Tonight: Town Board Votes on Whether to Continue its Pressure Campaign Against the HPPD
If you can make it to Town Hall tonight at 7pm, we'll see you there. Otherwise, you can watch on channel 35 (FIOS) or channel 76 (Cablevision), or on the Greenburgh website.
It was a path as circuitous as Underhill Road, but at last night's work session Town Supervisor Paul Feiner finally came clean as to the true motivations behind his recent focus on the Hartsdale Public Parking District (HPPD). Feiner sought the HPPD’s general support in his illegal efforts to influence the Edgemont incorporation discussion: “I want to see the Parking District fight for unincorporated Greenburgh.”
Admirably, the HPPD has remained apolitical: “The Board’s main objective is to not be perceived or put out any statement that could be used by either side (proponents or opponents)…my advice is to not be advocating for any position publicly because it’s a hypothetical.”
But Mr. Feiner does not recognize the HPPD’s independence or decades of success. He’s uninterested in the comments of fellow Council member Ken Jones (the liaison from the Town to the HPPD), who noted: “The Board of Commissioners as it’s currently composed does an excellent job..I have seen how well the District is run fiscally…it does need to be clear to the public that the District is being run well, and that the facilities are being maintained well, and that they are much better-maintained than similarly sized facilities across the County.”
Feiner has also ignored the fact that New York law provides for a negotiation period after a vote for incorporation; that the HPPD has repeatedly stated that it would negotiate with a Village of Edgemont, if established; and that the EIC’s legal opinion identified negotiation as a path to maintain the status quo for parking at the Hartsdale train station.
Unfortunately, that common sense approach is highly inconvenient for Mr. Feiner. He wants the HPPD to collaborate in the fight against Edgemont’s incorporation, and he wants it now. And if the HPPD maintains its ethical standards and refuses to do so, he will either attempt to install his own majority on the HPPD board or abolish the district itself.
A few weeks ago, for the first time in a long time, a majority of the Town Council blocked a Feiner request. The opposing members (Jones, Juettner, and Jackson) sought more public comment. We hope that, at tonight's Town Board meeting, the Council won't aid and abet Mr. Feiner's attempt to weaponize or abolish a separate government particularly now that he's revealed the true motivations behind his actions.
We hope that you can watch the Town Board this evening on cable or via the website.
-- The EIC
