Scarsdale Forum Celebrates Friendship
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The Scarsdale Forum's fourth annual membership party was a celebration of friendship set within a Valentine theme on Saturday night February 11 at the Scarsdale Woman's Club. The food and beer stations were hopping all night, the jazz trio set the mood, the boutique and raffle were attractions for many and there was quite a number of guests who stopped by the artist alcove to be sketched. The cozy feel of the dessert room where members and their guests enjoyed many home baked treats was a fitting end to a wonderful evening made possible by many volunteers of the Scarsdale Forum. (Pictured at left: Forum President BK Munguia and Lena Crandall at Imagine Candy boutique table.)
Back row: Sara Werder, Renu Lalwani
Front row: Seth and Susan Ross, Anil Lalwani, Richard Werder
Anne Hintemeister and Bruce Wells in the artist alcove
Photo credit: Lisa VanGundy
Caught in the Crossfire
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Members of the Breast Cancer Club at Scarsdale High School were caught in the crossfire last week when they held a fundraiser in the wake of the controversy about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Planned Parenthood. Club Presidents Danielle Berger and Rachel Brief were in the midst of planning the February 4th Breast Cancer Awareness Day at SHS when the news broke that the Susan G. Komen Foundation would no longer fund Planned Parenthood.
At the time, members of the club were in the process of soliciting local merchants for contributions for their raffle and found that some refused to donate because of the news. Though traditionally 100% of the proceeds from the event had been donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, this year, even before the controversy, the girls had decided to divide their donation between Komen and GOPiNK.
The Club proceeded with their sale of baked goods, bracelets, breast cancer pins and tickets for the raffle items they could get and held their sale during the game against Port Chester. The reaction that got to the raffle solicitation paled against the hostility they received from the crowd at the game. Berger was totally taken aback by the comments the sale incited, with some yelling at the girls and manyrefusing to support their efforts. The girls learned how passionate, and rude, the community can sometimes be.
They proceeded with the fundraiser but did not earn as much as they had in previous years – which could be attributed to the uproar over Susan Komen or to the fact that the Varsity game against Port Chester was not a big draw.
Pictured above: Danielle Berger, Jamie Kaplan, Jenna Karp and Rachel Brief
Letter to the Editor: Make Your Voice Count
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I notice that many contributors to Scarsdale10583 use pseudonyms rather than identifying themselves. A posting by "Be Ready for SCC Infiltration" attached to your reporting of the recent CNC selections left me wondering about the purpose of such anonymity and speculating about how much an important message can be discounted by the writer's fear of goodness knows what. I share fully "Be Ready's" concerns about the lack of fiscal discipline of our Village Board and his/her frustration over the modus operandi of the CNC, and I, too, have been an outspoken critic of their refusal to open their process to the cleansing powers of sunshine. "Be Ready" (and others), why not sign your name on your letters in order to fully back your arguments and really have your voice count, and perhaps even get involved directly? There is nothing to fear and everything to gain in taking an open and public stance in favor of good government.
On Friday, I learned from the Scarsdale Inquirer that for the second year in a row I was not among the "top three" selected for nomination as a CNC candidate for office. On a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, I outlined in the requisite 10-minute speech to the group my credentials: PhD economist, risk manager, over ten years experience in public finance on a municipal credit risk acceptance committee, and over two decades of management experience in S&P500 firms. Further, I discussed some of my own strongly held beliefs about minimal requirements for an individual to earn my own vote for Trustee, including: 1) no conflicts of interest (e.g. no spouses, children, siblings serving on CNC, in senior positions of policy-oriented groups such as the Scarsdale Forum or of organizations that might approach the Board with funding requests); 2) an understanding that the first obligation in assuring "fair and affordable housing" is to folks who already live in Scarsdale; 3) being willing and qualified to give a fair and timely hearing to groups of individuals lined up on both sides of proposed public infrastructure projects by assessing financial plans and projections and weighing costs and benefits; and 4) a willingness to work to maintain our Village's autonomy and rights to self-determination in housing policies, educational standards and expenditure, fiscal policies and environmental and zoning regulations (where fiscal autonomy does not mean simply the right to "spend more", but rather the responsibility to assure and demonstrate that the last dollar spent by our Village is not one that would have been better spent by our citizens in the private sector or saved).
I had not intended to throw my hat in the ring again, but I was asked to. Although I am very busy with a successful financial risk consulting practice, teaching Taekwondo, and becoming a more competitive rower I would have gladly served if selected. And while there is a certain sense of relief in coming in fourth or fifth or sixth in a contest where there are three winners and not having to accept the burden of office, I would gladly try again if asked to. Had I been selected, I would have worked hard to lift the shroud of secrecy over the nominating process, resolve once and for all the issue of the SCC (and the good people working for the SCC all these many years deserve a decision that is based on a thorough, realistic, and professional consideration of the financial viability of the project), and to instill financial discipline to a body that increased the Village property tax rate by 64% between the 2002-2003 and 2011-2012 fiscal years, a period during which the general price level as measured by the NY area CPI grew by only 29%. (While tax rates grew by some 30% in real terms over that period, it would certainly be a stretch to argue that the quantity or quality of Village services grew much if at all, let alone by 30%). Simply put, I would have voted to respect and maintain Governor Cuomo's 2% cap and put an end to the tax policies that are driving our friends and neighbors out of Scarsdale once their youngest children graduate from High School. Of course, I urge our citizens to vote for candidates who will also support our Governor's effort to help beleaguered Scarsdale property taxpayers who are not part of the 0.1% club.
So -- I ran and I lost the contest. Perhaps some didn't like my message, perhaps some didn't like my 11th hour independent run last year, maybe others resented my strongly worded and successful op-ed campaign over the past year urging real estate tax reassessment, and more-than-likely most just thought there were three candidates who offered better skill sets. I am none the worst for having run and lost, and at a minimum my fellow "losers" and I served as benchmarks for the three who prevailed. I encourage other concerned citizens to move out from under your noms de plume -- sign your names, join with other civic-minded individuals, and even run for Village Trustee along with the three CNC candidates and Harry Reynolds, all four of whom deserve praise for their willingness to serve. Be counted and make a difference for the good of your hometown.
Respectfully,
Bob Selvaggio
SHS Cheerleaders Headed to Nationals
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This year both the JV and Varsity Cheerleading teams have made it all the way to the National competition that will take place from February 11th to the 12th in Orlando, Florida. This is the first time since 2007 that both of the teams will be competing at Nationals together. After facing many injuries the team managed to work extra hard and accomplish their goal of qualifying for Nationals. Stacy Monteiro, the head of Cheerleading at SHS, was asked how she felt about this season, “I have to say with all of our set backs the teams remained so positive and motivated to never give up and continue moving forward. Although we have had many obstacles to overcome we were lucky enough to qualify for Nationals, returning for the Varsity teams 10th year.
Mariah Genis, a senior and one of the captains of the Varsity team, says that the reason the team is doing so well this year is because of the bonds they have formed over the last two years. Most of the girls on the Varsity team have been together for two years now and Mariah says they have a great team dynamic.
When asked if she was nervous about competing at Nationals Mariah said: “I'm thrilled! To get a chance to compete with some of the best teams in the nation is amazing.” All of the 14 girls on Varsity and the 21 girls on JV will be traveling down south. Some parents and other family members will also be attending the tournament. The teams will be staying at the All Star Resort in Orlando. The competition will last for two days. During those two days the Varsity team will need to compete in two rounds to make it to the finals. They will first compete in the preliminary round and , depending on their performance, the Semifinals and will hopefully make it all the way to the final round. The JV team will only compete in one round at Nationals and will go straight to the Semifinal round. Both teams routines are put to an 80’s music soundtrack.
To qualify for Nationals the two teams had to compete at the Regional competition. The Regional competition was held at Hofstra University on December 5th. To prepare the teams dedicate a huge amount of time to practice. The Varsity and JV teams practice about five days a week for approximately two and a half hours a day. The official season is from fall to winter, but during the spring the teams participate in clinics and in try-outs. In the summer the teams spend a week at Pine Forest Cheer Camp in the Poconos to train for the upcoming season.
We are all cheering for the SHS cheerleaders!
Letter from Edgemont Resident re: Dromore Road
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The Dromore Road case shines a halogen light on the Greenburgh administration's lack of internal controls; abject arrogance-second to none- engaging in breaches of ethics, sometimes bordering on criminality; pushing boundaries without consequence with impunity, and an attitude of "we can have our cake, eat it and not gain any weight."
Mr.. Feiner's rejoinder to anyone challenging him is,"sue me." What he knows is an article 78 action involves incurring legal fees of several thousand dollars which may or may not be awarded if the petitioner wins. So, other than a lawyer willing to spend his or her time, a non-lawyer will not "sue him."
With the knowledge that they are safe, the Board is not afraid to do or not do as they please with the chances of legal action minimal. In this case in particular, Greenburgh wins by losing, and Edgemont loses by not being able to defend its school district.
If there ever was a more compelling reason for Edgemont becoming a village, Dromore Road is it! If Edgemont were a village, things like this would not happen. Think about it we can't even defend our own school district...OUR OWN SCHOOL DISTRICT!
Dromore Road is the "firing on Fort Sumter;" "the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand;" "the bombing of Pearl Harbor."
Paul Feiner continues to bite off more than he can chew. Here's hoping Dromore Road finally gives him a stomachache.
Ed Krauss
Edgemont, N.Y.
