Politics on the Hudson

Here’s a glance at today’s opinion content:

Astorino and the election: Editorial
In our Westchester-Putnam edition, we carried an editorial that analyzed the still-unclear results of Tuesday’s election. The Democratic “supermajority” on Westchester County Board of Legislators is in play and we look at the implications for Republican County Executive Rob Astorino.

Rockland’s vote
The day after Tuesday’s election in Rockland, in which voters selected a sheriff, town and village officials and members of the County Legislature, it’s clear that the regional trend toward Republican leadership is waning. Democrats scored key victories.

Election: Reisman
Phil Reisman weighs in on Westchester’s election results, focusing on the county board of legislators races, Mike Spano’s mayoral win in Yonkers and the return of Ernest Davis in Mount Vernon.

Rockland legislature: Baird
Bob Baird examines the results and implications of the Rockland County Legislature elections in today’s column.

Mount Vernon Comptroller Maureen Walker informed The Journal News yesterday that she will seek the Democratic nomination for mayor, likely pitting her against current Mayor Clinton Young, who is in the fourth year of his first term.

“Mount Vernon needs bold, innovative and capable leadership.  Leaders who are not influenced by special interest groups; leaders who are not afraid to make the tough decisions needed; leaders who will place the best interest of the city above politics,” Walker wrote in her press release.

Here is the full text of her release (more…)

The Mount Vernon City Council overrode a veto on Thursday of the 2011 city budget.

The $86.8 million spending plan has a 4.49 percent tax increase, meaning that the average home’s municipal taxes will rise by $140.72 to $3,272.40.

Mayor Clinton Young vetoed the budget last week and in a press release on Tuesday he said the adopted budget — largely crafted without his input or support — circumvents the city’s charter and violates a court order.

City Council President Karen Watts issued a statement of her own on Wednesday indicating that Young is misreading the city’s charter.

The council overrode Young’s veto with four votes. Councilman Steven Horton, who voted against the budget in December, was not present at the Thursday council meeting.

Here are their press releases, Young’s first, then Watts’: (more…)

In the wake of a city worker being arrested last month for allegedly stealing Con Edison property and this morning’s announcement that a Mount Vernon Animal Shelter volunteer was arrested for allegedly stealing puppies from the shelter, the Journal News spoke with Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young about the status of Mount Vernon Inspector General Harry Stokes, who would presumably investigate such allegations.

Last week the City Council adopted a 2011 budget that slashed Stokes’ annual salary from $110,000 to $35,000, putting his salary far below his secretary’s pay of $55,000 per year.

That salary modification raises questions about whether Stokes will continue working for the city, despite a state Supreme Court ruling. In August, Justice Joan B. Lefkowitz ruled that the City Council’s efforts to remove Stokes from office were invalid because the efforts infringed on Young’s powers as mayor.

Lefkowitz’s ruling also invalidated the City Council’s reduction last year of Stokes annual salary to $1.

Here’s what Young had to say this morning:

“I’ve received so many calls with reference to the inspector general from people not understaning the motives of the city council and comptroller other than that it being of a political nature.

We cannot have an effective office dealing with fraud and abuse unless we provide the appropriate resources. I think that this goes against what has been decided by the courts.

It is indeed, in my opinion, an infringement upon the executive branch of this government in which the inspector general is appointed by the mayor and serves druing the full term of the mayor.

I also believe that Justice Lefkowitz’s decision was clear in terms that there should be no interference with the operation of that office.”

“We have to again look at options in terms of sitting down with the council, providing them with clear reasoning and hopefully this matter does not wind up in court again.”

New York Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, is chair of the Assembly’s Racing and Wagering Committee, so naturally his name pops up in the New York State Inspector General Joseph Fisch’s investigation regarding the selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group to operate a video lottery terminal facility at the Aqueduct Racetrack.

Here is what Fisch wrote about Pretlow in the scandal, in case you haven’t had time to read the 308-page report:

Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow was elected to the Assembly in 1992. In 2005 Asssemblyman Pretlow was appointed Chairman of the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee. From the outset of his testimony, he noted his disgust with the process:

“I’m on record as saying that the process was flawed from its inception. I never liked the way Governor Spitzer set this up because it didn’t set a fair criteria where everybody could operate on and you could compare apples to oranges – I mean you could compare apples to apples. The way Governor Spitzer set it up it was apples and oranges and pears and peaches, and here’s what I want to do and you couldn’t really look at each of the parts of it and figure out whether it’s good or bad for the state. I’ve already operated that, you know, on the premise that I want to do the best for the state, what brings the most revenue for the state.”

Assemblyman Pretlow related being approached and lobbied quite frequently; however, Pretlow scoffed at the attempts to persuade him.

“[T]he seven bidders all paid a visit to myself or my committee, basically to me individually, to tell me what their plans were. I won’t say I threw them all out. I told them that their pretty pictures didn’t impress me. I told it to all of them, including Steve Wynn, because they didn’t. I told them I was only interested in what they were going to do for the state and that was basically it.”

Nevertheless, recognizing the political nature of the process and the novel construction of Tax Law § 1612, Assemblyman Pretlow declared:

“I knew I didn’t have a voice in who would be the ultimate choice. I didn’t want to feel good towards anyone and then have the Governor pick who he wanted to pick anyway. And to be quite honest with you, I was kind of shocked when AEG was picked.”

Assemblyman Pretlow proclaimed that he never divulged his preferences to any of the principals or lobbyists, only to Speaker Silver:

“My first choice was Steve Wynn and my second choice was SL Green. And I couldn’t go with – well, AEG wasn’t offering anywhere near what we were looking for. Penn National I really didn’t like their brochures. They had 1950s looking casinos. And Delaware North had already screwed us and I was not interested in dealing with them again.”

Assemblyman Pretlow testified that he “was kind of shocked when AEG was picked”:

“Because I didn’t think they had the best plan at all for the state. They offered the least amount of money. I mean they were on the back half of everything, and they subsequently changed their dollar amount. But you know if at the time we were looking at it, we were trying to increase the revenues of the state or the dollars in the state, this was the organization that offered the least amount of money. And that just didn’t sit right with me, especially in light of the first time we picked them solely because they offered the most money. Meaning Delaware North. And now to pick someone on the lower half, something wasn’t right.”

Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, does not face a significant financial threat from Samuel Rivers, an Independence Party candidate who is Pretlow’s only challenger in next month’s election in the 87th Assembly District.

Pretlow’s 2010 32 Day Pre-Primary Report Summary, which was due on Oct. 1, indicates that he raised $4,800 for the reporting period and spent $2,402.27 in the same period. That left him with a closing balance of $187,667.83.

By contrast Rivers reported raising just $82 in receipts in that period, with a closing balance of $82.

The 87th Assembly District includes Mount Vernon and the southwestern quadrant of Yonkers.

A disagreement in Mount Vernon City Hall over cell phone plans stretching back to 2009 continued this morning with the exchange of testy e-mails.

Mayor Clinton Young’s chief of staff Yolanda Robinson sent an e-mail to the deputy comptroller Susie Valentin (and CCed The Journal News) alleging that she and emergency management Commissioner Antoine Lowe were hampered in their ability to communicate with emergency responders at an apartment house fire last night at 5 S. 16th Ave.

Robinson claimed that she requested a city cell phone for herself and Lowe on Aug. 30, but has not received one. The cell phone feud dates to April last year when city Comptroller Maureen Walker told Young’s staff that she was replacing Blackberry phones with phones that did not have Blackberry features as a cost-savings measure.

At the time Young’s staffers said they needed Blackberrys because of the phone’s email features and they disputed the cost savings.

Valentin wrote back this morning that “any delay is not the result of inaction by our office.”

Valentin wrote that on April 27, 2009 her office informed Robinson that five cell phones were in her office available for her and the commissioners’ use. Valentin wrote this morning that Robinson and other refused to see her about the new cell phones.

“Please do not state that the lack of a City cell phone hampered your ability to communicate effectively with emergency crews,” Valentin wrote. “You and Mr. Lowe have been communicating without a City cell phone since April 2009.”

UPDATE: By the end of the day Friday, after a few more emails, Robinson agreed to accept a Nextel cell phone.

A review of Assemblyman Gary Pretlow’s campaign finance disclosure forms for this year reveals that not one Mount Vernon resident is listed as having donated to him in his 2010 declarations.

Pretlow, a Democrat from Mount Vernon representing the 87th Assembly District, collected more than $30,000 in donations this year. All of it comes from law firms, political action committees and the horse racing industry.

Pretlow is chair of the Assembly’s Racing and Wagering Committee.

Prelow’s challenger in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary, Samuel Rivers, also did not declare a single donation from a Mount Vernon resident in his 2010 campaign finance filings.

The law firm hired by the Mount Vernon City Council in the legal battle over its failed attempt to remove city Inspector General Harry Stokes racked up $7,622 in attorney fees so far.

That’s the bill sent to the city by the law office of Daniel L. Pagano and Joseph A. Stargiotti. The firm’s hourly rate at $185 an hour and their bill is for the period form May 18 to June 18.

On August 2 Supreme Court Justice Joan Lefkowitz decided that the City Council’s resolutions abolishing the Inspector General’s position were invalid.

Mayor Clinton Young filed his lawsuit against the City Council on May 7, arguing that the council violated the city’s charter by attempting to remove Stokes.

Here is a copy of the bill and a letter from the city comptroller’s office requesting additional documentation for the bill.

Mount Vernon City Council’s legal bill for inspector general suit

At the Mount Vernon City Council’s meeting last night, a resolution establishing a standard work day for two councilwomen was held.

The proposed resolution established six hours as the standard work day for Roberta Apuzzo and Diane Munro-Morris.

Based on a record of activities, Apuzzo works 20 days a month and Munroe Morris works 14 days a month.

The proposed resolution on the elected officials’ work day was for the purpose of reporting to the New York State and Local Employees’ Retirement System.