Meet the Greenburgh Town Board Candidates: Eric Zinger

The PCCA asked each of the Greenburgh Town Board Candidates a series of questions that we felt were most pertinent to our community. Below are the responses from Eric Zinger:

  • What is your position on Edgemont Incorporation?

As many people are aware, Edgemont is trying to become the 7th village in the Town of Greenburgh. I believe that Unincorporated Greenburgh is much stronger united, and hope that Edgemont does not incorporate into a village. Edgemont represents 17% of the population of Unincorporated Greenburgh and 27% of the tax revenues. Were Edgemont to incorporate, that revenue would disappear immediately, and remaining Unincorporated Greenburgh residents would be left with a combination of service cuts and/or tax increases.

However Edgemont is not the enemy. We are all part of one Greenburgh, and the Town, particularly Supervisor Feiner has done a poor job of escalating the tension between the Town and Edgemont. The Town Board unanimously approved funding to hire private investigators to go into Edgemont residents home and trick them into signing affidavits that they did not mean to sign the incorporation petition. There was the infamous Father’s Day hearing 2 years ago, scheduled with less than 24 hours notice, after the Town secretly ruled on a Home Rule resolution without public notice.  These actions were both wrong.

I’m running because I want to repair the relationship between the Town and the Edgemont community. I believe eventually, there will be a vote on incorporation and when that vote happens, I hope Edgemont residents choose not to incorporate. You can also see my response to the question of Edgemont Incorporation in the debate about 54 minutes into the video. http://greenburghny.swagit.com/play/06142019-507

  • And, as a Town Board Member how would you address the impact of their incorporation to the rest of the Town if it were to happen?

If Edgemont were to incorporate, we would have to take a hard look at every aspect of Town Government to see what is most necessary to preserve. It is hard to see a future with an Incorporated Edgemont that doesn’t result in some combination of service cuts and tax increases put in place to balance the budget.  There is the possibility that Edgemont could look to contract back with the Town for some essential services. If that were the case, any agreement would need to ensure that unincorporated residents were strongly represented at the negotiating table, to ensure that the full and total cost of those services were covered by any intermunicipal agreement.

  • In what ways can the Town Board more effectively work with both the School and Fire Districts?

We need a Town Board that is supportive of our School District and Fire Districts, but also respects that those are separate government entities.  I was disappointed that Councilman Jones and Councilman Sheehan, who do live in GCSD stayed completely silent on the GCSD bond referendum.


Now more than ever we depend on our local government to respond to the needs of our community.  All elected officials need to work together to lead Greenburgh into the future and we need leaders who are going to be outspoken advocates for our community.

Regarding the Hartsdale Fire District, I am excited about some of the things that are happening there.  I think that Jason Muldoon has been an excellent addition to the Hartsdale Fire Commissioner Board. We are looking at selecting a new Chief in the coming year with the retirement of Chief Rush and that will be an important decision that will help shape the future of the department.

  • How would you propose to address the current Town need for a new Police Headquarters and Court House?

I would encourage anyone who is looking to learn more about this topic to watch the May 22nd Town Board meeting where a presentation was made regarding the facilities conditions.  You can watch that presentation here- http://greenburghny.swagit.com/play/05222019-1989/#0

It is clear that improvements are required at the facility to properly accommodate our female police officers, our handicapped citizens, and all those who use the facilities.  I elaborate on this more in my next point, but this is why it is so important that our tax dollars be spent as efficiently as possible. We have real infrastructure needs in our Town that need to be addressed; we need to ensure that we are spending taxpayer dollars for maximum return on investment.  We cannot be wasting money when real needs like the Police/Court facility exist.

The Court and Police facility is long overdue for an upgrade, but we must be conscious of the large cost as well.  Any plan that we come up with for both purchasing a suitable location, and construction, must fit in the new age of the capped SALT deduction, and not place an onerous burden on taxpayers.

  • In your opinion, what is the most critical issue that the Town Board is currently facing that will most significantly impact the 526 households of the Poets Corner Residents?

In my opinion, the most critical issue is controlling property tax growth in the new, uncharted era of the SALT deduction cap.  To that end, in my first two years I will only vote for budgets that hold the property tax rate flat.  Greenburgh residents need tax relief while the town assesses the impact of the SALT deduction cap.  This is very much possible in the current environment with reduced tax certiorari’s, higher than ever County Sales Tax Revenue, and most importantly smart budgeting. This past year the Town Board created a new position, a position that Supervisor Feiner himself has referred to in the past as “A gigantic waste of taxpayer money”.  We need to disband the route 9A TIF district and return over $300k a year property tax revenue from special interest projects to the general tax base. We need smart, data driven budgets, to ensure our tax dollars are spent with maximum efficiency.

Important information about absentee ballots for the upcoming school bond vote

IF YOU ALREADY VOTED BY  ABSENTEE BALLOT ON  GREENBURGH SCHOOL BOND REFERENDUM – YOU NEED TO DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE SCHOOL BOARD CHANGED DATE OF REFERENDUM

Dr. Tahira Chase, Superintendent of Schools for the Greenburgh School district advised that “Those who submitted an absentee ballot will need to submit a new ballot.”  due to the School Board changing the date of the referendum from Feb 12 to March 19th. 

Operation Candy Cane

The Fairview Fire Department is honored to be helping Santa visit all the neighborhood children and deliver Candy Canes to both Adults and Children alike.  Please view the schedule below to know…

 

The Hartsdale Fire Department is proud to announce their annual Operation Candy Cane, which will take place on Saturday December 22nd, 2018, from 9:00am – 1:00pm. The Hartsdale Professional Firefighters will spread Holiday Cheer by escorting Santa Claus and his helpful friends around the Hartsdale Fire District in a Fire Engine Sleigh handing out Candy Canes to all attending children & adults. Printed below is a full list of all Stops & Times and to make sure everyone is at the right location awaiting Santa’s arrival, the location marker signs shown below will be posted at every stop. Due to the busyness of Santa’s schedule, please allow for some flexibility with our estimated arrival times. Also, due to safety concerns, we ask that all children are accompanied by an adult and arrive at the designated locations approximately 10 minutes prior to posted times to avoid children running around and near the fire trucks. In the event of inclement weather, this event will take place on Sunday December 23rd, 2018. For more information regarding Operation Candy Cane, updates, cancelations and rain dates, or for more interesting information about the Hartsdale Fire Department’s services, news, activities, or fire safety and prevention please check out our website at hartsdalefire.org. We want to wish everyone a safe and healthy Holiday Season…
9:00 HARTSDALE TRAIN STATION

9:15 ROCKLEDGE CIRCLE / ROCKLEDGE ROAD

9:22 EAST HARTSDALE / CATERSON TERRACE

9:29 LAKEVIEW AVE / MAPLE STREET

9:36 WEBB FIELD PARKING LOT

9:43 CORNELL DR / PRINCETON DR

9:50 IFO 15 FIELDSTONE DR

9:57 BRIAR CLOSE / COLONY DR

10:04 IFO 125 N. WASHINGTON

10:11 75 WEST HARTSDALE, “THE HAMLET”

10:18 PINEWOOD RD / WILDWOOD RD

10:25 HOMEWOOD CT

10:32 WOOD PL / MAPLEWOOD RD

10:39 WOODS END RD / WOODS END LN

10:46 SHAW PL / SPENCER CT

10:53 STEVENSON AVE / POE ST

11:00 TENNYSON ST / HOLMES AVE

11:07 HOLMES AVE / BURNS ST

11:14 BARBARA LN / JEAN LN

11:21 SHERBROOKE / BURKEWOOD RD

11:28 SOUTHERN RD / HOWARD PL

11:35 TRADER JOE’S

12:00 RIDGE ROAD PARK PARKING LOT

12:15 MARION WOODS

12:30 HARTSDALE TRAIN STATION/VILLAGE

Snow Angels

Would you like a Free Snow Blower?

The Poets Corner Civic Association has decided to donate money towards a snow blower to be used to help clear the snow for the elderly and infirm.   If you are willing to commit to clearing the driveways and sidewalks for three of your neighbors, and becoming an official Greenburgh “Snow Angel” in the Poets Corner Community, a brand new snow blower will be at your disposal this winter.  Funding for gas will also be provided.

If this seems like too much for one person to handle, why not team up with a neighbor?  You can share the snow blower and then team up to do the snow angel work as well.  If you have high school aged children, better yet!   ” Team work makes the dream work!”

Supervisor Feiner will provide us with the list of neighbors that require snow removal.

Anyone interested in assisting with the program please contact Mona Fraitag at 914-946-1906