Cameroon debt forgiven, Churches for a dollar, City Yards to be moved at great expense, sweetheart deals for developers and colleges, what else is next? We have a city management system with no accountability that can only accomplish thing with deals and give-a -ways. New Rochelle City Management is nickel and diming the citizens to a point where hard working families can’t afford to live in New Rochelle where they were born and raised any longer. Residents are forced to make some hard choices while management makes one bad decision after another. That is not what they are paid for and paid very well for I might say. They receive great salaries and benefits while working and in their retirement. The citizens will be paying for poor performances for a life time. It is time for a reality check.

It’s April, Federal taxes are hopefully done and now it is time to drop off or mail the April tax bill for the New Rochelle Tax Collector, more money going out without seeing any noticeable return. Every time I write out the check, I want to cry. It is just a painful reminder of what poor shape New Rochelle is in. Over taxed, over staffed except for police and fire and just very poorly managed. We cannot continue to do things here the same way. Someone needs to step up to the plate and lead and clean the slate and start with a fresh mind and fresh ideas on how to correct all the wrongs of the past and present. This is not Charles Dickens; there are no ghosts of governments past to send a message to The City Council and Mayor. They had their own demons to deal with back then. The massage needs to come from the living breathing citizens of New Rochelle before it is too late!

The New Rochelle Board of Education will meet tonight at the Barnard School to hear a presentation on goals and objectives for the 2011-12 school year from Barnard Principal Patricia Lambert.

Board Of Education Committee Of The Whole Session And Regular Meeting

Tuesday Evening April 3, 2012

Henry Barnard School, Auditorium
129 Barnard Road, New Rochelle, New York

AGENDA

Seeing Is Believing – See For Yourself

7:00 P.M. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE SESSION

I. Board of Education Announcements

II. Superintendent's Report

A. Barnard Student Presentation: A Journey Through Pre-K with Mrs. Pizzuti and Ms. Morales

B. 2011-2012 Goals & Objectives: Patricia Lambert, Principal, Henry Barnard School

C. College Night – April 4, 2012

D. 2012-2013 Budget Adoption

III. Review of Additional Draft Resolutions

IV. Board/Community Informal Discussion

8:00 P.M. REGULAR MEETING

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS RELATED TO THIS MEETING CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS BELOW:

http://bit.ly/H9w5NI - 2011-2012 Goals for Henry Barnard School

http://bit.ly/GRnYT9 - Draft Resolutions

Listening to the new Councilwoman of New Rochelle speak about the city's DPW yard has shed some light on the urgency (can we use the word "perception" here) to move the city yard. It was a brief interview with Bob Marrone on WVOX where Ms Rackman cordially spoke of things in her district and offered her thoughts on the decision that would saddle the city with millions of dollars of debt at a time when we can hardly afford it. Not that we can't afford it this year alone, we won't be able to afford it for many years to come.

As the nation-wide pushback against the often cloaked Agenda 21 Policies mount, could Mayor Bramson's pet project be derailed as the truth behind the curtain becomes revealed? You've read the stories on this site about the manipulation and co-opting to lead people to believe they've invented the green movement. The insertion of outside forces to determine what's best for New Rochelle rather than planning from within. The mayor making assertions that anyone that doesn't go along with "his" idea" is of the conspiracy theory, black helicopter crowd. Well, it must be something in the water. We've shown how other communities, after seeing the light, have decided to cut ties with Agenda 21 manipulations after the true costs have come to light. If you were lucky enough to see the New Rochelle process in action, then perhaps this sounds familiar

Tuesday's City Council meeting was the stage as Forest City performed act three of its production of "The Echo Bay Chronicles". The unveiling of the most recent iteration of the once grand development project appeared to produce more questions rather than answers. In and of itself, this assembly of housing (250 -300 one bedroom mixed with 2 bedroom and studio apartments) along with 25,000 square feet of retail would fit nicely in many places.

John Quinn, the Assistant Superintendent of Schools for Business and Administration for the City School District of New Rochelle presented the 2012-13 preliminary school budget.

Download PDF of Preliminary 2012-13 School Budget

Questions about the relationship between New Rochelle's administration and Echo Bay developer, Forest City Ratner, are nothing new to the readers of this site. The dichotomy of having one agenda for the public to witness and another "behind closed doors" agenda for the purpose of bypassing public witness of the procedure can only be characterized as self serving. Self serving for the developer, that is, and not, necessarily, for New Rochelle. On one hand, the public is asked to meet and voice concerns and/or support (as required by law mind you) and then the developer disappears behind closed doors to meet with council members, two at a time, thus avoiding open meeting laws. They did this when they were looking to get their first extension and, quite frankly, it was illegal. Will they do it again? Who knows, but it fits their pattern. Couple that with the campaign money to the mayor and the pattern repeats just as it has in Brooklyn, Yonkers and who knows where else.

If you want to blame someone for the annual assessment free-fall, point your finger at whoever sets New Rochelle's equalization rate who I would assume to be the city's assessor. (I also know what happens when you ass-u-me!)

In order to correct the free-fall, the equalization rate needs to be adjusted so that assessments are under-valued & therefore no one has a right to appeal their assessment. It’s just a percentage rate and could easily be adjusted (& it's adjusted every year, just not enough) to prevent future reductions in the "Grand List" or total of all of the city's property assessments.

Taxpayers should have already received their W-2 income statements for 2011, and other necessary statements from their financial institutions. The New York State Tax Department has tools for filing 2011 tax returns on the Department's Web site at: www.tax.ny.gov.

E-file

Each year, more and more New Yorkers discover the convenience of e-filing tax returns - it's easy, fast, safe, and most taxpayers are doing it. In fact, 80% of taxpayers e-filed their New York State returns for tax year 2010. E-filing saves taxpayer dollars on processing costs associated with paper returns, nearly $50 million last year alone.

Tax tip: Taxpayers should check if they qualify for FreeFile, free tax preparation and e-filing software. Through FreeFile, taxpayers can prepare and file online their federal and state income tax returns at no cost. Generally, those who earned $57,000 or less in 2011 may be eligible. In 2010, FreeFile use increased by 32% as compared with the prior tax year. However, many more taxpayers are eligible. Visit the New York State Tax Department's website for eligibility requirements.

Faster refunds