CNA hypocrisy: concerned about HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION AND URBAN SPRAWL.

This from an organization dominated by people who do not live anywhere near downtown and refuse to have a single meeting anywhere near downtown.

from: WPCNA <rsvp@wpcna.org>via mail181.wdc02.mcdlv.net
reply-to: WPCNA
date: Sat, Jun 9, 2018 at 5:56 PM
subject: June Meeting: Roundtable -- Airbnb, Dockless Bike Shares, New High Rises

HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION AND URBAN SPRAWL
A number of new high-rise apartment complexes have been recently completed, are under construction, or are planned for the near future in White Plains. These include 52 Broadway, 65 Lake Street, Broadstone White Plains, 440 Hamilton Avenue, 1 Dekalb Avenue, 121 Westmoreland Avenue (Norden Lofts), 136 Westmoreland Avenue, 55 Bank Street (The Continuum), 60 South Broadway (The Pavilion), and 95 South Broadway and 4 Lyon Place (The Esplanade). The newer projects bring traffic, noise, and congestion to neighborhoods once dominated by single family homes and open land. For the City, urban sprawl promises relief from a disproportionate reliance on the City sales tax and nuisance revenues. For residents, the sprawl signifies an unwelcome change in the quality of life.
_______________________

No self respecting CNA official lives anywhere near any of these places.

CNA January 2018 Comprehensive Plan meeting far from downtown, where else? Better to keep downtown pedestrians away.

Email:

from: WPCNA via mail214.atl171.mcdlv.net
reply-to: WPCNA
to: ken
date: Sat, Jan 6, 2018 at 7:59 AM
subject: January Meeting: Roundtable on the City's Comprehensive Plan

January Meeting: Roundtable on the City's Comprehensive Plan

The January Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at 7:30 pm at Education House, 5 Homeside Lane, White Plains, NY. [Please note: The meeting will be canceled if White Plains School facilities and activities are canceled and/or closed.] The Meeting will be a Roundtable on the City's Comprehensive Plan.

Almost everyone agrees an overhaul of the City's Comprehensive Plan is long overdue. It was a much-discussed topic during the 2017 campaigns for Mayor and Common Council seats. When to update the Plan? Costs of an update? What should be the focus of an update?Comprehensive Plan Important topics might include downtown development, development in and around our neighborhoods, infrastructure, traffic, parking, affordable housing, and that's just for starters.

This meeting will be a Neighborhood Roundtable for WPCNA delegates, residents and the public. We hope to facilitate a healthy dialogue to better understand the issues, opinions, and ideas coming out of our neighborhoods. We all look forward to your input.

This is sure to be a lively evening, so please come early to get a good seat and allow time for audience participation and networking.
_____________________________

Candidates Debate Thursday: "Every way you look at this you lose".

Mrs. Robinson
Simon & Garfunkel
Written by Paul Simon • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group

Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo wo wo
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey hey, hey, hey

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Wu wu wu
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Jolting Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey

_____________________

from: WPCNA
reply-to: WPCNA
to: ken
date: Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 11:23 PM
subject: Candidates Forum for White Plains Democratic Primary

The White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations (WPCNA) and the League of Women Voters of White Plains (LWVWP) will co-sponsor a Forum for candidates for White Plains Mayor and Common Council in the Democratic primary. It will be held on Thursday, September 7, 2017 from 7:00 pm -- 10:00 pm at the Rochambeau School Auditorium, 228 Fisher Avenue, White Plains...
In order to insure that a wide range of issues is addressed by the candidates, please submit questions in writing either (1) By email to Beth Kava at bethkava@gmail.com in advance of the meeting, or (2) At the Forum.
If you email a question, please provide your name and address and indicate if the question is for the mayoral or common council candidates.
Doors will be open at 6:30 pm and cards will be available for audience members to submit questions. Please include your name and address on submissions. Questions will not be taken from the floor.

_____________________

Reply:

from: Ken
to: WPCNA
cc: bethkava@gmail.com
date: Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 11:51 PM
subject: Re: Candidates Forum for White Plains Democratic Primary

The location of the event at the Rochambeau school is protected by a no trucks sign. There's also a no trucks sign across from the main post office. The city has been asked for no buses signs on residential streets, including Barker Avenue, but there has been no action. I've concluded that is because both elected and appointed officials do not want the buses added to the many cars already on Hamilton Avenue.

In the last 18 months downtown White Plains has been inundated with an incredible increase in the number of buses, including many huge regional buses. Since this does not impact the neighborhoods of the Common Council members or their natural constituency as represented by the house owners in the CNA and League of Women Voters, none of the candidates in White Plains give a damn about those of us who live in downtown apartments. Safety and quality of life for downtown citizens are ignored.

There is no plausible benefit to White Plains in general or to downtown citizens by all this additional bus traffic, especially since a very low percentage of seats are occupied by passengers. Low ridership seems to apply to all three types of buses:

Regional
Public county Bee-Line

Private limo shuttle between the train station and corporate parks along Interstate 287.

Your candidates debate Thursday will simply reinforce existing bias against downtown apartment residents. Plus, there's Thursday Night Football.

____________________

http://www.nfl.com/schedules/2017/REG1

CHIEFS AT PATRIOTS: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 07TH, 8:30 PM on NBC

Which will do more to improve quality of life for downtown White Plains citizens?

One way mega streets: mocked by Mayor Roach but not changed.

Mayor Tom Roach is by far the biggest breadth of fresh air in White Plains city government in half a century. Unfortunately, White Plains continues to resist and withstand any real change or improvement.

The extent to which Mayor Roach is at fault is unclear. City bureaucracy, special interests of residents of houses, the emerging impact of the bus industry all contribute to things like leaving intact the pseudo highways that slash through downtown posing as city streets, making White Plains pedestrian hostile in the extreme.

Ultimately, however, the person in charge gets too much blame/credit. Unfortunately, his Democratic party challenger does not offer a substantive alternative in this year's election for mayor.

The real problems with downtown White Plains:
1. Common Council members are elected at large, not in geographic districts.
2. Those of us living in downtown apartments are dumb and lazy.

Not so strategic is the Downtown Task Force plan.

Mayor Roach and planning commissioner Gomez led tonight's presentation. Both are energetic, intelligent and sincere. Unfortunately, the entire activity is weighed down with traditional White Plains junk, namely adhering to the wishes of the existing sources of influence: people who live in houses outside of downtown. Especially influential are the hill associations, Battle and Fisher, especially Battle.

Blah, blah, blah.

That was pretty much the comments by all of tonight's speakers. But without realizing it, Roach and Gomez represented the narrow wishes of the geographically isolated and small number of people living on Battle Hill on the wrong side of the tracks. The city already has detailed plans for new street crossings for that constituency. Does any other neighborhood have that?

They think they got input from all sources but they only got Battle Hill, Fisher Hill and, of course, CNA, which Roach and Gomez will placate in yet another meeting tomorrow. I don't think they visited or heard from any condo, co-op or rental apartment building.

Typical telling point by Gomez: Battle Hill wants new downtown buildings angled so that Hill people can look through openings between them. No regard for the view of the new people who will be living in them; Gomez was oblivious to that. He thought he was showing open mindedness but what he actually showed was the silly undue influence of the very few people on Battle Hill who might actually have a view across the tracks of downtown White Plains. Most people on Battle Hill have no such view.

The MTA guy, who represents an entity that continues to embarrass itself and White Plains with that ridiculous clock tower with the wrong time, babbled about White Plains having all these regional buses coming into downtown. Neither he nor any of the others have ever seemed to wonder how the heck that benefits White Plains. You think someone hops off a Connecticut Transit bus and shops in White Plains or simply takes the Metro North train into Manhattan?

And those reverse commuters the mayor and MTA guy like to emphasize: are they actually coming to White Plains from Manhattan as implied or are they coming from elsewhere, both north and south? Many are leaving the train station around 11AM and walking up Hamilton Avenue or Main Street. I'm guessing that they are headed to jobs in retail sales or service, not some law office. I doubt they can afford the rents that new buildings will charge.

I walked past the dreary bus terminal at the White Plains train station today at about 4:30 PM. Many Westchester county Bee-Line buses, including doubles, were pulling in, all with almost no passengers. Who wants to live at the functional equivalent of Port Authority Bus Terminal?

These are just a few of the obvious contradictions and absurdities in the primitive plan. The mayor and planning commissioner want to dictate to developers all manner of detail. A fundamental problem is that they are way too influenced by narrow old line perspectives and worse, they don't realize it.

CNA meeting about Parking, Traffic & Transportation far away from them.

From an email message:

from: WPCNA rsvp@wpcna.org
reply-to: WPCNA rsvp@wpcna.org
date: Wed, Jun 8, 2016 at 8:09 PM

Talk Parking, Traffic & Transportation with Commissioners Larson & Soyk

The June Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 7:30 pm at Education House, 5 Homeside Lane, White Plains, NY. Our guests will be Parking & Traffic Commissioner John Larson and Thomas Soyk, the Deputy Commissioner and City Transportation Engineer.
______________________

Irony abounds. Maybe the commissioners and attendees will arrive via Bee-Line county buses, which have very few passengers, if any, when traveling through downtown White Plains. Of course, the CNA (Council of Neighborhood Associations) wouldn't be caught dead conducting a meeting downtown. People who, you know, live downtown might show up.

Those downtown people might even express views that differ from the "We came over on the Mayflower" bunch who have run White Plains for at least half of its 100 official years.

Those of us who live in downtown apartments are too dumb and lazy to exert any influence over commissioner types so we get what we deserve: quality of life policies such as MEGA buses roaring along residential streets downtown, which provide service to very few White Plains residents. The buses also park pretty much wherever they want ... downtown. There probably will not be any buses anywhere near that upcoming CNA meeting.

Attendees will undoubtedly lobby for more high speed road access to newer parking garages at the Transmania center, aka, train station with its adjacent bus depots, 8th Avenue Port Authority style.

Move buses west of train station.

Since pretty much everone seems OK with buses reducing the quality of life in downtown White Plains, here's a suggestion about how to deal with it: move them back where they were decades ago.

There's a small one block area between Hamilton Avenue and Main Street on the west side of the train tracks that is now all but abandoned by the buses it once served. How and why those regional buses were allowed to intrude into urban life on the east side of the tracks is lost to history.

That area is not large enough for the ever increasing number of regional and private chartered buses that speed along residential streets including Barker Avenue, North Broadway, Park Avenue. There are two areas along route 119 that could be used.

There is still a lot of vacant land on the west side of 119 between Hamilton and the County Center. Some housing was recently and mindlessly built there. It's unimaginable who would want to live adjacent to about ten lanes of traffic.

The other area is what is euphemistically called the west parking lot for the County Center. You know, that ridiculous metered area that everyone wants to avoid. Of course, Westchester County would have to provide that land for the greater good of the train station redevelopment, something that seems anathema to the County Executive and his band of bureaucrats.

This wouldn't really impact the Battle Hill area but that CNA group would doubtless oppose.

Private buses on Barker Avenue because Hamilton is ONE way.

Various private buses, not the big regionals like Adirondack or Greyhound, but the less big ones, probably carrying corporate passengers, travel away from the Transmania Center on residential Barker Avenue to North Broadway about 6 PM on weekdays. They should take non-residential Hamilton Avenue but they cannot even if they wanted to because many years ago the City of White Plains made Hamilton one way for about half the distance between North Broadway and the Transmania and no one in recent years has changed that.

This blog has had several posts asking about all the bus traffic in downtown. A basic reason it has never been an issue is that Common Council members, CNA type groups and what passes for media concentrate on junk issues like FASNY, Railside, etc. stuff that impacts a very small percentage of residents, who live outside downtown. Another reason is that few, if any, of them walk around the downtown. Ever.

Quality of life issues downtown are non-existent for them. None have ever thought to examine all this bus traffic. These buses, including the county Bee Line, probably have a very small percentage of their seats occupied and the percent of riders who are White Plains residents is also probably very small.

Maybe that's incorrect. If so, make the correction. That would require examining the issue. It would also mean delaying the planning by the TransCenter task force in developing the desolate area near the train station/ bus depots.

Transit District Study Stakeholder Task Force: any work products? Any work?

What the heck? This group was formed back in October 2015. They have yet to appear publicly as a group. Mayor Thomas Roach and Planning Commissioner Chris Gomez have conducted the three public meetings on the Trancenter area Transit District ... whatever. Both Roach and Gomez are well versed, enthusiastic and diligent. But it makes one wonder if this isn't all just a Kabuki dance with the task force a mere show for what is basically a two man operation with 90% of the outcome predetermined.

Does this task force meet?

Does it have conference calls, ...?

What, if anything, has it produced?

How would anyone know any of this?

Mayor Roach is working hard on this. How about the rest of you putting a little effort into it? And show your faces as a group and face the residents of White Plains.

And how about reaching out to the condo and co-op boards and apartment renters, which represent way more White Plains residents than those self appointed community associations that compose the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA)? Pandering to the CNA and its most vocal couple of "Hill" associations is not responsible engagement.

Here is the list of task force members from the city website:

http://www.cityofwhiteplains.com/index.aspx?nid=616

Mayor Roach, Chair City of White Plains

Michael Shiffer V.P. Planning, MTA Metro-North Railroad

Ed Buroughs Westchester County Planning Commissioner

Todd Westhuis NYS Dept. of Transportation, Division of Operations and Asset Management

Justin Brasch Metro-North Commuter; resident

Larry Salley Chair, White Plains Housing Authority; Former Commissioner, Westchester County Department of Transportation; resident

Mary Cavallero Former Chair, White Plains Planning Board; resident

Patty Cantu Co-President, Battle Hill Neighborhood Association; resident

Peter Mosbacher Senior V.P., Community Development, Webster Bank; placemaking advocate

Richard Payne Cycling advocate; resident

Robert Weisz CEO, RPW Group

Susan Fox President & CEO, White Plains Hospital

Tim Jones Managing Member, Robert Martin Company, LLC

William Cuddy Executive V.P., CBRE Brokerage Services
________________

Downtown White Plains Transit District Community Open Houses in April.

I attended an hour of the Battle Hill Association meeting tonight and the Planning Commissioner mentioned something pertinent between interruptions: a meeting on April 11. So I searched and found the following information buried on the City website. I have a hunch that only the community groups mentioned are supposed to know and that they agitated for the meetings. The Planning Commissioner also mentioned that he's spoken multiple times to the CNA, the group that represents the interests of White Plains residents who live in houses.

The White Plains residents who live in live in apartments downtown continue to sleep while the house people petition the City during this planning period.

Here's the info on the two April meetings:

http://whiteplainsny.gov/index.aspx?NID=594

Community Open Houses
The City of White Plains will also hold two community open houses for residents and community groups of neighborhoods which are located either within the Downtown White Plains Transit District or which directly border it. While these meetings will be more directly focused on the needs, challenges, and opportunities that a new transit district would provide for residents and businesses in these specific close-in neighborhoods, all White Plains residents are welcome to attend.
 

Meeting	Date	Time	Location
Fisher Hill, Battle Hill, Ferris Ave Community Open House	Monday, April 11, 2016	7:00 pm – 8:30 pm	Church Street SchoolCafeteria 295 Church Street White Plains, NY 10603
Downtown and White Plains BID Community Open House	Monday, April 18, 2016	7:00 pm – 8:30 pm	New York Power AuthorityJaguar Room 123 Main Street White Plains, NY 10601

Advice to downtown condo or co-op owners about dealing with the CNA.

Read this if you live in a downtown condo or co-op.

http://www.wpcna.org/associations.html

​Some CNA associations, such as North Broadway, do not have contact information.  Bryant Gardens is a co-op.  Some of the five Gedneys may be condos.  ​North Broadway is probably the closest thing to an entity that represents some downtown co-ops and condos.

Consider joining a CNA association that seems to represent you.  Each association gets one vote, so they are very disproportional.  I think many downtown condos and maybe some co-ops have more homes than many of these associations.

Or ...

Since forming a condo and co-op group to counter the CNA is going nowhere, maybe you should consider having your condo or co-op join CNA as an independent association.  You'd have one vote.  There probably would be some push back, but give it a try.  Otherwise, the house owners will continue to have the only voice that the Common Council hears.

CCWPNY is now a WP city group.

Somewhat by accident I created the first group on the WP city website:

http://ny-whiteplains.civicplus.com/CommunityConnection#AllGroups

http://ny-whiteplains.civicplus.com/CommunityConnection/Group/Condo-and-Coop-CCWPNY-155

CCWPNY is the name of the Google Group for residents in apartments in downtown White Plains. One objective is to balance the influence of house owners as represented by the CNA organization. Make WP less pedestrian hostile. Get more involved in the quality of life, including the new revitalization of the train station area.

Join up.

CNA requirements for meeting downtown, not almost in Scarsdale.

We welcome you finding us a downtown location providing free space & free parking suitable for up to 50 people and including free use of their A/V equipment and we'd be happy to consider it.

Doesn't sound too serious.

wpcna.org  "The White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations (WPCNA) coordinates the neighborhood associations in White Plains, NY."

And why is free parking so important?  Is it that people who live in the houses near Scarsdale and Harrison cannot afford downtown parking fees?  People who live downtown could simply walk to the meeting.

"A/V equipment"?  Say what?  VHS or Beta?  I'm guessing they are not looking for an Internet connection or HDMI ports.

District-Based Voting Sunday, February 24, 2008

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.
________________________

CNA: White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Like the WP Common Council, CNA is house heavy. Check the member organizations ...

Five are in the Gedney area alone. No wonder they dwell on nonsense like Railside and Orchard Street, which affect a handful of houses that border the respective properties. Every condo and coop in WP should be members. Meetings should be held in a location that does not require a surveyor to determine whether it is within WP...

White Plains needs one citizen, one vote. Both the city government and its official neighborhood entity represent houses, not people. The city's devotion to cars reflects that. Move 'em, park 'em. Get in and out of downtown as efficiently as you can. You don't live there. You live in the suburbs of White Plains in almost Scarsdale and almost Harrison. Who cares what it's like to actually live downtown?
________________________

Cars, the only issue in White Plains Sunday, September 21, 2008

The sole issue in White Plains: move 'em, park 'em.

The sole solution: more lanes, more garages.

This is an escalating cycle that cannot be continued. White Plains has tried some minor things in the past including a free shuttle bus and a few electric car chargers. However, it is still jerking around with planning a city bus system and cannot get the county buses to run during rush hour from all the most densely populated areas:

- Main St. and Mamanoneck Ave.
- Lake St.
- Old Mamanoneck RD ...

White Plains needs elected officials who have the imagination to consider new and different ideas. Otherwise, there will be more speedways slashing through downtown and more monster garages.
________________________

Condo and Coop owners unite: take over city government. Friday, January 2, 2009

I have written consistently about the structural problem with the government of White Plains.  Rather than function like all our other legislatures (county, state, federal), which have district representation, White Plains clings to the delusional fantasy that its form is somehow special, that having Common Council members elected at large they magically represent all citizens, rather than a constituency of a geographical district.  Baloney.  It ain't working.

As has been documented here, including with a map showing where they live, Common Council members represent themselves and their suburban neighbors.  Their only issue is driving into and out of downtown White Plains as fast as they can, diminishing any hint of quality of life for those who actually live in White Plains in apartment buildings and who, I am guessing, pay most of the taxes for most of the school kids who live in the suburban houses.
___________________

CNA and CC Maps: CC closer to Scarsdale than WP city hall. Monday, March 2, 2009

... each CNA association gets one vote.  The few in the houses make decisions for the many in the apartments.
____________________

White Plains house owners, just secede and become part of Scarsdale. Thursday, September 30, 2010

Mayoral debate is where?

I received this in an e-mail message from CNA:


The candidates for White Plains Mayor -- Tom Roach, Bob Hyland and Glen Hockley -- will take part in a live, TV-style debate on Wednesday evening, March 23, 2011 at 7:30 pm in the Ridgeway School auditorium.  You're invited to attend and participate!  Please come early to get a good seat.​


I guess they couldn't find a place further from downtown.  I've noticed in the Highlands signs for Hyland.  Hey, that's as good a reason as any to vote for one of them.


I won't vote for anyone for Common Council who lives in a house.

Mayoral debate questions.

I received an e-mail message, which included this:

date Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 8:25 AM


The White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations (WPCNA) in coopoeration with the White Plains Concerned Citizens for Open Space (WPCCOS) will sponsor a Mayoral Debate on Wednesday, March 23 in the Ridgeway School auditorium at 7:30 pm.  PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR!


Please send your topic suggestions and brief questions to debate@wpcna.org by 5:00 pm, Thursday March 17.  The debate will include as many of your questions and cover as many of your topics as possible. The candidates will also answer a limited number of questions from the audience after the debate.
______________________________

I sent this to debate@wpcna.org:

Podcast!

Question:

Should White Plains move away from its dependence on retail sales tax to avoid the regular boom/bust economic cycles?

And then this:

Should White Plains have district based voting to ensure that downtown residents are properly represented since almost all council members and you three candidates live in houses in the suburbs of White Plains?

Yippie! The City of While Plains did NOT buy a country club during a "national debt crisis"!

In an e-mail message from CNA (Council of Neighborhood Associations):

The French-American School of New York (FASNY), which currently has 825 students attending its preschool in Scarsdale, lower school in Larchmont and upper School in Mamaroneck, has contracted to buy the Ridgeway Country Club for $11 million.

Great.  As long as the City of While Plains didn't buy it.  That would have been an inexcusable capitulation to the house owners who live near thecountry club.

The French-American School has "preschool in Scarsdale, lower school in Larchmont and upper School in Mamaroneck".  That sort of makes my point that this entire issue was another canard to provide city wide resources for the benefit of the While Plains house owners who live in almost Scarsdale and almost Harrison.

The While Plains Common Council lucked out and was precluded from taking sides in the social divide that is the main problem in the governing of the City of While Plains: downtown apartment dwellers v. suburban house owners who have dominated the Common Council for decades to the extreme detriment of downtown residents.

Property Tax Perspective.

I received this message:

Your attitude towards the sections of White Plains that pay the lions share of the taxes that support the downtown infrastructure in nothing short of abysmal. The whole blog reeks of misplaced resentment. I might have been sympathetic until I read the bulk of your posts - by the time I was done the steam was coming out of my ears. My taxes have tripled thanks to all the downtown development and you guys want MORE. Pay for it yourselves and carry your own water for a change. The downtown is a huge drain on the suburban end financially. 
___________________________________________________

Response:

I checked the city web site tax records and found two people with the last name Hicks.  One lives in a house.  The other in a two bed, two bath condo.  Their taxes (school, city, county):

house: $7,680.36

apartment: $6,684.54

Only $1,000 more for an entire house.  With private outdoor space.  Probably a private garage.

On my physical block there are about 300 apartment homes.  How much is spent by the city to maintain, let's say, the public streets?  We'll call them four blocks, even though two are short.

How many blocks of houses would comprise 300 houses and what is the cost to the city? That money is not reflected in individual property tax.

In my complex of 282 homes, there are 70 children, including toddlers.  How many children would live in 282 houses and what's the school tax distribution per adult?

Oh, and my individual apartment has meters for water, which I pay as an individual.

Finally, whatever subsidies were given by the city were given to the developers, not to apartment residents.

The house owners who think that their taxes are too high should simply move to Scarsdale.

In which of the CNA groups does the resentful house owner live?  How many homes are represented by that entity?  How many people?

CNA and CC Maps: CC closer to Scarsdale than WP city hall.

Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA):

http://www.wpcna.org/wpcnamap.jpg

Here again is the map that I had created showing the location of the homes of the six Common Council (CC) members taken from the White Plains web site:

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

I am guessing but I think that CC members correlate to CNA associations as follows:

Roach: Westminster Ridge

Power: Highlands

Hockley: Highlands

Malmud: Gedney Farms

Boykin: Idle Forest

Lecuona: Gedney Manor

Roach is almost in North Castle and the other five live closer to Scarsdale than to White Plains city hall.

Of these, Highlands is the only association with more than a few homes.  Remember, each CNA association gets one vote.  The few in the houses make decisions for the many in the apartments.

The complete list of CNA member organizations is repeated below for convenience:

Battle Hill

Bryant Gardens

Carhart

Colonial Corners

Downtown (BID)

Eastview

Ferris Ave

Fisher Hill

Fulton Street

Gedney Circle

Gedney Farms

Gedney Manor

Gedney Meadows

Gedney Park

Havilands Manor

Highlands

Hillair Circle

Holbrooke

Idle Forest

North Broadway

North Street

Old Mamaroneck Rd

Old Oak Ridge

Prospect Park

Rocky Dell/Reynal Park

Rosedale

Saxon Wood

Soundview

Westminster Ridge

Woodcrest Heights

White Plains Downtown Residents Association web site

http://www.downtownresidents.com/

This is the group run by Rob Tamboia.

It is not to be confused with:

http://www.wpbid.com/

The White Plains Downtown District Management Association is the Business Improvement District for the City of White Plains.

The Business Improvement District (BID) appears to be the Downtown group that is already a member of the Council of Neighborhood Associations (CNA).

Why downtown residents should not join CNA.

The White Plains Council of Neighborhood Associations has these member associations:

http://www.wpcna.org/

Battle Hill

Bryant Gardens

Carhart

Colonial Corners

Downtown

Eastview

Ferris Ave

Fisher Hill

Fulton Street

Gedney Circle

Gedney Farms

Gedney Manor

Gedney Meadows

Gedney Park

Havilands Manor

Highlands

Hillair Circle

Holbrooke

Idle Forest

North Broadway

North Street

Old Mamaroneck Rd

Old Oak Ridge

Prospect Park

Reynal Park/Rocky Dell

Rosedale

Saxon Wood

Soundview

Westminster Ridge

Woodcrest Heights

I count about 31 including Downtown for some reason.  As noted months ago Gedney has FIVE.  My guess is that each association represents a wide ranging number of homes, yet according to the CNA by-laws each gets one vote.  That's un-American.

Why would the newly forming Downtown association want to join that?  Especially since it already contains entities that are already organized: condos and coops.  Here is a better model for representing all the Downtown condos and coops in its association.

Each member condo or coop would have one vote weighted by the number of homes it contains.  Simple and fair.  A simple spreadsheet can be used to count votes and it can be posted for public review using the free google docs.  That way condo and coop residents can see how their rep voted or if the rep did not vote they can try to find out why.

Playing the game already established under CNA means that the emerging Downtown association is likely to fail much more than it succeeds and be bogged down in needless administration.  Remaining independent and setting its own agenda and membership guidelines means that it will have the flexibility to exert much more influence, especially if it does not make the huge mistake of becoming a toothless non-profit, non-political mush of an entity.  Exactly what are the political views on garbage pickup?

Condos and coops would be energized to take action on their own or in concert with others with like issues.  Many are probably larger (more homes) than most if not all of the current CNA associations.  The new Downtown association could act as a facilitator.

This model would also support my contention that the new Downtown association does not need money.  In addition to a web site and other supporting free services on the Internet, condos and coops could post paper notices on their premises.  Simple and effective.