White Plains, NY – In yet another egregious and troubling example of County Executive Robert P. Astorino’s Administration operating illegally and without transparency, the County’s Board of Acquisition & Contract (A&C) “approved” a $13 million capital project today without first presenting it to Westchester County Board of Legislators (BOL)—contrary to the laws set in the County Charter—for any discussion, vetting or due diligence whatsoever regarding the funding, despite information about bonding options that could save the County over $1 million.
“The Board of Legislators has worked so hard with the County Executive to effectuate real property tax relief and make smart investments with the taxpayer dollars from our County’s residents and business owners, so the Administration’s pushing forward of a capital project costing over thirteen million dollars without public scrutiny is deeply disturbing and an affront to transparency,” said BOL Chairman Jenkins (D-Yonkers). “As it stands, this project would be subject to a public referendum since it exceeds the County’s bond cap of ten million dollars.”
Moreover, the 2-1 voted A&C “approval” included an illegal vote from Jay T. Pisco, whose appointment as Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPW) was turned down by the BOL on Monday, February 13 at its regular meeting. Because the BOL voted not to refer his appointment, already back dated to January 23, 2012, to the BOL Committee on Appointments, he is not able to legally act as Commissioner or vote on County matters as specified by the position. Section 110.21 of the County Charter explicitly states the Commissioner and Acting Commissioners need BOL approval before they can assume the duties of the office. Pisco’s appointment failed because it did not follow the Charter process for recommendation of a Commissioner of Public Works and Transportation to the County Executive by the citizen oversight Board. The appointment of Pisco to Commissioner, in fact, was announced two weeks before the citizen committee’s January meeting.
Pisco’s illegal participation as such in the A&C meeting today was brought to Deputy County Executive Kevin Plunkett’s attention at the onset of the meeting by Chairman Jenkins, who even suggested that the Deputy Commissioner of the County’s DPW be brought in for the vote to make it legal. Plunkett, who was acting as chair of A&C in the absence of Astorino, opted to proceed anyway with Pisco at the table.
The “approved” capital project in question would grant the County authority to enter into an Energy Efficiency Customer Installation Commitment Agreement with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) for the renovation of the Yonkers Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant with an Anaerobic Digester Gas Fueled Engine Generator. The work is to take over 15 years to complete at a cost of $13,298,970, according to figures from the County’s DPW.
On the surface, completing the bond at Westchester’s low AAA interest rate could save the County over $1.5 million, and that was what BOL members wanted to discuss with representatives from the Administration regarding this capital project, which was presented first to the BOL in September 2009 by then County Executive Spano but not acted upon.
“The elected representatives of the people needed to hear more details about this important and costly infrastructure investment before making any approvals, as the taxpayers of Westchester would expect,” said Jenkins. “Instead, there were no public presentations of even the necessity of the project, never mind how bonding options could save taxpayers a substantial sum of money. Whether it’s backroom spending approvals or bus lines eliminated without public hearings or child care costs increased without public justification, these unilateral actions need to stop.”