In the wake of a 66 Count Fraud Indictment handed down by a White Plains grand jury against former New Rochelle DPW Fleet Manager Richard Fevang and calls by Republican Council Members for an independent audit and a criminal referral to the U.S. Attoreny, City Manager Chuck Strome, Mayor Noam Bramson and members of the Democratic Party has been out in force attempting to minimize the situation and demonize anyone calling for greater scrutiny.
The “talking points” from Noam Bramson & Company, so far, are as follows:
The DA investigation is closed- This is all the act of a single individual; Richard Fevang was a “rogue employee”, no other employees are suspected of misconduct.
- Situation is not unique to New Rochelle (Yonkers had a case, Harrison had a case, etc.)
- Calling for an outside investigation is a “smear” of 600 hard-working employees.
- Allegations of corruption were made in 1995 (by Jim Maisano) and nothing came of that, that this is all election year politics.
- The City has hundreds of employees, processes thousands of invoices and cannot be expected to monitor every one at all times.
Talk of the Sound offers a point-by-point rebuttal of these spurious claims, after the jump…
CLAIM: The DA investigation is closed
THE TRUTH: This is simply and unequivocally false. The District Attorney issued a statement flatly contradicting Strome, noting that the DA is engaged in a pending criminal case and so the investigation continues. New Rochelle Democratic Party Leader Arnold Klugman admitted on WVOX that Chuck’s statement was incorrect. Bob Marrone has also gone on WVOX to admit that his previous reporting on Strome’s statement was wrong, that he did not fact-check Strome’s statement, that Marrone called the DA and confirmed the DA investigation is NOT closed.
UPDATE July 5, 2011: On WVOX, Tuesday morning, Mayor Noam Bramson admitted the “investigation is not closed”, said Chuck “used poor word choice”.
UPDATE July 7, 2011: After a week of refusing to amend his false claim that the DA investigation is closed, City Manager Chuck Strome admitted during the City Council meeting that the investigation was still open.
CLAIM: This is all the act of a single individual; Richard Fevang was a “rogue employee”, no other employees are suspected of misconduct.
THE TRUTH: The whistleblower in this case gave a detailed interview on WVOX in which he stated that two past DPW commissioners and a Deputy DPW commissioner received numerous complaints over 17 years and took no action. Chuck Strome admitted in his press conference that workers int he parts department altered business records on orders from Fevang. That would be six current and former employees who were directly involved and/or covered it up. Strome admitted in his press conference that the City has not conducted its own internal investigation. The DA investigation is ongoing and so may identify more employees. There is no basis for drawing any conclusions at this point on the scope of the case, who was involved. The DA has not exonerated anyone.
UPDATE: On WVOX, this morning, Mayor Noam Bramson was asked why Fevang was not required to get approvals from anyone above him in the City government. Bramson said “there is a higher level of sign off”. Talk of the Sound has previously reported that Mark Zulli, Purchasing Manager in the Finance Department, approved DPW invoices, something that the City Manager, through his spokesperson, has denied. Talk of the Sound had previously reviewed DPW invoices with Zulli at which time Zulli stated that he gave final approval to DPW invoices prior to making payment and would, from time to time, renegotiate vendor invoices or deny recommendations to pay invoices by DPW management.
CLAIM: Situation is not unique to New Rochelle (Yonkers had a case, Harrison had a case, etc.)
THE TRUTH: Does it make it OK to have public corruption in New Rochelle because there is public corruption in Yonkers?
CLAIM: Calling for an outside investigation is a “smear” of 600 hard-working employees (Noam), Allegations of corruption were made in 1995 by Republican Jim Maisano and nothing happened (Chuck), this is just election year grandstanding (Both).
THE TRUTH: The Westchester County District Attorney spent 18 months reviewing thousands of pages of documents, interviewing dozens of people, and convening a grand jury which handed down a 66 count indictment on fraud charges. The indictment does not even cover the allegations of phony invoices paid for many thousands of dollars for work that was never performed or parts that disappeared.
Is the DA grandstanding? Lou Trangucci first met with the whistleblower in late 2009 and first went to the DA in January 2010. He has pushed as hard as possible to move things along, primarily out of concern for the men in the DPW under Fevang and not out of political considerations. No one in the GOP has had any control over whether or when indictments were handed down in this case. That the DA got their indictment in June 2011 is beyond the control of any member of Council so for the Mayor to complain that a member of Council taking a position on the case because it is “an election year” would be to suggest that the GOP somehow controls the Westchester County District Attorney Janet DeFiore who is, for the record, a Democrat like Noam Bramson.
The Finance Commissioner Howard Ratner is responsible for the financial control policies that allowed Fevang to operate as he did. Neither he nor the Independent Auditor, Bennett Kielson, caught the fraud. Bennett Kielson is a Bramson campaign donor. New eyes on the City finances is more that justified given that the DA has identified 22 separate instances of fraud over a 5 year period from 2006 to 2010 by an employee who admitted to prior convictions at the time of his hire, spent time in jail and was investigated for 5 years by the DA from 2001 to 2006 during which time his personal vehicle was impounded.
Ratner has acknowledged that the City of New Rochelle co-mingles Federal and New York State dollars with local revenue in its general fund. As was the case with Sister Susie at Iona College, the Feds treat every dollar as a federal dollar when funds are co-mingled. There are invoices from a vendor in New Jersey for work that DA investigators confirmed was never done. So, that money was stolen, it would be considered federal dollars and the deal involved crossing state lines. The U.S. Attorney clearly has jurisdiction here and be better situated to pursue fraud outside Westchester County and New York State. Four of the vendors involved are from outside Westchester (ARS in New Jersey, Vasso Systems in Brooklyn, Advance in Long Island, Gabrielli-Mack in the Bronx).
For 17 years, employees and lower level supervisors attempted to blow the whistle on Fevang. They were repeatedly ignored by the administration. Council Member Lou Trangucci, who supports an independent forensic audit and criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney, was the only government official willing to defend the employees by brining evidence to the DA. It was City employees who suffered the most under Fevang with retaliation in the form of unjust disciplinary charges and punishment work detail. Lou Trangucci knows a lot better than Noam Bramson how the employees feel about making sure that all the wrongdoers are caught, removed and punished. None of the rank and file have come forward to say they consider it a smear to call for an outside investigation.
CLAIM: The City has hundreds of employees, processes thousands of invoices and cannot be expected to monitor every one at all times.
THE TRUTH: Richard Fevang admitted to having prior convictions at time of his hire. His rap sheet, obtained by Talk of the Sound, shows that he had multiple DWI arrests and spent 20 days in jail. There are reports of additional arrests, unconfirmed by Talk of the Sound at this time, including at least one arrest on domestic battery charges. The job application form submitted by Fevang suggests the possibility of alteration; the box “No” was originally checked for the question of previous convictions and may have been changed to “Yes”. Between 2001 and 2006, Fevang was under investigation for fraud related to his job (falsifying records for former New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Linda Kelly’s official car) by the Westchester County District Attorney. His personal vehicle was impounded for five years during which time he routinely made improper use of a City vehicle to go back and forth to his home in White Beach in the Bronx.
Despite all of these red flags, the public is told that Fevang was given carte blanche to contract with vendors on amounts up to $10,000 at his sole discretion.
Bringing up hundreds of employees and thousands of invoices is a red herring. This is not about 600 employees or thousands of invoices but instead about how many supervisors had the power to authorize invoices for thousands of dollars at a clip (very few) and how many of those had prior arrests on their record, spent time in jail and had been the subject of a fraud investigation by the DA for falsifying invoices (hopefully, just one). Given his record, why was Fevang given authority to unilaterally approve any invoices let alone amounts into the five figures?
A possible reason for the alteration of Fevang’s job application is that if Fevang lied on his job application it would have been grounds for immediate dismissal and revocation of his pension. Members of City Council have said that Strome told them that if it were up to him he would have fired Fevang back in 2001 but that this was “before his time” and as Fevang was never convicted in the 2001-2006 case Fevang might have sued for wrongful termination. In fact, Strome was working for the City of New Rochelle in 2001; he became City Manager in 2002 while the first DA investigation was ongoing; if Fevang lied on the job application he could have been fired by Strome at any time without risk of a lawsuit.
Bottom Line Chuck Strome is trying to Quiet this Rather than Fix
The City Manager is pretending this was isolated and the matter is closed. We know he is not delusional but he is smart as a fox. The 4 democrats and the City Manager should be ashamed of their behavior. They pretend that this is a serious matter but yet they find every reason why this is over and anyone questioning is hurting the 600 other employees reputation. Again I say the City Manager is acting unethical by not asking this matter be widened. His job is to get to the bottom of this he would rather pretend this is closed and nothing. 17 years of trying to blow the whistle on Fevang to Commisioners and they all sweep it under the rug. Jeff Coleman was looking to repair more and more trucks then resigns abruptly. I would like to know why? Anyone can see that New Rochelle has something to hide and Strome is suspect by not trying to get to the bottom of it all. There is corruption going on in this City and they prefer the status Quo.
fevang
wake up bloggers jeff knew but he was scared of the vang , maxwell was in on it, and dolan was to drunk to no what was going on.
Nobody is trying to “smear”
Nobody is trying to “smear” city workers. If I were in their shoes, I would watch out for Bramson. If anyone is looking to harm city workers it is him.
Right now, he is just trying to steer attention away form his own mis-management by dragging city workers into this Fevang thing. Essentially, he is using them like pawns. Once he is done using them to his advantage–that is, to get re-elected–those workers will be toast. He will look for ways of denying them raises and he will seek to blame it on “budget contraints.” Fact is, that if the city didn’t give money to wealthy developers and allow people like Procopio and Fevang to steal tax dollars, the money to fund employee benefits and salaries might be there. Don’t trust Bramson.
Getting to the Entire Truth is an Obligation for City MGR
Getting to the entire truth is the obligation of the City Manager and for that matter the Mayor.
Its amazing how quick they are to state this was an isolated incident. Its been isolated for 17 years and they have done nothing!!
Now they claim this 66 count endictment is just the work of 1 person. Why did Coleman resign?
If I am the Mayor and City Manager I am truly welcoming a visit and further investigation from the Federal Government to dig in and bring down the entire depth of this. But they prefer to behave like its nothing. Pay no attention to the 66 counts.
Its amazing that people up high are still employed there was a culture in place to allow this and they are responsible and now they say its all nothing a Isolated incident one guy. What a bunch of bull!!!
Time to go!
An excellent analysis
Bob Cox, you have spelled out in great details any “spin” that may be attributed to this situation. Your answers leave no room for doubt. The taxpayers owe you a debt of gratitude.
Sad but true
Unfortunately, I believe when all is done Fevang will only be the tip of the iceberg. This may be our political season but politics removed these are very serious charges and the structure of New Rochelle business as usual needs as much overhaul as our master plan.
Even Bob Marrone has been checking the facts
Bob Marrone this morning on WVOX said he checked the DA’s office and was told any indictment is “open” until the case is finished. These indictments are still “open”. I give Marrone the credit he is due for his diligence.
Fevang
I think that pending specific findings from the DA office, Bramson and Strome have to be unbundled. I have spent a good deal of time going over the City Charter and it reinforces the simple fact that if there is negligence, it falls on the City Council and each members bears proportional responsibility. I plan to give a three minute talk at the next open council meeting with a handout that illuminates council responsibilies. From what I see, there is not much difference in terms of oversight and policy when compared to the role played by the school board over school district results.
I applaud Lou but question many disturbing facts — the Charter is very clear on the duties, roles and responsibilities of Council, Mayor (who is a council member) and City Manager. Articles VI and VII are especially illustrative. As a matter of fact the roles of the Council viz the Administrative authority hiring the Auditor is also very interesting.
Say what you want, but Louis did outstanding work in late 2010 and early 2011 although it is not clear whether there is evidence that employees were blocked from access to Strome although the Charter is clear on this point as it is that no particular Council member can in any way or form make any direct intervention concerning any aspect of an employees working condition or environment (see Sectons 43 and 44. That is Strome’s job and perhaps the fault likes there. I really don’t know but we will find out.
What I do know is an act of political theater took place 6 or 7 months after Lou made the DA aware of what was going on in DPW. There was no reason to stain the City further by standing on the City Hall steps and calling for “a forensic audit.” The City Council always had the power to supoena and investigate and make changes but the great divide between majority and minority prevented that. why Louis or for that matter any Democratic council member did not press for a critical examination of internal process, I do not know. I only know that by making statements on the City Hall steps is analogous to a form of self-indictment. They had the power but sought polical gain later on. And if overruled, the GOP would have had a fantastic plank to work with during election campaigning.
I really don’t know if Noam Bramson is guilty of anything more than simply being a member of a body that has not been doing the people’s business for a long spell and which cannot seem to get along. He is not Tony Soprano, and mathmatical exercises in terms of “he was around when” is counterproductive.
Bob Cox raises some important points however regarding the use of totally irrelevant matters — the 1995 situation involving Jim Maisano for example as well as statements made by Strome which had to be subsequently changed. That, along with any forthcoming information about Strome’s accessibility points a damaging finger at his overall performance, but here again, the Council is the oversight with power of removal and all this is covered in the City Charter as well.
I am simply trying to point out that we have a broken City that parallels a broken nation, and that politics is playing a significant role throughout our country and culture. This blog is a committed conservative blog and that is fine. Bob is, in my judgment, a fair man and will report what is fact as well as give his on opinion on what this City needs in terms of corrective action. That is fine as well.
I am very interested in Section 52 of the City Charter that states that Corporate Counsel is empowered to act on any matter of law or meaning of the Charter relevant to inquiries made by the mayor, council, city manager, and i believe department heads. As a citizen concerned for my city and not covered by section 52, I am going to request that she give a formal presentation on the roles, relationships and responsibiliites of the city manager vis the city counsel and separately, if relevant, the mayor in his ceremonial role as a non council member.
Let me already acknowledge that I am a Bramson supporter and contributor and at this point, see no reason to change other than he shares with the rest of the council some significant shortfalls in areas critical to governance such as developing some rapprochment or formal relationship with the school district, presenting a downtown development plan that is brought up to date due to the failure to provide New Roch City as a linchpin for downtown development, and to make changes in the charter and zoning laws that encourage commercial growth and, while the council is at it, break out some operating departments from fort 515 north avenue including a police presence, to present the city colors downtown.
Go ahead and take your best shots; it is alright. You have every right to be frustrated adn angry. You have not been paid sufficient attention and, as I said, the country is going through much the same thing on a national level.
I am pro community, pro New Rochelle and sick of the damn politics that have stripped all parts of our nation of dignity as well as staining up in front of the world and our neighbors.
Bob, thanks for the opportunity to put forth a lenghty comment, but i feel the time has come to minimize blame and maximize community; or in a different sense, get rid of these win-lose games.
warren gross
True Blue Noamie Groupie
Misterg, New Rochelle’s problems have been 20-years in the making unlike the nation and the only common denominator is Noam Bramson. Noam is not just another member of council for as the charter states he could be appointed police powers under certain circumstances. Also the politics you are sick of have been controlled by the New Rochelle Democrats and once again Noam has been involved from day one. There are few if any specific duties defined for our part-time ceremonial mayor yet he receives full-time pay, 24-7 use of a public vehicle (SUV) and full-time benefits. Like all council members Noam will receive life-time health benefits after five years of part-time service. Council may have oversight powers but Noam and Idoni before him wielded the majority to deny any investigations which might taint their political resumes. That’s why Fevang got away with stealing parts originally.
While you preach neutrality it is evident that you wear rose colored glasses when evaluating Noam. If you dropped a stone from a rooftop do you need to see it strike the ground to believe it did so? Or do you face the realization of gravity and accept it did?
poor mister g
what is clear is this blog has no tolerance for anything other than a strict conservative anti administration viewpoint. I seem to be the only one who comments otherwise but I have to go through a lot of personal animosity, statements accusing me of being in league with the devil (Noam) and God knows what else.
I said I was not going to comment on this but Tim said something about my honesty and BoB Cox countered with some lenghty partisan drivel about some matters. I said earlier that if you guys and gals want me to leave the site I will, but you will not hear me will not accuse me of anything on a personal level. I don’t give a damn if you don’t like my politics, question my motives, or otherwise feel I am out of my mind. Since you commentary is close to 100% anti administration supporters, I am not surprised. Either they lack guts or think they are superior. I don’t lack guts and I don’t feel superior.
Do you want me to parrot or shill what Cox gives you verbatim find someone else. I am an open book, I tell you who and what I support and you can take it or leave it. I also do not spend anytime attacking you for any flaws in reasoning, facts or logic nor ask you directly for facts on allegations. I simply listen or comment. Do you have a problem with that? If so I will leave or if you need to solve it some other way, I am always open to that.
Now a few, only a few points.
1. Yes Louis ran and photographed the records and God Bless him for that. But the channel 75 presentation indicates that there was a city investigation. Maybe it started one day afterward, I don’t know. I only know what I heard at the meeting and it came out in the context of St Paul probing to get information proscribed by the DA. Make of that what you will.
2. The tiresome 4-3 majority point continues to demonstrate the lack of know how, even maturity on the part of the blog. It still should have been brought up and put to a vote (meaning the Charter’s provision for investigation and subpoena). If that was done by the Minority and voted down it forms an election plank item. None of you seem to understand that yet. The people watching the council meeting, playing the newrochelleny tape, even reading the newspaper account would have reason to question the majority in terms of what they may have been”hiding”. No, the point escapes you all because it isn’t an attack dog point– you guys and gals what blood and thunder and any attempt at “fair and balanced” journalism escapes this blog.
Not too long ago, I made a reaching out point to someone near and dear to this blog and got lectured on good manners. Prior to that we exchanged correspondence. Ok fair enough, but the prosleytizing — the amount of content I write is often far less than Bob Cox and I think a hell of a lot more thoughtful. But, Bob does not like context, he does not like disagreement, he is a frustrated news print guy. He loves to attack from his bully pulpit. Hey, Bob, why do so frequently misread or misunderstand relatively simple offerings? Who suggested a single member could authorize an investigation? Where did that come from. Of course it is subject to council vote. But you continue to look beyond the faults of the entire council. You fail to look at the lack of legislation offered via agenda by either side; no, you like to bask in controversy, Bramson is the epitome of Tony Soprano, you just don’t know how to deal with anything relatively complex.
Why would I look for support from readers on the site. You have no way of knowing. Stop with the bull or bluff; all you have are commentators and you boast of many readers. You are probably right on the latter point, but they don’t comment. Have you run a headcount of how many people actually comment? Of course you haven’t. You got mostly the same voices, the same people.. broken records, your own personal set of yes men. I suppose Trangucci, Tarantino, and St Paul are either gutless or clueless by your logic as they do not put forth any resolutiions because Noam locks them down tight. Maybe they are too weak to run for office or lack the sense of establishing a record to cut into this 8 to 1 registration against burden they have. Well the economy over the last few years has given you ample opportunity to attract independents and crossover democrats. Lets see what happens in the days ahead.
And bob,I know you are not registered for any party. You said so during a debate a while back with someone who was offering some debate and you pulled his voting record and he pulled yours. Its good to be independent. I am despite what you and your vassals think. In fact when Gawker came out and accused you of being a relentless self-interested extreme right winger and a mediocre blogger, I actually took them to task for being the effete metrosexual, urban superior snobs that they are. And, I, with the one exception of threatening you with physical violence have always treated you with respect. I supported you with Regent Cohen, got Amy Paulin to help you, sent you material to challenge the school district and from you I get smarmy emails, “don’t write me privately again”, accustations of being overly verbal…. Bob revisit your blogs, your vitae, your redactions, you are calling the kettle black on this one.
As far as Bramson is concerned, I am a supporter and you take me for task for commenting on occasion against the GOP. That is unfair to say the least but why bother. My views of St Paul are clear on specific issues and not as a summary statement on everything St Paul. I do think he is an obstructionist and I do understand why. Sorry Bob, it is politics.
For any reader who cares, I am following Bob Cox’s demand that I put anything on the blog that I have to say. Fair enough. But come on…. how can you possibly indict me for having no following on a blog that rarely, if ever, gets anything contrary to the TOTS party line. Again, for the umpteenth time, that is fine with me. It is your bully pulpit and you can twist and shout anyway you want, but to say you canvassed your blog and failed to find anyone that subscribes to what I say, think or believe is totally irrelevant to me as you know from the start that when you took me off probation and I thanked you for it, I was not going to be any doctinaire party line. I close with your typical break in logic and reality — so the minority signed onto what Lou or maybe you discovered and I suppose that by fact or inference it means further that Bramson, Fertel and Sussman did not and you know this because it came up somehow in a vote. No you don’t know this although you could be right. And you don’t give a rats tail for my closing which is simply this…… if it did come up for a vote and the majority voted against it, you can rest assured that my support would go against them.
And Tim, if you want to test my honesty again, sign your full name please. Give me the courtesy of knowing who is calling me a liar.
I will still correpond on occasion and surely will not email you again.
warren gross
Poor Misterg part 2
oh, forgot to mention in my haste to redeem myself in all your scary eyes
1. the latest addition of the New Rochelle Sound and Town Report has an article on the Fevang situation written by Christian Falcone. In it Falcone mentions the City’s investigation of the Favang situation. It does not mention when it began, who supported it, whether the Council initiated it and, if so, by what vote. But it is in there but you will spin it away since you made the point so adamantly and harshly that it didn’t exist.
2. the same issue has a Letter from the Editor from me called “denial and blind dogma.” Criticize away but I think it makes a good case for not being a tool of the Administration. I take them to task for all the right reasons I think. And, I do mention some personal regret statements that I am not exactly the “second coming” in my closing points based on a number of strong statements I have made concerning matters such as the comprehensive plan, IDA, preparationn and administration of the DEIS function, failure to reign in the school tax issues, lack of support for proper downtown development, etc…..
I just wanted to add that so you can chew on a few other reasons to bombard this site with anti misterg and administration comments.
warren gross
whatever
Warren,
Not agreeing with you or deferring to you is not the same as bombarding this site with “anti misterg and administration comments”.
There was no “internal investigation”. I asked that question directly to Chuck during his press conference. His answer was short and to the point…”no”.
What you seem to be referring to is Kathy Gill’s “second seat” comment and the subsequent attempt at spin to pretend that some sort of investigation was done. Providing requested documents to the DA is not what I have been talking about and asking about with regard to an internal investigation. What I am talking about and what I asked Chuck was about whether the City of New Rochelle had interviewed people in DPW, reviewed all of the invoices, bid summaries and payments from the department and, as much as they can, interview former DPW Commissioners and assorted staff. That is the sort of thing that would occur in an internal investigation. That has not happened.
I do not know Christian Falcone. He is listed as the Rye reporter, apparently covering for Greg Maker in the current edition. There are numerous errors in his story including the statement that Chuck said there was an internal investigation. To the best of my knowledge, Chris was not at Chuck’s press conference so I do not know why he wrote that but that sentence in his story is one of the errors in the story.
I left Chris a voicemail to ask him about this article and this point in particular.
Wake up G
Wake up and smell the coffee! Why would Trangucci have to make copies on his own and go to the DA if the city had a legitimate investigation underway? The city has been investigating Fevang since the mid 90’s, they proved he stole parts and you have the audacity to insinuate there may have been a vote? Once again, Wake Up any vote would have to be public and there is none on record! So all the BS about when it began, who supported it and …… is IRRELEVANT once again.
It’s not about anti misterg and administration comments, it’s about refuting misterg and administration propaganda.
Once again defend the lies Strome spewed, defend the fact that Noam was on council for both instances and investigations and Fevang was not disciplined, fired or given oversight if you can. Deal with facts and not if’s for if the queen was born a man He/she would be King!
wide awake timmy
I think you missed the part where I said that the City investigation whatever it was and whenever it began took place likely after Trangucci turned over the files. tim so he was being investigated for 10 or so years for stealing parts? that is pathetic if so, but sadly, has little to do with the current investigation which is bad enough. Stealing parts is a felony theft and the DA has already decided that Favang received no tangible benefit from any of this although I think that part is likely crazy.
stop being nasty. or at least be nasty when you correctly read something. I did not say there may have been a vote; I am saying that it would have been really unusual for a city manager to perform and investigation with council knowledge or blessing. If anything, the council should have been the investigating and subpoening party especially since you allege they all have been looking at this joker for years for theft.
Now let me ask you to treat me with the same respect I treat you and stop misrepresenting what I say or say I have motives. Call people on your own home page like Killoran who know me and vouch fully for my honesty. Just keep it civil.
I hate coffee it jangles the nerves. If I knew who you were I would invite you to join me for a Guiness as surely a fine man like you, probably an ex Bronx resident like me, would enjoy God’s own brew.
warren
G please be real
Do you realize how sad it is that according to your “likely” scenario the NR investigation took place after Trangucci turned over the files? Once again, Pappallardi went to TWO previous DPW commissioners, the recently fired DPW deputy commissioner and other supervisors who refused to take action. Don’t you agree that anyone who Pappallardi went to should be disciplined or terminated? Another FACT is that the DA had Fevang’s car in its position for 5-years and that’s truly sad. Can’t you see that this has been politicized from the beginning? Long before St. Paul knew of New Rochelle’s existence. To correct a statement you made, the DA has NOT determined that Fevang received no tangible benefit as the investigation is ongoing and he has only been indicted. You’ve accused Cox of misreading your posts and now me maybe since you are the common denominator here it is you who leaves posts vague and open to multiple interpretations. For the record the city manager would never launch any investigation without prior council notification and or approval.
The official city positions are that the firing of the DPW deputy commissioner and the previous commissioner (Coleman) leaving NR for a position closer to his home which came with a $40,000 pay reduction have no connection to the Fevang investigation. Does a Bramsonite like you actually believe this?
Come on G admit there is a stench coming from NR and we need sanitizing.
Most readers think there’s room, ok a lot of room, for improveme
Mr. G., 1st off your entries are really too long, please try to keep to 500 words or less.
Secondly, I believe you’re free to write whatever you want, just most who read (and thus most who will comment) on this website think the city has room, ok a lot of room, for improvement.
We don’t buy the “everything is great” line from our mayor. You may feel Bramson & Strome are great leaders but we feel the recent corruption charges are indicative of their poor leadership. You may feel that somehow the Trump & Avalon buildings are adding great value to New Rochelle while in reality these & other tax abated developments have received subsidies that we’re all paying for & we’re not sure we’re getting our monies worth. I bet a real source of readership comes from the legions of bewildered property owners who pay for all these tax abatements through their own property taxes.
If you haven’t noticed, property taxes in New Rochelle are spiraling out of control to the point that some can no longer pay them. People are mad that the median property tax bill is over $15,000 per year and they don’t care where the cuts come from so long as there are cuts.. High property taxes are also killing the values of our homes so if you write a piece about how great New Rochelle property taxes are or how great the Echo Bay development will be for the city, don’t wait for a pat on the back since most readers don’t hold that view. We’re all driving on the same crappy roads together so write what you want, just please keep it to a reasonable length.
Mister G right on track
As usual a multitude of hollow words. I and others have listed multiple facts which have been revealed by Cox, Trangucci, Pappallardi the DA and have sited lies from Strome (the investigation is closed and no other employees are involved). IF you are as independent as you claim you would have taken these into consideration but all you did was misdirect with another bloated post loaded with irrelevant questions. If you were truly open to facts you would have listened to the whistle-blower interview. But no, you decide to pontificate about the charter and other irrelevant issues. One question for you; In life, have you ever found the answer to any of your questions?
Brfore being banned for a year you set your MO. Support Noam, cry about being “attacked” then leave when you can’t take the heat. So far you are right on track.
You have revealed that you are a man of violence, threatening Cox with physical violence. So why would anyone consider attempting to have a honest pointed debate with you without the possibility of it ending in violence? You criticize Cox and his bully pulpit but in the end it is you who bullies.
While Noam may not be Devil he certainly can’t walk on water as you believe.
some excellent points!
“no particular Council member can in any way or form make any direct intervention concerning any aspect of an employees working condition or environment”
Lou did neither of these things. He accompanied Pat to the DA’s office. He did not intervene in his working conditions.
“an act of political theater took place 6 or 7 months after Lou made the DA aware of what was going on in DPW.”
Lou went with Pat to the DA in January 2010. That would be more like 18 months ago not 6 or 7.
What do you call Noam holding press conferences about three times a week? The GOP has one and you decry that? The ratio is about 50:1 in favor of Noam in terms of holding press conferences.
“There was no reason to stain the City further by standing on the City Hall steps and calling for “a forensic audit.””
No reason? I can think of 66 reasons.
“why Louis or for that matter any Democratic council member did not press for a critical examination of internal process, I do not know.”
Keep in mind that there have been no City Council meetings since the indictment was unsealed. They can “press” but they need Dem support. Will they get it? Not likely.
“making statements on the City Hall steps is analogous to a form of self-indictment.”
Not sure what this supposed to mean; I would prefer you skip the analogies and just make plain statements.
“They had the power but sought political gain later on.”
What power do the minority members of City Council have to authorize a forensic audit? The answer should be obvious. As to “political gain”, there is saying that good policy makes good politics. Can it not be the case that in doing the right thing — calling for an independent outside investigation — also may be politically beneficial? Is the fact that something offers political gain somehow thus make it the wrong thing to do?
“if overruled, the GOP would have had a fantastic plank to work with during election campaigning.”
So, you as the Noam supporter and donor are now offering political advice to help the GOP? Hmmm. Somehow that strikes me as a bit disingenuous.
What I heard last week is that GOP intends to call for a forensic audit on Thursday night. The Democrats will likely vote against that so you will be happy then because the GOP will have a great issue to run on in the fall, according to you.
I guess it does not occur to you that the City needs a forensic audit because we just learned that the DA has indicted a City supervisor on 66 counts of fraud over a period of 5 years which would indicate to me at least that there is something seriously wrong with the way our City is being run. There are credible allegations that significant sums of money were paid to favored vendors for work that was never done. There are also indications that bribes and kickbacks were paid out. Are these not reasons to investigate fully?
“Let me already acknowledge that I am a Bramson supporter and contributor”
I am not sure exactly why you keep talking about an anti-Noam bandwagon or seem intent on exonerating Noam. I have not see many people here bring up Noam except in so far as he has inserted himself intuit he discussion of how to respond to the indictment. I have not met anyone who believes Noam was falsifying invoices, knew of it or was getting some benefit from Fevang’s activities. You keep trying to defend Noam. “No one” else is bringing him up. So your apparent need to preemptively defend him seems misplaced. Let’s stay focused on the issue of what exactly happened, how can recoup any money stolen and make things better going forward — that starts with knowing what went wrong and that is determined by doing a forensic audit. Seems rather obvious to me.
“I am going to request that she give a formal presentation on the roles, relationships and responsibilities of the city manager vis the city counsel and separately, if relevant, the mayor in his ceremonial role as a non council member.”
I would second that motion!
“I feel the time has come to minimize blame and maximize community; or in a different sense, get rid of these win-lose games.”
Have you informed Noam that you no longer intend to contribute to his campaigns unless he promises to stop engaging in “politics”?
Minimize blame and maximize community? That sounds a lot like “move along, nothing to see here”. With a 66 count indictment fresh off the printer and a pending criminal case against Fevang who is now looking at 7 years in prison, it hardly seems the proper time to put our heads in the sand. That is how Fevang was able to operate for 17 years with impunity. Look who suffered. The taxpayers and the men working under Fevang. The idea that NOW is the time to “minimize blame” is the exact opposite of what needs to happen. Now is the time to thoroughly investigate the matter, take that investigation wherever it leads and affix blame so that we can clean house. Or maybe you prefer another 17 years for some other Fevang hiding in the weeds? Let’s clear the air and get rid of the wrongdoers.
Tranguicci will most likely be investigated
Lou Tranguicci will most likely be investigated for political corruption in this case as he was directly involved with some of those close to Fevang and Fevang himself. Tranguicci should go down with the rest of these guys, he knew what was going on. He knows what’s going on at all the Auto body shops in New Rochelle. They take care of their own over there too. What’s good for Tranguicci isn’t good for Fevang. The old boys club doesn’t work for Fevang. It’s almost a disgrace, just cause someone who wasn’t in their boys club was getting a taste, they had to rat him out and take the taste for themselves. That’s how it really works in this town cox. You’ve been deluded by the scumpublicans again.
Are you out of your mind?
Are you out of your mind? I doubt Mr. Trangucci has anything to hide since he was the 1 to bring this to the DA, but if DA (although I’d prefer the Feds take this on) wants to check him out I’m sure he’s more than willing to cooperate as he has all along.
Not sure I could say the same for Noam or Chuck, they seem to be an impediment to the investigation. Heck after years of Noam & Chuck looking the other way, their suboridinates didn’t even trust them enough to think they’d bring this to the DA. What does that say about there leadership skills? Sadly it shows a real lack of leadership in our city.
Typical democratic troll
Typical democratic troll trying to divert attention away from the malfeasance which allowed Fevang to wheel & deal. Trangucci has been in office for 3 years and Fevang goes back to the Idoni era. Next time make your attempt at sabotage somewhat believable.
By and by if you believe the city manager, the investigation is closed, so Trangucci is clean.
Nice try!
According to those who went to the DA in 2001, Fevang has been running his scams for 17 years, directing work to favored vendors in the Bronx, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Long Island, no longer working with long-time vendors in New Rochelle.
So, by your logic, Lou ran for City Council 14 years after Fevang was hired, then waited 2 years, then conspired with DPW employees to gather evidence to bring to the DA and somehow managed to convince the District Attorney to spend 18 months building a case against Fevang, then convinced a grand jury to hand down a 66 count indictment. And all of this was done so Lou could get rid of Fevang to clear the way for a new DPW Fleet Manager to steer business to local auto body shops?
You do know that the cases of phony invoices for thousands of dollars a piece, the cases that started the entire investigation, all involved garbage trucks, right? And you know that garbage trucks are not usually brought to auto body shops for mechanical repairs, right?
I would suggest you go back and see your doctor and tell him your medication is not working and you need to up the dose.
Noam
Hey Mr.Cox how come Noam does not use your web-site or the daily web-site in his letter about fevang he says at the bottom that you can read more about the indictment in the journal news or patch.I thought it was your site that broke this story? Are you guys friends?I’m kinda new to this area so excuse me if i’m outta line!
Are Noam and Bob Cox friends?
Maybe some other readers can answer this better than I can.
Short answer is “no” we are not friends.
Noam prefers surrounding himself with sycophants and toadies. I am neither and so Noam pretends to ignore me and hopes Talk of the Sound will go away. Same goes for Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak. One way they do that is making it a point to link to the Journal News, Patch and, recently, the Daily New Rochelle. The Journal News is so short-staffed that they depend on government sources to serve up stories for them so they can just type up whatever the government tells them. The Patch is just an extension of the Noam Bramson propaganda machine; take a look at how many times you see Noam’s smiling face on their home page. It looks more like his personal Facebook page than a news web site.
It’s funny because over the years I never saw much of this before; linking to other “news” sites. Apparently the idea is that if Noam and Richard link to Patch, the Journal News and Daily New Rochelle, residents will read those sites. The only flaw in this plan is that most people prefer to decide for themselves what they will and will not read.
cox corrections
are you a reporter or commentator. frankly you don’t seem to “correct” anyone else’s work except mine or some rare individual who dares to disagree with you. worst part is that you are not capable or competent enough to correct my submissions. you think otherwise because you know that the readers here will agree to whatever you have to say. you are a brilliant gatherer of facts and a committed ideologue and an asset to the city in many ways. But you have trouble working with and understand the implicatons of data, both present and past. I am not going to touch the above; it is rife with issues in critical thinking. But not to worry, Robert, you have a masthead of loyal people who you have given “titles” to and who will hang on your every word.
I fondly remember your treatiste not long ago on the 19th century French observers of the American democracy. Right from Wiklpedia. Looks like you are a tortured man, what Tolle calls an egoic soul.
maybe i better submit less material as it has to be tiring to pull together the type of junk logic you use above. your very first sentence shows a complete ignorance of what a forensic audit does. If you knew anything about such audit you would see that the 66 indicted areas are invisible on any forensic audit. ask the AICPA. Your spin cycle is amazing and i am embarrassed that you would play your pipe and encourage these followers. And, St Paul knows very well that the point of a federal audit or inquiry will go nowhere and it shouldn’t and he is a very astute politician and raises such issues to get under the skin of Bramson which is a good strategy given the registered electorate.
How many holes can I pick in your logic? Endless. As far as the majority is concerned, they should have actually asked for a council audit not the GOP. but that is now water under the bridge.
I know you are upset at Strome because he discounts your credentials and you simply hate Bramson because he is intellectually gifted. If he is dirty, you would have smeared it all over the place but you are forced to used innuendo. Maybe Rupert Murdoch is going to pay the piper and I would be a little concerned over the freedom of speech in social media as well. There is movement afoot to make some significant changes in the governinng statutes about what effects damaging innnuendo and claims against the honesty and veracity of sitting politicians of any party have in voter outcome. You see Robert, it is a serious matter damaging a reputation as it might cause adverse impact on an incumbents or candidates chances to succeed on election day. Check it out, it is the formative stages but likely will happen.
Your statement on political support of a candidate financially vis a vis helping a GOP candidate followed by a hmmmn is just plain stupid and idiotic. You are simply dumbing down to control the support base. How can a man with your extensive vitae association with University of Chicago and I think Citibank (although no one knows you but they are huge) lead to such a ridiculous statement. Let me run this one by a few sitting Republicans to get their point of view. You are supposedly an independent and this makes it worse.
I will work actively for Lou Trangucci and last year I did a lot of work or Jim Maisano. I intend to repeat this again this year. Of course maybe neither of them want me this year, but the offer stands.
You know after seeing that (1) you comment in depth only on me and (2) your intellectual content is sorely lacking and (3) you play to your blog which is exclusively, before me, members of the hard right, I think I will exercise my option of sitting back for a while and see whether you are really a community source, a reporter/editor, or an attack dog columnist. It is a dogs breakfast at this point and no use putting my butt out their if I stand alone.
If it gives you any solace I can show you many instances where I took a stand against the administration. I have questioned Strome, feel Fertel and Sussman have not really represented much more than their district and as for Rice, he seems a talented guy and I see no reason not to support him. I think that opinion is held by most of the Council with perhaps a single exception.
Talk to you. Much love Robert. Say hello to your masthead brothers and sisters for me. Maybe I will drop in again unless I am too challenging or too against your party line. Otherwise I will obey all TOTS rules and regulations but you are welcome to throw my butt out any time you choose. It is your blog.
G, TOTS a breath of fresh air
G, I would like to comment on your statement; “no use putting my butt out their if I stand alone.” For 20-years the posters here have felt that way because the dems had the city locked up. Now with the economy as it is even the true blue Bramsonites are listening to other viewpoints. Cox has supplied an outlet for those who have seen the wrong doing and attempted to right the ship, John D, Eye on New Roc, 5th Ave., Galeta …… without success because of the strangle hold. The dust is settling and now is the time to right the ship. The Board of Ed and City good-old-boy system is a thing of the past due to TOTS. Everything from no-show jobs to child molesting and now fraud have and are coming to light. While these are individuals the culture which exists to allow this rises to management and even legislative levels.
I hope you continue to post but don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.