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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WESTCHESTER
Making Democracy Work |
LWVW
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Roundtable on Municipal Consolidation and Shared Services: Opportunities, Feasibility, Challenges and Consequences Held Jan.21,2010 sponsored by LWV of Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester Continued from home page The question is, how do we manage towns and villages incorporated in the early 1800’s but that are dealing with 21st century problems?” The League of Women Voters - Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester convened the forum to increase the public’s understanding of the pros and cons associated with this complex, and often controversial, topic. Indeed, proposals concerning eliminating redundant functions and streamlining government are being debated with renewed urgency throughout the state. The League agreed that the time was ripe for a public discussion amid growing public concern over the need to reduce tax burdens and enhance the efficiency with which government serves our community. Debbie Reisner, president of this chapter of the League offered, “It is our hope that through this discussion, the public will gain the tools they need when evaluating the proposals that will soon be coming from policy makers at every level of government up through New York State.” State Senator Oppenheimer said, ‘Let us look at smaller services that can be provided – back office services such as payroll, accounting, bulk purchases, and health insurance. A lot more can be done, it comes down to good savings through common sense approaches.” The discussion raised its share of controversial topics. City of Rye Manager, Frank Culross talked about how the real savings are in consolidating police and fire services but that these are “the most politically sensitive”. He went on to say that, “most people like their local service.” Chris Bradbury, Village Administrator for the Village of Rye Brook, talked about how “building public consensus is of vital importance.” Bishop Nowotnik, Confidential Secretary to the Supervisor of the Town of Rye, said, “In the business world, when there are inefficiencies, the company either goes bankrupt, is acquired by a larger, albeit more efficient company or changes its ways.” That, he stated, “doesn’t happen in government. Governments must go back to the taxpayers until there is some outside force to create change.” He added, “A recent New York State law that eases the way for consolidation has the beginnings of doing just that.” The forum will be broadcast on RCTV, LMC-TV and on the cable access channels for Port Chester and Rye Brook. Check local listings for times. You can also log on to the League’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/LWVRRBPC to view the broadcast. back to home page LWV BRINGS NY FIRST LADY TO SOUNDSHORE TO TALK ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY EPIDEMIC AT LUNCHEON ON MARCH 27, 2009 First Lady Michelle Paige Paterson will bring her statewide campaign to fight childhood obesity to the Sound Shore in a keynote speech sponsored by the League of Women Voters at noon on Friday, March 27th at the Davenport Club in New Rochelle. The event costs $45 and is open to the public. For reservations, please mail a check to the LWV, PO Box 811, Larchmont, NY 10538. For more information contact: lwv10538@aol.com. Childhood obesity is an epidemic, according to First Lady Paterson, who states that one in four of New York’s children are overweight or obese. “Healthy Steps to Albany: A First Lady’s Challenge” is aimed at challenging middle school students to make healthy living choices through exercising more and eating healthy foods. First Lady Paterson is working to turn the fitness challenge that she initially created for her home community of Harlem into this statewide initiative. Through the collaboration and cooperation of New York state schools, state agencies and community organizations, this program aims to foster positive healthy changes in children’s lives. First Lady Paterson began a career that focused on people’s health by working with both hospitals and healthcare providers. She has a M.S. in Health Services Management from the Milano Graduate School in New York City and a B.A. from Syracuse University. In 2005, First Lady Paterson became the Director of External Affairs and Corporate Contributions for HIP (Health Plan of New York) where she has worked with community organizations, agencies, and corporations on issues such as health care and education. At present, she is the Director of Integrative Wellness at Emblem Health, formally HIP, where she focuses on evidence-based programs that promote healthy living with a focus on childhood obesity and stress-related ailments. First Lady Paterson met David Paterson in 1982 and the two were married ten years later. The Governor and First Lady now live in Harlem, where they have raised their two children, Ashley (20) and Alex (14). The annual luncheon event was sponsored by the following Leagues of Women Voters: LWV of Larchmont/Mamaroneck, LWV of New Rochelle and the LWV of Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester. County League Convention |
LWV of Westchester Annual Convention Held in June 2009
Report on Reform Day In Albany April 29, 2008by Birgitta Sherman, Bronxville LWV Reform Day is an annual event not to be missed. It is organized by Common Cause/NY with support from and participation of many civic organizations, the League of Women Voters prominently among them. As I had never seen more of Albany than some shopping malls I was eager to observe where the legislators work in the Historic District. I joined a busload of mainly League members for Reform Day. The purpose was to ask our legislators to take action on ethics reforms, campaign finance reform, redistricting reform and rules reform. We gathered in “The Sign of the Tree”, a restaurant in the Empire State Plaza. The day was fast-paced, and I did not have time to see much of the buildings and the monumental works of art. Everything was on a large scale with much marble being used. Susan Lerner of Common Cause NY welcomed the participants and explained how the day would progress. We had already got background material with a list of problems and suggested actions we would bring up with the legislators. We had also received losts of potential answers and suggested counterarguments as well as a page of “do and don’t”. Blair Horner of NY Public Interest Research Group, who has spoken about “Project Sunlight” at one of our coffee mornings, addressed Ethics reforms in his enthusiastic way. The state need an independent ethics commission, real restrictions on the “personal use” of campaign contributions, a ban on “pay to play” contributions from lobbyists and those receiving government contracts, and more disclosure of lawmakers’ financial dealings including whether they have business relationships with lobbyists. Jess Wisneski of Citizen Action and Susan Lerner covered Campaign reform. New York needs a campaign finance law that includes lower campaign contribution limits, improved disclosure, tougher enforcement and a voluntary system on public financing of elections. Dick Dadey of Citizens Union dealt withy Redistricting reform. The legislative districts should be established by those with no vested interest in the outcome; an independent redistricting commission using objective criteria. Allowing legislators to draw their own district lines is a clear conflict of interest. Beth Foster and Andrew Stengel of Brennan Center talked about Rules reform. The legislature should empower rank and file members, give the representatives the power to bring bills to a vote and distribute resources fairly. Several lawmakers, but alas not our new Governor, came to listen to the speeches by the Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, the State Comptroller Thomas Di Napoli and the Attorney General Andrew Cuomo on the reform issues. They all stressed the importance of reforms and highlighted their own efforts to reform the state government. And now the pace picked up. We had been seated in teams. My team was “W” and consisted of Judie and Marcia from LWV Suffolk branch, Rosemary MacLaughlin from Bedford, whom you might have met at our Annual Meeting Luncheon, and myself. We had not seen Lisa Ritchie, our captain yet. We grabbed our lunch boxes and had hardly taken the first bite before Lisa stormed in and told us to get moving. What a fire storm she was! She is quite the activist with excellent command of the issues, well versed in lobbying techniques, without fear of authority or old age and only 22 years old. We were allotted four lawmakers: Senator Jeffrey Klein who is our State senator, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz from Brooklyn, Assemblyman Adam Bradley from Rosemary’s district and Assemblyman James Conti from Nassau, the only Republican. We had a list of their committees and sponsorship if relevant bills as well as a list of questions which were as follows: Legislator’s position on redistricting: Do they support an independent commission? Public hearings and public access to maps and reports? Well-defined guidelines in statute? Off and running. First to Senator Klein who received us graciously. We had a most enjoyable time and found that Sen. Klein agreed with most of our points of view. We were enthusiastic, but Lisa thought he should have promised more direct actions. Felix Ortiz was not in, but an aide, Dan Oosthuizen listened to us and answered our questions to the best of his ability and promised to follow up. Mr. Bradley has sponsored a bill creating an independent redistricting commission and well as one on public financing of election campaigns, so we sang from the same hymn sheet to a great extent. Mr Conte has been a minority member for 25 years and seen it all. He was rather pessimistic about the outcome of our proposals. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. It was quite exhausting really. The day was to close with a rally out of doors to tell Albany “Enough is enough! Change the way business is conducted in Albany, and only real campaign reform is acceptable”. As the weather was iffy there was an alternative venue: The Egg, an egg-shaped auditorium. Team W pronounced the weather inclement and marched off to the Egg where a the homosexual, bi-sexual and transgender lobby already had a rally. We ended up in limbo in the corridors of power under the Plaza and retired to our bus which brought us back to Westchester. Next year I will not miss the rally and will wear running shoes. I hope you will join me. It is an informative and exciting day.
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The League of Women Voters of Westchester and the Jacob Burns Film Center hosted a wildly popular (and sold-out!) look at the impact of the internet on the presidential campaign this year entitled The New "Selling of the President" 2008. 
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Updated by Valerie Castleman June 26, 2009