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Published: 16 May 2018

Created: 16 May 2018

Last Updated: 17 May 2018

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With founder Maggie Favretti retiring this spring, the SHS Garden enters a new season. Over the ten years since Favretti and her first “Garden Club” broke ground, thousands of pounds of hand-grown organic food has found its way to local soup kitchens and food pantries, and new Sustainable Garden Project advisor Amanda Filley looks forward to continuing that tradition. The garden also provides an outdoor classroom for all departments, and an experience of sustainable food production that builds confidence and collaborative problem solving skills. Maggie Favretti in the gardenFilley aims to emphasize wellness and the garden’s role in creating well communities and in reducing student stress. Come join them for their annual spring celebration and volunteer day, May 19 from 9:00am until 3:00pm. Bring the kids, bring a potluck, they’ll provide the tools and the fun at 1057 Post Rd, Scarsdale. Meet the new club and advisors. Yalies, this is also a Yale Day of Service, so Go Blue-Green and don’t forget to register on the Yale Day of Service website. If you cannot come to the Spring Volunteer Celebration Day, but would like to be involved, they are looking for people who would be willing to volunteer in the garden periodically during the summer. Please contact [email protected] to RSVP for the Volunteer Day (May 19) or to volunteer.

Memories of John Waters Requested:

Longtime SHS Math Teacher John Waters is also retiring from Scarsdale High School this year. Did you have him as a teacher? If so, please send Mr. Vermes your memories, anecdotes, or stories at [email protected] as soon as possible so they can be included when honoring Mr. Waters' retirement.

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Published: 09 May 2018

Created: 09 May 2018

Last Updated: 10 May 2018

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These letters in support of School Board candidates Woody Crouch and Pam Feuhrer were sent to Scarsdale10583 for publication. The election is on Tuesday May 15 from 7 am to 9 pm at Scarsdale Middle School from candidate for Scarsdale School Board Woodrow Crouch:

To My Scarsdale Neighbors:

I am honored and humbled that the School Board Nominating Committee selected me as a candidate for the nonpartisan slate. As a 40 year resident of Edgewood, with 5 grandchildren in the Scarsdale schools, I offer a long term perspective.

I have a MSME from Columbia and was honored by my alma mater, the US Merchant Marine Academy for exemplifying “ACTA NON VERBA” (Deeds Not Words). I have worked to exemplify this motto throughout my life.

I have a long commitment to serving the children in our community through volunteerism. As a past coach Candidate Woodrow Crouch with grandson Simonand Chair of the Edgewood Athletic Association, I insisted upon an inclusive approach to all children. Currently as a badge counsellor with Scarsdale Boy Scout Troop 2, I enjoy mentoring youth on Engineering, Energy, and Communication.

I welcome the opportunity to assist the school district as it seeks to refurbish and innovate our schools’ facilities in ways that will enhance the learning environment. As a leader in the utility industry, including 30 years at the New York Power Authority, I managed billion dollar engineering projects and developed my ability to work with construction, budgets, timelines, and unions.

As a board and committee member, I listen, care about the mission, and respect colleagues, staff and community partners. At Sturge-Weber Foundation, I have worked to maximize positive board dynamics and advocate for children’s needs. From my neighborhood work as SNAP President, to my national service as President of US Society on Dams, and Construction Committee Chair, I collaborated and built consensus at different levels.

I plan to contribute thoughtful guidance and build consensus for future issues and priorities facing the Scarsdale school board. I invite the community to visit www.woodyforboe.com to learn more about me. 

Woodrow W. Crouch

Letter from Suzanne Seiden in support of Pam Fuehrer

I write in support of Pam Fuehrer for School Board. As a former member of the School Board for 6 years, including one year as President, I Pam Fuehrerrespect the School Board nominating process and the candidates who were nominated by the process this year.

However, I believe the School Board Nominating Committee made a mistake; I know Pam Fuehrer, and our community needs Pam to continue to serve on the School Board.

Here are the three things you need to know about Pam:

First, Pam is EXPERIENCED.

Pam has served on the School Board for the past three years becoming familiar with the critical issues facing our children and our schools; she served with integrity, professionalism and dedication. For the past 14 years, Pam has been actively engaged in many facets of our schools and community (you can read Pam’s bio at pamforboe.com). Pam is passionate about making the Scarsdale Schools the best they can be for our children.

Second, Pam is a LEADER.

Pam is a leader who regularly seeks input, listens to voices in the community, asks insightful questions, builds consensus and makes thoughtful decisions. Pam will continue to help lead the Board as it faces critical issues such as: keeping our curriculum cutting edge; negotiations for contracts; and navigating the impact of the new tax law’s limit on state and local tax deductibility.

Third, Pam is a MENTOR.

Next year, three of the seven seats will be open and two must be filled by first-term Board members. The following year, two more will be open and filled by first-term Board members. No matter how qualified, all new Board members will have a steep learning curve. Pam will be an extraordinary mentor to new Board members as the Board faces critical issues.

Several years ago, a similar situation occurred with the Village Trustee Election. When Deb Pekarek was not re-nominated by the Citizens Nominating Committee, voters wrote her name on the ballot and elected her for a second term. The nominating system survived and continues to be supported by the community.

The same is true with this year’s school Board election. The community can right this ship by voting for Pam and still support the system in the future.

I urge you to VOTE FOR PAM…..EXPERIENCED, LEADER and MENTOR.

Suzanne Seiden
22 Fairway Drive
Mamaroneck

Letter from Marc Carter, Jackie Irwin, and Jill Spieler in support of Pam Fuehrer

Pam Fuehrer has the credentials, experience and personal qualities that merit a second term on the Board of Education. We urge voters to choose her in the school board election on Tuesday, May 15 at the Scarsdale Middle School.

Pam’s academic achievements - Wellesley cum laude and Columbia Business School - and management consulting career underscore the strength of her intelligence and multifaceted skills. She has been deeply engaged in school and community volunteer life for several years. She exhibited strong leadership skills in PTA, the League of Women Voters and the Junior League of Westchester.

She has earned the respect of a broad segment of the community. As a result of her prodigious volunteer work, she brings a strong understanding of the interests of both the parent community and those of us who care deeply about our schools.

Pam is committed to assuring the strength of our schools. She understands and supports improvements in curriculum, including STEAM and the latest, most impactful ways to use technology in student and professional development, all with the goal of preparing Scarsdale students for success in the 21st century.

All three of us served on prior Scarsdale school boards. We understand the importance of the qualities needed to be effective board members - proven leadership skills, high level of intelligence, good judgement, high energy level and extensive community connections. Pam brings all of these qualities to her position. She has been a solid board member of and a strong candidate for a leadership role on the Board of Education.

As longtime residents and community volunteers, we have also had the privilege of serving on our School and Village nominating committees. We have the utmost respect for those who volunteer to run for election and then spend many hours researching and deliberating prospective nominees. The process has worked well for our schools and community. At the same time, voters can and should exercise their judgement about who can better represent the interests and priorities of our community. Pam Fuehrer deserves our vote.

Marc Carter
101 Catherine Road

Jackie Irwin
51 Drake Road

Jill Spieler
33 Claremont Road

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Published: 30 April 2018

Created: 30 April 2018

Last Updated: 02 May 2018

Hits: 5168

Joanne LipmanThe 2018 Westchester Community College Celebrity Salon Series kicked off on April 19 with a talk by the prolific University of Texas historian H.W. Brands. Each spring, friends of the Foundation host notable speakers at intimate salons. These exclusive events, held inside some of the most beautiful homes in the county, help raise money for student scholarships. Upcoming talks — ranging from arts and culture topics to gender politics issues and from criminal justice questions to cutting-edge approaches to handling climate change — will take place between now and mid-June.

Coming up on Thursday, May 3rd is veteran journalist Joanne Lipman addresses solutions to issues such as harassment in the workplace and the gender pay gap in her new book, That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together. Lipman, who most recently served as chief content officer of Gannett and editor-in-chief of USA Today, was the first female deputy managing editor at The Wall Street Journal and founding editor-in-chief of Portfolio, a business magazine. Sign up to hear anecdotes culled from Lipman’s extensive interviews for the book, current statistics from across the globe, as well as personal tales from Lipman’s own experience.

Annette Libeskind BerkovitsOne of the featured speakers Annette Libeskind Berkovits thought her attempt to have her father record his historically significant personal story for posterity had failed. But three years after his death, she found a box of tapes detailing his spectacular triumphs and tragedies. In The Unlikeliest of Places, Berkovits details how Nachman Libeskind survived a pre-war Polish prison; witnessed the 1939 Nazi invasion of Lodz; was held in a brutal Soviet gulag, where he helped his fellow inmates persevere; and upon regaining his freedom, trekked the foothills of the Himalayas, where he found the love of his life. Later, lingering postwar anti-Semitism in communist Poland drove Nachman and his young family to Israel, before making the United States their home. Leona Kern will be hosting his salon on Wednesday, May 9th at 6:00pm in her Scarsdale home while guests listen to this personal account of how the power of the human spirit endures.

Carla HarrisAnother salon hosted by Sharon Cunningham Jaccoma and Brian Jaccoma spotlights Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman, Managing Director and Senior Client Advisor Carla Harris. Harris is known as a real Wall Street standout and model for other women. Appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council, Harris has been included on Fortune’s list of The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America multiple times, as well as many others including Black Enterprise’s Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business last year. The author of two books about how to succeed, and an accomplished gospel singer to boot, Harris once vowed that when she reached senior management, and people came to her for advice, she would provide them with the tools and strategies that helped her achieve her goals.

To sign up for these or the six remaining salons, click here.

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Written by: Laura Halligan

Published: 26 April 2018

Created: 26 April 2018

Last Updated: 26 April 2018

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At Tuesday’s Scarsdale Village Board of Trustees meeting, Beth Bermel, Director of the Scarsdale Public Library, and Dara Gruenberg, co-chair of the Scarsdale Public Library Capital Campaign, announced that the campaign had met their ambitious fundraising goal to finance the renovation of Scarsdale Library and shared updates about the library’s interim loft space. Bermel began by stating, “We are so fortunate to have a new, clean, bright space to call home for a short time. To quote Shakespeare, ‘Though she be but little, she is fierce.’ While we don’t have a lot of space, we plan to serve the community as best we can.” She also said that construction bids have been received and are being reviewed… and expressed thanks to the community and government administration for their help in the process.

Gruenberg then followed with an important announcement. “When the Village Board passed the resolution to move forward with this renovation in December 2016, it was contingent upon the Library Capital Campaign Committee to raise $7.5 million. Only 16 months later, I am thrilled and proud to inform you that we have met our obligation to the Village.” She went on, “However, that is not all. We have surpassed it. To date, we have raised over $7.8 million.”

Gruenberg also reminded residents that the matching challenge is ongoing, and asked the public to donate to the effort. “We know some people have been waiting to see if the project is really happening before they contribute - well, the project is happening… As we embark on construction, we all know that issues can arise; there will undoubtedly be unforeseen needs... Your ongoing giving will fund technology, investments in the makerspace, and accelerate delayed equipment purchases… Now is a great time to contribute because you will double your impact.”

She concluded her remarks by thanking past and present village and library board members for their support for the project, and acknowledged the work of Library Director Bermel and capital campaign committee members. “I believe, years from now, future generations of Scarsdalians will look back and see this time in our village’s history as a shining example of the incredible things we can accomplish as a community when we work together for the common good.”

Water Rate Discussion Continues
As spring finally has arrived in Scarsdale, many homeowners are thinking of turning on their lawn sprinkler systems, power washing their decks and patios, and/or replenishing their pool water. Fittingly, in his opening remarks, Mayor Dan Hochvert referenced recent criticisms with regard to the Village’s proposed water rate increases and provided some background about “water in Scarsdale.”

New York City controls much of Scarsdale’s water operations through setting the base rate of water usage, and had determined a while back that 3.5 percent the basic rate would help to achieve general water conservation goals. Hochvert pointed out that the basic rate in NYC is different from Scarsdale, due to the absence of lawns, swimming pools and other factors that drive usage here. He further explained that the rate of multiplication that NYC has been charging has been dropping, but ongoing litigation may cause an increase in water rates. Previous Scarsdale boards haven’t reduced the Scarsdale rates, pending outcome of this case, to maintain consistency in fees for residents. “We held off, until this year, to meet the rate that NYC expects.”

“However,” Hochvert explained, “the cost of water is somewhere plus or minus 35 percent of the total cost of running the water department. Over the last 10 years, there has not been a noticeable change in usage, based on the 3.5 (excess usage rate) or… the proposed three. It seems very unlikely that (charging excess usage rates) is the best way to conserve.” He then added, “If residents who pay three times the base rate were to reduce their usage by half, the base rate would need to double, because they are subsidizing those who use less water… almost two-thirds of the cost of running the water department is not related to the water... How can three times as much be a discount?”

Scarsdale Village Manager Steve Pappalardo later elaborated on water rates and the rationale behind the recent rate increase, which is effective as of March 2018. “There has been increased discussion in the community... (with) the primary concern being the reduction of the multiplier used to establish the excess rate, coupled with the increase in the base rate,” he said. Scarsdale purchases its water wholesale from the New York City Water Supply System and establishes annual water rates at a higher level to fully support the village’s water utility’s operating and capital expenses. Pappalardo stated, “The water fund has mitigated rate increases through the planned use of fund balance over the past decade, as the Village completed major capital improvements and necessary upgrades to our two pumping stations, as well as making a partial payment to the New York City Water Board over a longstanding legal dispute regarding methodology of determining base and excess water rates.” He continued, “Village water customers benefitted from the use of fund balance for these items by paying the lowest entitlement water rates in the county over this period, with Scarsdale’s current rate remaining at or near the bottom of the list. By comparison, the excess rate has been one of the highest countywide over the same period.”

Pappalardo went on to say that, in 2016, the Village Board decided that the excess rate multiplier should be consistent with New York City’s excess rate multiplier, as charged to the village on the wholesale rate. “New York City’s excess rate has declined over the past five years, with no changes over the past two. The current excess rate multiplier is currently 2.94 times the base rate. The village’s adopted 2018 decrease… from 3.5 times to 3 times the base rate is in response to New York City’s reduced excess rate, in order to maintain consistency with the Village Board’s longstanding policy.” He added, “The revenues generated from the sale of water are disproportionately provided through the sale of excess water. Applying the new rate schedule to the actual usage over last four billing periods indicates that excess water sales will account for over 70 percent of all water funds received.”

So effectively, according to Pappalardo, residents paying the excess fee are funding 70 percent of Scarsdale’s water fund. He also asserts that, “The savings in the excess multiplier does very little to overcome the significant rate subsidy excess rate users have been providing and… will continue to provide.” He finished his comments by cautioning the Village not to become dependent on excess water usage rates to support its water utility. The New York City water excess use penalties are significant, and, excess water rate revenues may fluctuate over the long term, in response to effective and aggressive water conservation efforts, and other factors such as weather.

In the public comment portion of the meeting, Brice Kirkendall-Rodriguez (Fox Meadow Road) addressed the water rate increase and the mayor and village manager’s comments by saying, ”I think we’re on our third or fourth iteration of explanation of village policy on water. To be clear, the change in rates is what is regressive. And, close to 90 percent of Scarsdale residents are going to subsidize the remaining 10 percent in this shift of rates.” He went on, “The letter that was sent out (delivered a) message of shared sacrifice, that we have these capital projects, and that’s great… The reality is that more than half of that 12 percent increase is actually used to pay for the decrease.”

Kirkendall-Rodriguez then asserted that, over the past four billing periods, the amount raised by the base rate increase is about $106,000. However, the amount lost through the proposed excess rate reduction is $127,000. “We’re told this is for capital improvements but more than half of it is going to a rate reduction. So, Manager Pappalardo, you talk about the fact that a significant percentage of our excess rate payers are covering an even greater percentage of the total cost of water, but I’m a little concerned, because it almost seems to be suggesting that we want excess users to… subsidize those who use less water. No, we don’t. We want people to conserve water. Period,” he stated. “We’ve already said that Scarsdale is among the top 10 percent of consumers of water in the system… The rate of increase of suburban use relative to city use has been growing over the last two decades… There’s a household right now in Scarsdale that consumes, on average, 10,000 gallons of water a day. They pay a $53,000 water bill… That’s 38 times what the median Scarsdale resident uses, in terms of water. And, it will require 51 residents who are already conserving water… to pay for the $2,000 rate reduction they’re going to get this year… I don’t want to encourage people to consume water… excess water usage is contrary to the long-term interests of the community. I’m not asking for an increase in the excess rate, I’m asking you not to cut it.”