I’ve read this blog for three years and watched it mature. There have been mistakes but all are human so mistakes are a fact of life. Even if you dislike Cox and his style of “reporting” you can’t refute the documents foiled and posted. The jury is still out on Fevang but the most curious thing about this case is what the DA omitted from the indictment. I’m referring to the documents foiled and posted on TOTS, which are undisputable. There was a truck repair for $12,000 that was billed, paid and the repair never done. That amount far exceeds the $3,000, $5,000 or $10,000 (Strome wasn’t sure of the figure) that allowed Fevang to operate “under the radar”. First off for a city manager to come to a press conference he called and be unprepared by not having exact figures is slipshod. Second, for a city manager to state there was no other employee involved then later in the same press conference state two employees falsified documents at Fevangs order is contradictory.
Then there is the issue of Fevang’s boat at the New Rochelle Marina. The boat had a registration that stated it was in excess of 30 feet in length and that Fevang’s residence was in the Bronx. SOMEONE (still unidentified) charged Fevang for the smallest craft possible well under 30 feet and awarded Fevang a discount reserved for New Rochelle residents. There is a special fee if your boat remains in dry dock during the boating season, which Fevang’s boat did for many years and Fevang was never billed. Then there is the issue of falsified invoices. By that I mean, all of Fevang’s invoices, from the recreation department, foiled by Cox did not match in appearance and there was an improper sales tax rate of 9% charged. While the appearance disparity may be explicable, the wrong sales tax rate on an official invoice is clearly incompetence or an error made in a cover-up attempt that substantiates collusion.
The firing of the DPW deputy commissioner, the former DPW commissioner leaving for a position with substantially less compensation because it’s closer to home and now the resignation of a building inspector for alleged “shake downs” demonstrates the widespread evils which have existed and flourished in New Rochelle for at least 20-years.
The Republicans will shout from the rafters for change, as well they should, while the Democrats will circle the wagons to coordinate damage control and throw whomever necessary under the bus as a scapegoat to save face and retail power. After the dust settles the bottom line is the citizens and taxpayers of New Rochelle are being fleeced by a system that is broke and yes corrupt.
I hope that as a first-time poster and third generation New Rochellean citizens will see past the rhetoric on all sides; political, administrative and personal. There is plenty more I and others could site for the non-believers and spin doctors spewing damage control like; a building inspector who “resigned” due to sexual harassment claims by a female employee (his “executive assistant” spouse couldn’t save him), a department of development administrator with a similar sexual harassment situation who followed the former corporation counsel to another county and of course the ongoing Huguenot Hills situation whereby a multi-million dollar development received a certificate of occupancy without proper roof drainage, (which building inspector passed the final inspection and is still on the job)? Not to mention that the Huguenot Hills developer is favored local developer and campaign donor.
I am not throwing stones, just stating what is well known to anyone who has more than a casual interaction with city hall. This is a plea for taxpayers to ask the hard questions of officials both elected and appointed. Don’t accept the non-specific answers that are politically correct. Don’t hold their feet to the fire, burn their Asses until the truth is exposed. I believe New Rochelle needs wholesale change, professional politicians must go and every employee must be held accountable!
TOTS has provided potential whistle blowers a venue to cleanse New Rochelle. Change begins with independent review, an entity without any political or business ties to New Rochelle, possibly the Attorney General or US Attorney. To that end the only real change comes at the ballot box in November.
Good luck New Rochelle…