We Lost A Good Man
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Lieutenant Bryant Clark, a 30-year veteran of the Scarsdale Police Force retired in February. Among the many position he held at the force was the role of Public Information Officer which is how I got to know him. Lieutenant Clark was in charge of providing reports to the press and we spoke on a weekly basis for several years when he provided me with the police report. He was always kind, thoughtful and full of insights about the community --and by working with him I came to the realization that the Scarsdale Police are on the side of the residents and only want what’s best for the community. This was confirmed when I watched him serve as a mentor to many Scarsdale students whom he welcomed to the department for their Alternative School Internships or Senior Options projects. He was one of a kind and is already missed.
Here is a brief interview with Lieutenant Clark:
How many years have you worked in Scarsdale?
I worked in Scarsdale for just about 30 years having started on October 26, 1981. It is a day that I will never forget. I was 21 years old and excited to start my career in law enforcement as it was always what I wanted to do in life in terms of a career.
What was your background before joining the team here?
I had recently graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration with a Specialization in Finance. I also had an Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice.
What positions did you hold during your tenure?
I pretty much held every position that the department had. I was a Patrol Officer, Patrol Sergeant, Support Services Sergeant, Patrol Lieutenant and Detective Lieutenant. As the Detective Lieutenant I also served as the Public Information Officer.
How has the force changed during the time you served?
I would have to say that the greatest change has to do with technology. That is probably been true of every job and profession over the last 30 years. We dispatch assignments to the car via computer and officers can complete their reports right from their vehicles. That was unheard of when I was a Patrol Officer.
Have parents and students attitudes changed over the years? If so, in what way?
I think that they have stayed pretty consistent actually. This is a community that has always put a high priority on youth issues and the police department has always recognized and addressed this priority.
What about the nature of crime in Scarsdale? Have you seen shifts in the kinds of crime we experience here?
Property crime has always been the most common crimes that occur in the Village of Scarsdale. The way that those crimes occur though has shifted somewhat. While we still have burglaries and an occasional auto theft, identity theft has become quite common. Of course that is a national trend so we aren't unique in this regard.
Were there any memorable cases you investigated and settled?
There have been many memorable cases that I have been involved with over my 14 years being in charge of the Investigation Section. Certainly the one with the highest profile was the simultaneous jewelry store robberies that occurred in the downtown business area. We worked on that case for the better part of six months. We had a great team working on that case with Det. Sgt. Anthony Filancia and Dets. Richard Fatigate, Russell Morvant and Mark Thomas. All of the individuals arrested received long prison sentences. As it turned out they were responsible for 25 robberies in three states so it was satisfying to get such dangerous individuals off the street.
What would you like to do with your time now?
Well I am currently weighing that now. I have taught at a local college for a number of years now and will continue to do that. While a member of the department I attended law school and have been a member of the New York State Bar for many years. I hope to be more active in the legal profession and hopefully do some good for people. I would like to do some writing, travel and keep in contact with my friends on the Scarsdale Police Department and in the community. I have met many wonderful people here. I will also stay active in the law enforcement community as I plan to stay active with the Westchester County Detective's Association.
We asked Chief John Brogan for a few words on Bryant Clark and here is what he had to say: “I have worked with Lt. Clark for close to thirty years and we enjoyed a productive relationship. I will miss him on a personal level and the Police Department will miss his acumen and expertise.”
“He had an affable personality and worked well with the press and the many community advocacy groups that he dealt with in his capacity as Detective Lieutenant. He was well respected by advocates for victims of domestic violence. I was in the bank the week after he retired and a former Village Mayor who is active in domestic violence issues approached me and the first thing he said was that the Police Department had lost a good man. I could only agree with him.”
Local Band to Play at Vintage
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On Saturday night March 26 The Del Bocas -- a 6-member rock band of Scarsdale and Edgemont residents - will perform at Vintage in White Plains at 9 pm. The band includes: Dan Bernstein (Greenacres), Dave Cannon (Fox Meadow), Dan Groner (Fox Meadow), Erika Radin (Fox Meadow), John Soler (Edgemont), and Eric Wayne (Edgemont).
There is a $10 cover charge.
The Del Bocas
Vintage
171 Main Street
White Plains, NY
Saturday, March 26 at 9 pm
Register Now to Vote in the School Budget Election on Tuesday, May 17
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With the Scardale Village election behind us, the Board of Education wants to prepare residents for the school budget vote on Tuesday May 17, 2011. If you want to vote in the May election, there is no better time to register than now, and here is how to do it.
Westchester County registration-by-mail forms are available in the main office of every school. You may also access the form at http://citizenparticipation.westchestergov.com/register-to-vote . Anyone who delivers or mails one of these registration forms to the County Board of Elections will be registered with Westchester County and also considered to be registered with the school district. Mailed registration forms must be received by the County Board of Elections in time to be processed by May 17, 2011, the date of the vote.
In addition, anyone may register for school district voting with the School District's Board of Registration at the offices of the Board of Education located in the High School (Brewster Road side of the school) as follows:
- Tuesday, May 10, 2011 - between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
- Thursday, May 12, 2011 - between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
The deadline for registration at the Board of Education office is May 12, 2011.
Absentee ballots are available for the budget vote and election after Monday April 18 and you can apply for the absentee ballot now:
1. Anyone who is registered and will not be in Westchester County for the vote on May 17, 2011, may apply for an absentee ballot by mail or in person. Application forms are immediately available from Lois Rehm, the District Clerk, in the Board of Education offices in the High School (contact her at 721-2410 or lrehm@scarsdaleschools.org ). The absentee ballots will not be available until after Monday, April 18, 2011.
2. If the application is to be mailed to the voter, the voter must return the completed application in time for it to be received by the Clerk seven days before the election Tuesday, May 10, 2011.
3. If completed applications are delivered personally, they must be received by the District Clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. the day before the election Monday, May 16, 2011.
4. All absentee ballots must be delivered to the Clerk’s office no later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the vote, Tuesday, May 17, 2011.
Take care of registering to vote or applying for an absentee ballot now so that you can participate in this important upcoming vote.
Letter From Write-in Candidate Robert Selvaggio
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Here’s a letter to the site from Robert Selvaggio who was a write-in candidate for Village Trustee in the Tuesday March 15 election, reflecting on the events of the week:
Joanne: By providing an open forum for Scarsdale citizens to disseminate information and express their views, you are of course doing great service to the community. Thank you! However, it's understandable that the interests of the community at large and certain private interests will often clash -- and that explains the motivation of these individuals for impugning your motives and hurling false accusations at you.
We corresponded and spoke for first time on Monday, and I admire your persistence in tracking me down and extracting a statement (by the way, I still have no idea who was behind this "sinister plot" to write us in, but in retrospect I am glad they hatched it). Scarsdale voters wanted to know more, and your website was the only medium that gave us the information we needed to vote intelligently. After posting our comments in your "Candidates Speak Out" column, my phone didn't stop ringing and my "inboxes" at work and at home were jammed. There was no possibility of going to work that day.
Neighbors I hadn't met previously called to ask whether I registered all my home improvements over the years at Town Hall and whether I paid nanny taxes for Maggie, our popular babysitter who was with us for eighteen years. Fair questions of a candidate -- how can a Trustee have the moral authority to tax others if he himself won't pay his fair and legal share? (Yes, all my home improvements were registered over the years, and we faithfully paid all nanny taxes and insurance). How would I as an economist evaluate the risk-return (from both an EBITDA and social perspective) tradeoffs of the proposed SCC project? What was my view on the "affordable housing" initiative? Do I understand that roundabouts are safer than traditional intersections and old-time traffic circles? A recently-minted MBA e-mailed a question about my thoughts of an article in "Wired" magazine that blamed the financial crisis on a particular mathematical technique used by quantitative analysts (I wonder how my answer impacted her decision at the voting booth!) People actually "Googled" my name, examined my Linked-in profile, and read a recent article on the "Monoline Meltdown" I was invited to post. Upon request, I sent out 14 CVs, and when I was told that one Scarsdale organization that I recently joined didn't know enough about me to support the write-in candidates, I sent out many more. I don't think I distributed more resumes since I looked for a summer internship in 1982. It's all about information; people want more of it, not less.
I'm told that we actually received in the neighborhood of 200 votes, not the 130-140 reported. There are clearly spelling and logistical challenges to writing-in candidates, so many ballots could not be counted in the official tally. I am proud of the votes Sharon and I received -- we did not campaign or hand out flyers or even ask for votes at the train stations -- our votes surely came from the information people could gather from Scarsdale10583 and from their own follow-up due diligence. And no one (including me!) even knew there was a write-in initiative until last Friday. Over a thousand of us voted -- that's a new record and that's just terrific, and you deserve much credit for that.
I have been encouraged to run again next year, and to do it again through the CNC nominating process that has served us well for many years. I will do just that. And I look forward to communicating with my friends and neighbors via Scarsdale10583.
Regards,
Bob Selvaggio
Local Station Pumps Tainted Gas
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At over $4 a gallon, when you buy premium gas, you assume you are getting high quality fuel. However, it turns out that some local residents weren’t even lucky enough to get gas at a “Getty” Station at 755 White Plains Post Road in Eastchester in early February. Customers at the station actually had a mixture of gas and water pumped into their tanks and their cars stopped dead within a few miles of the station.
One of the victims, Peter Zurkow of Fox Meadow, is aware of six cases of cars that were damaged by the watered down gas. He estimates that together the six victims paid around $7,000 in repairs, and that doesn’t include the cost of the tainted gas, towing or loss of use of their cars. Though he suspects there were many more victims, someone would need to be permitted to comb through the records at the station to determine if others were affected.
It turns out that despite the signage, the station is not a Getty affiliate, but is independently owned by Sam Jacoby who has not made himself available for comment.
Zurkow called both the Eastchester and Scarsdale Police who told him it was a civil not a criminal matter and instructed him to contact the station owner. However when Zurkow got no response from him, he called the County Health Department, which regulates environmental issues and the County Consumer Protection Department that regulates weights and measures. Zurkow filed a complaint with the County and also filed a FOIL request so that he could see the department’s findings.
In the report, which he received on March 7, it shows that the Westchester County Department of Health sent investigators to the station on February 11 in response to a complaint. They tested the contents of the gas tanks and found that the Premium tank contained five inches of water and the station was closed down by the fire department. It appeared that rainwater leaked into the tank via breaks in the piping.
The County has scheduled a hearing but it is not clear whether they can order the station owner to reimburse buyers for the damage done to their cars. No one knows if the station owners' insurance will pay for the claims, but since Sam Jacoby has not returned calls or text messages Zurkow and the others may have to file in small claims court to get their money back.
So next time you ride up to the pump, caveat emptor!
