Concerned Citizens

Last night was the Concerned Citizens for Open Space meeting at the Methodist Church. A brought me along to this one too. I had no idea.

The heads of eight of the neighborhood associations each got up and said a few words, the evening was moderated by the CCOS president, who also talked at length. All in all, it was notable for the passion of the participants, but the message was muddled - 90 minutes and I did not have a clear sense of what anyone wanted, except for things to be like they were in the past. There was a repeated theme of anger against the city government for selling off several parcels and using the money for general revenue. It's hard to argue with that. Light on specifics and heavy on invective, what I could parse from meeting was the following:

The City of White Plains sold property at Railside Avenue to developers this year; the developers intend to erect several single family detached homes. Personally, I find it hard to get worked up about this "issue" - the property in question is not remarkable; that the city did not dispose of it earlier is more likely due to laziness than any other factor, and the property owners adjacent should take their lumps just like the rest of us. To me, the only aspects of the sale that are controversial is that the city is using the proceeds for general revenue (ie: to pay for the bloated police, fire and public works departments) rather than a more appropriate purpose (the purchase of property to be used for public purposes) and that they let it for bid for such a brief period of time (one month). But that's just an opinion and the current municipal administration's mishandling of finances is, uhm, is what it is; I'm not very good at managing money either. I wonder if they'll find another honey pot next year when the budget bogey man comes again.

Another development project mentioned was the proposed proton accelerator breast cancer research-therapy proposal currently in a holding pattern. I agree - this is a spectacularly bad idea. Locating a proton accelerator in a densely populated area is such a bad idea you have to wonder about the hubris of those involved. Complicated machines break.

There was hand wringing over the war memorial park near battle hill. The county is investing in a memorial to 9/11 victims at the Kensico Dam Plaza while the memorial park for those killed in service literally rots.

One of the participants at the end of the meeting got up and mentioned her concern about a parking lot adjacent to the Metro North station. The lot was "built" ad-hoc after 9/11 by heavy vehicles which parked there without regard to local laws. Over the past year, the county has paved it and is now using it as a regular commuter lot. All this happened without public review, probably in violation of all sorts of statutes.