We Cannot Disobey Federal Law Just Because We Don’t Like Who Is President

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
In the May 24/30 issue of the Gazette, I wrote a letter outlining why the Croton proposed Local Law 5 and proposed Resolution were illegal. None of the Board chose to respond directly, but rather once again Mr. Masur in his capacity as Chairman of the Croton Democratic Village Committee was the one to defend the actions taken by the Croton Board of Trustees (The Gazette, week of May 31/June 6).

Mr. Masur quotes me as saying that the trustees were “pitching a tax avoidance scheme which is both illegal and creates liability for residents and the municipality itself.” Mr. Masur then goes on to object on the basis that “This was the foundational premise of Mr. Steinberg’s lengthy letter to the editor, despite the fact that, as he well knows, no such proposal was ever voted on by the trustees.”

Mr. Masur is blatantly misleading in quoting me because he omits the word preceding the sentence fragment. My actual full quote can be found at paragraph 4 of my letter: “Along with other municipalities in New York, New Jersey, and California, the Village of Croton-on-Hudson is considering pitching a tax avoidance scheme….”

By omitting the first clause of the sentence, and in particular the “considering” language, Mr. Masur alters my statement and then criticizes me for a position which I did not express. I made it clear that there were proposed schemes in 3 states as well as in Croton. My objection is to the underlying scheme, and that applies wherever it is proposed.

The Village of Croton Board of Trustees has now had 3 meetings on this proposed Local Law, and according to statements made by the Village Attorney will be spending more taxpayer time attending a meeting in White Plains on June 8.

“Mr. Masur says that we should not be “impugning the motives of others.” I disagree. When a motive is improper, it should be impugned.”

Mr. Masur states that New York State legislature “had already chosen to . . . increase the deductibility of New York State homeowners’ taxes.” At least with this false statement, Mr. Masur is more candid than the Village Attorney; she states that the Village is not making any representations as to deductibility. Of course, Albany cannot change the federal tax code (much as Mr. Masur may wish it were possible), which is why the Village Attorney and Board of Trustees act as though Croton will not be making any representations as to deductibility.

Mr. Masur says that we should not be “impugning the motives of others.” I disagree. When a motive is improper, it should be impugned.

The motive in this case is improper. The May 14 work session is online, and I urge residents to view that and make their own decisions. May 14 was the second of the 3 Board meetings to date regarding this scheme, and at you should pay particular attention to the video at 1:42 where the Village Attorney and the Village Manager agree that “the IRS is never going to allow the deduction.” 

There is then discussion from Trustee Gallelli about how there will be a “bureaucratic nightmare” for the village years down the road if the IRS disallows the deduction, and the Village Attorney and Village Manager reassure Ms. Gallelli that all is well because there will be no refunds issued and there is laughter from around the table.

After having a good laugh, the Village Attorney makes the most offensive statement of the night, saying “what the IRS does has nothing to do with this village.” (video at 1:45).

This statement is false, but even assuming that it was true—what does it say about our Board of Trustees and Village Attorney when their primary focus is on how to avoid liability for themselves when the IRS will go after residents who fall for this tax scam?

Village Engineer Dan O’Connor was not laughing, and interjected (video at 1:46) that “you could be hurting the residents” and expressed concern about residents incurring penalties. 

When the Village Engineer is the only participant whose priority is the welfare of Croton residents, I would suggest to Mr. Masur that says something about the motives of those at the conference table whose focus was on state and national priorities and not Croton priorities.

Trustee Murtaugh’s sole contribution to the discussion was to obfuscate on the most important question of whether the charitable foundations set up by the Village of Croton-on-Hudson were going to disclose a quid pro quo (QPQ) on the receipt given to residents. Mr. Murtaugh sought to muddy the waters by saying that “when you give to the Red Cross, not all of it goes to the primary purpose of what you’re giving” (video at 1:48). I am not even sure what that statement means, but I do know that it has nothing to do with whether as a matter of federal law the Red Cross would be obligated to make a QPQ disclosure.

So yes, Mr. Masur: when Mr. Murtaugh refused to answer a simple question from a meeting participant about whether or not a QPQ is going to be disclosed on the receipt issued by the Village’s “charitable” foundation, I do question the motives of Mr. Murtaugh. 

Contrary to what Mr. Murtaugh and the Village Attorney would have you believe, the IRS has specific requirements for donations which involve a QPQ. As I discussed in my original Gazette letter, if your property tax bill is more than $78.94 then 95 percent of that tax bill would be more than $75.

Since $75 in QPQ triggers specific IRS disclosure requirements, this is a valid question. Certainly Mr. Murtaugh can take the position that the QPQ is zero dollars, but Mr. Murtaugh’s attempted deflection at the May 19 meeting suggests that he is acknowledging there is a QPQ.

Apart from the threshold matter of whether failure to disclose the 95% QPQ puts Croton taxpayers in jeopardy of IRS audits and penalties, there is a liability question for the municipality itself. If the village’s “charitable fund” fails to comply with the rules, it is the “charitable fund” that is liable. This is because the IRS regulation regarding QPQ places the onus on the charitable organization to make not only disclosure of the existence of a QPQ but also to assign a specific dollar value to that QPQ.

It is because of the disclosure and valuation burden being placed on the recipient charity that the Village Attorney’s assurances of no municipal liability are misleading if not false. Technically the Village Attorney is correct insofar as any failure to disclose the QPQ would result in liability to the “charitable reserve fund” which presumably would be a legally distinct entity from the municipal corporation. But at the end of the day, this will just result in a roundabout route at the conclusion of which we the taxpayers of Croton will be footing the bill.

Mr. Murtaugh tries to draw attention away from the QPQ. Instead, he changes the subject to the use of monies by the recipient charity. But this is a completely different matter from what is written on the receipt given to the donor by the charity. 

If Mr. Murtaugh wants to challenge the legality of long-standing IRS regulations regarding disclosure of QPQ by the receiving charity, that is fine. But at least give a direct answer to a direct question—especially when that direct question goes to the key threshold issue.

A village employee then asks if the village would be doing something illegal, and the Village Attorney responds (video at 1:48): “No, all we’re doing is giving them a piece of paper that says that they have paid this much money into this charitable fund. We are not saying that yes it’s deductible on your federal taxes.”

Once again, a simple question about QPQ disclosure is deflected by conflating it with a different issue.

“I can appreciate that the attorney is looking to protect the interests of her client (the Board of Trustees). But who is looking out for the interests of the people of Croton?”

The first clause of the Village Attorney’s statement is hugely significant for Croton taxpayers. She is artfully saying that there will be no QPQ disclosure, despite the fact that we all know a QPQ exists, and that the QPQ amounts to a whopping 95 percent of the “charitable donation.”

Mr. Masur, how is that not fraud?

The second part of the Village Attorney’s statement should be a warning to taxpayers. Everyone around that conference table knew that this scheme is illegal. Even before they could hold a public hearing on the proposed Local Law, the attorney for the Board of Trustees was already putting caveats out. 

I can appreciate that the attorney is looking to protect the interests of her client (the Board of Trustees). But who is looking out for the interests of the people of Croton?

Nobody addressed the matter of QPQ disclosure requirements under IRS rules, although by this point some work session participants expressed that only 5% (the surcharge amount) would be considered as a charitable contribution. My question for Mr. Masur is: if that is true, why does the Board of Trustees and the Village Attorney say that the charitable receipt will merely state the amount given and not disclose the QPQ?

The fact that there is now video evidence of the Board of Trustees discussing that only 5% would be deductible is going to be a serious problem for Croton if they follow the May 14 guidance of the Village Attorney and only state the gross contribution amount.

After the May 14 session, the Board of Trustees held a regular session on May 21, at which there was discussion of a “guidance document” issued by the NY Dept of State and Dept. of Taxation & Finance. The actual document was quoted from at the May 21 session and relied upon by the Village Attorney, although I cannot find it as part of the meeting backup documents online.

That May 21 meeting video is online, and at 5:37 the Village Attorney says that the “guidance document” directs the Village of Croton to “affirmatively state that no goods or services were given in exchange for the donation.” 

With mastery of understatement, the Village Attorney declares: “That’s also a problem.”

At very least, the “guidance document” puts the matter squarely in front of the Croton Board of Trustees. Although they refused to deal with the central issue on May 21, at some point they will have to publicly take a stance if they continue to push this foolish scheme.

On June 8, there will be a pep rally in White Plains, convened by NY State and hosted by George Latimer to rally the troops in support of this scheme. I don’t see what possible use of taxpayer resources can be justified by spending the day at what is an attempt to persuade elected officials to entice their residents to be test subjects in this battle against the Trump-directed IRS.

At the May 14 work session, Trustee Horowitz expressed concern that taxpayers would have difficulty understanding this scheme. The response from Trustee Gallelli was that the residents “don’t need to know all of the complexity of what’s happening” (video at 1:53).

I disagree with Ms. Gallelli on that point. Taxpayers of Croton do need to know the complexity, because if the Board of Trustees adopts proposed Local Law 5, taxpayers who fall for the scheme are the ones who will be audited, not Ms. Gallelli.

Mr. Masur concluded his Gazette letter by saying that we should not make “inaccurate claims.” On that point, Mr. Masur and I are in wholehearted agreement.

I have yet to see any elected official in any NY jurisdiction say that they are willing to personally expose themselves by taking such a “charitable” deduction on their own federal return. It is true that officials such as Pelham Village Mayor Volpe have expressed interest in standing up to the IRS, but if you read his quote in LoHud, Mr. Volpe says he would participate “as the mayor.” That is code for saying that he will fight the IRS by using municipal money.

How about participating as an individual taxpayer: Is Mr. Pugh willing to deduct his 2018 Croton property taxes on his federal return and tell the IRS that his property taxes are a “charitable donation”? 

“We cannot disobey federal law just because we don’t like who is President.”

There is nothing which the June 8 sales pitch is going to present which will change the facts that existed back in October 2010 when the IRS issued the advice memorandum which I referenced in my original Gazette letter. In 2010, the IRS was under the direction of President Obama. I would remind Mr. Masur that Mr. Obama was and remains a Democrat. 

The same IRS rules regarding claiming property taxes as a “charitable contribution” in a Democrat administration also apply in a Republican administration. We cannot disobey federal law just because we don’t like who is President.

In an article about the “charitable” property tax plan being pushed by Albany, LoHud explains that Governor Cuomo “has made New York’s fight against the Trump tax plan a centerpiece of his 2018 agenda.” As a party boss, Chairman Masur has a duty to place the interest of Party paramount over other interests, and I can respect that the Chairman is doing his job. 

Although the Board of Trustees is composed of Party members, their motive as trustees should be to do what is best for Croton residents. I hope that after the June 8 political grandstanding is done and the Board of Trustees takes this matter up for the fourth time, the focus of discussion will turn to the question of what is best for the residents of Croton and not what is best for the national Party.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Tax Scheme Places Residents at Risk

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the Editor:
Political activism is an American tradition as old as the founding of our nation. But there is a big difference between personal activism and a municipal corporation engaging in activism which places its residents at risk.

When our Village trustees pass activist resolutions and send letters of protest to Albany or Washington, such action is harmless, albeit ineffectual. When we participate in a “Hey hey, ho ho, [insert cause] has got to go” march, we are getting some exercise and our neighbors are no worse off.

But when our state and local officials encourage residents to break the law to make a political statement, that is not acceptable.

Image courtesy of www.401kcalculator.org/

Along with other municipalities in New York, New Jersey, and California, the Village of Croton-on-Hudson is considering pitching a tax avoidance scheme which is both illegal and creates liability for residents and the municipality itself. 

Trustee Murtaugh tells us this is a “workaround” and Trustee Gallelli says that the “devil is in the details.” The devil is not in the details but rather it is in the fraudulent premise. For that reason, it is not a “workaround” but tax evasion.

The Village proposes to set up “charitable” foundations to accept “donations” in the amount of your property taxes. You would then get a receipt and be able to use that for a 95 percent credit against your Croton property tax bill, and you would tell the IRS that your property taxes are charitable contributions.

If this sounds to you like a harebrained scheme that the IRS will not accept, then you have grasped the essence of the Village proposal. 

Even if it were legal, this scheme has no benefit unless you own your home and itemize your federal tax deductions. It would have little to no benefit to someone with an older mortgage because the interest portion of your mortgage payment declines each month. And if you are wealthy and subject to the AMT, this would not be of use to you. There is a specific group of Croton residents who might want to take the risk of this tax avoidance scheme, but even there the benefit would be far outweighed by the risks.

As an example, imagine a married Croton couple in the 22% marginal bracket. They have $30,000 in itemized deductions of which $14,000 is property tax.

The couple would make a “charitable donation” of $14,000 to the foundation established by the Village. They would then be given a piece of paper (the wording of which shall become important) showing the receipt of $14,000. They would take this to the Village and get a credit of $13,300 against their property taxes, and tender a check for the balance of $700. On their federal tax return, they would claim $14,000 as a “charitable contribution.”

For 2018, the couple’s standard deduction is $24,000. By itemizing, the couple would shield an additional $6,000 from tax and thereby save $1,320. But since they paid an additional $700 in taxes, their actual savings is $620.

Most people would not even itemize for such a small savings, because the additional accounting fees and increased risk of audit are not worth it. The Treasury Secretary has already said that claiming property taxes as a “charitable contribution” is not going to fly with the IRS. 

Back in the 1970s thru the 1990s there were tax avoidance schemes which relied on elevation of form over substance. The IRS aggressively pursued taxpayers who participated in such schemes. They even went after the promoters, CPAs, and attorneys involved. After the collapse of Jenkins & Gilchrist most legal and tax professionals became much more wary of tax schemes which did not pass the smell test.

The Village Attorney says that the Village is not going to be in trouble because it is making no representation that the “charitable contribution” is tax deductible, and that the Village will simply give the “donor” a piece of paper stating the amount “donated” to the “charity.”

By setting up a “charitable” foundation and then taking “donations”, the Village is making a representation. And the Village Attorney is being disingenuous about the receipt which the Village will issue to “donors.”

Albany has not yet issued a sample of the receipt. Let us assume that the receipt does indeed only show the amount “donated.” The problem is that Governor Cuomo cannot defy federal law any more than Gov. Wallace or Gov. Faubus. In recent years we have come to believe that state governments can pick and choose which federal law to follow, and the “charitable gifts reserve fund” law passed in Albany is the most recent episode in the political struggle. The IRS is not going to let New York win this round.

The concern regarding liability which neither the Village Attorney nor the Village trustees will discuss is that the IRS can take legal action against the Village (and any officers of the “charitable foundations” set up by the Village) if they issue such a receipt.

There are actually 2 different types of receipts for charitable donations. If you give $500 to a local food bank, you get a piece of paper saying you gave $500. But if you give $500 to the food bank and attend their Annual Dinner, you will get a piece of paper saying that you gave $500 and that you got a meal valued at $125. The meal is called a “quid pro quo” (QPQ) and you can only deduct $375 as a charitable contribution.

IRS rules on QPQ contributions are explicit, they are federal, and they trump (sorry about that pun) whatever Mr. Cuomo or the Village Attorney wants to write on the receipt. The rules apply any time the QPQ is valued at more than $75, so any Croton property tax bill of more than $78.94 is going to fall under the rules involving QPQ donation receipts.

“When our state and local officials encourage residents to break the law to make a political statement, that is not acceptable.”

There are 2 requirements: first, the charity must tell the donor that tax deductibility is limited to the amount donated in excess of the QPQ and secondly, the charity must give a “good faith estimate” of the value of the QPQ. Contrary to what the Village Attorney and certain members of the Village Board are implying, “caveat emptor” is not permitted under the IRS rules.

The supporting materials on the Croton Board of Trustees website don’t provide any discussion of what the Board is going to determine as the value of the QPQ, but if the Village really is going to claim that there is no QPQ then the ramifications of this need to be fully disclosed to the taxpayers of Croton who are going to be on the hook for any litigation costs.

In our times, even provisions of the Internal Revenue Code are subjective depending on political viewpoint.
 
The argument for those claiming no QPQ is primarily expounded in left-leaning political circles and relies on IRS guidance relating to charitable tax credit programs established by various states. Those charities involved such things as education foundations, nature preservation groups, and domestic violence shelters. Most of the credits were about 25% (one was 50%). But in every single one of those cases, the charity was for a bona fide charitable purpose and the beneficiary of the donation was not the municipal tax coffers.

The only remotely plausible “no QPQ” support in the context of donations to a government entity comes from an October 27, 2010 advice memorandum (201105010, for those Gazette readers who are tax geeks). It is risky for a taxpayer to rely on such an IRS document, particularly where the facts are not sufficiently detailed to indicate congruence with your situation. 

Yet even in this flimsy support for the “no QPQ” position, the IRS discusses “charitable intent” as a key aspect. Do any Croton officials or the Village Attorney seriously believe that someone giving to the proposed Village “charity” has charitable intent? If you can’t make that case without laughing, then it would be foolish to think that the IRS will buy that argument.

The 2010 memorandum concludes by stating that “there may be unusual circumstances in which it would be appropriate to recharacterize a payment of cash or property that was, in form, a charitable contribution as, in substance, a satisfaction of tax liability.”

In 2018, Croton is proposing to accept “charitable contributions” explicitly for the satisfaction of tax liability. That is the sole purpose of the scheme, and the Village states it right there in black and white in both proposed Local Law 5 and also in the Board Resolution.

All of the “no QPQ” arguments rely on pre-2018 court rulings and IRS guidance. Those determinations were issued when SALT and charitable contributions were both fully deductible. Now that the IRS is going to apply the statutory language of the 2018 tax law, guidance given under the old tax law may be irrelevant.

The Village has not discussed what will happen when this scheme implodes. That may be this year, but if it is resolved through taxpayer audits that could take many years. Croton residents will make their “charitable contribution” in 2018 and file their return in 2019, but any audits may not be finished till 2021 or later. So taxpayer litigation against the Village may not even commence till 2022 or later.

It is important to remember that the 5% tax surcharge cannot not be refunded. Due to timing issues, some people may need to pay twice and apply for a refund. But that is questionable, since the “charity” is not going to give a refund and money paid to the municipality and school district as taxes is a bit dicey to refund and would be a direct QPQ. 

It is not clear as to whether the Village insurance policy will even cover acts taken by the “charitable foundations” nor how officers of the foundations will get D&O coverage since the whole purpose of the foundation is to assist people in an illegal tax avoidance scheme.

I am sympathetic to the need for Croton to make a statement opposing the evil GOP tax plan, but enticing Croton residents to commit tax evasion is not the way to make a statement. 

New Yorkers can be justly proud of our rank as #1 for the heaviest state tax burden. Our property taxes are the envy of lesser states: according to the most recent data from Bloomberg, 9 of the top 10 counties are in New York. 

We in Westchester have the honor of having the highest property taxes of any county in the entire nation. Many of us feared losing our #1 ranking during the years of tax freezes, but George Latimer understands the importance of keeping our property taxes the highest in the nation and Westchester residents can now rest assured.

It is entirely proper—one might even say charitable—to give the rest of the country an opportunity to share in some of that honor by means of subsidizing New Yorkers by fully deductible SALT. Unfortunately the Congress does not appreciate our point of view and changed the federal tax law. 

Quite probably in November the political power in Congress will shift and we will once again be able to share our tax burden. In the meantime, we should embrace our record property taxes as a true badge of wokeness.

Village officials may join Mr. Latimer in celebrating our nationally-renowned property tax burden and seek to keep Westchester’s position intact. But Village officials should not promote a tax avoidance scheme in which residents pay a 5% property tax surcharge and incur IRS penalties simply in order to protest the new federal tax code.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

After this letter was written, the Board on Monday 5/22 pulled the proposed resolution and proposed Local Law from the agenda. The Village Attorney stated that the State will be holding a meeting in White Plains on June 8 to further explain the program. In addition, Trustee Attias has said that she does not support the proposed resolution.

On Wednesday 5/23, the IRS issued Notice 2018-54 stating that it will be issuing specific rules about programs, and stated “The proposed regulations will make clear that the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code, informed by substance-over-form principles, govern the federal income tax treatment” of programs such as the one proposed here in Croton.
 

The School Board Election Fiasco

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
This week’s Croton-Harmon school board election fiasco raises questions about the competence of an organization which controls a $47 million annual budget but cannot perform basic personnel vetting. To that extent, valid criticism can be made. But some of the discussion and criticism within the Village and on social media is misplaced.

The actions of Jordan Humphrey have drawn welcome public attention to an election customarily ignored by Croton residents. However inadvertently, Mr. Humphrey has sparked discussion—some enlightening, and some nonsensical.

The claim that the write-in format means that only a handful of people decided the election is true, but this is no change from what was planned. As of 24 hours before the election, the race was poised to be decided by a single vote: in an uncontested election, every vote cast after the first ballot is superfluous. Even a write-in election with 2 ballots determining the winner is more democratic.

The flurry of online shadow campaigns on Monday night and Tuesday morning was a positive sign. Much like old-style political campaigns, people put forth the name of their choice and most draftees maintained a stoic public silence. Perhaps next year some of those shadow campaigners will consider running and detailing their vision at some point prior to election eve; an uncontested election is no election at all.

Mr. Humphrey deserves some credit. There was an open slot and he—a new arrival to Croton—was the only person willing to step forward. The position is a demanding one focused on nuts-and-bolts local issues.

School board positions are inherently local, and therefore lack the glamour of some other Village elected offices which can serve (and unfortunately, now do serve) as a soapbox for those who want to #Resist. If you have ever watched a school board meeting online, you probably fell asleep long before it concluded. Serving on the school board is a lot of work, with no pay and little recognition by our community: how many readers can name even one school board member?

The Croton-Harmon school board oversees spending which is more than twice the Village budget. The quality of our public school system has a huge impact on our local quality of life and Croton’s property values. Serving as a school board trustee is a job which is thankless but vital, and it deserves better than being treated as a farce.

Personally I doubt that someone who has just moved in to a school district is the best candidate for a position overseeing and guiding the activities of the school system. But at least Mr. Humphrey was willing to serve, and hopefully the spotlight placed on this office will inspire other people to consider service in future years.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Help Stop Robocalls

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the Editor:
We all get robocalls, and our seniors have been especially targeted by scammers. Although many people reported the calls to the Federal Trade Commission database, most of us did not. Even when the numbers were reported, little was done and the scammers just spoofed a different number. Putting your number on the Do Not Call list made no difference since scammers ignore the list.

But there is hope. This year has seen major changes including cooperation between the government and industry. There is now real-time data transmitted from the FTC to telecom providers, and so today it makes a difference if you report robocalls.

The major phone carriers are using the complaint database to not only block scammers, but also to improve their robocall detection algorithms.

Another problem is that caller ID has become useless since the scammers spoof the phone number they are using; this is why calls from overseas come up on your screen as a 914 number. The Federal Communications Commission is testing an anti-scammer technology solution (named Shaken & Stir, in a nod to James Bond), which would result in ensuring that the number that displays on your call ID is the real number.

As a result of a government competition a few years back awarding a cash prize for the company which came up with a robocall blocking solution, one of the competition winners called NoMoRobo is offering a robocall blocking program (free for VoIP, $1.99/mo for cellphones).

The new rules adopted by the FCC last November allow telecom carriers to proactively block numbers used to originate robocalls. The initial results this year have been positive, but seniors should be aware that many doctor’s offices and pharmacies use robocalls to remind patients about appointments and prescription refills. There have been instances where such calls are blocked by the new anti-robocall technology, and the FCC is working with telecom carriers to fix that problem.

The new efforts are making a positive impact in reducing robocalls and blocking scammers targeting seniors. So if you get a robocall, it now makes sense to take action. And if you know of a senior who is getting such calls, let them know to call 877-FTC-HELP or visit the FTC.gov site.

The number of robocall victims continues to rise, as does the amount lost to scams. Seniors are particularly vulnerable due to several factors. Surprisingly, the fastest-growing group of victims is the 35-54 age bracket; that group has a lot of personal information available on the internet which can be used to increase the likelihood of a scammer being successful.

By taking action ourselves, and by helping our elderly relatives and neighbors to report robocalls, we can make a difference and prevent people in our community from becoming victims.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Positive Forces in Croton

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
Paul Rolnick says (The Gazette, week of April 26-May 2) that he is sick of “rants” and that “many residents . . . wish Mr. Gingold and others would spare us from more of the same in our local paper.” 

My guess is that Mr. Rolnick’s definition of “rants” that should not appear in the Gazette is different from my definition, but in any event I think the result of Mr. Gingold’s letter illustrates why our both our local paper and Mr. Gingold are positive forces in Croton. 

I don’t agree with Mr. Gingold’s reasoning nor his conclusion about the Silver Lake fee. At the risk of shocking Mr. Rolnick, not only do I wholeheartedly agree with the decision of the Board of Trustees on this matter but I also thank Ms. Gallelli for providing a reply which suggests a path forward beneficial to our financially-stressed seniors.

Although Mr. Gingold is partially wrong on the merits, he is also partially correct. His letter provided a valuable public service quite apart from bringing the Board of Trustees policy change to the attention of readers of this newspaper.

Mr. Gingold was upset (see his letter here) that the fee waiver for seniors had been eliminated. He stated that he discovered this when he went to the Municipal Building to get his 2018 pass. Mr. Gingold’s letter made two arguments for the fee waiver.

Mr. Gingold’s first argument was that a fee waiver is warranted “in recognition of our status and in compensation for the substantial contributions we have made to the village during our younger years (and continue to make).”

I disagree with Mr. Gingold on this point. Simply attaining a specific age does not confer any superior social status. For example, we respect the wisdom of our elders, but that has nothing to do with age per se but rather because they bring a wealth of life experience and knowledge which warrants their opinions and advice being taken seriously.  

And if the basis of a municipal fee waiver is “substantial contributions” made by a waiver applicant, then this has nothing to do with age but rather would require an evaluation of what each resident has contributed to Croton. As such, a blanket waiver on seniors would be both over and under-inclusive with the only solution an impractical and cumbersome one.

The second argument made by Mr. Gingold is that many seniors have financial constraints greater than the general Croton population. This is a legitimate concern that should be taken seriously.

I have said for years that the Village policy was too restrictive on ID card issuance and also that it was unduly burdensome on lower-income residents and particularly families. Last year there was a policy change loosening the proof requirements for getting an ID card and an expansion of hours to accommodate parents who work during the daytime. That was a welcome change.

But it did not address my other concern as to the exclusionary impact of Village policies on lower-income residents of our community. It is here that Mr. Gingold’s letter had a positive impact.

In response to Mr. Gingold’s letter, trustee Ann Gallelli replied (The Gazette, week of April 26-May 2) with a letter making two points. At the risk of once more shocking Mr. Rolnick, I think that Ms. Gallelli was correct on both of her points. Ms. Gallelli’s first point was that this modest fee is to partially offset the cost of improvements which will benefit a narrow group of people and that the Village is undertaking these improvements at the specific request of the group of people now being asked to bear a $1 fee.

I often disagree with Ms. Gallelli on Village budget matters, but I don’t see how anyone could disagree with her on her position on asking that Silver Lake patrons make at least a token contribution for these particular upgrades. 

While I find Croton Point Avenue to be a boondoggle and Gouveia to be an eternal money pit, the distinction Ms. Gallelli makes with the Silver Lake fees is a valid and important one. I disagree with Ms. Gallelli on CPA and Gouveia, but those projects are ones which are arguably intended to benefit the municipal populace as a whole. That is not the case with these specific Silver Lake improvements.

Mr. Rolnick and Mr. Gingold disagree on substance but both feel that the Silver Lake fee is part of a larger debate. If you accept as reasonable Ms. Gallelli’s explanation (which I do), then this is an entirely sensible and non-political action and not part of any larger issue.

Ms. Gallelli’s second point is actually the most important data which has come out of this whole exchange, and if not for Mr. Gingold’s letter it would not have come to light.

Ms. Gallelli tells us that Croton “has a financial aid program to ensure that all residents have full access to village parks and programs regardless of their financial situations. Applications are available in the Recreation Office through June 1.”

This not only goes to the heart of objections raised by many residents (not just Mr. Gingold) regarding Silver Lake, this is a program which benefits financially-stressed families who wish to be a part of all of the municipal activities in our community—not just Silver Lake.

I would urge Ms. Gallelli to speak with the Village Manager about ensuring that affected residents are aware of this program. This can be done by putting a notice on Recreation & Parks application forms that require fee payment. Something along the lines of “If you are experiencing financial hardship, fee waivers are available. Contact 271-xxxx” would let people know that they shouldn’t just throw away the flyer before the kids see it and the parents don’t want to tell their kids the family can’t afford to let them attend a Village event.

Another avenue for outreach is the Croton Seniors who meet at the Muni Building: remind them to spread the word to fellow seniors who are in need. Many of our churches have programs assisting our low-income neighbors, and also assist residents who may customarily consume information in Spanish or other languages and therefore not know about the Village fee waiver policy. Organizations such as Croton Caring Committee and the Lions already work with some of our neighbors who will be glad to find out that the Village wants them involved in our recreation programs.

I also think that fee waivers should be accepted by Recreation & Parks at any time that someone has need to apply, not just during a limited time window. At least this should be tested for a year, particularly since the 2018 deadline is just a few days away.

This past month has been a bit of a bummer for anyone who relies on Croton social media to shape their perception of Croton or get news about Croton. That is a discussion for another time. The Gazette has been a refreshing counterpoint to online negativity.

I thank Mr. Gingold and Ms. Gallelli for putting their views forward in the pages of this newspaper. I often disagree with both of them, but I pay attention to their views and find their writing to be well-reasoned. At the end of the day, their dialogue on Silver Lake has been enlightening and beneficial for our community and they have provided a path forward for the rest of us in Croton.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Croton Needs to Prepare for Marijuana Legalization

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the Editor:
Last year, many members of our community were upset over the opening of a vape shop in Croton. Marijuana retail stores in Croton are not likely to be as controversial as e-cigarette merchants, but the pending legalization of marijuana in Croton is coming at a rapid pace and some legislation and education outreach needs to be done now.

It is time for us to have a conversation and make some decisions about Village laws and policy.

Last week, Senator Schumer not only announced his support for legalization, he autographed a reporter’s personal bong brought to Schumer’s Senate office and said he would sponsor legislation to give federal money for the promotion of marijuana sales as a means of reparations, saying that it is time to “inject real dollars into minority and women-owned businesses to insure those disproportionately affected by marijuana criminalization can benefit from the new economy.”

Senator Schumer signing a bong.

I personally don’t think that marijuana sellers need government handouts to prosper, but the fact that this is being proposed by the senior elected official of the national Democratic Party indicates how quickly the pot industry is becoming a major political lobby.

In an interview with Vice News broadcast on HBO, Minority Leader Schumer acknowledged that the current Republican majority in the U.S. Senate would block his program. But with the latest national polls giving the Democrats a strong chance of regaining the Senate, Mr. Schumer is a strong candidate for Majority Leader. We may be looking at traveling all the way across the spectrum from federal criminalization to federal government subsidy of marijuana by the end of 2019.

Locally, legalization is even closer. With the defeat of Republicans in New Jersey, incoming Governor Phil Murphy told the Legislature that he wanted to see legalized pot in Jersey by the end of 2018 and he is using a working projection of $60 million in state marijuana tax revenue as part of his upcoming budget.
Regardless of your personal position on marijuana, legalization is inevitable if only because of the huge amounts of money involved. Last week, banking behemoth TD Bank approved their Canada-based investment counselors recommending three marijuana companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and USA Today said that marijuana sales in California alone will be $3.8 billion this year.

New York has been a rare outpost of Democrat opposition to pot. Governor Cuomo has been opposed because he is concerned with the social consequences and possible “gateway drug” issues.

But with our state Assembly being pro-legalization, and with both Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and primary opponent Cynthia Nixon coming out in favor of pot, Mr. Cuomo has become isolated on this issue. While Mr. Cuomo’s reelection remains probable, the N.Y. Senate is likely to flip to Democrat control; hence the Governor’s face-saving decision to set up a “task force” to “study” the issue.

While most Croton residents are likely to agree with the pot-legalization advocacy of our Democratic Party elected officials and support the opening of marijuana stores in Croton, there is still a question of Village zoning and the degree of law enforcement monitoring of the stores.

During a recent stay in Denver, I was surprised at the social impact of pot. The public buses reeked of marijuana. On a bus ride back to our hotel from the Denver Zoo, there was a disturbance when one obviously high passenger missed the stop for the “dispensary” and demanded the bus driver pull over to let him out. 

A Colorado tourist official told me that “they came for the pot and stayed for the heroin” and she added that there was concern about the sense of decline and lawlessness in downtown Denver having an effect on tourism. A resident in suburban Highlands Ranch told me that she and her husband don’t go downtown anymore because of the conditions since legalization.

Croton is not Denver, and the impact here is likely to be much less. But one Denver lesson may be applicable to Croton, and that is the ramifications of product mix sold in marijuana retail stores.

Aging hippies in Croton can look back fondly on the days when they would toke a doobie during the Summer of Love. But millennials and teens in 2018 Denver have made “edibles” a majority of sales at some “dispensaries.” In addition, concentration of THC in marijuana products is much greater than it was back in olden times. Overdoses are not a great concern with adults (passage of time will usually cure any symptoms), but children are a different matter.

Children’s Hospital Colorado reports a small but disturbing surge in infants and pre-teens ingesting “edibles” and being treated for respiratory problems, including intubation of a 3 year-old, “continuous positive pressure for respiratory insufficiency” for an 8 month-old infant, and the death of an 11 month-old. Cause of death in the 11 month-old is disputed, but the doctors state that the infant arrived at the ER in an unresponsive state with rapid heartbeat, and a urine drug screen came back positive for high levels of THC. 

Although mainstream media and an increasing number of national politicians dismiss the Denver experience as an anomaly, Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper (D) signed the “Gummy Bear” law banning edibles in the shape of animals and fruits. If New York State does not enact such limitations, then the Village of Croton should consider passage of a local law.

In a family town such as Croton, the Colorado experience with “edibles” should be a cause for concern among our parents and teachers. In addition to immediate physiological impacts on infants, there are concerns both due to the effects of THC on teenage brain development, and also due to the use of pot by teens to self-medicate; thereby masking underlying emotional issues that would normally be spotted by parents and teachers.

Our Croton school district leadership needs to decide how to educate students about pot. Many of their students are going to be coming from homes where parents will smoke pot and consume “edibles.” It is going to be difficult if not impossible for schools to convince students that consumption of marijuana is harmful when the students see pot used in their own home or when they visit the homes of classmates.

The DARE curriculum (Drug Abuse Resistance Education, a national drug prevention program used in Croton schools) advises against initiation of marijuana discussion below around sixth grade: “Most students in this age group have no basis of reference to the substance. Research has found that teaching children about drugs with which they have no orientation or real life awareness may negatively stimulate their interest or curiosity about the substance.”

DARE focuses on alcohol and tobacco: “the two most common and dangerous drugs with which elementary aged students have knowledge or familiarities are alcohol and tobacco. Also, these are the substances, across all segments of the population, with the highest use levels within this age group.”

DARE’s curriculum at the high school level stresses resistance to peer pressure, providing data to show that it is socially acceptable to decide not to ingest drugs. Unfortunately, while it is true that consumption of alcohol or tobacco is not actively promoted by parents or politicians, this is no longer the case about marijuana.

No politician would sign a carton of cigarettes or case of beer, but in this state our politicians will autograph a bong. New York politicians are openly enthusiastic about pot, and—in the case of Mr. Schumer—even want to put tax money toward promoting marijuana businesses.

But there are longitudinal studies suggesting impairment of verbal cognitive functions in children, with a direct relationship between age of first use and impact. A New Zealand study concluded that even when high-consuming pot-smoking teens stopped as adults, there was permanent reduction in IQ test scores. 

For obvious reasons, there has not been much research on human in utero exposure; but animal studies show cognitive impairment in adult rats, likely due to effects of THC on development of the hippocampus (the brain area involved in memory formation).

Most studies on the effects of THC on brain development have been performed on lab rats. In New York, we are about to embark on a massive experiment with our children as lab rats.

My personal libertarian perspective would normally lead me to join Sen. Schumer, Sen. Gillibrand, Ms. Nixon, and other New York politicians in welcoming state-wide consumption of marijuana in all its glorious variants. And I realize that marijuana criminalization no longer has voter support, either nationally or locally. But after observing Denver and speaking with people living there, I am concerned about the impact of the coming legalization here in Croton.

At very least, the Village and the school district should start involving residents and parents in preparing for the coming legalization of marijuana and we should consider whether to pass new zoning laws now, rather than waiting till after the fact.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson
 

Seniors of Croton, Unite!

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the Editor:
Seniors of Croton, unite! The village board is coming after us with guns blazing.

The other day my wife and I went to the Municipal Building to renew our Rec passes, which expire next month. After our new cards were issued came the shock—and the outrage!

For years, no, for decades, Croton seniors have been issued free passes for Silver Lake. This in recognition of our status and in compensation for the substantial contributions we have made (and continue to make) to the village during our younger years. But when we requested our Silver Lake stickers for this season, we were rebuffed. It seems the board, in its infinite wisdom, has chosen to reverse this venerable policy and, henceforth, seniors will be charged a fee for entry into our favorite swimming hole.

Yes, the fees are moderate. And yes, many of us can reasonably afford them. But there are also those in our village, many on fixed incomes, who struggle every day to remain in their homes in our high-priced community; and for whom every dollar is important if they are not to be driven from our midst. And how much can the board possibly expect to reap from these folks in comparison to our $19.5 million budget? A pittance at best.

So what is behind this slap in the faces of our oldest residents? Is the board that desperate to glean every nickel from every source to fund its pet projects like Croton Point Avenue and Gouveia Park? Is this how they respond to the Financial Stability Committee’s warning that village expenses will soon exceed its revenues?

It is sad to contemplate that, during a hot, muggy day this August, some of our senior citizens may be forced to forgo the opportunity to cool themselves in the waters of the Croton River, or to just sit in the sun and reminisce with old friends about the good old days when our village board actually cared about all of the residents of Croton, not just themselves and their friends.

Sincerely,
Joel E. Gingold

Vandalism Should Be a Wakeup Call

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
The smashing of a vehicle window in Croton is disturbing (The Gazette, week of April 5-11), and that the victim is a hardworking immigrant who actively supports our community makes this an embarrassment for Croton as well.

Occurring in broad daylight just steps from a daycare center, the timing and place of this vandalism should be a wakeup call. When people feel they can do this with impunity, it creates an environment which is damaging to public safety and to property values in our Village. 

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

I hope that somebody comes forward with information to apprehend the vandal. The vandalism comes in the context of other developments. The Upper Village has gotten a shabby look in recent months. In addition to the ugly vacant storefront at the former Three Dog Bite, exterior storefronts have become billboards for advertising flyers. The row from the Chinese restaurant down to the former German deli now sports a variety of flyers, which remain even after they have been exposed to wind and rain.

A word of thanks is due to ASAP Mortgage, which has always kept an attractive storefront since it opened last year. If every business owner and landlord followed their example, the Upper Village would be a better place.

Not only does the Village refrain from doing anything about the growing eyesore, our Village has chosen to add to the visual blight by putting up “Solarize Croton” flyers alongside the other advertisements. Solar energy is a wonderful cause to promote, but I don’t think the Village needs to litter in order to do so.

I do give credit to the Village for last week’s clean-up of the municipal land along Old Post Road opposite the Municipal Building. It had come to the point that the Bud Light cans and potato chip wrappers had been joined by a single white ankle sock which laid in the middle of the sidewalk. Perhaps it is time to consider a small trash can. Yes, people should take their trash away. But they are not doing so, and since this is part of the Village trail system a bit of pragmatic action by the Village is not unreasonable.

The Village of Croton gives a lot of thought to problems such as the proper level of federal funding for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation and where Comptroller DiNapoli should invest the state pension fund. And no doubt the leadership in Washington and Albany eagerly awaits the latest pearls of wisdom from Croton.

Compared to weighty matters of state, a smashed car window or visual pollution are unworthy of great minds who “think globally.” Indeed, in the current environment it is downright reactionary to suggest that the Municipal Building focus on such pedestrian concerns.

But unlike events in Washington or Albany, the Village can have an immediate positive impact on the conditions in the Upper Village. Moreover, if we don’t think locally and act locally nobody in Washington is going to do it for us. There are specific steps which can be taken.

First is to reach out to the landlords of the retail properties. If they have allowed the posting of these flyers, then they should be encouraged to rethink that permission or at very least to have the flyers posted on the inside of the window. If they have not given permission then the Village should consider implementing and enforcing appropriate code provisions.

In addition, the Village should encourage owners of vacant storefronts to maintain the property in a manner which takes into account the impact of aesthetic factors. The value of the landlord’s property is tied to the desire of entrepreneurs to rent, and who wants to open a store on a blighted street?

The local business community also has a stake in having an attractive and safe Upper Village. Working with the Chamber and the Rotary, the Village can leverage the knowledge and enthusiasm of people whose focus is on retail sales development.

Croton’s arts community is another resource: some communities such as East Hampton and Riverhead have worked on bringing together artists and landlords to utilize the vacant frontage as an artistic forum.

Croton should also seek advice from other municipalities. I don’t agree with all of Beacon’s requirements, but at least Beacon’s leadership has given this matter some thought. Larchmont and Bronxville struggle with retail vacancies but you don’t see tacky flyers taped on the outside of store windows or trashed interiors. In both of those communities, there is an explicit commitment to prevent retail blight. In Bronxville, the Mayor’s “shop local” campaign reminds residents that the sales tax revenues keep property taxes down. In Larchmont, the Mayor says that retail vibrancy “is our top priority as the village board.”

I realize that local issues are not the top priority of our village board. But we have some sharp Village employees, and perhaps they could deal with the current state of the Upper Village while our elected officials are busy saving the planet.

All of us as Croton residents can do our part by making an effort to shop local, and support our Croton businesses. Retail is changing permanently, and unless we want decaying streetscapes we need to welcome businesses who are willing to contribute to our economy. In the last 2 years, Croton has seen a number of foodservice and beauty establishments open. Unfortunately some residents went on social media to complain about having too many delis and nail salons.

This negative attitude is short-sighted and based on the idea that Croton can turn back time. When prospective tenants read negative and hostile comments on Facebook “community” pages, they look elsewhere. We don’t have the population density to bring back artisanal toy stores or bookstores, and that is a reality we need to accept in the online era.

Smashed car windows and vacant storefronts are not a good image for Croton. We need to spend some time thinking locally and acting locally.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Hypocrisy from Our Democratic Village Board

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
We are used to hypocrisy from our federal and state politicians, but Washington and Albany have nothing on our own Democratic Village Board. 

During last fall’s campaign, candidates Pugh, Horowitz, and Attias manufactured a huge issue over the Croton United Board’s one-year deferral of the purchase of a replacement for aging fire truck 118. 

OMG, they cried! The existing apparatus is disintegrating before our very eyes! This is a really, really serious public safety concern!! Our very lives will be in danger until the new truck arrives!!! We’re doomed!!!! We’re all going to die!!!!! Somebody save us!!!!!! Please!!!!!!! Quickly!!!!!!!!

In the 2017-2018 budget adopted by the CU Board, the replacement was to be purchased in the 2018-2019 fiscal year at a cost of $700K. So, due to the extreme urgency of the situation, you would have expected that the very, very first thing the new Dem Board would do was to place an order for the new fire apparatus to save us all from certain extinction.

But is that what happened? Of course not. The first major expenditure made by the Dem Board was to purchase a $250K study and design for the ill-advised Croton Point Avenue Project. Clearly, in their opinion—and they certainly know better than anyone else in the village—the CPA project is far, far more vital than replacing the fire truck they previously insisted would completely collapse as flames were shooting out of our windows and doors. In the Dems budget, the replacement has been deferred yet another year, to F.Y. 2019-2020. And the cost has ballooned to $875K. An additional $1.5 million will be borrowed to be ultimately squandered on Croton Point Avenue.

There are only two possible explanations for this. Either Mr. Pugh, Ms. Horowitz, and Ms. Attias knew that the existing fire engine, while old, was still serviceable and would clearly be reliable for another few years, in which case they were totally disingenuous, and, as is the Dems way, were willing to say anything to get elected. Or, the truck has actually reached the end of its useful life and is no longer reliable, and we really are all in jeopardy, but they just don’t care about that.

Those borrowings next year will blast right through the debt guidelines recommended by the Financial Sustainability Committee and adopted by the prior Croton United board. Further, the FSC, having identified serious financial problems looming in the future, recommended last fall that all future budgets include 5-year forecasts of revenues, expenditures, debt service, and capital expenditures, so that these problems can be identified early and addressed before they do real damage to the village’s fiscal health. However, the Dems’ budget addresses only a single year, except for the capital projection that, as has been the practice for decades, extends for several years into the future.

It must be that, in addition to knowing what’s best for everyone else, the Board also believes that it is far better qualified than the financial professionals who make up the FSC to ensure Croton’s fiscal health. Although, to my knowledge, not one of them has any expertise whatsoever in finance.

This financial wisdom extends to the $44K they propose to spend on cosmetic repairs to the Gouveia house, when, according to the Dems’ financial analysis used to justify the acceptance of the Gouveia property, the total cost of renovation and bringing the house up to ADA standards was just $110K. That’s a lotta work to be done with the remaining $65K. But they obviously must know something that escapes the rest of us.

I don’t pretend to be a fiscal expert. But I do know enough to follow the advice of those who are, whether in my business or personal life. Concern that the Board has no use for the FSC and just wants it to go away, continues to grow. Then they can merrily spend unlimited sums of taxpayers’ money on all of their pet projects without fear of contradiction. 

Unless and until, someone finally stands up and says “ENOUGH!”

Sincerely,
Joel E. Gingold

• For more on the Croton Point Avenue project see here.

Support the Marrakesh Treaty

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand’s support is vital to passage of a bill which will expand opportunity for visually-impaired people here in Croton and worldwide. Passage of S.2559 will enable our libraries in Croton and Ossining to give the visually-impaired members of our community access to the same resources most of us currently take for granted.

Helen Keller

Senate Bill 2559 is the next step in our nation implementing the Marrakesh Treaty, providing a limited copyright exemption for libraries to make information available to people with disabilities.

Locally, the Marrakesh Treaty will benefit visually-impaired people here in Croton and the surrounding community. In particular, the American Library Association notes that Spanish-speakers in the United States will benefit from increased ability to access native Spanish content from around the world. 

In developing countries, less than 1% of print content is accessible. We live in the information age, and excluding people from access to information means excluding them from participation in our society. By allowing import and export of existing accessible resources, we will avoid wasting money on duplicative transcription efforts and increase the amount of information available worldwide.

For more than a decade, advocates for the disabled have worked alongside academics, librarians, and diplomats to get to where we are now. The bill is currently in the Judiciary Committee.

Please call Sen. Schumer at (914) 734-1532 and Sen. Gillibrand at (845) 875-4585 and ask them to co-sponsor S.2559.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson
 

Gouveia Park—Déjà Vu All Over Again

The following letter appears in this week's issue of the Gazette.

To the Editor,
The article about rental of the Gouveia residence (The Gazette, week of March 1/7) was déjà vu all over again.

As noted in the article, the Village now finally admits it cannot use the building for public use without major renovations, although then-Mayor Leo Wiegman had assured Croton that the building could be made ADA-compliant without taxpayer money.

The Board of Trustees proposes to square that circle by renting the building as a private residence after the expenditure of $40,000 in taxpayer money. That “lowball” amount is obtained by ignoring the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but our Trustees won’t tell us how they can avoid compliance with a federal law.

This is the same discussion Croton taxpayers had more than five years ago. Some argue that use as a single-family home takes the building outside the ambit of the ADA. Others disagree, saying that as a municipal corporation, the “landlord” would seem to be covered under Title II and not Title III.

I don’t see how renting the Gouveia house could be exempt from Title II. According to the US Department of Justice, ADA title II applies to “all services, programs, and activities provided to the public by State and local governments, except public transportation services.”

Even if the Village is for this limited purpose covered under Title III (a dubious assumption), there may still be ADA requirements if the renter has a home office used for meeting clients. In addition, there may be accessibility obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Fair Housing Act, and other federal and state laws. 

Any balancing test of what modifications are “readily achievable” would necessarily take into account the deep pockets of the “landlord” and as our Board of Trustees will gleefully acknowledge, there is an unlimited pot of money to be sucked from the wallets of Croton taxpayers. That means that any refusal to make Gouveia ADA-compliant on the basis of unreasonable cost may be problematic.

If the Village is covered under Title II, the provisions of 28 CFR 35.102 and 35.151(b)(1) would appear to cover the Gouveia property under pretty much any use other than a bus depot. If the “lowball” cost of $40,000 is designed to set up a disproportionate cost defense, then there still should be a written analysis. Moreover, there may still be a problem if during the subsequent 3 years the Village undertakes further renovations.

As residents of Croton, we have no idea what the official position of the Village is because our Trustees and Village Manager simply refuse to discuss the issue with us. Nobody is questioning the competence of the Village Manager and no doubt she has done her predicate research, but the Board’s refusal to discuss these matters is odd.

Regardless of the requirements, as residents of Croton, we need to ask ourselves whether in 2018 we are the type of community which would initiate a new facility that cannot be used by those with disabilities.

It is bad enough that the Village chose to throw a few picnic tables out on the sloping lawn but declined to provide a pathway for people in wheelchairs or walkers to reach the tables (apparently they should be content to sit on the portion of the parking lot which the Village decided to pave). Do we really want to rub it in to our disabled and elderly residents?
An even more basic recurrent question which the Board of Trustees has never publicly addressed is whether Croton may even rent the building as a private home. In Croton, “Groundhog Day” is not a movie, it is a governance model.

Even while Ms. Gouveia was alive, questions were raised about the applicability of the public trust doctrine to the proposed revenue-producing activities at Gouveia Park. As discussed many years ago, in NY state the idea that public parkland is held in trust is about as engraved in stone as is possible. 

The land is titled in the name of the municipality, but the Gouveia parcel is owned in public trust and the power to regulate use is vested in the Legislature up in Albany—not the Croton Board of Trustees and not the Village Manager. The Trustees refuse to tell the people of Croton why they can give public parkland to a private person without leave of the state Legislature.
There is no indication that the citizen committee ever considered this when they wrote their report on possible uses for the park, probably because the committee was given a very narrow charge and firmly instructed not to deviate. 

So it is understandable why the citizen committee did not address the public trust doctrine in the January 13, 2015 report which suggested use either as a private residence or private office space rental. 

The 2015 report specifically states: “Long-term rental can be achieved without much work” and contemplates “a two-acre site.” Even as the citizen committee was drafting that report we all knew that such proposed “long-term” use was likely a violation of law if legislative approval was not obtained. Nobody wanted to discuss the cost or mechanics of obtaining approval from Albany.

Fast-forward to 2018 and our Croton Trustees are going to erect a permanent fence around the building. That is about as alienating as you can get with a plot of land, and the folks whose land is being taken is we the people. 

Naturally, the home is situated on the best part of the property, and the best views are from inside the home; the new occupant will have the option of looking out from their choice of lower patio (with a new $4,600 railing) or upper patio ($5,200 railing). 

The parkland being alienated by our Trustees is the prime acreage with the magnificent house that Ms. Gallelli gave such tantalizing reviews of back when we residents naively thought that it was to be public access. 

Now, we the lowly taxpayers are left with metal picnic tables and affixed hard benches where we will be (literally and figuratively) looked down on by the occupants of the home from behind their $6,000 locked gate and taxpayer-funded $7,000 perimeter fence. Franklin Roosevelt worked to put a chicken in every pot; Croton Trustees use taxpayer money to put a coq au vin in every Viking range.

No doubt the perimeter fence is another one of those issues which have been discussed and resolved prior to the Board putting a renovation budget together and announcing the intention to alienate public parkland for private use. 

I realize that the Village Manager is highly experienced in municipal matters and has lengthy service in a Village which has large amounts of parkland. Ms. Gallelli and Mr. Murtaugh have long involvement in Croton politics during the time when the Gouveia acquisition was discussed and finalized, Ms. Attias and Mr. Pugh are attorneys themselves, and the Board has a Village Attorney at their meetings.

These are not incompetent people who lack knowledge of the problems relating to application of the public trust doctrine to Gouveia. So obviously this has been satisfactorily resolved after discussion. But any discussion did not take place in an open public meeting and the Board refuses to tell us their conclusion and the basis therefor. 

I can understand the Trustees refusing public discussion of their conversations with Village Attorney Staudt, but at very least an opinion letter explaining why the Village can alienate public parkland and also refuse to make the building ADA-compliant should have been appended to the agenda supporting documents when this matter last came before the Board f Trustees.

Former Mayor Dr. Schmidt never discussed the public trust doctrine, but his administration never proposed alienating public parkland. By contrast, his predecessor and his successor have been quite open about their intent to alienate public parkland and yet neither of them have ever addressed the moral or legal aspects of such action.

This is not an obscure issue, and was even discussed in popular media last year due to the re-development of the Shea Stadium site in Queens. So why won’t our Trustees discuss this subject with the taxpayers of Croton? The reason we know about the Shea Stadium site is because of an Article 78 proceeding which went all the way up to the highest court in New York. Do we really want to get embroiled in lengthy and expensive litigation rather than put the facts out on the table now?

Our Board of Trustees refuse to discuss why the carving-out of parkland would not run afoul of the public trust doctrine, or in the alternative what communication the Village has had with Senator Murphy and Assemblywoman Galef about gaining assent of the Legislature.

Even if the Board of Trustees finally gives us an explanation as to the ADA and alienation aspects of the Gouveia rental, there is once again the matter of the classist attitude of our Trustees.

Just a few weeks ago, the Trustees voted to change the village law to promote “affordable” housing and even promised to waive zoning laws if a developer put up sufficiently large numbers of such units. As a practical matter, that decision is going to apply to Harmon and to Riverside near Brook Street. Those are neighborhoods occupied by hard working people frequently treated as an afterthought by elected officials in Croton.

By contrast, the grand renovation of Gouveia being done at taxpayer expense is in one of the wealthiest parts of the Village, near the ultra-exclusive Hudson National golf course and Audubon sanctuary. No high-density housing in that part of the Village, which is why the Village Manager says she will demand rent of $66,000 per year.

I realize that $66,000 is a pittance to our Trustees and Village Manager, but there are members of our Croton community who don’t make that much in salary in a year. Given a customary 40x multiplier (30% rent to income ratio) that means that Gouveia will be occupied by someone with a minimum annual income of $220,000.

According to Wikipedia, Croton per capita income is $39,441 and median family income is $100,182.

That means that the renter sleeping in the bedroom at Gouveia will have more than double the median income of the hardworking families being taxed to buy that $2,400 carpet for the Gouveia bedroom.

Speaking as someone who got his house carpets from the ABC Carpet remnant basement and on clearance at Bloomingdales, this strikes me as unjust. But then again, our Trustees and Village Manager live in a more rarified environment and they wouldn’t want their tenant to have to live like a (gasp!) Croton taxpayer.

If Ms. King or Mr. Pugh want to meet me at ABC Carpet, I’m sure we can find a good new carpet at a reasonable price. I will even help load it into the van and unload it at the Gouveia estate, provided they let me take a quick look out from that upper patio.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Evidence of Poor Judgment

The following letter was published in this week’s issue of the Gazette.

To the editor:
Mocking other people for eating disorders is not funny. When adult leaders in the Croton community engage in food-shaming, dietism, or fat shaming, it signals to children and teens that such bullying behavior is acceptable in Croton.

Orthorexia is a relatively new term for a problem that has been around for decades: a fixation on pursuing a “healthy” diet. Hollywood celebrities have long pushed fad diets, normally to women. As fat-shaming has become less acceptable, diet-shaming has come to serve the same purpose and possesses the same misogynistic applications.

Here in Croton, it is an organization led by 2 men (Chairman Richard Masur and Mayor Brian Pugh) that has chosen to use their official Facebook page to not only mock someone for diet, but also to hold that someone’s dietary choices are “Not evidence of the best judgment.”

The theme that Mr. Trump’s consumption of McDonald’s food and Diet Cokes is related to his professional qualifications is not new; last year physician James Hamblin even wrote in The Atlantic that Mr. Trump’s dietary and exercise choices “would seem to offer insight” into Trump’s North Korea policy.

I don’t know what Mr. Pugh eats, what his Body Mass Index is, nor how much Mr. Pugh exercises (if at all). Nor do I care. If Mr. Pugh was being mocked online for his personal life choices, I would be the first person to tell the bullies to knock it off.

But let’s be honest here: Mr. Pugh has critics of his policy positions, and some Croton residents have said that his fondness for increasing Village debt is evidence of poor judgment, but nobody has ever said that Mr. Pugh’s diet is relevant to the question of how he fulfills his official duties.

I wonder why none of Mr. Pugh’s colleagues told him that the Facebook post should be removed. Sherry Horowitz is an educator. Does Ms. Horowitz permit her students to gang up on a student who brings the “wrong” type of food in their lunchbox? Does she tell her students that classmates who go to McDonalds have parents with bad judgment? Does she tell her class that it is OK to diet-shame so long as the target has different political views?

If Ms. Horowitz does not permit her 5 year olds to bully and mock based on diet or body image, then why does she tolerate such behavior from grown men?

Diet-shaming of a man is rare, probably because of the gender double-standard. MarketData Enterprises notes that 90% of Weight Watchers’ members are female, and when looking at social media posts from victims of diet-shaming all of them I could find were from women, with several specifically from mothers who had been shamed for taking their children to McDonald’s.

Online posts such as the one authorized by the Croton Democratic Committee are not only in bad taste, they can also serve as a trigger for persons with eating disorders and body image issues.

In addition to the gender element of this online bullying, there is also a classism aspect. Going to Five Guys or Smashburger is a signal of woke millennial trendiness, but McDonald’s is so déclassé that the taxpayers of Croton issued a bond to pay for the $900,000 purchase of a plot of land that McDonald’s once threatened to purchase.

In the video currently posted on the CrotonDems page, when presented with a McMuffin the male actor sarcastically says it “truly is fine dining” and then proceeds to belch loudly and inform us as to the consistency of his bowel movement the next day. The woman puts the Diet Coke in glassware and says she is “pretending this is wine.”

Croton is a relatively wealthy and homogenous community. The last thing that our Mayor should be reinforcing is a classist bullying based on personal food choices.

The National Eating Disorders Association tells us that we should address our concerns in a “loving and supportive” way. Michelle Obama did much good work with her “Let’s Move” campaign and the “Chefs Move to Schools” program. Ms. Obama was always supportive, and even those who disagreed with some of her positions on school cafeteria diets knew that she was coming from a perspective of love and compassion.

I hope that Mr. Pugh gives some thought to expressing his views on diet in a more loving and supportive manner. Eating at McDonald’s and consuming Diet Cokes may be tied to health problems, but it is not a moral failing. Being overweight and insufficient exercise are issues most of us struggle with, but those are not moral failings.

Mocking people online for their diet and lifestyle choices is a moral failing, and a bad example for our young people. It needs to stop.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

What Happened to Financial Sustainability?

This letter was published in the Gazette on March 8, 2018.

To the Editor,
Well, it didn’t take Mayor Pugh and his colleagues very long to abandon any semblance of fiscal responsibility. In 2016, Mayor Schmidt appointed the Financial Sustainability Committee (FSC) and, in cooperation with that committee, instituted financial controls, including controls on future debt, to end the chaotic state of Croton’s finances and ensure the long-term fiscal health of the village.

Yet only days after the FSC reviewed its recommendations with the Board, and in response to questions regarding the ill-advised Croton Point Avenue (CPA) project, the Board stated that it would not abide by the debt control policy recommended by the FSC.  

The CPA estimate has ballooned to $3.2 million from $2.7 million and we have already expended over $400K before the first shovelful has been turned. Assuming that estimate remains valid, and taking account of the federal grant, additional money from the state, and the use of the entire fund provided to Croton by the county for lifetime CPA maintenance, we will still have to borrow an additional $1.5 million to fund the project.

But the use of the $400K in the county fund is still problematic, as the terms of the CPA transfer may preclude the use of all of it for such a project. If any of that money proves to be restricted, we will have to borrow even more, further violating the FSC’s debt recommendations. And all future maintenance on CPA will come right out of the taxpayers’ pockets.

Equally disturbing was the indication by some of the newer trustees during the FSC presentation that they had not read the FSC reports on the village’s debt and their recommendations on how to avoid significant financial problems in the years ahead. While this may be forgiven by their inexperience, one would have certainly expected that the Mayor would have instructed them to study the FSC reports before taking action on major village expenditures. Or was it that Mr. Pugh feared that, if they were aware of the precarious nature of future village finances, they would not support his attempt to ram this wasteful project through the Board?

To date, we have spent about $172K of the federal grant money. As painful as it might be, serious consideration should be given to repaying those funds and terminating the CPA project before any more money is squandered on it.

CPA was a bad idea when it was first proposed and remains a bad idea today. The sooner we get out from under it, the faster the village’s debt will be reduced to a level consistent with financial health and in concert with the recommendations of the FSC.

One final note. The FSC provides an invaluable service to the village. These financial professionals devote uncounted hours to ensure that the village remains fiscally healthy. We could not afford their services if we had to purchase them.

But if the Board continues to ignore the FSC’s recommendations, they may just conclude that they’re wasting their time and resign. And recruiting new members would become especially difficult. Or maybe that’s exactly what the Board has in mind.

Sincerely,
Joel E. Gingold

Protecting and Sustaining Our Fire Department Assets

This letter was published in the March 1 issue of the Gazette. 

To the Editor:  
Throughout the two years I served as Village Trustee, I worked closely with the leadership of the Croton Volunteer Fire Department. Our village is fortunate to be served by the brave and dedicated men and women of the CFD, who provide excellent protection and service to our village, and do so despite a shortage of new members as well as the aging out of many long-term volunteers. For this, the department deserves great credit. 

Unfortunately, workforce issues (which are a national as well as a local problem) are not the only issues that I believe our village and fire department must address in the near term. Over the last two years, there have been 11 accidents involving our fire apparatus according to Village records. Our department has a fleet of seven rigs total with an approximate value of $3-3.5 million dollars. The Village pays approximately $500,000 a year to support the three firehouses. We must do a better job of protecting and sustaining our assets. 

To do so, I would suggest a proactive plan: 

1. Certify or recertify our drivers on an annual basis; all firefighters must “demonstrate competency” in their various skills according to PESH, including drivers. 
2. Drivers who have serious accidents have to be taken out of service, and retrained; I believe the current standard operating guidelines require a driver to take a defensive driving course before returning to driving. I suggest that this be done by driving the apparatus under simulated emergency conditions to demonstrate competency. 
3. And most importantly, an Accident Prevention Program should be undertaken by the Village and the department. 

I am particularly concerned because our brand new rescue vehicle ($680,000) is now out of service due to an accident and may be out of service for several months. When the prior administration was considering the purchase of this vehicle (which was eventually delivered ahead of schedule and under budget), Former Trustee Pugh made several public statements to the effect that the absence of this vehicle among the village's fleet posed an imminent danger to resident safety. 

What happens now? Who will respond? During the repair of Rescue 18, will the village have the proper tools to respond to emergencies and keep residents safe? What is the current administration doing to ensure resident safety? I think the public deserves transparency on this issue. 

Bob Anderson

More on Ethical Practices in Croton's Government

This letter was published in the Gazette on March 1, 2018. See the previous letter on this topic here.

To the Editor:
The subject of Ms. Gallelli being paid for writing the Village newsletter has been a controversial matter in Croton for many years, and has been a matter of public discussion for more than 10 years.

My letter was in response to the narrow issue of a recent Village Board resolution and subsequent discussion in the Gazette, but since Mr. Masur (The Gazette, week of Feb 22/28) wishes to discuss the 14 year backstory I will address Mr. Masur’s points at this time. 

Mr. Masur is correct that Ms. Gallelli was the sole author of the newsletter for 14 years, and that this continued across the tenures of three Village Managers. But as I stated in my original letter (The Gazette, week of February 8/14—see below) this does not mean that the practice was compliant with Village Code nor that the practice should continue.

Mr. Masur says that “the Village owes Ms. Gallelli our respect and gratitude.” The taxpayers of Croton expressed that “gratitude” in the form of a check. At roughly $4,000 per year for 14 years (plus $3,000 per annum for the years as an elected official), I would say that Ms. Gallelli should not be complaining about a lack of taxpayer “gratitude.” If Ms. Gallelli feels that she is not given sufficient honor and acclaim for her efforts by the residents of Croton, then she should reconsider why she is a politician.

Mr. Masur complains about “continued libelous attacks on her character for political leverage.” 

If Mr. Masur or Ms. Gallelli feel that mere discussion of a municipal official’s compensation is “libelous” they might want to consider that Ms. Gallelli is—at least by titled position—a public servant. Failing that, Mr. Masur and Ms. Gallelli have their recourse and I urge them to pursue it in the appropriate judicial venue. Since the days of John Peter Zenger, New York politicians have tried to intimidate the citizens and the media. I am grateful for this newspaper and the online outlets which give the residents of Croton a forum for speech.

A few months ago there was an article in this newspaper, and a subsequent letter from Amy Ferrara. I disagreed with the article and the letter, and wrote in response to that. Such action is hardly continuous nor is it for “political leverage.”

In fact one of the earliest public criticisms of the payments to Ms. Gallelli were from a loyal member of Mr. Masur’s own (Democrat) organization. Those comments were prompted by a comment at the Village Board meeting of June 18, 2007 by a (Republican) resident suggesting that Ms. Gallelli include a particular item in her next Village newsletter. This prompted an inquiry by a (Democrat) resident who uncovered the details of payments which had been going on for 5 years at that point. 

For many residents, the first time they heard of the payments to Ms. Gallelli was on July 2, 2007 when the blog authored by the (Democrat) resident posted a tart comment wondering whether there had been any competitive bidding process and whether there were other “sweetheart” deals undisclosed to the public.

By 2010, the Village briefly attempted to go “green” with online publication commencing with the June issue: the Village would only print a limited run for distribution at the Library and Municipal Building. Estimated printing and postage savings were $12,000 per year. This is an often overlooked aspect of the newsletter: the environmental damage and distribution costs of hard-copy media. At the time, this change was viewed favorably by the same local (Democrat) blogger who authored the 2007 criticism of Ms. Gallelli’s compensation.

When a payment practice is a matter of public controversy for more than a decade and is condemned by Croton taxpayers of all political stripes, the time for change is long past-due. That is what was finally done on November 20, 2017 with passage of the Board of Trustees resolution by a vote of 4-1. 

Mr. Masur makes much of the period from 2002 through 2006, and his observation does highlight the narrow scope of the 2017 Board resolution. I would have liked to see a broader scope, but the resolution does prevent recurrence of the 2006 through 2016 situation and that is better than doing nothing. 

One key point which was never addressed by either Mr. Masur or Ms. Gallelli is the applicability of Village Code chapter 54. This omission is as understandable as it is telling: even after 14 years the classification(s) of those tens of thousands of dollars in payments remains unclear. Apart from possible violation of Village Code, classification of both pecuniary benefit and hours expended would affect the treatment of Ms. Gallelli under the NYSLRS pension formula. 

Mr. Masur says that there could never be any political spin to the newsletter because each issue was reviewed by the Village Manager. This implies that for those 14 years Ms. Gallelli either acted as an independent contractor or as a Village non-elected employee (in addition to being a paid elected official for 10 of those years).

Mr. Masur’s letter is to my knowledge the first time that anyone has claimed that for 14 years the Village Manager reviewed each newsletter prior to publication. Even if Mr. Masur is correct in his implication, most of us in Croton are aware that the Village Manager serves at the pleasure of the Board. More to the point, the Village Manager is aware of that fact. 

At one point, a village resident (a registered Democrat) asked Ms. Gallelli whether the “Got a Question?” feature of the Newsletter was based on actual resident questions. After a cagy response from Ms. Gallelli, the resident FOILed and the official response of the Village FOIL officer was that there was nothing responsive to the FOIL request—in other words, Ms. Gallelli was astroturfing: no actual questions had been submitted to the Village for answer in the newsletter.

In November 2015 every household in the Village received the newsletter with an above-the-fold “Got a Question?” segment discussing how “many residents” were still “understandably unhappy” with Verizon for a decision made 5 years previously.

But since cessation of FiOS expansion had been announced in 2010, why after 5 years was it suddenly so important to make sure that municipal tax money and resources were used to denounce a specific company 4 days before a Village election?

In fact, has the Village of Croton-on-Hudson ever before or since sent a Village-wide mailing to denounce a specific company?

For those who did not live in Croton at the time, I would point out that the arrival of the newsletter occurred 4 days before Election Day, and one of the challengers was a well-liked Croton resident who is a Verizon executive. At the time, Verizon had 178,000 employees and the Croton resident had nothing to do with the FiOS rollout.

No doubt Mr. Masur and Ms. Gallelli would claim that it was simply coincidence, and perhaps it was all just due to Ms. Gallelli being 5 years behind in clearing out her inbox. I was not aware until Mr. Masur’s letter this month that for 14 years the Village Manager was personally involved in a formal review “process” but based on Mr. Masur’s new information I am less certain of my previous view that the current Village Manager is “non-political.” 

I understand that as a Croton political boss, Mr. Masur is privy to more knowledge of the “process” than the rest of us here in Croton, and so it would have been helpful if Mr. Masur had disclosed back in 2015 that the Village Manager had—personally and after a review “process”—approved this inappropriate political use of municipal resources.

There is a sharp distinction between what individuals and political groups do versus what is done by the municipality; it is that distinction which separates Village Hall from Tammany Hall.

My letter in this newspaper a few weeks ago was addressed to the positive ethical standard that was set by that 4-1 Board resolution vote of November 2017. After reading Mr. Masur’s new information it appears that the resolution was more necessary than we residents knew at the time.

Paul Steinberg

Croton’s 120th Anniversary

Today marks the 120th anniversary of the incorporation of the Village of Croton-on-Hudson, which took place on February 12, 1898.

The Manual of Westchester County, published the same year, noted that a special election was held “on the question of incorporation” and “the electors of that locality . . . cast seventy-four (74) votes in favor of the proposition and twenty-one (21) votes against.” Croton’s population at the time of incorporation was 1,244 people. Today, it is more than 8,000.

Brickmaking was still a major industry in the village and the construction of New Croton Dam, which began in 1892, had finally reached the point where the Croton River had been diverted around the construction site, 1,821,400 cubic yards of earth and 400,250 cubic yards of rock had been excavated and the immense foundation was finally being laid.

Learn more at the blog Croton: History & Mysteries.

Riverside Avenue in the early 1900s.

Ethical Practices in Croton’s Government

This letter was published in the Gazette on February 8, 2018.

To the Editor:
New York is a phenomenally corrupt state, and as Governor Cuomo prepares to stand for re-election he is under fire for not doing enough to effectuate his pledge to clean up Albany.

But as even the Cuomo-unfriendly New York Post has noted, many of Governor Cuomo’s reform proposals have been blocked by Republican members of the legislature. The lax standards for ethics benefit the self-interest of both parties in Albany, and that is unfortunate.

What is equally unfortunate is the editorial stance of The Gazette (Nov. 30-Jan. 6 issue: “Outgoing Croton administration changes ‘compensation’ policy”), and the subsequent echo of that stance by Amy Ferrara (Gazette, Jan 18-24), when the Village of Croton took steps to ensure high ethical practices in Croton’s government.

The resolution which passed on November 20, 2017 regarding Board of Trustees’ compensation is available on the Village website, as is a video of the Board discussing the resolution.

At no point during the discussion does anybody discuss Ann Gallelli, nor does the resolution say anything about Ms. Gallelli.

The language of the resolution is clear, and it references both the statutory and ethical rationale for the resolution. Neither of those matters were addressed by the Gazette article, nor were they addressed by Ms. Ferrara.

There was a tradition in Croton that the Village newsletter was a patronage stipend given to a Trustee. Arguably that was always in violation of Chapter 54 of the Village Code, and certainly it was one of those “traditions” that needed to be changed to comply with the existing law.

You might disagree with Mayor Dr. Schmidt’s handling of the newsletter, but there is no disagreement that he led by example: taking the newsletter out of the political patronage trough and directing that the Village Manager handle the matter in a non-political manner.

For 2 years, Dr. Schmidt left the production of the newsletter to be done by the Village staff. This practice not only saved money, but it also removed even the perception of politicization of this municipal resource.

That is not “petty vindictiveness,” it is ethical stewardship that respects the citizens of Croton and our inclusive representative democracy.

Nobody from Croton United ever got any pecuniary benefit from the newsletter, nobody from Croton United ever got state pension credit for production of the newsletter, and nobody from Croton United ever used the newsletter to bash their electoral opponents nor their electoral opponents’ respective employers.

Dr. Schmidt’s position on public service as a privilege and not an opportunity for personal gain is well known and longstanding. That is what he did with the newsletter.

To suggest (as the Gazette article does) that this position was “specifically” directed at a particular individual is to ignore both the precedent which Dr. Schmidt set and also the black letter language of the resolution. The resolution applies equally to all individuals, just as Chapter 54 applies to all individuals serving on the Board of Trustees.

Have we become so cynical that we prefer to believe that Dr. Schmidt and Trustees Pugh, Anderson, and Walsh were acting out of hidden spite rather than acting in what they honestly believed to be the public interest?

The resolution passed 4-1, and even Ms. Gallelli explicitly stated that her grounds for opposing the resolution were procedural and not substantive. In fact during public colloquy with Mr. Walsh, Ms. Gallelli said she was not taking a position whether the resolution was substantively objectionable. The municipality is not preventing anybody from publishing a newsletter.

In 2018 anybody can set up a website or Facebook page and reach a global audience with negligible to zero cost. And anybody can write to their heart’s content and email their views at no cost whatsoever.

All of us have a right to express our viewpoint. What we don’t have is a right to force the taxpayers of Croton pay for that expression nor to lend the imprimatur of the municipality to our personal expression.

The Village newsletter is now being produced under the supervision of the non-political Village Manager, and that is a step forward into a new age of ethical and transparent governance.

Albany could take a lesson from Croton: stop working backwards from the “What’s in it for my party!” demand and instead start working forward from the “What’s the right thing to do?” perspective.

All of us have a role not simply in changing the current climate of political ethics, but also in supporting and advocating for written policies that foster good government. Just because politicians have always done a particular practice does not mean that we as citizens should not make a change for the better.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson

Questions for Trustee Ian Murtaugh

The following letter was published in the February 1, 2018 issue of the Gazette. 

To the Editor,
In his latest promotion of the ill-advised Croton Point Avenue (CPA) project, Trustee Ian Murtaugh conveniently avoids addressing any of the issues raised in these pages a couple of weeks ago; namely, the project’s cost, its financing, its impact on budgets and taxes, and whether we can afford it at this time.

In its September 2017 report, the Financial Sustainability Committee (FSC) stated:

“Going forward, the FSC believes that expenses will grow at a faster pace than revenue over the next several years, putting the village at risk to deplete the fund balance.

The FSC believes that the Village should start to take measures to reduce operating costs now to avoid necessary deep cuts in future years if not addressed.

The expense growth becomes exacerbated if the Village undertakes additional large-scale projects and/or violates the debt policy.

It further concluded that: “Reserves will deplete less quickly if The Village limits its Capital Plan.”

So let me be more specific, Mr. Murtaugh, and respectfully request that you respond to a few simple questions:

1. Does the village board intend to comply with the debt policy adopted last year?
2. Can CPA be funded, along with the new village garage, the new fire engine, and whatever other capital projects the board contemplates for the next few years, without violating that debt policy?
3. How much has already been spent on CPA, what was the source of those funds, and what were they used for?
4. Assuming that the ~$2.7 million cost for CPA is still appropriate, how will the balance of the project be financed? What allowance has been made for the inevitable cost overruns? What is the impact on village budgets and future tax rates?
5. In light of the warnings from the FSC, how do you justify committing to CPA at this time?

And, no, Mr. Murtaugh, I do not think it is short sighted to express concern over the long term fiscal health of our village, when financial experts, who understand such things far better than you or I, have raised red flags about piling more even debt on our overburdened village. Rather, I think it is short sighted for the board to make such commitments without regard for their future fiscal impact.

When I was in school, I had an old professor who, when he asked me a question and I tried to talk around the answer, would say, “Mr. Gingold, No schmooze! Please just answer the question!” And I would say the same to you, Mr. Murtaugh, “No schmooze! Please just answer the questions!”

Sincerely,  
Joel E. Gingold

Croton Point Avenue Project

The following letter was published in the January 25, 2018 edition of the Gazette. 

To the Editor,
I’m afraid I must take exception to Ian Murtaugh’s glowing portrayal of the Croton Point Avenue (CPA) project. While consensus has not been reached that the project is even needed, and questions remain as to whether it will impede, rather than improve, safety, my concerns are principally financial.

The Financial Sustainability Committee has warned that, unless action is taken, village expenses will exceed revenues in a few years absent significant tax increases. And our ability to deduct local taxes on our federal returns has been severely curtailed. Croton is already one of the most indebted villages in all of New York and debt service represents an inordinate share of the village budget. Piling on unnecessary debt under these circumstances is irresponsible at best.

The previous board solved the problem of a new village garage, an act endorsed by almost everybody, at a cost of about $3 million, half of what had been previously estimated. The current board proposes the purchase of new fire apparatus at a cost approaching $1 million. That seems like a pretty good place to stop.

The Dems record of estimating the cost of capital projects is spotty at best. The Elliott Way project had to be significantly scaled back when the bids received were well above the estimate, and even the reduced project cost will exceed that estimate. And who can forget that the $12,000 estimated for the driveway and parking lot at Gouveia Park morphed into an actual expenditure well above $200,000.

The latest CPA estimate (January 2015) on the village website puts the cost at $2.681 million. In light of the above, this value must be viewed with great skepticism. 

It will be offset by a federal grant of $1.2 million, leaving about $1.5 million to be paid by Croton taxpayers. If the $250K state grant actually materializes (I have been told it was rescinded), we still have to come up with $1.25 million, plus all of the inevitable cost overruns. The use of the maintenance money paid by the county when the village took responsibility for CPA will only mean that future maintenance will have to come from other village funds.

So before the village board goes crashing ahead with this ill-advised project, it is incumbent on Mr. Murtaugh and his colleagues to first, prepare an updated, accurate cost estimate for the project and second, to provide to the taxpayers an analysis of exactly how these costs will be met and what the impact will be on the village’s budget and on future taxes. 

When this is complete, I suspect that CPA will not look nearly as rosy as painted by Mr. Murtaugh.

Sincerely,
Joel E. Gingold

Community Choice Aggregation

This letter was published in the Gazette on December 9, 2017.

To the Editor: 
Despite several years of public discussion, some politicians in Croton continue to make false and misleading statements about residential electricity purchasing and “green” energy.

Most recently, the article in the November 9 Gazette made statements regarding “Community Choice Aggregation” (“CCA”) and electric usage which are not entirely correct.

CCA is a type of “Energy Service Company” (ESCO).

These have existed for 20 years in New York State, and any consumer (except those on low-income energy assistance programs) may choose an ESCO. Con Ed itself shed the generation side of the business and is now an energy network operator.

CCA is a sub-group of the ESCO universe. The distinction is that unlike a normal ESCO where you affirmatively choose to have a particular company supply your electricity, the government forces you into the CCA unless you affirmatively take action in writing to use a different company.

The Gazette quote about the savings from CCA being “speculative” is correct insofar as the projections from Sustainable Westchester (SW), whose electricity affiliate is now known as Westchester Power, were purely guesswork back in 2015.

But it is also true that the calendar year 2016 “savings” of $26 now being claimed by Westchester Power is misleading insofar as Westchester Power compares a market-rate product (kWh purchased from Con Ed) to a tax-preferenced product (kWh purchased from an ESCO). 

Any ESCO should be cheaper for a consumer than the regular Con Ed rate. This is due to the fact that ESCOs are subsidized pursuant to NY Tax Law 1105-C.

That law was passed in 2000 to override a 1999 ruling from the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance which taxed ESCOs the same way as Con Ed. Legislators wanted to stimulate electric choice.

The 1105-C tax subsidy has grown from $30M in 2001 to $118M today, without evidence that the subsidy has resulted in increased competition, reduced retail price, or reduced carbon output.

That $118M is going to grow exponentially as the entire customer base is pushed into CCAs, and it already results in a regressive tax burden as consumers living in large private houses benefit most from the tax exemption.

In addition there is empirical research showing that the tax exemption is resulting in higher prices to consumers, since ESCOs can sell for a higher price and still undercut Con Ed since ESCOs don’t charge sales tax.

As a result, there is now a bill pending in the NY Senate which would eliminate the tax exemption.

The thought is that the ESCOs are getting windfall profits (Westchester Power netted $223k on $393k gross in just the first 8 months of operation) by not passing along the tax breaks to their consumers, and that repeal of 1105-C will result in lower cost to electricity consumers.

Whether this is objectively true is a separate issue, but the perception (and politicians salivating over getting an additional $118M in revenue) is driving introduction of repeal legislation in Albany.

No doubt Westchester Power and other beneficiaries of the tax subsidy will be lobbying heavily to stay on the gravy train, but as CCAs start to see the millions roll in they are going to become increasingly attractive targets to legislators.

Most of the “savings” claimed by CCA advocates don’t actually come from any bulk buying power, the “savings” come from use of a tax subsidy which any consumer can get by selecting an ESCO. In fact, it is sometimes cheaper for a Croton resident to get electricity directly thru an ESCO than thru the SW (now Westchester Power) CCA program.

The SW program used Con Edison’s ESCO subsidiary. Due to collapsing margins in the wholesale market, Con Ed sold that subsidiary to what is now called Constellation. (The wholesale electric market entails significant pricing risk which can be offset by hedging on the futures markets, but it is not clear as to the exposure of SW/WP nor any risk mitigation efforts in place).

For much of 2017, you could sign up with Constellation at a price slightly above SW’s rate but you also got a $50 cash-back card, which meant that for most households the individual ESCO price was slightly better than the “bulk buying” SW price.

The original SW CCA price was 7.38 cents for regular and 7.68 cents for “green.” As of May 2017 those rates increased by 0.32 cents due to state-mandated taxes to subsidize nuclear power plants and infrastructure development.

The current Constellation rate to lock in for 36 months is 7.59 cents. The Con Ed non-contract rate for October was 8.30 cents with an adjusted rate of 8.80 cents.

In short, it is misleading to say that savings are “speculative” because an apples-to-apples comparison is always going to result in an ESCO being cheaper than remaining on Con Ed. That has nothing to do with any savvy negotiating by the CCA but rather due to a built-in tax break resulting from a statutory override of otherwise-applicable NYS law.

Parenthetically, lower electric cost can result in increased environmental damage. A study in the current issue of Science Advances documents a global surge in electricity use and light pollution as LED lighting has made it less costly to light outdoor areas.

I also object to the Gazette statement that SW offers residents “the opportunity to buy their power from 100 percent renewable resources.” Apart from the fact that individual residents can sign up right now to get energy from the same provider as SW, there is the inaccurate assertion of fact regarding “100 percent renewable” electricity.

I doubt that this is even possible with current technology, and I don’t see any support for this statement with regard to Westchester Power.

SW/WP is touted with the implication that you can leave your house lights burning bright and still reduce your carbon footprint because you are using “green” power. That may be true, but the SW proponents don’t tell us how that is possible.

In fact, it appears from Westchester Power statements that they are not using 100% renewable power but rather are buying Renewable Energy Credits (“RECs”) and that is a vastly different concept.

RECs may have zero impact on carbon reduction and in fact may result in an increase in carbon output. It is for this reason that many environmental progressives oppose the current REC marketing hype.

This lack of efficacy is because of how most RECs work; not all RECs are created equal. Most people don’t know the difference between types of RECs.

Mr. Pugh has experience with the energy markets (as noted in the Gazette article) and Ms. Horowitz has advocated extensively for Sustainable Westchester since 2015. It is all the more troubling when politicians who have researched the issue (and SW/WP) try to mislead the residents of Croton.

An REC is the modern version of buying an indulgence to expunge the sin of carbon gluttony, and it is customarily every bit as worthless as a medieval indulgence. There are RECs that have a meaningful impact, but they are very expensive and hence rarely purchased by “green” power ESCOs.

The typical consumer with “green” power pays a premium, but her lightbulb is powered by the same “dirty” legacy power generation as her neighbor who uses Con Ed.

The only difference is that the “green” consumer pays extra to a company which takes some of that premium to purchase an REC. So the company might go to the operator of a wind turbine in the California desert and pay the turbine operator for putting a megawatt into the electric grid.

In theory, this will “offset” the Croton resident’s use of a dirty kilowatt. Common sense has led economists and environmentalists to therefore question whether “green” power which merely buys RECs is a waste of money.

The typical rebuttal is that while purchase of an REC doesn’t actually reduce current carbon output, it incentivizes development of new renewable resources.

However, most RECs are very cheap (Colorado even had negative price RECs a few years ago!) and therefore are not a factor in new projects: government subsidies, tax incentives, and regulatory mandates are the dispositive factors.

In 2013, peer-reviewed journal Sustainable Energy noted that voluntary-market RECs are discounted to zero by wind power developers unless they are reliable and for a duration of more than 3 years. This suggests a productive solution: only buy RECs that make a difference.

Some types of RECs work, commonly in cases where the REC parameters are set by regulators as part of a statewide goal of reducing carbon output.

Such “compliance” RECs are mandated by state Renewable Portfolio Standard (“RPS”) regulations. Those are structured in such a way as to effectuate reduction in carbon output.

But RECs that actually make a difference are expensive. That is why you see “green” ESCOs such as Westchester Power telling you how many RECs they have purchased but providing no details on the type or cost of those RECs.

Publicity releases putting stress on the raw number of RECs purchased rather than the nature of the RECs purchased is a big red flag when someone tries to get you to pay a premium price for “green” energy. 

CCA “green” energy is pitched as a painless, cost-free way to save the planet. The truth is that it is at best virtue-signaling and at worst it damages the planet: When we think that being energy-efficient has no environmental benefit since we are 100% “green” there is no incentive to reduce kWh usage. 

I have a house which is pushing the century mark. It has taken years of work to replace old appliances with Energy Star models, install new lights, and weatherize the windows and attic. It is not cost-free and it requires work.

But I have made great progress in reducing monthly kWh usage, and while the gas usage is more difficult given Croton winters I have managed to make some headway on that and found that a modest investment in sweaters and attic insulation is quite carbon-friendly.

Beware when people in Croton (especially politicians) speak in vague generalities about how CCA will save the planet while saving you bucketloads of money.

When you hear the talk about how brilliant the folks at SW are in using “bulk” purchasing power to save money, ask about 1105-C and what happens if taxpayers are not compelled to subsidize ESCOs anymore.

When you hear about saving the planet, ask them to tell you in detail about what type of RECs they are going to buy, at what price, and how the RECs will actually reduce carbon output rather than be a giveaway to existing generator companies.

Most importantly, when politicians tell you that your home is going to run on 100% renewable energy, understand that with current technology this is almost certainly an outright lie.

Eventually “100% renewable” may be possible (such as with the massive lithium ion battery being tested in South Australia), but we live in 2017 and need to be honest with ourselves about the current state of science.

Fossil fuel usage is a critical environmental concern. As with most intractable problems, resolution requires hard choices and sacrifice.

If Croton politicians or Croton residents actually wish to reduce carbon output, they can demand that their CCA purchases fund new renewable energy (“forward” RECs) or at minimum that they are paying for RECs that actually reduce carbon output (RECs that are “additional”).

Demand details, and don’t fall for a sales pitch long on environmental platitudes but short on specifics.

Sanctimonious politically-correct virtue signaling makes us feel superior and noble, but it does not solve the very real problem our planet is facing.

Paul Steinberg
Croton-on-Hudson