Let's check the batting order and highlights from the 20 agenda items for the Wednesday, August 12th city council meeting (also see the full "black binder" edition – larger file with supporting documents).
The Council will adjourn into Executive Session at 7:01 p.m. to discuss litigation and attorney/client matters. See you at 8pm at City Hall or on Cablevision Channel 75 and Verizon Channel 39. We'll also see you on the Internet (next day) at http://rye.peg.tv.
Once again- the resident "open mic" item has been moved from its perennial first spot to agenda item #6, which means residents wanting to speak on issues not on the agenda may have to wait until well past 8pm to speak. Highlights:
- Improvements. Presentation of the 2010-2014 Capital Improvements Program.
- Protecting seniors. Continuation of Public hearing to adopt a local law for Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE).
- "Floatie's Law". Public hearing to amend Chapter 191 Vehicles and Traffic” by amending Article IV “Removal and Storage of Vehicles” to the City Code of the City of Rye.
Open Mic. Residents may be heard who have matters to discuss that do not appear on the agenda.
- MOU for the Birds. Authorization for City Manager to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase of the Bird Property located at 600 Milton Road and adopt a resolution to amend the 2009 Adopted Budget for Buildings and Vehicles.
- Fed Cash. Discussion of federal award for the City of Rye Sidewalk/Pedestrian improvements.
- Flood Wall (more Fed Cash). Consideration to set a public hearing on September 16, 2009 regarding the proposed improvements to the Theodore Fremd Retaining Wall.
- Car Cash. Resolution allowing use of funds collected under Parking administration to be allocated for improvements to the Central Business District.
- 9/11 Memorial. Resolution to transfer funds donated to the September 11th Memorial Fund to Rye September 11, 2001 Memorial, Inc.
- Dredging and slinging mud. Authorization for DelBello, Donnellan, Weingarten, Wise and Wiederkehr, LLP to defend the City of Rye in the suit commenced by R.B. Conway & Sons, Inc. (folks that dredged out the boat basin).
- Death and. Adoption of the 2009/2010 tax levy and tax rate for the Rye Neck Union Free School District.
- Boo! Consideration of request for permission to close a section of Purchase Street for the 57th annual celebration of the Halloween Window Painting Contest.
- Schedule change. Authorize a date change for the regular City Council Meeting from September 9, 2009 to September 16, 2009.
The next regular meeting of the City Council will be held on Wednesday, September 16, 2009.
Hay!
This is supposed to be a surprise but Mr. Floatie has a new Van. Now there are two Floatiemobiles. The second one will be called “Floatiemobile unit # 2”. Get it #2? It will be unveiled just after the City of Rye passes Floatie’s law.
Jack A. (Mr. Floatie’s ass-istant)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUDT-VsHDN4&NR=1
Ray
Answer the question.
Are you a liar or did you not follow the requirements on your toilet thus breaking the law?
Tis one or the other or both Ray.
” You block, you stone, you less then senseless thing!”.
WS
Heads-up fellow taxpayers – the mismanagement of our municipal affairs is starting to pile in – in the form of lawsuits.
There’s the one from the contractors above, there’s the one from The Schubert’s last week and now curiously there may be one from O. Paul Shew – you remember him right? He was the City Manager the Mayor told us all we were so lucky to have working for us all the way thru the night the council voted to fire him this spring. They paid him a boatload.
I’m sure our local newshounds will soon get the story on “Shew Sue or No Sue” but I hope for one that if Mr. Shew is in fact on the outs with our ‘Gang of Steve’ that somehow we can get him to testify without fear of recrimination in a public forum about what actually happened in multiple matters during his employment here.
“Counselor” Kevin Plunkett’s hand crafted “Cone of Silence” that immediately descended on the swift departed Mr. Shew reminds me somewhat of the Nixon Pardon – supposedly good for the country (City) but ultimately corrosive to all associated with it.
Ted C:
It is not a rumor. Shew filed a Notice of Claim against the City of Rye on July 29, 2009.
Perhaps if Otis and the Rye City Council had done a real investigation into the Schubert matters, as per the City of Rye Charter, and Shew was found to be at fault, Shew could have been dismissed for cause and therefore would not have a claim.
Why didn’t Otis and the Rye City Council want to do a proper investigation complete with subpoenas and sworn testimony?
Why didn’t Otis and the Rye City Council conduct the Disciplinary Hearing against Shew? Instead they allowed Shew to submit and re-submit his retirement papers three different times.
I am of the opinion that Otis and the Rye City Council possibly refused to conduct a proper investigation and a disciplinary on Shew in order to conceal their own possible culpability as well as to protect their own personal and political agendas.
In the Matter of the Claim of
O. PAUL SHEW
against
THE CITY OF RYE, NEW YORK
To: City Clerk
Of The City of Rye
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the undersigned claimant hereby makes claim and demand against the City of Rye, New York as follows:
1. The name and post-office address of each claimant and claimant’s attorney is:
Claimant: O. PaulShew, 24 Wappanocca Avenue, Rye, New York 10580
Claimant’s Attorney: Robert David ~oodstein, Law Offices of Robert David Goodstein, Esq. 56 Harrison Street, Suite 401, New Rochelle, New York 10801
2. The nature of the claim:
Breach of employment contract between O. Paul Shew and the City of Rye based on a failure to pay severance, total unused vacation time, sick time and personal time; Breach of the Rye City Charter Section C8-4 for failure to pay salary for a full 3 (three) months after the adoption of a preliminary resolution terminating his employment; constructive discharge.
3. The time when, the place where and the manner in which the claim arose:
Claimant was hired as City Manager of the City of Rye pursuant to an employment contract dated August 25, 2003. City Council of Rye adopted a preliminary resolution on March 17, 2009
removing claimant from his position as City Manager of Rye and terminated his employment. Pursuant to the Rye City Charter his salary must be paid for a full 3 (three) months after adoption
of the resolution. Pursuant to the employment contract claimant, if terminated, is entitled to 6 (six) months severance, all unused vacation, sick leave and personal leave.
4. The items of damage or injuries claimed are (include dollar amounts)
Nine (9) months full salary, benefits from March 17, 2009 minus all sums received in said period; all unused vacation, sick and personal time .minus any amount paid.
KENNETH NEWMAN Notary Public, State of New York NO.01NE5070934 Qualified in Queens C~ty .
Commission Expires Jan. 6, ~ U
So maybe 3 major inbound lawsuits in a single month might have been a wakeup call that all is not well in our little City?
Last night the council blinked on “Floatie’s Law” much to the surprise and embarrassment of the Mayor and his “counselor.” Is there something in the air (or the water) that others can sense and he cannot?
Using the guise of a “clarification request” from a Police Commissioner so unpopular with his own employees that it defies explanation was such a patently transparent sham it apparently shamed his regular gang members into public petty treason.
Or maybe it was that yet another overtaxed Westchester town had finally thrown in the towel and “parted ways” with Counselor Plunkett (who looked a bit like he’d been recently pistol whipped). Dobbs Ferry joins a very long list here.
Or maybe it was the closed door “explanations” the council members received for the reasons Rye taxpayers just need to dig deeper to feed these 3 new unnecessary litigious follies while downplaying the risks of yet another Floatie based constitutional conflagration.
Whatever the reasons – it’s good to see the usual Otis/Plunkett MO get derailed – at least for now.
At last nights City Council meeting we were once again treated to watching Otis being exposed for doing City of Rye business under less than transparent conditions. Once again it was to conceal the truth from Rye residents.
When the Bird property acquisition was scheduled for a workshop last week, City Manager Culross advised Otis and the City Council that the meeting could be televised on RCTV. It was not televised.
When Councilman Sack asked Otis last night who put the kibosh on televising it, Otis refused to answer. Ummmmmm. Gee Steve. Any guesses?
I guess Otis didn’t want the residents to know that Rye taxpayers were putting up $1,100,000 of their hard earned taxpayer money for the acquisition of the Bird property.
I guess Otis didn’t want the residents to know that the property would be coming off the City of Rye tax rolls as well as the School tax rolls.
Otis explained that the Bird property was being purchased for flood mitigation just like the Meeting House was. I can’t wait until the next flood so I can watch the water go nowhere near the Bird property and the Meeting House because it is now owned by Rye taxpayers.
I would love to see who signed off on these grants. Were they sworn to under penalty of perjury?
Otis is only interested in saving his own political ass. It is time to kick his ass to the curb.
Here is another example of Mayor Otis lying to the residents of Rye. He is a smooth talker till he gets caught in a lie then watch what happens. This video is very telling.
As reported at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. Physicals cues believed to be associated with lying include an increased incidence of leaning forward, licking the lips, touching the nose, averting the gaze and handling objects. An insincere smile, characterized by lack of movement of the wrinkle lines around the eyes is another well know indicator of lying. People who are lying also often reveal themselves verbally. Verbal cues include the increased use of verbal qualifiers or modifiers, the use of expanded contractions (e.g. I did not rather than I didn’t), stuttering, throat clearing and speech errors.
Watch the video and you will see the Mayor lean forward in the beginning with his insincere smile you can also notice a lack of movement of the wrinkle lines around the eyes as he continually stutters throughout his response.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dF7HOFspA&feature=related
Don’t forget this one in November…….
Mr. Floatie may have something there about clues of lying.
Now that former star manager O. Paul Shew has become “unaligned” with the Mayor’s craven personal agenda, maybe he picks up the phone and dials the crisis center…this time about someone who might actually need a visit…
Mr. Floatie knows all about lying.
Either he lied that he expanded his septic system or he lied that adding septic lines doesn’t count as expanding a system (laughable).
When are you going to stop polluting and install a composting toilet, like many of your neighbors have done?
Credibility Ray!!!
Dr floatie giving us physco garbage on liars…Look in the mirror idiot for the answer to that one..
did you break the law Ray on your septic system?..Answer please.
You are a pest in need of credibility
Ray –
You had better be careful on whom you accuse of lying.