Politics on the Hudson

It’s not unusual for Westchester residents to get recorded telephone calls from County Executive Andrew Spano alerting them of events going on in the county.

This time, however , the county executive turned his attention to Judge Francis Nicolai and his bid for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Spano, a Democrat and a friend of Nicolai’s, recorded a robo-call for the judge, urging voters to elect him.

Susan Tolchin, Spano’s chief advisor, said the call was paid for by Spano’s campaign organization, Friends of Andy Spano, and did not involve the use of any taxpayer-funded resources.

The call might be the last campaign activity that Spano undertakes for local candidates this fall. According to Tolchin, he’s not planning to make any campaign appearances over the weekend.

“His schedule is clear,” Tolchin said.

Spano, the county’s top Democrat, has made endorsements in local races, though, including Mount Vernon mayoral candidate Clinton Young and Yonkers mayoral candidate Dennis Robertson.

Mayor Phil Amicone is set to pick up the endorsements of two Yonkers police unions this afternoon. The Yonkers Police Benevolent Association, which represents most officers, and the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants Association are schuduled to announce their support for the Republic mayor who is seeking a second term in office.

But neither Amicone nor his Democratic challenger, Dennis Robertson, are going to win an endorsement from the Yonkers Federation of Teachers, our Phil Reisman reports in his column today. A provision in the teachers’ last contract calls for them not to take any position in the mayoral race.

We’re still catching up from our recent blog meltdown. Last week Yonkers mayoral candidate Dennis Robertson proposed an instant notification system for the city’s school system that could contact families in the event of an emergency. The post went up the afternoon of Oct 10, but before we could put up a response from his opponent incumbent Mayor Phil Amicone, we had our own emergency. I was called out to report on a drug bust and small explosion in Yonkers shopping center – and then our blogs failed.

I had promised a reponse from Amicone’s office and now that our blogs are back, here it is. Amicone spokesman David Simpson said he believed the school district had such a system. We confirmed that with Yonkers school district spokeswoman Jerilynne Fierstein, who said the school district system can send phone, text and e-mail messages, be they emergency or routine, to the homes of its 25,000 students.

The school district, in fact, had used the system the previous day when four of schools in east Yonkers were locked down becasuse of a nearby police manhunt, Fierstein said. It was that lockdown and the recent use of a similar system by St. John’s University when a student walked across its Queens campus with a gun that prompted Robertson to make the suggestion. “We have the technolgy, let’s make use of it,� Robertson had urged.

Fierstein said the school district did just that: At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 9, a phone message from schools superintentendent Bernard Pierorazio explaining the lockdown was transmitted to homes throughout the district.

One more thing. Weclome back readers.

Yonkers Democratic mayoral candidate Dennis Robertson this afternoon called for an instant notification system to inform families of emergencies in city schools. Robertson’s announcement came one day after a police manhunt resulted in the lock down of four schools in east Yonkers. Such a system was used to notify students on the St. John’s University campus in Queens when a student walked across the campus carrying a gun.

“We have the technology let’s make use of it,� Robertson said. The schools affected by the manhunt were School 15, where the press conerence was held, the Pulaski School, the Annunication School and Our Lady of Fatima. Robertson said that such a system, which relies on e-mail and text messages, would likely need to be approved by the Yonkers Board of Education. He said he would encourage the private schools to develope a similar system.

We are seeking a response from his Republican opponent, incumbent Mayor Phil Amicone.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to avid readers here that one of our most frequent posters, The Consultant, is Mike Edelman. Edelman is also head of The Hastings Group, a political consulting business, which is a major recipient of money from Phil Amicone’s campaign for a second term as Yonkers mayor. The Republican incumbent is opposed by Democrat Dennis Robertson.

Friends of Amicone paid $214,985 to The Hastings Group, but most of that money, Edelman maintains, does not actually go into his pocket. An attorney, political consultant and Republican pundit on Cablevision’s News 12, Edelman says most of that money is used to pay for media buys, production costs and direct mail for his clients.

Those receipts, Edelman said, do not pay him for his numerous postings at Politics on the Hudson, which total 695 as of this writing. “If I got paid by the posting I would be a very wealthy man,� Edelman said. “I enjoy it. It’s an avocation.�

Judging from the paucity of comments, I suspect the Politics-on-Hudson crew may have missed this morning’s TJN story on campaign contributions in the mayoral race. It’s the promised expansion of the Friday LoHud quickie on Yonkers mayoral campaign contributions that generated some interest. We expect to look further into this.

Meanwhile let’s go Yankees.

 YONKERS – With one month remaining to Election Day, Republican Mayor Phil Amicone is winning the money-raising race over Democratic challenger Dennis Robertson.

Amicone’s campaign treasury contains $198,753 to Robertson’s $23,159, according to campaign financial reports released Friday. The big difference exists even though Robertson raised $62,300 since mid-July compared to $108,922 by Amicone.

Guest blogger Ernie Garcia writes:

Yonkers mayoral hopeful Councilman Dennis Robertson, D-3rd District, criticized Mayor Phil Amicone this morning for not moving the Yonkers Animal Shelter to a more humane location.

Four years ago both Amicone and I made a promise to bring the people of Yonkers a new animal shelter,� said Robertson. “Phil Amicone didn’t do his job.�

Robertson said that the city council approved spending for a new shelter three years ago and that the Amicone administration has not taken the relocation seriously.

He also criticized Amicone for not spending $60 million in capital improvement monies for assorted infrastructure upgrades, including an overhaul of outdated sewers that caused $802,000 in fines against the city for polluting the Bronx River.

Deputy Mayor William Regan countered that Robertson does not know what is going on in his own city. Regan said the Robertson recently voted to approve an agreement to use two acres of county-owned land for a new, $2.3 million shelter.

The latest campaign financial reports released today give just a glimpse at Republican Mayor Phil Amicone’s money advantage over Democratic challenger Dennis Roberston.

Dennis Robertson raised $62,300 since mid-July compared to $108,922 for incumbent mayor Phil Amicone. Even more telling, however, is the amount of money each candidate had available one month before Election Day: Robertson had $23,159, while Amicone’s account still contained $198,753.

That difference reflect’s Amicone’s serious fundraising efforts which go back to last year. Amicone had already raised $804,728, according to financial reports filed earlier this year. Robertson for Mayor raised only $37,318.50 previously.

Reach more about this in The Journal News.

Former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer wasn’t terribly impressed with Phil Amicone’s victory over fellow Republican Vincenza Restiano in yesterday’s mayoral primary.

In a telephone interview a few moments ago, Spencer, a Republican, said the low turnout showed that Amicone did not generate much enthusiasm among GOP voters and was a flawed candidate.

“As I know primaries, Republican mayoral primaries, it was a dismal turnout,” Spencer said. “Obviously, a little more so for Restiano, but for an incumbent mayor to only get 2,600 votes is a little laughable.”

(The Board of Elections, with about 98 percent of the districts now counted, is reporting that Amicone received 3,221 votes, compared to 1,356 for Restiano.)

Although Amicone served as Spencer’s deputy mayor, the two have since had a major falling out. They are now bitter rivals.

Spencer, who backed Restiano in the primary, made it clear today that he is backing Democrat Dennis Robertson in the general election.

“I’m a Republican, but I am not going to support a guy who I know has been lying to the people of Yonkers,” Spencer said.

Spencer, who authored a mailing on behalf of Restiano, said he would likely do the same sort of activity for Robertson. But he stopped short of pledging any financial support.

“I wish I had money, I’d help Dennis out,” Spencer said.

With his visit to a Yonkers elementary school this morning, Gov. Eliot Spitzer seemed to be throwing a helping hand to state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who is already the subject of Republican attacks.

But the governor, perhaps inadvertently, also gave an assist to Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone on the day before his GOP primary against former City Council President Vincenza Restiano.

Because Spitzer chose to visit a school in his city, Amicone got to be on the podium with the governor and, later on, be introduced to the media by Spitzer.

“Maybe I’m speaking now because when you’re an executive, you want to make sure other executives get their say at the microphone,” Spitzer said. “In any city or in any political entity, nothing happens, of course, without the executive’s participation. And so Mayor Amicone, it’s a pleasure to have you here as well.”

Amicone, who could barely contain his smile afterward, used his time at the podium to tout the accomplishments of Yonkers schools.

Amicone’s Democratic opponent, Councilman Dennis Robertson, attended the event at the school but was not given the chance to speak. He said he did not mind Amicone sharing the podium with Spitzer.

“The mayor is the mayor,” Robertson said. “Next year, I’ll be up on the podium.”