Oversaturation of the Rt.119 Corridor

As I travel throughout District #8, and speak with many residents, I'm surprised and frankly, dismayed at how many people are not aware of the County's and the local Towns and Villages Board's eagerness to build on any open space, creating huge, apartment style buildings.

There is a County initiative to build affordable housing apartments along Rt. 119 from the Marriot Hotel, westbound to Rt 9, in Tarrytown. From there their plan is to head north along Rt. 9 on the Hudson River to Peekskill. Can the two-lane Rt.9 handle much more traffic? Can Rt.119 handle any more? I don't think so. When Police Officer Christopher Ridley was tragically shot and killed in White Plains, and White Plains PD basically shut down traffic, the repercussions were felt across the Hudson River as far as the Airmont Road exit on the Thruway. I know because I was stuck in it.

Many are aware of what's been referred to as the Stop and Shop project, roughly where the old Premier Theater used to be. But Stop and Shop is a convenient smokescreen I believe is being perpetrated by DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise and Wiederkehr, LLP. They want a zoning change and are not concerned about what the neighborhoods and their people want or say.

There are several factors here in play. To the best of my knowledge and it's my opinion, here's what I have found out while attending over a years worth of Greenburgh, Elmsford, Irvington Town Board meetings:

1) White Hickory's (herein WH) attorneys, DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise and Wiederkehr, LLP (herein DelBello), requested this project stop being referred to as The Stop and Shop project. My understanding for this is because they are not obligated to, or want to, commit to building a (Stop and Shop) supermarket at this location. They could build a supermarket there. They have requested a zoning change and are pushing the Greenburgh Town Board (herein GTB) to act on it asap. The reason is they would like to have this done quickly is they need it done before the Greenburgh Comprehensive Plan is adopted.

2) A Comprehensive Plan severely limits what can be built as the governing body must maintain the zoning in place when the plan was adopted - forcing the current zoning to stay as is and not easily able to be changed. Greenburgh Supervisor Paul Feiner is racing through the Town of Greenburgh's unincorporated areas doing what I believe are illegal spot zoning for developers under the guise of developing homeless-affordable-workforce-Section8 housing and "taxables" for the zoning is locked in by the Comprehensive Plan. The plan should be ready shortly.

Why would any politician do this? I cannot say for sure, but possible Greenburgh Supervisor candidate Patricia Weems always says its about money or power. She's probably right.

3) The County has executed a study to see how viable it would be to utilize unused parking spaces in office parks to build apartment buildings. Their misguided thought was that residents of the apartments will park in the fewer available parking spaces at night. When they go to work in the morning, a worker from the office park will slip into that now unoccupied space. They claim this would be young urban people, not families with kids who will live here. Is it any wonder the County is the highest taxed county in the USA?

4) Everyone that I've discussed this with doesn't mind development. It's OVERdevelopment they are against. This is what the failing Spano administration is doing to our neighborhoods, our lifestyles and the quality of life in Westchester. We have traffic congestion that at times makes traffic in NYC seem like the Indianapolis 500. It's time for a change. We need to throw the incumbents out. It's time for US to be heard!

County Government Raises

Our current county government legislators clearly do not get it. If they did, they would not be raising taxes, increasing spending, raising their salaries and increasing their expenses! They would, in today's economy, vociferously, vigorously and without question announce that they are refusing a raise and looking to make cuts everywhere! But their egos and their lack of understanding of what the “right thing” is, and their lack of understanding of what the average person is going through, won't allow it. It's simply (monkey) business as usual. I'm an average guy who is constantly doing without one more thing just to get by and pay my bills. If you ran any kind of business the way these people run county government, it would be out of business quickly.

Part of the issue is the lack of checks and balances that have been removed from all of our systems of government. When we were in school, we all learned about balance, a two (or multiple) party system and the benefits thereof. We are experiencing the socialist, one-party rule at the local, county, state and federal levels by only having democrats in power. This must change. It's time to be heard!

Ghandi said, "Be the change you want to see in your world." I believe in this and want to see my family's and my son's future world, be a good, affordable one that treats people with courtesy and respect. We haven't had this for some time now. Vote for me for 8th District County Legislator and help me bring government back to 'We the People'.

"Fed Up and Unwilling to be Ignored. It's Time to be Heard!"

We Must Reduce the Size of County Government

I believe we can. The biggest and most challenging aspect of this goal is that it must be a bi-partisan effort. I agree with Rob Astorino, our candidate for County Legislator, that we must stop the tax madness in Westchester and New York state. But, the initial stage will require the voice of the people (read Vox Populi @ Westchester Herald (www.WHYTMedia.typepad.com) to push all the legislators to start by cutting the pork we have in government. Do we really need someone being paid to deal with movie companies making movies in Westchester? Maybe we do, but why pick on one position. We need to reevaluate all positions.

After we start trimming do-nothing, patronage and unnecessary positions, we can go after the programs that are redundant, not successful or producing a cost-effective return, outdated, and most importantly, duplicated. As we begin this trimming, we should be able to at least hold our taxes where they are. As we continue to trim, we should slowly begin to see our taxes go down. It took years for the democratically controlled legislature to get us here and it will be difficult, but not impossible to to reverse this trend.

A large portion of my district, District 8, is a low income area and the recipient of many dollars for many people. It will be difficult, but not impossible for us to address this without displacing or hurting our recipients. But government cannot continue a cradle-to-the-grave environment forever. We are now paying the price for that. Plus, there are many options from the private sector that may accomplish the same things that don't cost as much or anything.

Help me by joining my campaign. If you agree with me, great! If you don't agree, feel free to disagree, but offer me a real solution, not talking points, and I'll listen with an open mind. You can also email me at ElectTomBock@gmail.com.

Why I'm Running for Westchester County Legislator for the 8th District

Hi Neighbor,

My name is Tom Bock, and I live in the Fulton Park neighborhood in the Town of Greenburgh, NY. I am a life-long Greenburgh resident and when I got married, twenty one years ago, I moved to Fulton Park with my wife, Sue. We had the dreams that most young couples have when they are starting out and began to plan. We worked non-stop on our fix-er-upper house for a year, slowly making it nicer for us. My son, Cameron, was born 17 years ago. He is quite an accomplished musician and hopes to pursue his education in music, following in the footsteps of his teacher and mentor, my dad, John. My parents live in Greenburgh as well.

I've been a firefighter in the Elmsford F.D., for 36 years and am still active in firefighting. In 1989 and 1990 I served as the Chief of the department. On a County level, I have been a member of the Westchester County Hazardous Materials Response Team and am a co-founder of the Westchester County Technical Rescue Team. Both of these teams are all-volunteer and serve to protect the entire County and it's guests. I am a director on both the Westchester County Association of Fire Chiefs and the Westchester County Volunteer Firefighter's Association.

When Hurricane Katrina struck, I organized a one-weekend fund raising drive for the fire service and the Chiefs' Association. We raised and distributed over $180,000 to the emergency services in the Harrison Fire District in Mississippi. I also helped coordinate a delivery of $35k in Christmas gifts to this same Gulf region with our great corporate neighbor, Modell's Sporting Goods.

I am also proud to be a founding Board member for the Just Imagine Making Miracles Yours (J.I.M.M.Y.) Foundation, of Somers, NY, helping terminally and seriously ill children and their families. I have also been involved with the Burn Center at the Westchester County Medical Center.

I responded with many of my fire service colleagues to NYC when we were attacked on September 11, 2001. As a result of my involvement in the fire service, I was asked to sit on the Westchester County WMD Planning Committee and the Special Operations Oversight Committee. These very important organizations work to help Westchester's residents and guests be safe and be prepared for many types of emergencies that we never dreamed of before 9-11.

Like most of you, I am disgusted with the exorbitant tax increases we've suffered with over the years. I have witnessed first hand dealing with the County, how difficult, obtrusive and unresponsive getting help from this lumbering giant can be. Rob Astorino, the candidate for County Executive wants to reduce County government and I agree with him. We have seen patronage positions given out without regard to need, expertise, or expense. We've seen Playland, a national and local treasure, lose money and be mismanaged to the tune of a $3 million yearly. The medical center, which I have a love-hate relationship with, hasn't been managed well for years and yet we keep increasing it's size yearly. Their expertise saved my father's life and I'm grateful for that. But, the abuses and waste are pervasive and need to stop! I want to work to end these abuses, reduce the size of the County government and return accountability and responsibility to the people of Westchester County!

I'm running in the election for Westchester County Legislator for the 8th District to try and take back control of our County government. I am not a career politician. In fact, I never thought of myself as running for anything until my neighborhood got hammered by the County. They purchased a .7 acre of property and decided without discussions with the neighborhood to create a social services hub in Greenburgh. No neighborhood should be treated this way!

I will no longer sit back and hope others will step up and do something. I am stepping up to challenges we face and will work to represent all the neighborhoods in District 8, which includes portions of White Plains, Greenburgh, Sleepy Hollow and Mount Pleasant. If you feel your voice has been ignored, if you are tired of being abused and if you want to see honesty and accountability in County Government, help me. Join my campaign.

Together we can make a difference.

Thank you.

Tom

Tom Bock

White Plains, Ny

ElectTomBock@gmail.com

ElectTomBock.blogspot.com