairman Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat. “This incessant ‘sky is falling’ and reactionary approach to governance simply has to stop.”

In a statement, Jenkins said the board restored 185 jobs and dozens of programs without raising taxes and said Astorino and the board must work together on to address these challenges. But Democrats won’t support Astorino with a rate increase, he said.

“Now let’s move on and start working together for the sake of all of Westchester’s residents, instead of making premature and mean-spirited pronouncements that unsettle people and raise undue fears.”

Jenkins said that the Department of Social Services has a $566 million annual budget and is projected to have in excess of a $10 million surplus from 2011. 

In December, the board restored $4.3 million in child care subsidies for low income families back into the budget after Astorino cut them out. They also increased parental contributions by 5 percent to 20 percent, but Astorino wanted the share to be 35 percent, which the rate parents in other places such as New York City pay.

The Astorino administration is predicting that money for certain county day-care subsidies, notably Title XX and another program for low-income families, will dry up by July 31. So on Thursday, Astorino called for a 15 percent increase, or about $6 more a day, on low-income families and limiting the number of children in Title XX to 206 to keep the program solvent.

“This abrupt decision will affect a number of residents in the legislative district that I have begun to serve, and so I am particularly upset and frustrated for them,” said Legislator Virginia Perez, D-Yonkers, and a member of the board’s Community Services Committee. “We need to hear more information about why changes have to be made—period. Putting individuals—mostly mothers, in fact—who make $30,000 a year in a position where they have increase their share of child care costs by over $1000 for each child will hurt so many families—and the local economy as well.”

After County Executive Rob Astorino yesterday proposed increased fees for day care, the county’s largest union blasted him for ignoring the legislative branch and violating the law.

“Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino has once again crossed the line with yet another move consistent with his blatant disregard of the Legislative Branch of Westchester local government,”  CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo said in a statement. “For someone who claims he is focused on jobs and getting people back to work, he proved yet again how out of touch he is with reality. If he gets away with violating the law, the consequences would not only be job loss but a devastating effect on early learning and quality child care for families. It is deplorable behavior to deny community members a critical, fully funded program that was approved as part of the 2012 budget. We must keep people earning and children learning to turn this economy around, not send working parents straight to the unemployment line and onto welfare rolls.”

In an announcement Thursday, the Astorino administration predicted that money for certain county day-care subsidies, notably Title XX and another program for low-income families, will dry up by July 31. So it called for a 15 percent increase, or about $6 more a day, on low-income families and limiting the number of children in Title XX to 206 to keep the program solvent.

The announcement came as a surprise to lawmakers, particularly Democrats on the Board of Legislators, who say they have adequately funded a program for families just above the federal poverty level in the county’s $1.8 billion budget, despite Astorino’s continued rejection through his vetoes.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says its day care program is running out of money, so he’s raising fees by 15 percent and capping the number of children at 206.

The Administration today predicted that money will dry up by July 31. The announcement came as a surprise to lawmakers, particularly Democrats on the Board of Legislators, who maintain they have adequately funded the program in the budget, despite Astorino’s vetoes.

“Unfortunately, the current situation was all too predictable,” Astorino said. “The problem has nothing to do with politics. It is simple math. You can’t run programs on good intentions; you need sufficient appropriations.

 “I certainly understand that family budgets are tight,” Astorino added. “But you have to look at the alternatives – asking families to pay about $6 dollars a day more for about eight months, or having the families pay 100 percent of the family day care bill starting in August. The whole philosophy here is to adjust payments in order to protect the long-term viability of the program.” 

Democrats were caught off guard by Astorino’s announcement and said that the press release was the first they’ve heard of a funding shortage.

The day care divide has been an ongoing battle between the branches and since Astorino took office. In his budget proposal last year, the county executive proposed cuts to day care and increases in parent share from 20 to 35 percent. But the board had fought those through a series of veto overrides and had kept the rate down.

“We put money in the budget,” Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, said. “The board adopted a budget and fully funded it. … If the administration wants to continue to violate the law, then we’ll have to address it.”

Democrats on the Westchester County Board of Legislators are planning a protest of their own on County Executive Rob Astorino’s cancelling a bus route in Rye.

In a committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, lawmakers say they won’t back changes to the Liberty Lines contract with the county, which they maintain is needed since the bus company is picking up a portion of the route that was run by another operator.

“This resolution we’ll be voting on tomorrow confirms that the Board of Legislators has supported the development and operation of a mass transit system for passenger bus service within Westchester County since its inception in 1969, in order to promote efficient, affordable, and safe transportation through the County,” said county board Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers. “When the Board of Legislators authorizes the appropriation of funds for mass transportation services it’s in recognition of basic requirements of Westchester residents, who need to go to work, shop and travel to doctor appointments.”

This protest follows one several weeks ago where dozens of concerned residents joined Legislator Judy Myers, a Democrat from Mamaroneck, and called for immediate restoration of the Route 76 bus line service.

Astorino had cancelled the contract with the bus provider, Port Chester-Rye Transit, and cut $243,436  for the service, but the board restored that money in their budget by overriding his veto. But Astorino made changes nonetheless, saying riders could use another bus line that was extended to accommodate them.

The No. 1 priority for Congressional leaders must addressing the ailing economy, a U.S. senator from New York  said this morning.

In a meeting with the Editorial Board of The Journal News and Lohud.com, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said despite a fractured Congress, lawmakers must work together to ensure that people are working and businesses are growing.

To do that, Gillibrand said, the government can invest in its infrastructure, help small businesses gain access to capital and make sure that the United States has a vibrant manufacturing sector.

She also backed the extension of the payroll tax.

The government, she said, cannot create jobs, but can help foster an environment that helps grow the economy.

 “Government doesn’t create jobs,” Gillibrand said earlier today. “People create jobs … Ideas create jobs.”

During a one-hour discussion with the Editorial Board, Gillibrand talked about a new Tappan Zee Bridge, building a new energy grid and building a high speed rail system that connects the Northeast.

Westchester residents may see more of Hillary Clinton now that she’s planning on stepping off the “high wire of American politics.”

The Associated Press today reported that the Secretary of State who lives in Chappaqua plans on stepping down from her role with President Barack Obama’s administration but will stay on until a replacement is found.

“I have made it clear that I will certainly stay on until the president nominates someone and that transition can occur” if Obama wins re-election, she told a town hall meeting. “But I think after 20 years, and it will be 20 years, of being on the high wire of American politics and all of the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired I am.”

The AP also reported that she left the door open for a possible return to politics.