White Plains

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.

I went to the Common Council meeting this evening. My friend wanted to go because of what was on the agenda - there was a proposal to grant a variance to a residential development to allow 14 stories on a lot where 6 stories are allowed as of right.

The meeting was packed - standing room only - and the proposal did not pass. Or it was tabled; I'm not really sure. These meetings are deadly boring and sort of confusing. We arrived about 40 minutes after it had started and I got a an agenda about an hour later. It was hard to understand what they are even voting on - the acoustics in the room are pretty bad.

White Plains government structure is an odd mix. Most of the advisors are unpaid volunteers. The mayor is paid a significant salary, the elected members are paid, but the rest are given nothing or a token amount. The council welds enourmous power.

I remember when I was in college, the weak mayor was in vogue. My recollection was that the idea started in Phoenix and was seen as a model to good government. The thinking went like this: city government should consist of a professional manager (paid appropriately) and an elected mayor (largely ceremonial position; unpaid); the city is run as a corporation. The reason for this is that the forces of capital too easily corrupt or overpower the political process; you need a powerful, benevolent manager to match wits with capital and labor. Locally elected talent is unlikely to attract the appropriate skill level to the job.

There was more, but that talk was 20 years ago and I can't remember the details. What we have here in White Plains is about the oposite - a charismatic mayor wheeling and dealing. I'm all for growth - I like a lot of what's happened in the last decade - I also take it as a matter of fact that the logic of capital and the interests of the city are fundamentally at odds. The mayor takes credit for every project built within city limits; if he spent any time traveling around the county, he might realise that we are just past the peak of the 20 year construction boom and taking credit for a couple of skyscrapers is about as honest as taking credit for a rainstorm; it would of happened no matter who was sitting in that seat.

What doesn't get such high marks is what the council gave away over the last decade; they allowed enormous variances to developers to get the ball rolling. What's worse, they've made no effort to encourage smaller investors. Commercial real estate within city limits is in a very small number of hands, and any business that wishes to operate here has got to pay for the priveledge.

It remains to be seen how this chapter in the history of White Plains will play itself out. It's clear that there have been some big winners, and to be fair, they have created value. But that value has come at a long term cost; there's been a concentration of commercial real estate in fewer hands and that will inevitably have a dampening effect on entreprenurial retail activity - no one wants to build a business only to pay $12,000 a month to the man.

White Plains

No workout today.

I went for coffee with Adrienne. We took a tour of the new NYSC. The views are tremendous, and the light, everything brand new. It's $30 a month more than the Y, plus there's fees for joining. The tour felt oddly like being in an automobile dealership. The joining fee seemed high; they are offering a discount on it if you pay by day after tomorrow.