Candidates Debate

Candidates Debate

Kenneth Matinale ...
ViewSaturday, October 13, 2007 7:11:10 PM
To:wptimes@wptimes.com

White Plains Times, October 12, 2007 - page 7"

"So what are the three most important issues facing White Plains residents, according to the email poll? Improving communication ... quality of life ... city owned property at Railside Avenue".

Listing Railside Avenue as a top three issue illustrates the structural problem with White Plains government: Common Council members are elected at large, not by geographic district. The Common Council members have come almost exclusively from among those who own houses, not from those who live in apartments, the mayor and member Bernstein not withstanding. Common Council members represent the interests of the house owners. Any pretense that they represent and understand the issues of all residents is political spin.

What percentage of White Plains residents live in apartments? I am guessing that it is well over 50%. Yet issues are consistently addressed by the Common Council members from the perspective of those who live in the suburbs of White Plains. That is why downtown White Plains has evolved into something conceived by people who do not live there. It looks like the decision makers may have heard about it but do not have to live with the consequences of their decisions. Other than asking for votes when is the last time you have seen Common Council members on the streets of downtown? Do they ever walk or take public transportation to Common Council meetings at city hall? Have they ever used the transportation center near the train station?

This issue of representation was raised and dismissed in the mid 1990s. With so many more residents living in apartments in White Plains it is time to consider it again and this time make sure that all residents are made fully aware of the matter.

Kenneth Matinale

District-Based Voting

To WP Times

Subject: 2/22/8 letter to editor: "Let's Explore District-Based Voting" by Patricia Cantu, President, Battle Hill Neighborhood Association

I agree. My letter to you was published 10/19/7: "Non-homeowners Deserve Representation" raised this issue during the election of three people to the Common Council. You asked the candidates for their comments in your 10/26/7 publication: "Should the issue of at-large members versus district-based representation be revisited?". Only Pilla and Zicca expressed interest.

The message below was sent to you 2/8/8. It contains a link to a google earth map that I made with the locations of the homes of the CC members, not including the mayor:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=103040367337361097468.000445a6e9cc47e0e7b83&ll=41.026017,-73.760662&spn=0.059183,0.157757&z=13&om=0>

The addresses were taken from the WP city web site. Please publish the link. It's worth a thousand words.

You can see why CC members do not and cannot represent the interests of the majority of WP residents who live downtown in apartments. They all live in houses, mostly in the same area. None live downtown. With District-Based Voting most of them would not be on the CC.

WP might as well have its city government decisions made by people living in Scarsdale. Our CC members may be well intentioned but they visit downtown as non-residents do: they drive in, park, do some stuff and drive back. Most of their decisions are based on driving and parking. That's why WP is so extremely pedestrian hostile.

Two suggestions in addition to implementing District-Based Voting:

1. eliminate all reserved parking at city hall for all CC members and department heads (especially traffic and planning);
2. challenge CC members to go to and from a CC meeting by either walking or taking public transportation.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg takes the subway to city hall in Manhattan. Maybe if our CC members had a taste of what it's like to move about downtown on foot they would make better decisions. We need people on the CC who live in apartments downtown.