WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2007. By John F. Bailey. October 22,2007 UPDATED 12:15 PM: In the third Common Council Forum last night, Augostino Zicca, Cass Cibelli, and Anthony Pilla,  the three Republican candidates roasted and toasted incumbent Councilmen Benjamin Boykin and Dennis Power as soft on illegal housing, and chided what they described as Council consistent stalling on an IDA for the city, implying they were representing county interests and not White Plains. Zicca called for commercial property owners to pay more city taxes, perhaps by PILOTS.

The White Plains Common Council Field debated their positions at the White Plains Public Library last night before 97 persons. Left to right, Robert Levine, Melagros Lecuona, Anthony Pilla, Benjamin Boykin, Candyce Corcoran, Robert Stackpole, Dennis Power, Augostino Zicca. Cass Cibelli participated but was away from the dais at the time.

Boykin  the incumbent, steadfastly maintained he was proud of his record and had worked as Chair of the Budget and Management Committee to balance growth and development  and  services and keep taxes low (though they have gone up twice the rate of inflation the last four years). Candidate Power, Boykin's running mate noted city taxes had gone up 35% in 7 years. 

(Editor's Note: To amplify Mr. Power's tax comment, in 2001-2002, the property tax collection was $28.2 Million. In 2007-2008, it is $41.1. In the five years since 2001-2002, city property tax levy has increased 46%)

Now they Can Consider Sales Tax

Boykin said that now that the Council finally has the financial information (future projections) they asked for from the Mayor they will be able to come to a decision on the sales tax and “carefully review where the (budget) gaps are." Power also said the White Plains taxes were among the lowest in Westchester County. Power maintained the County IDA fees of  $3 Million county wide, would not bring White Plains that much more in revenue if the legislature granted White Plains its own Industrial Development Agency. 

Power promoted open government and diligent cost cutting, that going forward the council had to look at all costs and trim spending, and televise more meetings, work sessions, and special meetings. Power also trumpeted the council’s rejecting the Station Plaza Exclusivity Agreement and the New York Presbyterian Hospital Memorandum of Understanding proposal.

In carrying the ball for the ticket, Power said the Council had supported efforts by Assemblyman Adam Bradley to establish a separate Commericial Tax Rate for residential tax relief. Bradley, though it should be noted, has no indication that he can get this bill through the present New York State Senate in the present climate.

New York Presbyterian Hospital Land Rises From Dead

When asked how they could work to get New York Presbyterian Hospital to reconsider turning parkland over to the city (a 35-year crusade), most said they would work toward developing an atmosphere with the hospital to do that. Corcoran said her long standing in the community as an activist and her professional, personal relationships with New York Presbyterian Hospital executives, she was in a unique position to rekindle a dialogue with the Hospital on the land and would if elected.

Zicca said it would be prudent to develop money sources to gear up to buy the land eventually, suggesting that the Council erred in not negotiating more from New York Hospital during the time the Memorandum of Understanding proposal was on the table, (floated by the Delfino Administration),  trading development for land in a more favorable ratio to the city. (The city would only have received 6 acres.)

IDA granting atmosphere disputed.

Council a "Blockade"

When Power voiced his opinion that White Plains has little chance of getting an IDA, because the state  has not granted one in twenty years, Cibelli said that was not true,  that Hamilton Township was granted an Industrial Development Agency in 2006.

Cibelli boomed that the present council was stalling on issues, calling them “a blockade for not passing legislation and it’s got to stop. They limit passing legislation,” referring to the Council stalling the sales tax and the City IDA promoted by the Mayor, because of the Council alledged allegiance to the county.

Bring in Feds  (ICE) if you want to Clear out Illegal Housing.

Mr. Zicca returned to the theme of quality of life stressing that illegal residences were killing the city. He called on the city to partner with federal authorities under the Section 287G law (on the books since 1996) to come in and crack down on illegal housing once and for all. Zicca recalled observing owners of overcrowded housing, whom he did not name, laughing at the fines in city court. He suggested racheting fines up to $35,000 for starters for property owners maintaining overcrowded residences.

Mr. Pilla, not Mr. Zicca, reported how the City of Albany receives $22 Million from the state of New York in PILOTS, suggesting White Plains should receive similar PILOTS from Westchester County.

(Editor's Note: The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA), effective September 30, 1996, added Section 287(g), performance of immigration officer functions by state officers and employees, to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This authorizes the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies, permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), provided that the local law enforcement officers receive appropriate training and function under the supervision of sworn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Railside Rises From the Dead Again

Mr. Boykin was questioned again by  a resident of Railside on the Railside Avenue sale on how much money was made from that sale after all the curb and drainage improvements reported that the sale brought in $2.5 Million and the city spent $260,000 to prep the street for the new property owners leaving a “profit” of $2,235,000. Boykin said the city no longer needed to do one-shot land sales and he and the council would not do it in the future because it was not needed. All candidates agreed on no more sales of city assets.

Voice of Finance

Mr. Stackpole cautioned that the sales tax was a “false hope” and the passing of a city IDA was unlikely, that the city needed to do the hard work of bringing the budget under control, cutting costs, and planning.  He said this election was a unique time for the citizens of White Plains to make a change in leadership, instead of just complaining about where the city was going. He said if the voters wanted that change they should give their vote to him and Mr. Levine. Otherwise they should not.

A question on how the council stood on granting driver's licenses to illegal aliens was semi-supported by Mr. Power because of the complexities and personal situations of illegal aliens, as well as aliens here legally in the state, and the need to insure driver safety. Mr. Boykin said he had no position because of the complexities of the issues. Mr. Zicca, Mr. Cibelli, Ms. Corcoran, Mr. Pilla, were all opposed to the policy. Mr. Stackpole said it was a state issue and very complex and noting he was 1/8 American Indian,  he would not take a position. Mr. Levine said he had no comment.

One question that was not asked by an audience member who did not get an opportunity to ask the question from the floor was given to WPCNR to ask in this article. A senior citizen asks "If elected, would you vote breaks for developers which will result in a building tax burden on those of us on fixed incomes?"

Anyone want to take that one?