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Majority Leader Sen. Andrea Stewart Cousins
Again, my focus was how do we fix a system statewide, not just here in the future? How do we align ourselves with our partners across the nation? How do I be true to my word where I said I would not put my thumb on the scale as it relates to Edgemont or Greenburgh, how I would, however, foster the information that people need in order to actually make an informed decision, which is why I insisted on a study.
Dr. Carol Allen - Hartsdale
In the past, if people felt they were not being represented, they could vote to succeed from a town. In fact, village incorporation law was written in order to form villages and provide services, not as a means of breaking away from a pre-existing town. When the village incorporation laws were written over a hundred years ago, people did not have organized police services. They did not have organized sanitation, public health, and things of that nature. So to say that the law is intended to be able to allow people to break off if they feel they're not represented is, in my opinion, not a hundred percent accurate.
Michael Schwartz - Edgemont
My name is mike Schwartz. I'm a 32-year resident of Greenburgh, residing in Edgemont. And I just wanted to frame a couple of issues that I think are important. Um, and the first one is, is that, uh, based on being the sixties hippie kind of guy, I believe the following, I believe that history is proven and no more than today, that people will do what's good for them at the expense of others if there's not legislation to protect them. The second concept is that government and the elected officials who we place in government are there to protect us from that basic human frailty.
Hugh Schwartz - Edgemont
But there's no minimum of the number of people who have to vote. In other words, you could get 200 people out of, of voting, a population of over 6,000 and 101 of them vote for incorporation and it would pass and take a look at local elections.
And turnout has been period. And Edgemont, by the way, is one of the worst in all of Westchester County. The only one worse in Scarsdale, the only one worse in turnout is Scarsdale. We had 550 people turnouts for a $55 million bond issue. Less than 10% turnout. So, what the EIC is banking on is their ability to get their people out. And that's it. And you are letting that happen with what you're doing. Okay? Again, this is finally the, as Michael said, this is not in the best interest of Edgemont because we can't do anything with this study. We're banking on people actually reading things.
Walter Simon - Hartsdale
I won't, uh, repeat anything that the previous two spoke, uh, uh, speakers said, because I wholeheartedly agree with them. I just wanted to point out a conversation I had with the senator about five years ago on another issue. But it relates to the same principle. This is in regard to how state funding is allocated between the Edgemont school district and, uh, the central school district. Education funding has a component that's based upon income. What the state of New York has done is to combine the two school districts. Therefore, the, the average income of Edgemont statistically is lowered. And the average income of Greenburgh is statistically increased.
Catherine Lederer-Plaskett - Greenburgh
A few things, and I do wanna say that out of my life, I’ve been in this community for over 50 years, um, which I know is unbelievable. But, in any case, I think it, first of all, there is a consistency, both in both instances. It's Edgemont. That's the common thread in your story. Edgemont couldn't share their money for the school. We had to bear that burden. I live in Greenburgh seven, and Edgemont is now exempt. Now, what I find very troubling is that no one has mentioned the history of this village law. This village law, which thank goodness to assemblyman Steve Otis, who dug it out of the archives in Albany for me, when I started getting involved, goes back to the Jim Crow era. So, let's not dress up why a community can vote. Villages were created to keep people out, and that is what we're fighting in 2024. So, I can give you all the history, I can show it all to you, and I have promised to provide it. But it goes back to that, it goes back to letting 500 people or less decide what a whole community can have. So that's number one.
Number two, it's not three communities. And that's what I’ve heard from assemblywoman Amy Paulin. That's what I heard from assemblywoman Shimsky. That's what I’ve heard repeatedly. This is specifically when you go down to over 90,000 people in a community and under 900,000 in a county. It's specifically designed to protect Edgemont and only Edgemont to 2040. And I don't know what deal is in for this, but I am absolutely certain there's a deal because just like with the school district funding, tell the kid who's not getting a desk tell the kid who's not getting a, a chair in Greenburgh seven, that it's because Edgemont gets their equal share it. It is beyond outrageous.
Bishop Wilbert Preston – Greenburgh
Go back to, uh, the predecessor of our county who sold us out where of affordable housing is concerned. And we are supposed to have 750 units of affordable housing put in places like Edgemont, Scarsdale, mm-hmm...nothing. If you look at the, the demographics and or the geographics of Greenburgh. Now, why is all the municipalities, all the tax-exempt properties and everything like that in Fairview, why aren't they in other towns and parts of green of Greenburgh? And, and when you think about it, this is a way that we keep people separated.
Bob Herman - Hartsdale
Bob Herman. 18-year resident of Hartsdale. And 16 years before that in Scarsdale. Um, I’m gonna touch on the point that a number of people have made in a different way, but, um, that I think is very important from a lawmaking perspective. And that is, um, there is no such thing as Edgemont. Edgemont is a, is a community. It's not a recognized government entity of any size, uh, even down to hamlet. So, what we're talking about is a law that exempts individuals, certain individuals define geographically in this bill as being exempt from the law that it, that is applied to every other resident of the state of New York. Um,
Rebuttal from Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins
I thank you for hearing me out. And I said, obviously the, the conversation will continue. It is also my hope that as this board, you know, if I couldn't pass a law, then everything would continue to be the way it is now, which is again, the perpetual petitions being filed, challenges and so on. So, um, you know, like I said, it is my hope that this district, uh, that, that this, this battle ends amicably and ends without, um, without harming, uh, any community. And that we do put in place a process that does, um, you know, again, in a professional way figure out how we go forward.
Councilman Francis Sheehan
I just want to say that what struck me regarding the chapter amendment was the extension of 16 years. I recall you saying many times, many times that you don't want to put the finger on the scale when there's an outstanding petition. We don't know that there's an outstanding petition. Right? None of us have seen the meets and bounds, which is necessary for a petition. Uh, so as far as I, I know, and everybody else I’ve spoken to it was it, it was never said to me that you were going to exempt them basically in perpetuity or 16 years that they could continue to go and go and go on a petition unlike anybody else.
Councilwoman B. Joy Haber
I certainly respect everything that our majority leader has done, but in this particular situation, I it is unclear to me why we would exempt a municipality rather than a petition. So to exempt a municipality for 16 years gives them a lot of leeway to do whatever they wanna do for the next 16 years if a petition has been started filed, even if it's just been started, that's better than saying you could just continue to put out petition after petition after petition, so I think that's what is giving us such pause is that, um, you know, it's, it's look, it looks like, or the optics or is that, or to me or to us that Edgemont is being given special treatment as a municipality of, even though it's not really, you know what I’m saying, a neighborhood rather than a petition.
Councilwoman Ellen Hendrickx
um, I am grateful for the study and I think that's really important, but by excluding Edgemont, and I think one of the others stood up and mentioned something, um, then going forward 10 years from now and the economy can change drastically. There's nothing that says that there has to be another study. So that then gives an unfair advantage to this. It's not even really a hamlet. It's uh, this section of Greenburgh of the town. So that concerns me as well.
Councilwoman Gina R. Jackson
everyone has said everything that I wanted to say, but it hurts. It hurts. That's just the plain. That's why I could just say it just, it just hurts in order for me to, and I’m not gonna reiterate everyone said, but this hurts. 'Cause this, everything that I have said sitting in this seat, I keep fighting for us to be one community and not separated and we keep being separated. So that's, that's, that's how I feel. That's how we, that's how we feel. This is who I represent, and we don't wanna be hurt anymore. We're already hurting. Look what's going on around us. You know, I don't wanna say that Greenburgh is a bubble, but this is my personal bubble, and I don't want us to be divided. I want us to be all together. You made a big point when we talk about affordable housing and we keep having affordable housing in one particular area, one area, one area. So, I’m hurt. That's all, that's all I can say.
SUPERVISOR PAUL J. FEINER
I’m not mad, but I’m sad. And the reason I’m sad is because I know that you've done really a tremendous job over the years. A state senator fighting for people who really depend on government, um, for services. You've spoken out effectively, you've implemented legislation, helping people who depend on government services and who rely on you. So, if Edgemont breaks away, there's no doubt in my mind that there's gonna be massive layoffs. The people who we say we really want to help, they're gonna be out of work because we are not gonna be able to afford to continue, uh, to keep people employed if, uh, we're losing eight or $9 million a year or maybe, maybe more. Um, I’m really upset because we have so many great services in this town, we're gonna be losing the services that people really depend on. So, the, so the programs, whether it's the community center, community policing, um, we have so many great social programs in the town, and I know that if we lose $8 million, the first things that everybody's gonna say have to go are the extras, the things that, uh, address quality of life. So, the, the services that make Greenburgh such a great place, we're not gonna have anymore. Um, you know, another problem that I sort of see and what makes me sort of upset is, um, you know, if we have a 16 year, um, basically exemption for, um, for the Edgemont section of town, it's gonna make it almost impossible to budget.
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