Politics on the Hudson

Yonkers Assemblyman Mike Spano got a mayoral endorsement today from three of the Yonkers City Council’s Democrats.

Spano, the Democratic party’s endorsed candidate, faces a Sept. 13 Democratic primary challenge from City Council President Chuck Lesnick and Robert Flower.

“Mike is the only candidate who can bring the strong leadership our city needs to protect education and provide new opportunity in Yonkers,” said Councilwoman Patricia McDow, 1st District. “He’s been an effective advocate for Yonkers as an Assemblyman and will be the effective Mayor our city needs now more than ever.”

“It’s time to bring change to the Mayor’s office and implement the reforms that are important to us all, such as improving our schools so our kids get the support they need,” said Councilman Wilson Terrero, 2nd District. “Mike Spano is the clear choice to get that done. He has the vision to continue what is right and fix what is wrong.”

“Our city cannot afford to continue to be run by crisis year after year while spending more than our revenues allow,” said Councilwoman Joan Gronowski, 3rd District. “Yonkers voters have a real opportunity this year to elect a Mayor who has the ability to make real progress for our city.”

The City Council adopted an ordinance on Tuesday that would empower police to crack down on slumlords and it’s sparked competing press releases from City Council members.

The public nuisance abatement law would allow the police to impose penalties and sanctions on the owners of properties that are repeatedly the scene of arrests.

Given the frequency with which police respond to certain properties, such as 77 Locust Hill Ave., where two men were murdered in July and where two men were shot in 2009 and 2008, the ordinance seeks to force property owners to take control of their properties and evict troublemakers.

City Council President issued a press release on Wednesday stating that he, Councilwoman Patricia McDow and Councilman Wilson Terrero believe the bill is flawed.

“As a former business owner in the area I can see the potential for how this new law can give our local government the authority to single out certain property owners with over zealous prosecution,” Terrero stated in the release. “The law is too broad and in addition to being misused, it can really threaten the property rights of small business and homeowners, and dampen business in the community.”

Councilman John Murtagh, hailed the adoption in his press release.

“Good landlords who are involved in their properties and concerned about their tenants will have nothing to fear,” Murtagh said in his release, “but absentee landlords who merely collect the profits while neglecting their tenants and their neighborhoods will now be called to account.”

The law now goes to Mayor Phil Amicone, who must hold a public hearing before either signing or vetoing it. Today, Amicone’s spokesman David Simpson said the mayor was not yet ready to say whether he will sign the bill.

The public hearing for the proposed law is on Oct. 13 at 4:30 p.m. in the Mayor’s Reception Room at City Hall.

Here are copies of Lesnick’s and Murtagh’s releases (more…)

The staff of Yonkers Councilman Wilson Terrero, D-2nd District, is still adjusting to the rules that govern financing for elected officials since he took office in January.

On Friday his staffer sent out an e-mail on using the City of Yonkers system inviting recipients to a fundraiser/victory party. That’s using a public resource for electioneering, a no-no.

Earlier today his staffer sent out the fundraiser invites again, this time using a private AOL return e-mail address.

Last month we asked Terrero why he hadn’t filed his 27-Day Post-General Election campaign disclosure forms, which were due on Nov. 30. At the time he said it was an oversight his staff would address.

As of today, a check on the state’s campaign finance Web site shows that he still has not filed the post-election report, even though he has filed the required January 2010 report.

Yonkers City Council President Chuck Lesnick and Councilman Wilson Terrero, D-2nd District, attended the Yonkers Board of Education’s meeting on Wednesday night to offer a compromise on the impasse over the Yonkers inspector general’s right to inspect the school district’s accounts.

Last year the City Council approved more than $25 million in capital improvements for the district’s crumbling schools, but some council members refuse to approve bonding for the improvements unless the board drops its lawsuit against the city.

The board filed its lawsuit in the state Supreme Court last year asking a judge to rule on whether the school district is an independent entity that does not have to allow the city’s IG to inspect its accounts.

Last night Lesnick said he, Terrero and Councilwoman Patricia McDow, D-1st District, have an alternative.

“This is the first time three of us have put on the table that — should the board of trustees give the inspector general the limited authority to complete the audit that had been proposed by his predecessor — then we believe we have the votes from at least two other members of the council to move forward,” Lesnick said in his office yesterday. “What were asking them is, without prejudice to the lawsuit, invite him in to finish up just that audit. That’s enough, by the time he finishes that audit we expect the court will have made a decision.” EndFragment->

Former Yonkers Inspector General Philip Zisman had wanted to audit the district’s health and welfare funds, but the board refused to cooperate with him, citing that it has outside auditors review its finances. Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone has said that the Board of Education should allow the inspector general to audit its books.

Yonkers Board of Education President Bernadette Dunne was not at the board’s office and she did not return a request for comment sent by e-mail earlier this morning.

Lesnick said he got feedback from board members on Wednesday night, but he did not speak to a majority of the nine members.

StartFragment->“During the public portion (of the meeting) they did not respond. During the private discussion between meetings some of the board members expressed a willingness to compromise and others did not,” said Lesnick, who was prompted to reach out by PTA parents. “StartFragment->They had been told by the district that ‘we’d love to do the improvements but the City Council won’t approve it.’ So now we, the City Council, are shooting back. OK, here’s a compromise.”EndFragment->

We noticed that all the Yonkers City Council laggards in filing state campaign financial disclosure reports are Democrats.

The January 2010 report should have been filed on Jan. 11, and as of today there are no such filings on the state Board of Elections’ Web site by Patricia McDow, D-1st District, and Wilson Terrero, D-2rd District.

Terrero, who was elected to the council in November, also has not filed his 27-Day Post-General report, which was due on Nov. 30.

City Council President Chuck Lesnick, also a Democrat,  was reelected in November and he is current on all his filings, as are the three Republicans on the council, two of whom were elected in November.

In an earlier version of the posting I incorrectly reported that Joan Gronowski, D-3rd District, had not filed her 2010 declaration, but her committee filed a termination with the state Board of Elections on June 30, 2009. She has no current registered committees and she is not required to make any filings as of June 30.

The Yonkers City Council traveled to Albany on Monday to meet with state officials about the city’s budget issues. Here’s a report issued this afternoon by City Council President Chuck Lesnick’s office:

The Yonkers City Council on Monday met with state officials in Albany concerning the city’s present budget issues and to present the case for much needed state aid for the city’s municipal and educational services.

Attending the meetings were Council President Chuck Lesnick; Majority Leader Patricia D. McDow – District One; Minority Leader John M. Murtagh – District Five; Councilmember Wilson Terrero – District Two; Councilmember Dennis E. Shepherd – District Four and Councilmember John Larkin – District Six.

On Monday morning, the Council met with New York State Comptroller Thomas J. DiNapoli and discussed various aspects of the state’s Fiscal Agent Act and ongoing audits of the City of Yonkers. Following that meeting, the Council met with members of the area state delegation, including NYS Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and NYS Assembly members Mike Spano, J. Gary Pretlow and Richard L. Brodsky.

The Council later met with representatives of the Office of Taxpayer Accountability and Office of the Governor and was briefed on new state measures that aim to evaluate costs of mandates on local government in order to advance property tax relief and current economic development initiatives.

The Yonkers City Council swore in new members on New Year’s Day and reorganized itself on Saturday by assigning committee chairmanships and designating party leadership posts.

Newly elected councilmen John Larkin, R-6th District, Dennis Shepherd, R-4th District and Wilson Terrero, D-2nd District, were sworn in at the Riverfront Library, along with City Council President Chuck Lesnick, a Democrat beginning a second term.

The next day the body designated Patricia McDow, D-1st District, the council’s majority leader and John Murtagh, R-5th District, the minority leader.

The new committee chairmanships are:

Lesnick: Rules Committee; Budget and Finance Committee

Murtagh: Municipal Operations and Public Safety Committee; Environmental, Sustainable Growth and Green Policy Committee

McDow: Real Estate Committee

Larkin: Legislation, Codes and Intergovernmental Relations Committee (two committees merged into one)

Shepherd: Community Development Committee

Terrero: Education Committee

Councilwoman Joan Gronowski, who formerly co-chaired the Municipal Operations Committee, did not take charge of any committee.

No chair was designated for the Franchises Committee, which did not meet in 2009.

The council also adopted a new rule stipulating that a committee meeting must meet within 15 minutes of its announced start time or it will be canceled.

Yonkers City Council candidate Virgina Perez announced endorsements today by the Yonkers Police Benevolent Association, the Yonkers Captains, Lieutenants and Sergeants Association and the Yonkers Uniformed Officers Association.

Perez is running on the Conservative, Independence and Working Families lines against Democrat Wilson Terrero, who only beat her in the primary by 10 votes.

The two are vying to replace outgoing Councilwoman Sanday Annabi, a Democrat.

Perez’s other endorsements include the Yonkers Federation of Teachers and SEIU’s 32BJ and Local 704.

Democrats Jose Roman and Eulogio Santiago were not the top vote getters in last month’s Democratic primary for the Yonkers City Council’s 2nd District. That honor went to party-endorsed candidate Wilson Terrero. Nonetheless, Santiago told The Journal News today that he and Roman will rally their supporters to join the Alianza de Votantes Latinoamericanos. The group will announce its intentions at a 10 a.m. press conference Thursday morning (Oct. 15) at Panchitos, 285 S. Broadway, Yonkers.