Jeremy Sherber, Noam Bramson’s campaign manager, in Bramson’s attempt to become the next Westchester County Executive, is spinning the campaign’s initial campaign filing. “Sherber said there were 675 donors to Bramson’s campaign, 85 percent from within Westchester County. The median contribution was $150.”
If there exists 675 donors with a $150 median [average] contribution the filing should reflect contributions totaling $101,250; 85% ($86,062.25) of which comes from within Westchester. Why then does the campaign summary page disclose total receipts of $536,281.23?
Bramson and Sherber are masters of the political shell game distorting statistics to suit the candidate’s requirements. While 85% of individual donors may be from Westchester, Bramson fails to disclose the lion’s share of donations come from outside Westchester: over $72,000 from groups and individuals with political agendas including $10,000 from a Washington, D.C. PAC; $59,000 in endowments from Bramson’s immediate family; $22,000 in gifts from the usual local businesses and politicos including VIP Club; Del Bello, Donellan, Weingarten, Wise & Wiederkehr; a former mayor; members of the IDA and Zoning Board; current and former council members and the like not to mention nearly $110,000 transferred in from Bramson’s pre-existing mayoral accounts.
Almost half of Bramson’s campaign war chest came from special interests and family. Don’t let the political mumbo-jumbo fool you. People have been forced to leave New Rochelle because as a councilman, Bramson supported new fees (garbage fee), created new taxes (library tax & an extra 1% sales tax) and after being appointed mayor is seeking a 3% gross utilities tax, an increased mortgage recording tax and shifting the cost of maintaining fire-hydrants from the municipal budget to the property owner in the form of higher water usage fees. The extra 1% sales tax represents about $9 million in annual revenue while removing library funding from the City’s budget to a new Library Tax saved $1.7 million. I forgot to mention the sale of Avalon 1, which will increase the city coffers with $9 million in new revenue. With all of the new taxes, fees and added revenue New Rochelle has sent termination notices to firefighters multiple times, decimated the police force through attrition and faces a $29 million deficit over the next 3-years. Bramson’s latest achievement is busting Governor Cuomo’s property tax cap, raising New Rochelle taxes by 7% not including the onerous fees other communities don’t impose.
For all of the county civil servants who are concerned about having to contribute to their health care costs, not to worry. As a councilman, Bramson proposed what he termed a “Service Competition” program for DPW street sweeping services. Bramson’s “Service Competition” is a veiled attempt at privatization. Here are Bramson quotes from city council minutes:
we cast off the dead weight of monopoly to embrace the flexibility and challenge of competition…
We say today the government will not be frozen in past practice, but will instead move to meet the future in a creative, enterprising spirit…
Council Member Bramson stated that the proposed legislation [Service Competition for street sweeping] is only a small portion of a broader program – competition of City services.
No one gets hurt by awarding the bid to the private contractor, and the City may achieve significant savings…
If elected, Bramson will bring privatization to the county level and the hard-working civil servants that Bramson refers to, as dead weight, will have their healthcare contribution apprehensions turned into unemployment anxieties.
My Kids Know This
If there exists 675 donors with a $150 median [average] contribution
Median is not the same as average, which is why your math doesn’t work.
Synonym
Average is a synonym for median and a synonym is defined as:
1. word meaning same as another
Hey Noam, why don’t you address the fact that you proposed privatization multiple times as well as sending pink slips to NRFD multiple times? Library tax, refuse FEE, gross utilities tax and hydrant maintenance costs transferred to property owners; do your kids know about that also (too)?
Better yet Noam, why don’t you divulge your are Anonymous? Maybe it’s akin (like) you hiding your responsibility for the disgraceful mailing about a councilman involved with child support. Oh I forgot, you are on the editorial staff of the Journal “Urinal” News so strike and hide.