WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. April 21, 2006: Mayor Alfred Del Vecchio, leader of White Plains from 1976-1993, has written defending his record on assessments:
To the Common Council and the Budget committee,
I take great umbrage at the derogatory statements make by members of the common council and the budget committee about me and my administration:
" DEL VECCHIO BLAMED AGAIN FOR TODAY'S CERTS"
"PURPOSELY OVERASSESSED COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES"
It is a well known fact by any competent administration that assessment policy is the prerogative of the administration and commercial taxes depend upon by what is negotiated by the administration and the developer. John Bailey wrote about this on April 19 in his Q/A with Owen Stone from NYC. NEGOTIATED is the operative word for a competent administration.
(More)
The Del Vecchio Administration used the policy that commercial properties needed to pay more taxes because they consumed more city services than private residential properties. Taxes on commercial properties were NEGOTIATED with the developer with the understanding that he was welcomed and that we were neither "developer friendly" or "developer hostile."
We were fair with the developer and he paid his negotiated taxes willing with neither one taking advantage of the other regardless of the circumstances. It was a mutually agreeable NEGOTIATED arrangement. I believe we actually lowered taxes by a small amount one year. We still had "certs" but they were NEGOTIATED with neither one taking advantage of the other.
The Delfino administration, with consent of the common council, has chosen a policy to be "developer friendly." GREED has become the motivator in establishing assessment policy, taxes and developer give aways to the detriment of the city coffers and the enrichment of the developer. Economic growth through commercial development is no longer for the mutual benefit of the developer and the city.
The developer benefits and the city is exploited because we have an incompetent administration. In an attempt to explain the financial failures, the lackeys in the Delfino Administration are desperately looking for a scapegoat. It's an old political trick for an incompetent elected official to point an accusing finger at a "previous administration" in an attempt to hide their failures. I will not have the Del Vecchio name sullied in that manner.
I believe the person(s) who made the remarks using my name without making the accusation personally is a coward. I would welcome a televised debate on the topic with that person or any elected official. I refuse to attend any meetings of the city because the discussion is too one sided or limited--when any discussion is allowed at all.
Alfred Del Vecchio
