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You are here: Home / 2018 / Archives for November 2018

Archives for November 2018

RAMAPO: Updated budget gives elected officials raises up to $20K, higher tax hike

November 28, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

“Town Board members gave themselves raises of $17,000 to $20,000 in a revised 2019 budget that also increases property taxes, funds a “litter control” unit and potentially close or lease one of the town’s public swimming pools to save money.

The annual raises and some other spending decisions were not part of town Supervisor Michael Specht’s original  $120.2 million budget unveiled in October and followed by a public hearing.

The town still faces an estimated $8.5 million deficit in the spending plan adopted last week, but has dedicated $3.5 million to slash it some. The independent audits from 2015 to 2017 have not been completed to determine a precise estimate of the town’s fiscal woes. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Ramapo Budget

A Closer Look at Ramapo’s Budget for 2019

November 25, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

Top seven officials grab outrageous raises including 49% increases for board members, while three public pools are closed and that giant sucking sound out in Pomona is getting louder as the ballpark will lose $1,875,000 in 2019.

Here’s a detailed assessment of the 2019 Ramapo Budget by William Weber:

“If you think that things could not get worse in Ramapo, they just did. The Ramapo Town Board adopted the 2019 budget on November 20th. The adopted budget is a massive insult to the hardworking taxpayers of Ramapo. To get “under” the tax cap, the Town, in my opinion, has overestimated some revenues and has also reduced its expense contingency, essentially a buffer, from $2,500,000 to $500,000. You would think that is bad enough, but that is only scratching the surface. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bill Weber, Ramapo Budget

Spring Valley fails to provide public documents under FOIL, lacks transparency

November 25, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

SV Mayor Alan Simon Photo: Journal News file

Mayor Alan Simon’s administration has failed to produce dozens of public documents under state law, creating a lack of transparency about salaries, meeting agendas, policy votes and how taxpayer money is spent.

During Simon’s first year in office in 2018, the village has missed deadlines or failed to provide The Journal News/lohud with agendas of government meetings, votes during those meetings, and minutes about who spoke during the sessions.

The Journal News/lohud made about a dozen requests for information, and follow-up reminders, with the village responding several times, but always in violation of the legal deadlines.

Simon and Village Clerk Diana Montgomery, who is the village’s public records officer, have not responded to requests for comment. Simon, a former judge, prosecutor and defense attorney, once worked with the state Freedom of Information Law as the Ramapo town attorney under two town supervisors. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Alan Simon, Spring Valley

New York maps out yeshiva reviews, but will long, difficult process actually work?

November 22, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

Gary Stern, Rockland/Westchester Journal News

“State Education Commissioner Mary Ellen Elia talked tough Tuesday when releasing new guidelines for determining whether private schools, namely tradition-bound Hasidic yeshivas, comply with state law for teaching math, ELA and other secular academics. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Ramapo Central School District, Naftuli Moster

Undo Felder’s yeshiva shield first

November 22, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

NY Daily News banner

Undo Felder’s yeshiva shield first: The state Senate’s first job is to reverse an amendment that protected ultra-Orthodox schools from their obligations under N.Y. law

by Naftuli Moster, nydailynews.com
November 16, 2018 04:00 AM

The New York State Democratic Party, which struggled for decades to win a working majority in the state Senate, finally did so in last week’s election, winning 40 of 63 seats. Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins will be majority leader.

Perhaps the most important story inside the story is the diminished power of Sen. Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who caucused with — and cynically collected favors from — the Republicans in exchange for enabling them to hold onto power. In addition to moving forward on a previously stalled policy agenda, the new majority should reverse the harm done in the last legislative session.

In March, as a condition to backing the budget as a deadline approached, Felder used his influence to force an amendment creating a carve-out for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas to receive preferential treatment under the “substantial equivalent” standard of instruction that all private and parochial schools must provide under the state’s education law.

Felder’s amendment didn’t go through any normal deliberative process, and the public was not aware of it until five days before it passed as part of the budget. It has no conceivable purpose other than to lower the instructional bar for ultra-Orthodox yeshivas below that for other private schools, so there will be no consequences for them continuing business as usual.

Indeed, supporters of these yeshivas, including the leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect, Grand Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, have said as much.

In an interview with Ami Magazine, a widely read publication in the ultra-Orthodox community, Teitelbaum revealed that religious leaders, working in concert with Felder, exploited Gov. Cuomo’s desire to have a budget passed on time to ram through the yeshiva exception.

This amendment was not on the agenda of either Democrats or Republicans, but was submitted and passed at the behest of special interests such as the Satmar Rabbi and Agudath Israel.

The timing was no accident. In recent years, state and city officials have faced mounting calls from yeshiva graduates like myself and the general public to address this issue.

The state was in the process of revising enforcement guidelines when the Felder amendment threw their efforts into disarray, and now the city is facing difficulties in getting yeshivas to cooperate with its own inquiry.

While many yeshivas in the city comply with the law, with some even offering a superior curriculum to public schools, thousands of children (especially boys) attend Hasidic yeshivas that offer little instruction in English, math, social studies and science. Once these students enter high school, secular education often vanishes completely.

This lack of education results in poverty, with the Hasidic enclaves of Kiryas Joel and New Square ranking among the poorest areas of the country.

While supporters of yeshivas counter with individual examples of successful alumni, the data paint a starkly different picture for the vast majority who graduate from these schools unable to write and unfamiliar with basic mathematical and scientific concepts, rendering them unqualified for most jobs and higher education.

The educational neglect of Hasidic children is not a new problem, but it should be of great concern to legislators who have long been committed to social justice, children’s rights and reducing economic inequality.

While I believe the Felder amendment is unconstitutional and should be invalidated in federal court, a route the group I lead is currently pursuing, it is ultimately the Legislature’s responsibility to ensure it does not pass unconstitutional measures.

This amendment embodied a particular low moment in Albany’s history of backroom dealing. The rights of children were sacrificed on the unholy altar of political convenience.

This problem remains a moral emergency. Begin to fix it by reversing Felder’s meddling.

Moster is founder of YAFFED, Young Advocates for Fair Education.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Naftuli Moster Tagged With: Naftuli Moster

Important Chestnut Ridge Zoning Change Public Hearing Tonight: Tuesday 11/20 7:30pm Chestnut Ridge Middle School

November 20, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

From CUPON Chestnut Ridge

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a Special meeting of the Village of Chestnut Ridge Board of Trustees shall be held on the 20th day of November, 2018, at 7:30 pm at the Chestnut Ridge Middle School, 892 Chestnut Ridge Rd, Chestnut Ridge, New York 10977.

The agenda item for the Special Meeting shall be Resolutions to Conduct a Public Hearing on proposed amendments to the Zoning Law of the Village of Chestnut Ridge with regards to regulations pertaining to establishing Houses of Worship within the Village of Chestnut Ridge.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Chestnut Ridge

Jailed Ex-Supervisor St. Lawrence Hit with an additional $327K Fine by SEC

November 17, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

Photo of St Lawrence outside White Plains Federal Courthouse

Christopher St. Lawrence and his attorney at Federal Courthouse Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News

When Christopher St. Lawrence began serving his sentence in federal prison in March of this year, there were still two civil lawsuits pending against him—one from the Securities and Exchange Commission and one from Melissa Reimer, the whistleblower who was instrumental in the successful Federal prosecution. Now there is only one. The  Reimer lawsuit is still open, but last Thursday, the SEC concluded its case against the former Ramapo Supervisor with “an abnormally stiff penalty of $327,000. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christopher St. Lawrence, St. Lawrence trial

Senate leadership switch will be good for New York’s children, advocate says

November 13, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

Photo of Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News

Guest editorial by Ian Diamond

For everyone who cares about education and the safety of children, the state Senate flip to Democratic control brings a new day in New York.

For years the Republican majority, led by Sen. John Flanagan of Long Island, has stalled important progressive bills. Flanagan and the Republican majority have been catering to powerful voting blocs and wealthy political contributors to the detriment of some of the most vulnerable and aggrieved people in our state. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2018 Election

Incumbents dominate locally–SAM Party gains line

November 7, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio


Election Results banner
With 100% of the ballots counted, the following are the unofficial winners reported by the Board of Elections:

Ellen Jaffee  State Assembly District 97
Kenneth Zebrowski  State Assembly District 96
David Carlucci  State Senator  District 38
James Skoufis  State Senator  District 39
Yehuda Weismandl  Ramapo Town Council
David Fried  Ramapo Town Justice
Paul Girard  Suffern Trustee
Steven Alpert  Suffern Trustee
Ernest Buonocore  Suffern Village Justice
The seven winners of Justice of the Supreme Court include Kathie Davidson, Thomas Zugibe, Joan Lefkowitz, Barry Warhit, William Giacomo, Hal Greenwald, David Everett

Governor Andrew Cuomo easily won re-election
Thomas DiNapoli won the Comptroller seat
Letitia James won the Attorney General position
Stephanie Miner and Michael Volpe of the SAM Party have won a place on the ballots for the next four years with a qualifying 51,323 votes.

For the most current list of vote totals for all the candidates, click here for the Lohud summary.

Filed Under: 2018 Election

Vote Tuesday Nov. 6

November 2, 2018 by Michael Castelluccio

For a PDF copy of the ballot you can print
click here. 

We Endorse and Ask that You Support the Following Candidates 

OFFICE                          CANDIDATE           LINE

Governor                        Stephanie Miner        SAM
Attorney General           Keith Wofford.            REP
NYS Senate 39th Dist     James Skoufis           DEM
NYS Senate 38th Dist     David Carlucci           DEM
NYS Assembly 97th        Ellen Jaffee                DEM
NYS Assembly 96th        Ken Zebrowski          DEM
NYS Assembly 98th        Scott Martens           DEM
NYS Assembly 99th        Colin Schmidt           REP
Ramapo Town Board.      Robert Romanowski WRITE IN
Ramapo Town Justice     David Fried               DEM
Suffern Village Trustee    Steve Alpert             DEM
Suffern Village Trustee    Paul Girard               DEM
Suffern Village Justice     Ernest Buonocore     REP

Supreme Court Justices:  Richard Reitz, Kathie Davidson, Philip Grimaldi,
Robert Freehill, William Giacomo, David Everett, Joan Lefkowitz

To look up your polling place CLICK HERE

Endorsements for the Candidates: [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2018 Election

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