Local Campaigns Heat Up
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With just weeks to go until Election Day on Tuesday November 2, local campaigns are heating up.
State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer has gone on the offensive with a new television commercial and large four-color mailer that calls her opponent Bob Cohen a slumlord and contends that he allowed drug dealers to operate on his property. The mailer says, “if we can’t trust him (Cohen) to keep drugs away from our kids, how can we possibly trust him to clean up Albany?”
The photos on the mailer depict crumbling buildings and an unflattering profile of Cohen, who many in Scarsdale know as a wonderful father, generous landlord and all-round good guy. According to Scarsdale resident Anne Lyons the mailer was “shocking,” and “the smear campaign is unproductive and detracts from a healthy discussion of the issues.”
In response to these charges, Cohen has released a new television commercial which you can see here. An email from the Cohen campaign explains, “The fact is Bob Cohen has built a successful business improving neighborhoods,” said spokesman Josh Hills. “He buys old, decaying buildings that have been mismanaged and neglected, are not up to code, often arrears on taxes, and renovates them into safe homes for moderate-income families. The investments he makes in upgrades improve the properties, improve neighborhoods and create jobs. Senator Oppenheimer should be ashamed for stooping so low as to attack Bob for fixing pre-existing violations.”
In other campaign news, Cohen is airing a second commercial on local television, and held a gathering in Heathcote to greet friends and tell them more about his campaign.
In other campaign news, Cohen is airing a second commercial on local television, and held a gathering in Heathcote to greet friends and tell them more about his campaign. On September 30th he held a press conference at the Galleria in White Plains to warn Westchester shoppers of a new clothing tax that is now in effect. Cohen charged Democrats with “swindling” Westchester taxpayers, and pledged to reverse the tax and spend policies of Senate Democrats and shelve the clothing tax.
The tax, that went into effect on October first in New York State, is a 4 percent sales tax on clothing and footwear costing $110 or less. According to Cohen, “This is yet another case where Albany’s career politicians are hurting New York families, and this tax represents only a fraction of the $4 billion in new taxes enacted in this year’s state budget. Families and small businesses across the state are cutting back, but over the last two years, Senator Oppenheimer and her allies in the Legislature have hiked income taxes, raised business taxes, eliminated STAR property tax relief checks, and increased fees on everything from motor vehicle registrations to fishing licenses. The clothing tax is particularly damaging because it impacts middle-class and low-income families the most, and hurts small retailers by driving commerce to other states.”
On September 28 Oppenheimer was endorsed by Choice Matters, a group that works to get pro-choice candidates elected and appointed at every level of government. In announcing the endorsement, Choice Matters President said, "Suzi Oppenheimer and Andrea Stewart-Cousins have spent their careers fighting for women’s reproductive freedom and—as some of you may know—freedom does not come cheap. We need these women! They have put their political capital on the line for us and now we need to make sure they are returned to the New York State Senate this November.”
Meanwhile, State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin who faces Republican Rene Atayan, has also been campaigning and updating her constituents on new legislation. Her bill to limit underage alcohol consumption and drinking and driving has been signed into law by Governor Paterson. The bill encourages bars and restaurants to have their servers participate in alcohol training awareness programs.
“The use of fake IDs can lead to underage drinking and drunk driving -- problems that can be devastating to a community,” said Assemblywoman Paulin. “These programs can help decrease alcohol-related incidents in New York by teaching employees, as well as bar and restaurant owners how to spot underage individuals while protecting their business.”
You can meet both candidates on Tuesday October 19 at 7:30 pm when the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale will host a Candidate's Forum in the Scott Room of the Scarsdale Public Library.
State Senator Suzi Oppenheimer and Republican nominee for State Senate Robert Cohen will attend as well as State Assemblywomen Amy Paulin and her challenger Rene Atayan. Each candidate will make a brief statement and then they will answer questions posed by the League.
More Bad News for Andrew Zayac
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According to the Danbury News Times, there was more bad news for Scarsdale’s Andrew Zayac in Bridgeport Court on Monday when a federal grand jury returned additional charges of conspiring to use a firearm in a crime of violence and destruction of evidence.
Zayac and Herbito Gonzales of the Bronx are accused of robbing and murdering Bronx drug dealer Edward Rivera and dumping his body in Danbury in February 2009. The government contends that Zayac and Gonzalez set up a meeting with Rivera to buy 80 pounds of pot on February 8, 2009. Rather than pay for the drugs, they shot Rivera and then dumped his body near the Padanaram Reservoir where it was found two days later. When they returned to the Bronx they burned the Jeep they had driven to destroy the evidence. Investigators obtained a search warrant to go into the Zayac’s home and found 50 pounds of marijuana.
Before these new charges were made, Gonzales’ trial was to begin on October 4, but it has now been postponed until January 11, 2011. According to their lawyers, Zayac and Gonzales will be tried separately as they both made statements to the police that would incriminate the other man. Zayac will be tried in February, 2011.
Andrew Zayac was a star soccer player at Scarsdale High School, and graduated from SHS in 1998. In 2000, county police arrested him and two others for allegedly possessing more than 1,000 ecstasy pills. Zayac is the son of Linda Zayac, a treasured member of the staff of the Greenacres School, and Bob Zayac, a popular soccer coach who now runs the Soccer Camp for the Village of Scarsdale.
Chamber of Commerce Debates Village Events
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The September meeting of the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce became contentious on Tuesday evening September 21, as members gathered for a meeting at Rothmans on Boniface Circle.
Under the leadership of Lewis Arlt at Houlihan Lawrence the membership has grown to 85 members and now includes traditional retailers as well as banks and service providers. Members snacked on delicious refreshments provided by Lange’s and the new Good Life Gourmet and had the chance to get reacquainted with members of the Scarsdale business community.
Village Planner Liz Marrinan was invited to update the group on the Comprehensive Village Plan as well as a proposal to change the parking requirements for restaurants to make it feasible to bring more eateries into the village. Surveys done for the Comprehensive Plan revealed that residents would like a livelier downtown with more restaurants and cultural events. As a consequence, the Planning Board is studying the parking requirements, which now dictate that restaurants pay a steep fee to the village to finance the required number of parking spots, which are double the number for restaurants than they are for retail stores. Marrinan’s initial work shows that Scarsdale’s parking requirements for restaurants are far more restrictive than neighboring towns such as Bronxville, Rye and Larchmont. Relaxed requirements would allow the village to convert retail locations like the former Waterworks space into restaurants and apparently the village has already received many inquiries from restaurateurs who wish to open in the Village.
She said that the Planning Board will soon hold public hearings on the issue and invited the membership to attend.
She also provided an update on the Popham Road Bridge, currently under construction. Three lanes should remain open during all phases of the project and ultimately there will be ten-foot sidewalks on either side of a five-lane bridge. The entire bridge is scheduled for completion by November 2011 and the total cost is of the work is estimated to be $17.2 million.
Mayor Carolyn Stevens was also on hand and concurred with Marrinan that changing the parking requirements could lead to a livelier downtown. She asked the retailers to consider remaining open at night to bring shoppers and diners to the Village in the evening.
The conversation grew heated when Arlt brought up the summer Sidewalk Sale. Though it had been a successful sale, several retailers were angry that vendors who did not own stores were permitted to set up tables directly in front of retail stores and sell competitive merchandise. Since the Village has several jewelry stores, they felt that it was not right to have outsiders selling jewelry on the sidewalk and asked that this policy be reconsidered. A sub-committee was formed to edit the Chamber by-laws to avoid a similar situation in the future while still inviting businesses and organizations without a location in the Village to participate.
Similarly, the Fine Arts Festival, which was held on Father’s Day weekend, was also the subject of debate. Many of the artists had set up booths directly in front of store windows, preventing customers from accessing Village stores on this popular shopping weekend. The streets of the Village were closed to accommodate the artists and with little parking available, residents stayed away from downtown and did not make Father’s Day gift purchases. A local art dealer felt that the quality of the art was poor and that the festival had little benefit to Scarsdale.
As it was successful for the show producer and did bring foot traffic to the Village, the Chamber has been considering repeating it next year. But the retailers contended that the Festival producers gain was their loss. Retailers were adamant that they did not want to host another festival in the Village and asked that it be set up at Village Hall. Arlt promised to consider the memberships’ concerns and to formulate a new plan for the festival.
Watch for upcoming events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, including the Scarsdale Concours on October 17, Halloween Window Painting on October 24 and tree lighting on December 3.
Welcome New Patrolmen
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The Scarsdale Police Department held an orientation ceremony for new officers at 5 pm on Wednesday September 22nd at Village Hall. The ceremony marked the hiring of four new officers who will be on patrol in Scarsdale. Watch out for them and they will watch out for you.
Pictured here, from left to right are Paul Zavadil, Eric Logiudice, Chief Brogan, Dinis Castro, Anthony Gaudio and Esther Davis who has been working at the switchboard and dispatching duties since August 4th. Officers Zavadil and Logiudice are new policemen and Castro and Gaudio have transferred to Scarsdale from other communities.
New Voting Machines
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The New York State primary election was held on Tuesday September 14 and the new voting machines were as big a part of the story as the candidates. Attendance was light at our local poll where there were far more people working the election than voting. We went down to check out the new machines and did find the system to be easy to understand, as there were only two races on the ballot. In November, when there will be more contests and many more voters, the new system will be put to the test.
Below are comments on the new scanners from our political columnist David Singer:
I just returned from voting in the primary election -- for the first time using the new, federally mandated, three-step paper ballot optical scanner vote counting device. And I'm not sure how well this will work in the long run. I went to my polling location and signed into the voter registry like I've always done. Then, one of the election clerks peeled off a ballot from a stack of ballots -- and handed it to me and directed me to a free-standing three sided table to fill out my ballot. There I found something akin to a Sharpie indelible marker (the smudge hasn't come off my hand yet). Completing the ballot is easy if you've ever filled out an absentee ballot or taken a standardized test. But then -- and here's where the multitudinous breakdowns will occur -- I had to slip the completed ballot into some absurd, cumbersome, oversized file folder. I then handed the file folder to another election clerk (privacy issues, anyone?) who made sure to have the correct end of my ballot stick out of the absurd, cumbersome, oversized file folder. Then the clerk (not me) shoved the end of the ballot (and not the absurd, cumbersome, oversized file folder) into the optical scanner. This act of insertion was quite similar to how you stick a dollar bill into a vending machine (which inevitably, 3 out of 4 times, spits your dollar back out at you, especially if you're really thirsty) -- and voila! My vote was cast -- or so it seems.
While I found the process relatively easy, any process that contains multiple steps is quite likely to break down somewhere along the line. But the most concerning aspect of my voting experience today was that it was relatively easy for the assisting election clerk to see who I voted for -- since he/she is integral to the process of getting the ballot scanned in. That will need to be fixed. Stay tuned for the inevitable deluge of problems and complaints.
