(PICTURE: Rye City Hall by local artist Heather Patterson)
The city council's agenda for its meeting on Wednesday, December 19, 2012 is out.
There will be a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of
Rye on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, at 8:00pm in the Council Room of
City Hall. The Council will convene at 7:00 p.m. in Executive Session to discuss personnel issues.
Office Hours of the Mayor by appointment by emailing dfrench@ryeny.gov.
Meetings are also aired on Cablevision Channel 75 and Verizon Channel 39. We'll also see you on the Internet (live and archive).
Let's check the batting order and highlights from the 22 agenda items.
- Doug's Details. Safe Routes to School Update; Legal Update
- Death. Continuation of the Public hearing on the proposed 2013 Budget.
- And Taxes. Resolution to adopt the 2013 Budget and establish the 2013 tax levy and 2013 tax rate. Roll Call.
- Gum Shoe. Resolution to transfer additional funds from the Contingency account to fund legal services for a Council investigation pursuant to Article 6, Section C6-3 of the City Charter entitled “Investigations”.
- A Roller Coaster Ride. Resolution by Rye City Mayor and Council to support the Westchester County and Sustainable Playland Inc. agreement.
- Check Out. Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with the Rye Free Reading Room to furnish library services for 2013.
- Reality TV Schedule. Resolution designating the days and time of regular meetings of the City Council for 2013 setting January 9, 2013 as the first regular meeting.
- Commenter Carroll. Authorization to procure legal representation for the City of Rye in the appeal of Carroll v. City of Rye in the Appellate Division, Second Department. Roll Call.
- Open Mic. A Crowd Favorite. Residents may be heard on matters for Council consideration that do not appear on the agenda.
- Blue. Consideration of Bid for the Police contract for uniforms (Contract #2-12). Roll Call.
- Humvee. Acceptance of donation to the Rye Police Department of graphics design and installation
services from Creative Image Design, Inc. valued in the amount of seven hundred fifty ($750.00) dollars. Roll Call.
The next regular meeting of the City Council will be held on Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 8:00
pm.
FIRST COMMENTS: MAYOR IMPLIES LD10580.COM “CROSSES THE LINE”
“Hello Leon — I realize we have never met or had a conversation other than your comments from the podium, and that you have a relationship with some Council such Joe and Laura with whom you communicate with regularly on your opinions. On behalf of the rest of us, as we had asked Council people that know you, but they refused, let me say that as Council — we are fair game as public officials, but that your implication and identification of children crosses the line. Unless there are specific acts of wrong-doing, I would suggest you keep your attacks to your obsessive compulsive attacks on me and leave the children and even City employees alone unless there are facts behind it. We will continue to keep an eye on your behavior toward City employees. Doug”
http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/we-will-continue-to-keep-an-eye-on-your-behavior-toward-city-employees.html
Presumably, this seemingly Newtown CT Massacre inspired email late last night was referring to this LD10580 investigation story from almost 3 weeks ago –
BOMBSHELL II: FAMILY MEMBERS OF CITY MANAGER’S ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT EMPLOYED AT GOLF CLUB MISSING FROM CITY PAYROLL
“Mr. Pickup and his administrative assistant would certainly know where members of her family worked at Rye Golf Club, how much they got paid, and who paid them. Apparently, they just ain’t saying. How can it be that both of these employees do not appear on city the payroll? If they didn’t work for the city who did they work for? RM Staffing? Where they paid in cash?”
http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/11/relatives-of-city-managers-administrative-assistant-employed-at-golf-club-missing-from-city-payroll.html
As of this morning, LD10580 has replied to Mr. French as follows:
“Doug: Your email is mostly inaccurate, incoherent and is itself, loaded with innuendo. I have no idea what you are talking about or cannot grasp your point because it was so poorly written. If you wish to speak to me my phone number is 914-xxx-xxx, I will be happy to receive your call and set up a time when we can meet face to face and have a conversation like men. I did note your last line and will take that as a threat. Thank you –Leon”
So – as they say – Developing.
Mayor French is under a tremendous amount of pressure and has been since this time last year after he was exposed for his illegal Building Department and STAR Tax issues. The public is seeing a Mayor that has cheated, lied and stolen from the taxpayers of Rye for years.
We are now seeing example after example of how he has failed to protect the health and safety of the public in an effort to further his own political and personal agendas. He has jeopardized the jobs of many hard working Rye City employees by asking them to cover him in his underhanded efforts. We have recently seen examples of hard working concerned citizens that have resigned from committees and employees that have quit high paying city jobs to avoid involvement. He has now resorted to threatening reporters that publicly report on his inappropriate behavior and activities.
The pressure is taking a toll on the Mayor and we are not sure yet of the depths of his involvement in the RGC fiasco… Look at the fact that he cannot even complete a thought in his letter to Leon Sculti and he is now going after his fellow council members in addition to the GOP hands that feed him…. I believe we should publicly call for him to resign so we may return the City of Rye back to where it belongs, a law abiding community that enforces all the laws that protect the health and safety of the entire public.
http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/we-will-continue-to-keep-an-eye-on-your-behavior-toward-city-employees.html
https://twitter.com/ryesoundshore/status/280936020483141632
Let me get this straight. Leon is not only a real estate agent and an advertising executive but now he’s also a “reporter”? Wow this guy should be mayor and the new general manager at rgc and the city’s new foil compliance officer. Then he could write a multi-tasking for dummies book.
Don’t you all realize the black eye you are giving Rye? Would you want to move to a town that has all this bs going on? Would you want to buy a house here?
If you don’t like a politician then vote them out. If you don’t like a club then then don’t join.
This site used to be much more civil and educational. Now it’s turning into the rye “enquirer” because of all this “reporting” from the leon’s hairy chin gang.
By the way no one has answered my question about who is funding the multi-media assault on Rye and it’s employees and agencies. What happened to open & transparent?
@Louse (A small, wingless, parasitic insect) – Your latest post is a super example of “shoot the messenger”. Congrats. But, are you saying you’d rather not know what’s going on in our fair city? Long term, we’ll be a much better place for cleaning out any perceived as well as actual corruption.
While Leon’s posts are too sensational for my taste and overly broad in their accusations, he has revealed an issue and kept peoples’ eyes focused on it. Given the Council’s lack of communication about the objective / scope of their investigation, time frame for its completion (never believe anyone who says they can’t tell you when they’ll be done or, barring that, can’t give you a set of milestones against which to monitor progress), or release of relevant documentation that should be in the public record anyway, continued attention seems necessary.
LD,
Funding? I offered to pay the City of Rye $16,894.00 to fund an investigation into the Mayor’s illegal actions. Councilman Philippi stated “Nobody cares” and refused the money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElKxshhruw
We all know now, if that investigation took place then, we would not be where we are today.
That amount $16894.00 was the exact amount Mayor French cheated Rye tax payers by taking two illegal Star tax exceptions. If that was me or you we would be sending this message from behind bars.
Who is really giving Rye the black eye? I believe it is the Mayor. Today I publically called for his resignation.
Below is a video of Mayor French’s new target “Mr. Anthony Pisconere, Chairman of the Rye City Republican Committee”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Hlplz2GyruU&feature=endscreen
LD,
Funding? I offered to pay the City of Rye $16,894.00 to fund an investigation into the Mayor’s illegal actions. Councilman Philippi stated “Nobody cares” and refused the money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PElKxshhruw
We all know now, if that investigation took place then, we would not be where we are today.
That amount $16894.00 was the exact amount Mayor French cheated Rye tax payers by taking two illegal Star tax exceptions. If that was me or you we would be sending this message from behind bars.
Who is really giving Rye the black eye? I believe it is the Mayor. Today I publically called for his resignation.
Below is a video of Mayor French’s new target “Mr. Anthony Pisconere, Chairman of the Rye City Republican Committee”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Hlplz2GyruU&feature=endscreen
LOUSE,
WHO HIRED YOU OR MAYBE YOU ARE ONE OF “THEM”………
“Don’t you all realize the black eye you are giving Rye”
Come on, seriously????
And what, all others(Shew, Pickup, Plunkett, Wilson, French, Keith, Levitsky, Connors, Ethics Committee, RM Staffing,etc) have not already given us 2???????????
Really, you truly can not be insuating that Leon is or has hurt Rye more than the crew I just listed????????????
Leon just stopped MILLIONS more from being taken illegally!!!!!!
Bob and Jim,
Shoot the messenger? I think not. I love the whistleblowers. Especially one that helped blow a fat cat corrupt club manager out of the water (let’s just hope there is some evidence if illegality before getting that rope like I have said in the past).
What I do not like are people that are disingenous blowhards. You call it sensational and not exactly your “taste”–I call it dangerous and greedy.
Your definition of “louse” can be applied not only to the people that Jim mentions in his many posts but also to councilman Sack, ano other elected officials that Jim just happened to forget to list and most importantly to “Mr. Anthony Pisconere, Chairman of the Rye City Republican Committee” (thanks Ray for reminding me about him)–Why when these first rgcc meetings were occuring was this gentleman who I hear is not even a member of rgc not only present but leading the charge? He did help create that “mob mentality” (thanks mr. pickup for that quote) by the way he was conducting himself! Would you not agree? Be honest…
OPEN & TRANSPARENT? Get real? He has an agenda just like whomever it is FUNDING Leon’s blog. This is what leaves a foul taste in my mouth. Leon is a talented writer and orator. I just want to know what his real agenda is? I do not believe it is for the good of the rye family or the rye taxpayer. DO YOU? be honest…
Louse,
Looks like I can count on you to get my morning going in the right direction, too funny!!!
I was not present for that alleged “mob mentality” meeting nor have I ever taken the time to view it!
PLEASE, PLEASE, do not credit Pickup, not even for something such as that!!
No matter when Councilman Sack came into the picture….PICKUP was in it from DAY ONE!!!
He signed off on every single thing that came across his desk, not Councilman Sack or any other Council Member.
And now we learn that we have an acting City Manager when Pickup is not available to perform his duties….and this would be Commissioner Connors, the guy can’t manage a 40 man PD and we have him temping as a City Manager and on top of it all Connors signs off on a $250,000 payment for RGC.
Forgive my memory lapse, but I do not recall the public being given a voice on this and wouldn’t it be nice to know in the very least if this is even legal???
If Leon’s blog is indeed being funded by someone, and I could care less either way, why should any of us be interested in this fact??? Isn’t the more important issue here what he has uncovered???
If there is someone funding Leon I would love to meet him/her so I can say THANK YOU!!!!
Out of all the Council Members & all the other Liasion work the only Liasion responsibility given to Councilman Sack was the RGC, can’t help to wonder why French appointed his most hated Councilmember for this task???
Maybe Joe was set up to be the fall guy, if you will….a contingency plan???
WHY HASN’T PICKUP BEEN SUSPENDED PENDING FURTHER INVESTIGATION????
WHY ISN’T PICKUP BEING INVESTIGATED????
WHY ISN’T SOMEONE LOOKING INTO THE FINANCIALS OF “ALL” THE PLAYERS???
LETS FOLLOW THE MONEY AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS US….MY BET IS SCOTTY Y. HAS PARTNERS?????
Anyone know what a “Section 75 proceedin” is? I can’t find anything with the section 75 lable in the city code.
Mr. Z:
An article 75 is a Disciplinary Proceeding for a civil servant. Hope this helps: http://www.cs.ny.gov/pio/summaryofcslaw/summofcsl-disciplinary.cfm
BTW, that link is free and it took .05 seconds to find. Anyone who wishes to ask me why I put my free time and effort into what I do can email me (using their real name) or call, and as always, I will be happy to sit down with them and discuss any topic they wish. If you do not have my email, ask Mayor French for it. Or use the one on LD10580.
Nobody “funds” my blog. Because nobody tells me what to do. Nobody, period. Everyone who knows me knows that.
I am glad that my friends, the members at RGC, asked me to look into RM Staffing and that because of the efforts of many, many people we are no longer getting raked by them.
I have nothing to hide and no one to fear. -Leon
PS-This is the last I will address this straw man argument presented by a coward in the shadows. Thank you.
Leon –
1. Thanks for your research – both on my (as you implied simply) request and on the broader issues. I’m not a fan of inflammatory rhetoric, but I respect your right to use it.
2. I find myself wondering if the section 75 proceeding isn’t related to the golf club matter. It would sure be nice to get a real update on the status of the investigation from someone on city council.
Bob.
Jay Sears,
I noticed you took down my “second” request for you to remove the word “Death” from your Post out of respect for the 26 CHILDREN & ADULTS GUNNED DOWN in Newton, Ct.
Why do you have a problem with such a simple respectful request?
Myself as well as my Wife and Daughter are extremely devastated from this horrific incident and we find the use of that word at this time of healing…..OFFENSIVE!
I didn’t see this request to be such a big deal…..WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM MR. SEARS???
I applaud you Mr. Sears for sticking to your guns here (sorry bad time to use that word).
Jim, freedom of speech, poetic license? What would the title be without using Death?
“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
—Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, 1789
Why do you have to hate on everything?
Keep up the good work Mr. Sears!
Louse(y),
Since I have to spell it out for you…
I BURIED A CHILD!!!!
Mr. Sears could have chosen any other word to address the budget instead he chose a very sensitive word at a very sensitive time in all of our lives.
What took place on Newtown, Ct brought my family back to a very dark place, it hit us very hard.
I don’t see anything wrong with a simple and respectful request.
So please don’t preach to me about the Constitution and our freedom of rights, if that mattered around here in Rye Jay Sears wouldn’t have anything to write about.
By the way I am in Sandy Hook paying my respects, where are you?
Jim,
I can not imagine how awful this is for you and I mean no disrespect by my petty remarks. It must be hard in a society where violence is all around you 24/7. But you must realize that the author of a blog or people that post on such sites can not take every single reader’s lives into account when they write their words now can you? God bless and have a safe and happy Christmas.
Louse,
FTR – I do not hate, I tell it like it is and that is what is hated around here, people don’t wanna hear the truth!!
I didn’t consider your remarks “petty” and do not hold them against you!
Moving on:
WOW….You still don’t get it!!!
This isn’t about “one” individual’s life or any “single” reader.
I pointed out that I tragically lost a child because I know their pain and they now know mine.
If Mr. Sears had half a brain and an equaled size heart he would have removed that word, but I guess he’s all that!!!
This ENTIRE NATION is hurting from this, well almost the whole Nation….we have thousands of different acts of kindness happening all over our Nation and yet here in Rye we choose to direct to our budget talks with the word “DEATH”????????????
With all the words in the English Dictionary you are going to sit here and tell me Mr.Sears couldn’t have chosen a different word or directive to point to his silly agenda item!!!
Tell me why this word was chosen Mr. Louse??? Did you witness anything remotely close to that ugly word having anything to do with the Budget discussions Wednesday night???
What did “DEATH” have to do with the Budget Wednesday night….WHAT???
What the hell was so damn important that that word was involved????
The word was far from appropiate and the timing could not have been worse….do you disagree???
In closing, and this is for you, Sears and French….when it comes to a “CHILD” being tragically killed or “CHILDREN” being mass murdered, if something someone has said has offended just ONE SINGLE INDIVIDUAL then there SHOULD BE AN IMMEDIATE RETRACTION….PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t give a RATS A** about the constitution or rights of freedom here…we are talking about life, CHILDRENS LIVES!!!!
DO YOU GET IT YET?????????
Jim, I agree with you regarding the use of the word ‘death’ after what happened a week ago. I think what Jay was doing was a play on the phrase “Death & Taxes.” I also think that the Mayor does not have anything to do with the headlines Jay creates.
Ultimately it is up to Jay whether to change the headline or not. His blog — his rules. But to delete your post requesting the change is, in my opinion, wrong. He should have explained why he chose to not change the headline, or at the very least, left your post up.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Avg.,
Thank You for the support and input.
However, whatever, whyever, whoever….none of it is relevant – bad choice, brutal timing, take it down…PERIOD!!!!
The reason I mentioned our Mayor was because of his poor choice & timing as it relates to the tragedy in Newton…(his email to Mr. Sculti)
This was my original request sent to Mr. Sears:
“Considering the state of our Nation & the mental health of the children at this present time I find your use of the word “DEATH” in VERY POOR TASTE & OFFENSIVE????????????
I respectfully ask that you change your wording and possibly issue an apology for your poor judgement for those you have possibly offended!!!”
Tell me something, what would you have done in Mr. Sears shoes?
Nice touch, Jim Amico. God bless, Merry Christmas.
http://rye.patch.com/articles/a-painted-stairway-to-heaven-to-remember-sandy-hook-victims
Thanks “D”!!! We also took a trip to Sandy Hook….I can’t put words together to describe that experience!!!
We put a special shirt at the vigil that was done by some friends for Jarrid!