Politics on the Hudson

The Republican primary didn’t just shake up the race for Yorktown supervisor.

It might well have triggered a move for new leadership of the Republican Town Committee, possibly putting a political staffer with ties to both the town’s state legislators at the helm of the local party.

Under county by-laws, the committee has 20 days after a primary to hold a reorganization caucus, which is set for Wednesday night. Chairwoman Serafina Mastro declined to comment on the ramifications of that vote, but Matt Slater said today he is vying for the post.

Slater, 25, works for state Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, has worked with former Assemblyman and current state Sen. Greg Ball, R-Patterson, and was campaign manager for current Councilman Terrence Murphy in 2009. The vote will take place at Murphy’s, the restaurant Murphy co-owns.

A 2004 Yorktown High School graduate, Slater said he had met with Mastro and current party leadership about his intentions so they should come as no surprise.

“I made some phone calls as to whether people think it’s a good idea, and I’ve been getting a fair amount of support,” he said today. “So we’ll see what happens. Until then nothing is set in stone.”

The election is being billed by some as a potential rebuke of current Supervisor Susan Siegel, who was defeated in the primary by former town attorney Michael Grace after she was tapped by the GOP committee as its nominee.

“I really think it would be good for a change, and maybe they’ll elect Republicans for a change and not Democrats who change to Republican,” said Republican district leader Ed Ciffone.

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Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, inserted the following statement into the Congressional Record honoring IBM’s 100th Anniversary, which is today:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the largest employer in New York’s 19th Congressional District, IBM, on their 100th anniversary of their founding.  IBM employees, retirees, partners, and clients within the Lower Hudson Valley and around the world are hosting an IBM Centennial Day of Service to donate their time, skills, and expertise to support our communities.

“Since 2003, IBM employees have donated more than 13 million hours of service around the world in over 120 countries.  Within the last six months alone, IBM volunteers have contributed over 2.5 million hours to service in behalf of worthy causes, including teaching math and science to middle school students; mentoring young Uruguayans from impoverished neighborhoods; and coaching hundreds of small business entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

“$12 million in service grants are also being distributed as part of the IBM Centennial Day of Service, and I commend both IBM and its thousands of dedicated and talented employees for their generosity.

“Thank you, and I yield back the remainder of my time.

Read all of The Journal News’s coverage of the IBM centennial at the links below:

Ideas make IBM 100 years young, By Brian J. Howard

The Northern Westchester Tea Party Patriots announced today its endorsements of Republican candidates for governor, Congress and state legislature.

Those endorsed were: Carl Paladino for governor; Joe DioGuardi for U.S. Senate; Nan Hayworth for Congress, 19th District; Robert Castelli for Assembly, 89th District; Greg Ball for state Senate, 40th District; Steve Katz for Assembly, 99th District; and Bob Cohen for state Senate, 37th District.

“We decided that now was the time to endorse candidates because people who are not as involved in the political process want some direction and input into which candidates support tea party principles,” Patriots c0-founder Bill Bongiorno said.

“We have been educating the public about Constitutional issues, free markets, limited government and maximum freedom in a free society,” he said, “and now is the time for direct involvement in the political process.”

We’re hosting two Editorial Spotlight public-service webcasts this week:

• Chairman Ken Jenkins and other members of the Westchester County Board of Legislators meet with the Editorial Board to discuss budget, governance and communication issues, in a LIVE Editorial Spotlight interview at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The county board, engaged in a separation of powers tiff with

Executive Rob Astorino, is considering suing over budget cuts.

• Candidates vying in the the special election for the 10th District seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators discuss the issues in a LIVE Editorial Spotlight interview at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Democrat Greg Varian and Republican Sheila M. Marcotte are running to succeed Democrat Vito Pinto, picked by Astorino to head the Veterans Service Agency and the Office of Drug Prevention and Stop-DWI.

Watch LIVE interviews at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; ask questions during the interview by engaging the “Cover it Live” feature on the screen; and watch video of completed interviews by searching the “on demand” menu.

The New York State County Executives Association plans a telephone press conference tomorrow to urge state senators “to get back to the people’s work” and deal with “end of session priorities pending before the New York State Legislature.”

Those expected to participate include:

Andrew Spano, Westchester County Executive

Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland County Executive

and

Putnam’s Deputy County Executive John Tully

Westchester County today announced that it shares nearly $102 million in sales taxes with local governments and school districts, something that helps stabilize local property taxes, said County Executive Andy Spano.

“I know Westchester taxpayers are hit hard. … The goal in sharing revenue with our local governments and schools is to help these entities who tax at higher levels. The result is that the overall tax burden is reduced on our residents,” Spano said in a statement announcing the disbursements.

The county share of a tax bill is generally around 18 percent.

A law that was initially enacted by County Executive Andrew O’Rourke is set to expire in 2009, though Spano is seeking an extension from the state Legislature. White Plains, Mount Vernon, Yonkers and New Rochelle collect their own sales taxes and are not part of the agreement.

The breakdown is as follows: (more…)

The three GOP legislators on the Westchester County Board today in a news release “credited the public outcry over proposed raises for commissioners, supervisors and other management for forcing the county executive and the Democratic majority to rescind the increases.

“I’m glad to see the administration and our Democratic colleagues have finally seen the light and realized these raises were an insult to taxpayers,” Minority Leader George Oros said in the statement. “Make no mistake about it, the public opposition to these raises had a lot to do with the proposal being scrapped.”

“Slowly but surely, what we’ve been saying about running county government more efficiently may actually be penetrating,” Oros said. “Cutting out the raises is certainly a start.”

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano has just yanked a proposal to give pay raises to managers. The proposal, which was to be retroactive for 2008 and also apply to 2009, was taken off the table after a public hearing this morning drew 20 speakers against it.

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon wrote that the $890,000 package of raises “would mean 3.25 percent pay increases for about 340 supervisory personnel, which initially included County Executive Andrew Spano’s top 24 commissioners and department heads.

Spano and Board Chairman Bill Ryan announced the development in a joint news release.

“They have done an outstanding job and if times were better, they would be getting the increase they deserve,” Spano said of his managers in a statement. “But we all have to tighten our belts in times like this – and sometimes that hurts.”

Faced with opposition from the public and even county lawmakers, Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano late yesterday scrapped plans to give retroactive raises to top county commissioners. Middle-management raises are still under discussion. Read the story from Jorge Fitz-Gibbon and Jerry McKinstry here.

Rethinking Westchester Government, the organization formed by Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner and Yonkers Councilmember Joan Gronowski, launches its website tomorrow. The group hopes the site will serve as an educational tool showing how Westchester County can live without Westchester County government.

RethinkingWestchesterGov.com will detail the experiences of Connecticut and Rhode Island, which abolished county government, and Masschussets, which adopted legislation that’s resulted in more than a dozen counties disbanding there. The committee maintains that the absence of county government conrtibutes to lower overall taxes in those states.

Also on the website will be “Wastechester,” which Feiner said will be a regular feature presenting examples of county government waste. The committee plans to unveil the website at a 7:30 p.m. meeting tomorrow at the Women’s Club on 305 Ridgeway Avenue, White Plains. The meeting is the group’s second major meeting for the public, Gronowski said.

Though Feiner and Gronowski are Democrats, Rethinking Westchester Government describes itself as nonpartisan. County Executive Andrew Spano is a Democrat and Democrats dominate the county Baord of Legislators.

The aim of the organization and the website, Feiner said, “is not to be funny or angry, but to offer careful analysis” all with the goal of answering the question “can we do better.”