WPCNR WHITE PLAINS POLL. December 26, 2006: It is time to decide the WPCNR White Plains Person of the Year, the informal recognition of persons who contributed the most positive contributions to the well-being of the citizenry in the news year 2006. These nominations use the criteria of how a person affected the White Plains way of life in a positive way. You are invited to cast your votes at the right. May we have the nominations, please, in alphabetical order, they are:
Carl Albanese – a documentary maker and media professional, Mr. Albanese exposed on live television, the 25 year cover-up by the City of White Plains of TCE contamination in the city dump and A Department of Environmental Conservation investigation and laxness in enforcement, which is still undecided and possibly will cost the city over a million dollars to comply with or remediate. He fought successfully a city hall attempt to ban recording of Common Council work sessions, getting city hall officials to back down.
Evette Avila, Principal Ridgeway School – Nominated for her successful use of BOCES Data Warehouse analyses and staff use of the data to upgrade Ridgeway Math Achievement scores 14% in one year, by isolating students’ weaknesses, remediating them, pioneering how BOCES Data Warehouse statistical analysis can help test preparation. It is the most significant one year turnaround in an elementary school in 7 years.
Councilman Benjamin Boykin – Nominated for his decisive vote defeating the Memorandum of Understanding with New York Presbyterian Hospital advanced by the city administration that, no matter what previous agreements he had made to the contrary, he could have easily reversed and approved at the last moment. Boykin’s sticking to principle due to his feeling that the city “carrying the ball” for a private property owner was wrong was a landmark decision.
Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors – Nominated for relentless guidance of the White Plains School District, conducting a successful referendum vote authorizing upgrading of District facitilies authorizing $69 Million in expenditures, while initiating long-range strategic planning. Connors' public compaign for the school bond is a lesson in how to sway public opinion. Connors is the first Superintendent of Schools in White Plains to address aggressively the matter of bilingual education in the White Plains Schools by his introduction of a pilot program in Kindergarten next fall. He is a leader who informs his constitutents and leads.
Mayor Joseph Delfino – Nominated for his aggressive leadership continuing residential and retail growth downtown and expanding the renaissance to the West Side of the city. Will 2006-2007 be the year the city realizes the long awaited payoff from the Mayor’s development? 2005-2006 reached projections. Policies of selling “unneeded city assets” for revenue were not always agreed-on by all residents – however, Delfino’s efforts are consistent. His policies are proactive, which may this year finally pay out. Delfino focused on the homeless problem in White Plains, demanding the county design a equitable system for locating homeless shelters which the county has refused to do to date.
Commissioner of Finance Gina Cuneo-Harwood – Now city hall’s major money policy specialist. Her financial projection this year came in on target. Her policy of selling city assets to encourage both development and fill cash flow gaps while waiting for “development’s ship” to dock has bought the city more financial hang time, and an improved credit rating from Moody's.
Don Hughes – A private citizen who posts city documents, meetings of note, and highly useful documents on his own website. Mr. Hughes pursuit of federal, state, and city hall documents for all citizens to see easily in a timely manner, is a valuable public service, exposed evidence of city coverups and supplements the city’s own website where key city reports are rarely available.
Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety Daniel Jackson – Promoted this year into the Deputy Commissioner void, Jackson steered the police department through three unprecedented White Plains natural emergencies in which police communication with the public improved considerably and citizens were kept safe. Jackson addressed criticism of the downtown police presence in dealing with rowdy youth, eased citizen anxiety. He improved media communications in emergencies and has made himself instantly reachable. Jackson and Commissioner of Public Safety Dr. Frank Straub have also asked for an emergency situation system by 2008-2009 to keep residents informed – something White Plains has never had.
Charles Lederman – a local activist who questioned procedures in determining costs of the $69 Million school district capital project, involving himself in thinking about the scope of the project. His questioning of authority was never really answered satisfactorily by the school district during the course of the campaign, and actually revealed some mistakes. Lederman’s courage in questioning policy is an example of good citizenship.
Commissioner of Public Works Joseph Nicoletti – The Commissioner who makes this list every year showed he runs the most effective Public Works Department around. Snow is removed promptly, but opening up the city after 600 trees were downed, clearing streets within 48 hours this year was a super feat performed by the Commissioner and his DPW men and women. The Commissioner’s men and women did this three times in White Plains – during the Rain/tornado storm July 19 – the heat wave blackout two weeks later and in a third storm in early September. Con Edison could not keep up with the White Plains DPW in those storms. Should the Commissioner extricate his city sucessfully with the DEC over the city dump contamination, he will again have saved the city's bacon.
Paula Piekos – consistently brings up sore subjects to the City of White Plains and fights for what she believes in. Her effort to save the Railside Avenue lots from being sold, and ongoing exposure of the city’s reluctance to divulge information on the final fates of those sales exposes how the city has its own agenda and does not always think things out carefully.
White Plains High School Principal Ivan Toper – Toper has acted decisively in dealing with sensitive issues: gang influence and identifying youths at risk, working closely with them, communication with parents, impressing teens on the dangers of teen drinking, (there have been no major teen-drinking incidents this year), supporting and introducing the Margaret’s Place resource for abused teens and domestic violence. He is the first WPHS Principal in this reporter's memory to deliver public talks on WPHS academic achievement progress.
A man who left us this year suddenly, Ron Jackson, whose untimely death deserves mention as an example of speaking truth to power. He was not as active this year as in the past, due to his deteriorating health, but his spirit lives on in several of this year's nominees.
Councilman Robert Greer left us this year too, after a long illness and we salute his public service literally to the end, and his courage in facing the inevitable night.
