12/14/07 - Another Thumbs Down To The Hopelessly Biased Westmore News And It's Attempt To Shove A Bad Library Funding & Bonding Agreement On Taxpayers

Three Thumbs Down To Jananne "We Are Down To The Wire" Abel

Today The Hopelessly Biased Westmore News Led With A Headline And Story That Screamed And Indicated That There Was Some Kind Of Reckless Rush To Approve A Library Agreement That Had Not Even Been Drawn Up Yet.

Westmore Snooze: Villages down to the wire on library agreement

OH MY GOD, THE SKY IS FALLING !!!!!! WE ARE DOWN TO THE WIRE !!!!!!!

Why is Westmore News Editor Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel, trying to create a crises environment, that demands that Port Chester must do what her friends at the Port Chester Library want. This non-existant agreement must be approved right now !!!!! Who cares if the lawyers have not even drawn up the PROPOSED agreement yet.

Westmore News Editor, Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel, falsely writes that "All agreed they were under a tight time frame if they wanted to have the papers complete and the amended charter to Assemblyman George Latimer by the end of January in time to submit it for legislative review in June."

Would some one please tell Westmore News Editor, Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel, that there is no rush.

The Port Chester Board Of Trustee's have not even been given the library's proposal yet.

While Westmore News Editor Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel is in a panic pushing that Port Chester must act now.

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla is clearly indicating that he and the other Port Chester Trustees will not be rushed into a bad and illegal bonding agreement.

Hey , Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel here is a news flash for you. There is the possibility of keeping the current funding agreement in place. It's worked fine and protected the taxpayers of Port Chester for years and years.

Maybe someone should tell Jananne "Down To The Wire" Abel that the current Port Chester funding method was even working way back when her father in law Bernie "I Forgot To Pay Over 100 Property Tax Bills" Abel had all of those fire trap apartments on Willow Street.

Read Lazy Liz Sadler's Report About The Port Chester Library's Proposed Agreement And See If It Indicates The Need For A Panicked Rush To Approve A Document That Has Not Even Been Drawn Up Yet...

Rye Brook, Port Chester library negotiations back on track

The Journal News / Lohud.com, NY

By LAZY LIZ SADLER

Attorneys are drafting a new charter and intermunicipal agreement for the Port Chester Public Library, signaling progress in the slow-moving negotiations over the library's funding.

The villages of Port Chester and Rye Brook and the library board have agreed to retain the law firm Turner & Turner of Croton-on-Hudson to rewrite the library's 1877 charter. The three entities will share the legal costs, which are capped at $15,000.

The revised charter, which needs approval from the library board and both village boards...

Would Westmore News Editor Jananne Abel Please Explain To Everyone How We Are "Down To The Wire" !!!!!!!

There are still a lot of facts that a panicked Jananne Abel is not telling the taxpayers of Port Chester, about the library's illegal bonding scheme.

Why wont Westmore News Editor Jananne Abel reveal these facts to the tax payers of Port Chester.

12/10/07 - The Taxpayers Of The Village Of Port Chester Are Not Required To Give The Port Chester Even One Cent. This Is An Accountabilty Moment

In New York State There Can Only Be Three Kinds Of Libraries Licenced By The Department Of Education.

1). A Self Sustaining Library Association

2). A Municipal Library That Is Part Of A Town Or City.

3). A School Library

The Port Chester Public Library is a self sustaining library that is owned by the members of the library.If you have a library card you are a member or owner of the library.The library charter and bylaws says that the members should be approving and electing board members.

That's how things were originally done in Port Chester, before the library went down hill. But things have been manipulated over the years so the Port Chester Library Board Members are no longer accountable to the public.

Worse yet the Library Board now wants to lock Port Chester into an illegal 10 year funding and bonding scheme.

MAYOR PILLA HURRY UP AND DO SOMETHING !!!!!!

WE ARE DOWN TO THE WIRE!!!!!!

YOU MUST PASS A RESOLUTION RIGHT NOW FOR AN AGREEMENT THAT HAS NOT EVEN BEEN DRAWN UP YET !!!!!!!

WE ARE DOWN TO THE WIRE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE SKY IS FALLING !!!!!!!!

12/10/07 - The Taxpayers Of The Village Of Port Chester Are Not Required To Give The Port Chester Even One Cent. This Is An Accountabilty Moment

If you go to the Port Chester Library you will find many books that explain that accountability is a concept in ethics with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as answerability, enforcement, responsibility, blameworthiness, liability and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving. As an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in both the public and private worlds.

The Books in the Port Chester Library teach us that accountability is defined as "A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct".

If you go to the Periodical Section of the Port Chester library you will read that, in recent years, there has been a growth in the need for transparency with more and more pressure being put on corporations and businesses to be more accountable in their actions to society and the environment. AccountAbility (Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility)- an international non-profit membership organisation, was established in 1996 to help promote accountability innovations for sustainable development.

So Why Is The Port Chester Library Resisting Being Accountable To The Taxpayers Of Port Chester?

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla: " I want to make sure it's not a closed system, I think it's a step backward."

Port Chester Library Board President Melissa DeVincenzo and Rye Brook Mayor Larry Rand are trying to get Port Chester to start writing blank checks to the closed library governance system.

Worse yet, the Port Chester Public Library has gotten their attorney's, Turner & Turner of Croton to try and devise a Port Chester Bonding scheme, that appears to be unethical and illegal.

Port Chester Treasure Anthony Silligato had better get advice from the New York State Attorney General Coumo before he allows the Port Chester Board of Trustees to enter into this very questionable bonding proposal.

The Port Chester Library is unaccountable, because Lazy Liz Sadler at the Journal News is still absent from Port Chester Board Of Trustee Meetings, when library issues are brought up.

Further, the hopelessly biased Westmore News to date has refused to write about the mismanagement and the lack of accountability at the decrepit Port Chester Library.

The Westmore Snooze Wont Tell You The Facts, But We Will.....

In New York State There Can Only Be Three Kinds Of Libraries Licenced By The Department Of Education.

1). A Self Sustaining Library Association

2). A Municipal Library That Is Part Of A Town Or City.

3). A School Library

The Port Chester Public Library is a self sustaining library that is owned by the members of the library.

If you have a library card you are a member or owner of the library.

The library charter and bylaws says that the members should be approving and electing board members. That's how things were originally done in Port Chester, before the library went down hill. But things have been manipulated over the years so the Port Chester Library Board Members are no longer accountable to the public.

Worse yet the Library Board now wants to lock Port Chester into an illegal 10 year funding and bonding scheme.

The operating costs will be payed by Port Chester tax payers to the tune of 65% of all of the library's bills. This formula may be reviewed again starting in year four of the agreement.

Basically, the library is asking Port Chester to write out ten blank checks, that the single family homeowners of Port Chester will have to pay.

Worse yet, the library is asking Port Chester to enter into an illegal bonding scheme. Port Chester can not bond to reimburse the library for renovations already paid for. Nor can Port Chester bond for the library's past debts on a building that the village does not own.

If this plan goes through Port Chester Village Manager Bill Williams is probably going to have the New York State Attorney General coming by to pay him a visit.

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla is right to opposed to the library board members choosing their successors.

Mayor Pilla must not be railroaded by Port Chester Board President Melissa DeVincenzo and Rye Brook Mayor Rand. The Village of Port Chester can not write a blank check to a closed system.

If the Port Chester Library Board will not return the ability to elect Board Members, back to the library card holders, then they will have to give Port Chester the right to appoint 65% of the board members.

Port Chester Tax Dollars Must Be Protected From The Abuse, Mismanagement And Waste that Has Occurred At The Port Chester Library In The Past.

The Port Chester Library is solely responsible for funding itself.

The Village of Port Chester has no legal obligation to give even one penny to the library.

The Port Chester Library may come ask the Village Of Port Chester for support, just like it can ask any corporation or foundation for support.

And just like any funding source The Village Of Port Chester can place terms and conditions on the money it gives to the Port Chester Library.

However, this new agreement will legally obligate to fund an association library as if it is a municipal library.

What the Port Chester Library is asking the Mayor and tax payers of Port Chester to do is to fund them like they are a municipal library, but let them be an association library that is unaccountable to the single family homeowners of Port Chester.

Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla is doing the right thing by seeing that Port Chester has representatives on the library board to protect the interests of the single family tax payers of Port Chester.

Melissa DeVincenzo had better wake up and understand that her library governance proposal of being 100% self-appointment will eventually be a deal killer.

Ms. DeVincenzo's inflexibility up to this point is unprofessional and not in the best interests of the Port Chester Library's members (cardholders) that she is supposed to represent.

If the Ms. DeVincenzo and the Port Chester Library Board continue to be inflexible, then Port Chester Mayor Dennis Pilla and the Port Chester Board will have to keep the current year to year funding requests in place.

That way the taxpayers of Port Chester will be protected. No Port Chester Tax Dollars, without Library representation. Port Chester has always had two appointed representatives. Now Ms. DeVincenzo wants to shut the Port Chester taxpayers out of the Library Boardroom.

Ms. DeVincenzo is arrogant to to assume that she and her board can appoint the two representative positions, instead of the Port Chester Mayor and the Port Chester Board Of Trustees.

Where are the checks and balances designed to protect the single family homeowners of Port Chester from a Port Chester Library board and administration that has a history of mismanagement?

Port Chester Trustee Dan Brakewood summed up the Port Chester Library's proposal very well....

"The devil is in the details."