(WHITE PLAINS, NY)— For the second time, the Board of Legislators ratified an agreement between Westchester County and Standard Amusements to turn over various aspects of operation to the private operator while requiring significant capital investments by the County that have been lacking in the park for years under multiple administrations.  

(WHITE PLAINS, NY) Several days after County Executive Rob Astorino vowed to continue wasting taxpayer money fighting the implementation of the HUD settlement, the court-appointed monitor filed his “Third Biennial Assessment of Westchester County Compliance,” which continued to highlight discrepancies between Astorino’s public rhetoric and statements that he and administration officials have made under oath as well as failures to complete simple and cost-free promotional and informational tasks.  The report also states that the Astorino administration failed to complete the required Analysis of Impediments, which among other things, is used to determine eligibility for federal funds.  The failure on this front means the County will continue to be ineligible for grants from HUD. 

(WHITE PLAINS, NY) In response to County Executive Rob Astorino’s state of the County Address, Board of Legislators Majority Leader Catherine Borgia (D-Ossining) reiterated many of the concerns members of the Democratic Caucus have voiced about the operational and financial management of Westchester County.  In a 3 minute video, Borgia summarized that “everything starts and ends with our finances and at the moment ours are in bad shape.”

(WHITE PLAINS, NY) After another $5,000 contribution emerged linking County Executive Rob Astorino’s campaign to a Westchester County Police Chaplain, Jeremy Reichberg, who is embroiled in a federal corruption probe, the County Executive’s office denied the media access to any information regarding this individual’s qualifications to hold the position.  Reichberg is closely associated with $25,000 in campaign donations to Astorino’s campaign around the time he was appointed Chaplain.  As a result, Legislator Ben Boykin (D-White Plains), Chair of the Public Safety and Social Services Committee, will be asking the Public Safety Department to provide any information regarding Reichberg.

(WHITE PLAINS, NY) Earlier today at the Board of Acquisition and Contracts, the County Executive retained the services of private, outside counsel to respond to a letter from the independent monitor overseeing the implementation of the affordable housing settlement.  The County Executive’s new legal counsel in the form of white-shoe, mega-firm Holwell, Shuster & Goldberg, a law firm recently noted for giving associates $100,000 bonuses, will cost taxpayers $100,000.