Procedure Committee Announces CNC Candidate Slate
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The Scarsdale Procedure Committee has announced the slate of candidates for election to the Citizen’s Nominating Committee for 2011. There are two candidates vying for each available seat. In most of the districts there are 4 candidates running for 2 seats with the exception of Greenacres where there are six candidates running for three seats -- due to the resignation of one nominator this year. Full bios of each candidate will be posted next week on the Procedure Committee website.
Voting will take place at Scarsdale Village Hall on Tuesday November 15 from 7:00 – 9:30 am and 2 – 9 pm. Absentee ballots will also be available on the Procedure Committee website and should be mailed to the Procedure Committee, P.O. Box 284, Scarsdale, NY 10583. They must be received by 5 pm on November 14, 2011 to be counted. If a runoff election is needed, it will be held at Village Hall on Tuesday, November 22.
Also on the ballot will be proposed amendments to the Non-Partisan Resolution. These are posted below for your consideration.
2011 Citizens Nominating Committee Candidates
Edgewood
- Nathan Barotz
- Betsy Bush
- Michael Duncanson
- Ken Kehoe
Fox Meadow
- Linda Blair
- Anita Mann
- Salvatore Rao
- Ted Tyberg
Greenacres
- Glenn Fishman
- Michael Green
- Barbara Jaffe
- Mona Longman
- Andrew Sereysky
- Jeannette Warner-Goldstein
Heathcote
- Norman W. Bernstein
- Raymond A. Cooper
- David Michaels
- Emilia Rodriguez
Quaker Ridge
- Douglas R. Birns
- Norbert Elsner, MD
- Ken Keats
- Joseph E. Sarachek
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE NON-PARTISAN RESOLUTION
After receipt of oral and written comments, The Procedure Committee has adopted another draft of proposed amendments to the Non-Partisan Resolution, which, after any additional public comments, will be finalized no later than October 7th and submitted to the voters on November 15. The full text of the proposed amendments is available on-line at http://www.scarsdaleprocedurecommittee.org. Here is a summary of the proposed amendments:
1. Proposed amendment to Article II, The Procedure Committee, to prohibit any person who is a member of the Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC), the School Board Administrative Committee (SBAC), the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC), the School Board, or the Village Board from simultaneously being a member of The Procedure Committee (TPC).
2. Proposed amendment to Article IV, Unit Nominating and Election Procedures, to allow residents to vote by mail-in ballot, accompanied by a certification of eligibility to vote, to be received by TPC by the day before Election Day.
3. Proposed amendments to Article V, regarding eligibility to serve as a member of the CNC,
a. Prohibiting anyone from running for election to the CNC if his or her election would or could cause more than one person from the same household to serve at the same time as a voting member of the CNC.
b. Prohibiting a former Mayor or Trustee of the Village from running for election to the CNC unless more than one election cycle (approximately 19 months) has passed since the person last served in such position.
c. Prohibiting any person from serving as a voting member of the CNC for more than three consecutive years, provided, that a person elected to fill a one-year vacancy in the CNC shall be able to run for and succeed himself or herself with a full three-year term.
d. Prohibiting any person from serving as a voting member of the CNC who is at the time of the election a member of TPC, the SBNC, the SBAC, the School Board or the Village Board.
4. Proposed amendments to Article V, Section 5,
a. allowing TPC to make recommendations to the CNC with respect to its Rules of
Procedure, which shall be consistent with the purpose and provisions of the Non-Partisan Resolution, and
b. providing that any questions of compliance with the provisions of the Resolution regarding Rules of Procedure shall be ruled on by the Chairperson, whose decision can only be overruled by a 2/3 vote of the voting members present.
5. Proposed amendments to Article V, Section 6, to provide that no vote for any nominee for a particular office shall be taken at a meeting at which a Committee member has presented new information as to a nominee for such office based upon the Committee member’s personal experience.
Scarsdale Police: Another Greenacres Burglary and a Wandering Boy
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An unusual series of events lead to the arrest of a Scarsdale man for driving while under the influence of drugs at 8 PM on October 10th. The trouble began when a Greendale Road man found someone standing in his driveway who claimed he was lost. The resident called police who began a search for the man and found him on Greendale Road. He identified himself as John Cardenas, age 29 of Elmsford. Cardenas said that he had been dropped off in the area by a friend who was driving Caredenas’ Dodge Journey. Shortly thereafter the friend returned in the car. The driver was found to be under the influence of drugs and after failing sobriety tests was arrested for driving while under the influence. He refused to submit to chemical tests. A search of his license revealed that it had been revoked in April, 2011 for driving while impaired by drugs and refusing to submit to a test. In July, 2011, his drivers license was suspended.
He was taken to Village Court and arraigned before Judge Galloway. He was given a court appearance date and released. Since Cardenas was not in the car and had not committed a crime police let him go.
Burglary: In Greenacres, a River Road home was robbed on the night of October 12th. Burglars stood on a patio table and broke a window on the side of the house. Once inside, it appeared that the intruders worked quickly. They went to the master bedroom, tossed it, and made off with a necklace and watch valued at $10,500. Police spoke with neighbors but no one had seen anything suspicious.
Free Holiday: On 10/14 a Highland Way man found that someone had used his debit card account to make purchases at the Fountainbleu and the Renaissance Hotels in Miami Beach. The suspect registered at the hotels in the name of the Scarsdale resident and when the Scarsdale man called the Renaissance the suspect was still at the hotel. The hotel called the Miami police who arrested two suspects and remanded them to the Miami Dade County Correctional Facility. In total, over $7,500 was taken from the Scarsdale man’s bank account. The names of the suspects were not released by the Scarsdale Police.
Zachys Wine and Liquor was also the victim of fraud. Someone printed counterfeit checks with the name, Zachys Wine Auctions, Inc. Between September 5th and 13th, nine of these checks were written for a total of $22,397. Zachy’s accounting department realized that counterfeit checks had been written and contacted their bank.
In another incident involving Zachy’s, a White Plains man parked his motorcycle at the Zachy’s loading dock at 1:30 pm on October 16. When he returned a few minutes later, his motorcycle bag was gone. There were no witnesses so police will review the Zachy’s video surveillance records.
On 10/16 a Rye woman reported that her iPhone had been stolen when she was at Westchester Reform Temple on the night of 10/14. She was able to use the phone’s GPS tracking device to track the phone’s location and knew it was in Greenwich, CT but was unable to retrieve it.
Wandering Boy: On the afternoon of 10/15 a Stratton Road resident found a 4 year-old child roaming the street alone. She brought the child to her front step and her husband called the police. Police contacted the boy’s father, a rabbi, who said that the boy had tried to follow his mother to temple. The next day police received a second call about the same child from another neighbor at 11:35 am. An Old Lyme Road woman found the boy walking on Stratton Road by himself again. When Police arrived, the rabbi came to the house and said that his son had learned how to unlock the front door. Police advised the man to change the locks and also warned that if the child continued to get out alone they would be forced to call Child Protective Services.
Harassed: In another incident on Stratton Road a man called police on 10/12 when he felt harassed by a contractor who was demanding payment. As there is an outstanding claim to the insurance company, police advised the parties to resolve their differences through the company.
On 10/12 a Ridgedale Road woman called to complain that someone has been driving by and yelling her name while she walks her dog. This has happened several times and she does not recognize the voice or the car.
Police investigated a complaint from Adult Protective Services at a Mamaroneck Road home on 10/12. The 86 year-old resident had recently been released from the hospital and required a certified home health care aide. However, his companion fired the assigned aide. Police intervened and another aide was retained to care for the man.
Missing Mail: On 10/15 a Lee Road woman reported that someone had forwarded her mail to an unknown address without her permission. The postmaster could not provide her with the address to which her mail had been sent. Police advised her to follow up with the Postal Police and the inspector general’s office.
Locked Out: The daughter of divorced parents on Rock Creek Lane documented a civil incident on the afternoon of October 11th. She had returned to the house to collect her things but was unable to get in. Police advised her to call her father’s lawyer to make an arrangement to get her things from the house.
Garbage: Brambach Road residents called police on the afternoon of October 11 to complain that their neighbors had piles of garbage on the lawn that had been there for days. Police contacted the homeowner who said that a tenant had recently moved out and failed to pick up their debris. He agreed to take care of it.
Car on the Lawn: A Rectory Lane woman called police on the evening of 10/14 to report that a car was sitting on her front lawn. She had no idea how it got there. Police found that the car had been driven by a woman who making deliveries for Scarsdale Pharmacy. She misjudged the placement of the driveway and drove the car onto the lawn where it was stuck. Heathcote Exxon was called to remove the car from the lawn.
Animals: A bird flew into Michael’s Barbershop on Garth Road on the afternoon of 10/15 and the barber’s were not able to get it to leave. Eventually they did catch the bird and brought it to the Greenburgh Nature Center.
SVAC called police about an injured cat on East Parkway at 7 am on 101/6. The cat’s owners could not be identified and the cat could not walk. The New Rochelle Humane Society was called to pick up and treat the cat.
Scarsdale Police Report
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DWI: On the night of 10/9, police spotted a young lady driving a Honda with a flat tire on Tompkins Road near the police trailer. Given that she had a flat, the girl was driving too fast. Police followed the car and stopped her at the intersection of Kensington and Cohawney Road. The driver got out of the car and the officer noticed that she was off balance, had bloodshot eyes and the odor of alcohol on her breath. The 22 year-old Sleepy Hollow girl admitted to drinking “at least two large Oktoberfest beers” in White Plains. She failed sobriety tests and told police she got the flat tire when she ran into a curb in White Plains. She was given an Alco-Sensor test and found to have a BAC of .22%. She was charged with DWI and Aggravated DWI, given a court date and released on $250 to a relative.
Fare Dispute: At 3:25 am on 10/5, Mujibar Mia, a tax driver, called police when his passenger Danielle Williams of Garth Road refused to pay the fare. Williams was drunk. Subsequently a friend of hers appeared with a credit card and paid up.
Theft: A laptop computer was stolen from a car parked in the lot across from Overhill Road on September 30th. When the owner of the car returned she found that the computer, which had been left on the front seat of the car was missing. The woman thought she may have left the car unlocked.
On 10/4, A Southwoods Lane resident reported that items were taken out of her suitcase while she was on a Delta Airlines flight.
Fraud: On 10/6, a Sprague Road resident reported receiving numerous phone calls from someone who claimed to be from HSBC Bank. The caller was attempting to get a credit card number from her and was very aggressive. The calls came from several phone numbers which the woman gave to the police.
A Heathcote Road man received a letter from a credit card company rejecting an application for a credit card in his name – however he had not applied for the card. The application was filed at a Best Buy store in New Jersey. The man was advised to report the fraud to three major credit bureaus.
Egged: Kevin King from the Fox Meadow Tennis Club called police on the morning of October 3rd to report that the club had been egged. This was the second week in a row eggs had been thrown at the building. King also found beer cans and bottles on the property.
Gas Leak: The Con Edison Emergency Response team, the Scarsdale Fire Department, Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Department, the Scarsdale Building and Highway Departments, the White Plains Fire Department and the Scarsdale Police all responded to a gas leak on Farley Road in Greenacres at 11:30 am on 10/6. They secured the area, conducted checks of area homes to assess the gas levels and found that a gas main that runs from White Plains to Scarsdale, dating from 1928 had a major leak. They did a precautionary check of the Greenacres School but it was fine. A more limited area was sealed off while Con Edison made repairs.
Fire: The Fire and Police Departments responded to a fire on Gaylor Road at 11:45 pm on 10/9. They found the source of the fire in the garage and were able to extinguish it quickly. No serious damage occurred and it was caused by oil-based chemicals that were stored in the garage.
Runaway Car: At 3:34 on 10/4, an unoccupied 2005 Mazda was found at the intersection of Brewster and Olmstead Roads, stopped at the stop sign with no one inside. Police were looking for the car’s owner when Jonathan Hilpert who had been tutoring in the area arrived. He was looking for his car that had been parked further down Brewster Road. He suspects that his emergency brake failed and the car rolled into the intersection.
Nasty Neighbor: A Brewster Road man called police on the evening of 10/7 to report that his children were playing in his yard when a woman from a neighboring yard shouted expletives at them. He told police that this has happened several times.
A truck took down wires at the intersection of Walworth and Greenacres Avenues around noon on October 4th, and a large tree fell across Black Birch Lane at 1:30 on 10/4, narrowly missing a postal truck that was parked nearby.
ECC Calls for a Tax Revaluation
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The following letter from the Edgemont Community Council was submitted to the Greenburgh Town Board at its meeting on 10/12: To the Town Board of Greenburgh, The Edgemont Community Council met on October 3, 2011 and voted to ask the town to do a revaluation of taxable properties within the Town immediately.
The Town of Greenburgh and the many taxing entities within it (school and fire districts, among others) need stability in their budgeting and taxing processes, and the continuing number of tax certioraris and grievances make that impossible. We are collectively paying more than $10 million a year in tax refunds, the Town this year is borrowing money to cover these costs for the first time in its entire history, and the State Legislature says tax cert payments are not excluded from the state-mandated property tax cap, which means the money spent on tax certs may result in less money available to educate our children.
Not to mention that it has been 56 years since there has been any revaluation of taxable properties in Greenburgh.
It is way past time for a revaluation.
We also believe that waiting for the county to act, or for special legislation from the State Legislature to enact "hardship provisions" for Greenburgh residents is political gamesmanship. No county action or state-enacted hardship provisions were needed for those towns and villages in Westchester that have already approved revaluation, including the City of Rye, and the Villages of Bronxville and Pelham Manor.
Common sense says that it is time for revaluation.
We know that voting for revaluation will require an act of political courage from the members of the Town Board – as voters and taxpayers, we have the right to expect such courage from our elected officials.
Sincerely,
Geoff Loftus
PresidentThe Edgemont Community Council
Another Burglary in Greenacres and Vandals at the Middle School?
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Burglary: For the second week in a row, Greenacres residents were the victims of burglary. A Greenacres Avenue home was robbed on the morning of 9/29. When the resident returned home around noon she realized that intruders had gone to the second floor of the house and stolen a safe. Police found that a glass panel on the back door was broken and the door was forced open. The woman reported that she had recently had workman at the house --- and that a roofer had been inside the house in the room where the safe was located on September 24th. A similar incident occurred on Windmill Road last week.
Damage: A policeman, responding to an alarm discovered a shattered in the technology classroom on the upper level of the Scarsdale Middle School at 1:42 am on 10/3. Only the exterior of the window was broken and police did not find additional damage during an initial inspection of the school. However, when police inspected the lower level, they found a second classroom window broken and a small stone underneath that window. It was later determined that both windows were broken as a result of weedtrimming at the school.
On the morning of 9/29, an employee from Lange’s Deli found that someone had damaged the storm door overnight, breaking a few hinges while pulling the door off.
Fraud: A Fox Meadow Road man reported fraudulent activity on his bank account between September 25 and September 27. Using an ATM card, someone had withdrawn $9,000 in funds from his account and the account was subsequently frozen.
A School Lane woman almost became the victim of fraud when she responded to an employment ad on Careerbuilder.com. She responded to the ad on 9/20 and on 9/21 received an email stating that she was hired. Sensing something was amiss, she emailed back and said she was no longer interested. Ignoring her email, the prospective “employer” said he was mailing her three cash money orders from Manila and instructed her to cash them. A letter arrived in the mail with three CVS money orders, each for $950. Police instructed her to email once again that she was not interested in the job and had turned the money orders over to the police.
Threats: A woman who works at Scarsdale Synagogue reported the receipt of a threatening letter sometime during the week of 9/23. She suspected that a former employee might be the source of the letter as the synagogue has had recent cutbacks.
Kids: A Ridgedale Road man called police at 8:30 pm on 9/29 when he found empty beer cans and water bottles strewn across his front lawn. He had not seen anyone outside.
On Saturday night 10/1 an Innes Road man called to complain that youths were peeing on his lawn. Though police could not find the kids on the man’s property, there was a party going on at a neighbor’s home and police spoke to the parents at the house about the incident.
There were several complaints on Saturday night 10/1 between 10 and 11 pm about a loud party on Gorham Road. Police asked the residents to keep the students inside but after the police left, the kids went back out and got loud again.
Locks: A Cornell Street man called police on the night of 10/1 when he was locked inside his bathroom. The lock had malfunctioned and he was stuck. The Fire Department arrived and removed the bathroom door from its hinges to free the man.
Doris Morse of Wilmot Road locked her keys inside her car when it was parked at Balducci’s on September 26. R&D Towing responded and opened the car.
Found: A Church Lane woman found a backpack in the bushes on her property containing a driver’s license, money and a laptop computer. She tried to reach the backpack’s owner but was unable to find him. In the meantime the man called police in search of the backpack and police returned it to him.
Runaway Driver: A Walworth Avenue man called police at 5 am on 9/29 when a car swerved and pulled onto the curb. The female driver got out of the car and ran toward Fenimore Road without closing the car door. Police searched the area but were unable to find the car or the driver.
Dispute: On October 2, a Stratton Road man asked police to accompany him back to his house to prevent continuation of an earlier dispute with his wife
