Fiscal Crisis to Bring About Racino High School in the Forbidden City By Vox Populi

A quick overview: Mayor Amicone has been in office for the last 12 years; the last four years as mayor. Superintendent Pierorazio has been in the district almost 35 years; the last six years in the Board of Education (BoE) Central Office in the capacity of deputy superintendent, and the last 3 years as superintendent.

Powered by Qumana

The fiscal year for Yonkers and the Yonkers Public Schools (YPS) is the same. It starts on July 1, and ends on June 30, of the following year. The Yonkers Public Schools is primarily dependent on state and city funds.

Pierorazio (big secret) reports to the mayor. The mayor has his own CFO/Finance Commissioner. Pierorazio has his own, who is new, and from out of town.

So it seems that neither Pierorazio or the Commissioner of Finance told Amicone from July 2007 forward that a major deficit was looming on the fiscal horizon for the FY 2008/2009. I doubt it! Meanwhile, the mayor is going to Albany weekly; sometimes with Pierorazio. Also, both the city and Yonkers Board of Education have lobbyists in Albany.

The election for mayor took place in November 2007. Were things simply so rosy back then in November? Wasn’t anyone reading the newspapers? Was the development that has not yet happened supposed to pay some kind of “fantom tax” up front? Hardly! Abatement, tax exemption, etc., are going out; but nothing is coming into the city.

So all of a sudden, it’s March 2008; two weeks before the NYS Budget is due and Yonkers has a $50 million budget gap. $27 million on the city side; $22 million on the BoE side.

Here’s how you may want to look at it:

The Yonkers BoE $22 million deficit is about or even less than the state usually “shorts” the Yonkers BoE. Albany deficit or not, the state owes Yonkers – especially since it very quickly gave the Yonkers Racino $26 million. OK, so let’s name the next new high school… Racino High. The $22 million should not ever be an issue with all the wonderful press and work of the Yonkers BoE in managing its affairs!

And now suggestions on how to reduce the $27 million deficit on the city side:

1) Weed out “over time,” tallying $3 million;

2) A simple house cleaning can reduce costs by $3 million. This would be culled from the 30 to 40 people presently on staff, including Spencer holdovers, Amicone deadweights, Spano hires, and all newly hired Amicone friends;

3) General departmental trimming will easily save $1 million, more;

4) Albany rollover gimmicks could be reduced by $5 million;

5) Albany aid by $10 million; and

6)  New tax increases by $5 million.

Total savings $27 million. Did anyone mention there was a budget deficit? Where?

The culture of secrecy has to stop. Both the city and the BoE are all smiles but operate like the “Forbidden City.” You know they are there; but there is no transparency.

The BoE figure is pretty standard. But on the city side, where did this huge hole come from?

Comments

Different Year, $ame $hit!!!

Start the cuts with the overpaid outsiders like flemming, simpson, hartnett and others alike.

The BOE has many many new hires. We are all of a sudden top heavy again with assistants having assistant. Layers and layers of central office people. Chief Academic Officer, Directors of elementary ed., Chief Administrative Officer, Five coordinators and many many more hires to mention. Ask Pierorazio to give the public all the new positions he filled since 2005 when he took the position in central office. I bet the number is staggering.

[lost in yonkers]

think we need a discussion about frivolous lawsuits
which are aimed at stopping prosecutors from discharging
their constitutional obligationl…the recent mount
vernon indictments are a complete rebutall of those
who said that federal authorities were attempting to
influence the election..and the zherka lawsuit
against various unnamed defendants in the face of
an investigation by the manhattan county da is another
example…the justice system needs to sanction these
kinds of lawsuits and sanction the lawyers who file
them..in fact a grievance may be appropriate

the first poster got it right

The city of vision needs a new set of prescription glasses.
May I recommend bi-focals?

And this profound revelation of a budget shortfall comes after the critical Hevesi audit of 2006, which in part, was about implementing proper (and modern) accounting procedures!

Yonkers is a rare breed: a city that refuses to learn from the past.
Seemingly every year we go through the same nonsense.
The 11th hour bailout
Clean the deadwood, be efficient, and fund the damn schools already.

Quick search of the NYT shows article after article. Here are a few.
It would appear Lost in Yonkers has some reading to do.

2004
50M
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DA113AF932A15754C0A9629C8B63

2003
20M
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E0DC1E3BF936A15752C1A9659C8B63

2001
58.6M
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE4D9173EF932A15753C1A9679C8B63

on and on...

[lost in yonkers]

yup...read em all..ask andrea what she
intends to do

[lost in yonkers]

and why don't i hear any condemnations
of the lawsuits being brought by salim zherka against yonkers and other municipalites while they are facing
decreasing revenues due to the economic
downturn...the silence is defeaning..
are you all rooting for a yonkers
bankruptcy just because you are democrats
is there no decency among you at long last

The Zherka lawsuits are a sham. The one where he is trying to stop the Manhattan District Attorney from investigating him is another sham. Any lawyer who files such frivolous suits should have a grievance filed against him.

No one can stop a district attorney from doing an investigation by suing him. To drag Yonkers into it as Zherka has done is disgraceful. If that case isn't immediately thrown out, then the best result would be if the Manhattan DA develops enough evidence to indict Zherka on multiple serious charges.

[lost in yonkers]

you got it exactly right..but here is
the best..zherka will end up paying
he may even lose his newspaper

According to what's been seen on blogs which directly quoted Zherka from his own (maybe) latest lawsuit, Zherka admits the Manhattan District Attorney is now investigating him for a lot of heavy felony-type crimes.

Zherka thinks he can stop that? Not in a million years can he stop that, and he blames Yonkers for conspiring with the Manhattan authorities, which is desperate and laughable. He also has dozens of law suits filed vs. various cities and towns in Westchester besides Yonkers.

Zherka is a miserable poison. He should be treated like the leper he is. He is another form of a "slip and fall" litigant who sues every chance he gets and usually for no reason except to go for settlements or to try and intimidate those like the Manhattan DA. Lawyers who take his money should be disciplined by the Bar Assn. for filing such baseless suits.

More deflection. Lost this is about budget mismanagement which is a Yonkers tradition. Stay on topic. It is worthy of note that Lost, who ever he or she might be always gets off subject and promotes other agendas.

He may lose his newspaper? The Guardian doesn't deserve to be called a newspaper. Great if he loses it, and also loses a lot of money. Great if he gets indicted too. He does say the Manhattan district attorney is after him in a big way. Where there is smoke......

don'r blame me i voted for spano!

i wonder why medelman is so concerned
about the zherka lawsuit?

His Yonkers lawsuit was well earned.

Edelman doesn't sound at all concerned with the Zherka suit. Just the opposite.

zherka's lawsuit has nothing to do with this article. this is about gross mismanagement of public funds.
nevermind yonkers, edelman is lost in space.

Is someone suing the Yonkers IDA?

Regular Meeting
of the
Yonkers Industrial Development Agency
Agenda
March 25, 2008 at 8:30 a.m.
1) Oath of Office for Board Members
2) Roll Call
3) Minutes for the January 16, 2008 Meeting
4) Approval of 2007 Draft Audit
5) Approval of Treasurer’s Reports for January 2008 and February 2008
6) Approval of Correction to Inducement Resolution for Ashburton Avenue
Originally approved at the November 28, 2007 meeting
7) Legal Updates
􀂃 Executive Session - Litigation
8) Other Business
9) Adjournment

I see they haven't been posting their meeting minutes since the comptroller is having a peek at their operations.

http://www.yonkersida.com/publications.php

To the poster who said "Fund the schools aready"
The schools budget is over a HALF OF BILLIONS DOLLARS, I repeat The schools budget is over a HALF OF A BILLION DOLLARS! You have to add in the GRANTS, They ,the schools NEVER DO! Over a half of billion and STILL only about 40% graduate in four years! The middle schools are a MESS, the just had to close down Commerce Middle school, because only like 15% to 20% were passing the 8th grade state mandated tests! But then again, this is Yonkers, the city of hills where nothing is on the level.

The schools already have enough money. Dont give them anuy more, just reduce property taxes. People dont move to Yonkers for the school district.

Pierorazio needs to be taken to the woodshed for a little "Come To Reality" lesson. There is a lot of waste in the Board of Dread.

Last year, Amicone didn't give him an increase from the city budget, but kept him at the previous year's level. But before that, money from the city-side to the schools went up dramatically.

Unless it comes from the state, and they DO owe it, Yonkers taxpayers should not be asked to pay another dime more for the schools at this very tough point in time. Instead, starting cutting the waste and fluff from Bernie's empire.

A poster talked about outdated accounting procedures in the Board of Ed. The Council has been stalling and delaying funding the money needed for computer and software upgrades which would bring the Board of Ed into the modern age. The Council has stalled that off for about two years now.

The dirty secret by the leftist local media is that public school parents that produce the good students, pull their kids out of the Yonkers public school after the 5th grade and either move out of Yonkers or put them into paroachial schools.That is why you have a drastic drop in overall student performance in the middle and high school level.Thank the Democratic Party,the NAACP,Sussman, Leonard Sand and the JNews editors.

it is impossible to argue with 10:25. The fact is that the public schools in most big cities nationwide have big problems because of the quality of many students, or rather, the lack of quality.

But despite the lies and spin to the contrary, all the money in the world won't fix that, as has been proved over and over for decades. It isn't even debatable. The problems are in the home, in the neighborhoods, in broken families, etc.

In Yonkers, add the awful busing, which is another reason many families won't send their kids to the public schools.

All that more and more money does is allow the education bureaucracy (execs, administrators, teachers) to continue to expand. It exists to perpetuate itself.

Estimates are that at least, at least, 12 percent of the YPS pupils are illegal immigrants. It could be as high as 15 percent. And the cost per student is what these days? Tell that to the Journal News.