WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. MAY 13, 2006: Peter Bassano, a member of the Board of Education writes to explain why any referendum on the $66.7 Million Bond for Capital Improvements is being held in October or December, and not November:
Since we spoke this week, two additional citizens have agreed to join the Capital Projects Committee, Mr. Richard Hecht and Mr. Eli Fritz. Two unanswered invitations to community members remain outstanding. Also missing from the list of members you published was Mr. Marc Pollitzer.
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You suggested in your article that the Board of Education scheduled the referendum in October or December in order to carefully avoid "the major election turnout of the November election." This suggestion is terribly misleading.
The general election is governed by NY Election Law while a school bond referendum is governed by the New York Education Law. According to the counsel's office at the Education Department, combining the election would require adhering to two separate and different sets of regulations including the requirements for separate voting machines, separate vote counts, separate sets of election overseers and possibly the requirement that some voters cast their ballots at two separate locations. Because of these and other legal obstacles and the lead time that elections require, we opted for an October or December vote.
As to Mr. Vorperian's letter, I believe John and the community will see that the make-up of the Capital Projects Committee, once finalized, will include representation from a broad cross section of White Plains citizens who will give these very important issues the scrutiny and consideration they merit.
Informed and intelligent members of the community also should understand by now that the Capital Improvement proposals have nothing to do with the School Budget vote next Tuesday. These proposals will, of course, affect future budgets and that is why the proposals are being evaluated in a deliberate, critical and careful manner.
Peter Bassano
