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Mayor chides councilwoman as fued grows

By Len Maniace
The Journal News • October 26, 2008

YONKERS - Councilwoman Joan Gronowski won't be counting on the support of one particular constituent in her council district: Mayor Phil Amicone.

The mayor and Gronowski have not spoken since spring, and last week, the feud escalated. At a meeting with City Council leadership, Amicone, a Republican, declared he did not plan to invite Gronowski, a Democrat, to a briefing last Thursday for council members on the city's massive downtown redevelopment.
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After Amicone listed who would attend each session, "I said, 'That leaves out Joan Gronowski,' and (Amicone) said, 'That's right,' " City Council President Chuck Lesnick recalled, "and he went off on a sort of rant about how Joan has not been cooperative on this project and the budget, and various other things."

Amicone and Gronowski have been at odds for months. She was the only council member to oppose the city's budget proposed by Amicone earlier this year. And Gronowski came into office criticizing Amicone for allowing politically connected employees to work for the city without Civil Service testing. It was a major issue for Gronowski, who was fired from her City Hall job in 2000 by then-Mayor John Spencer after she campaigned for Spencer's opponent in an election. She successfully sued the city over the firing.

Gronowski also criticized the mayor this summer for the city's policy of providing take-home cars to employees and the cost of police overtime, saying the city could not afford such largess. The mayor's staff has said City Hall has fewer politically connected workers than previous administrations and that those who remain were qualified.

As for take-home cars, mayoral spokesman David Simpson noted the city had fewer take-home cars now but said the remaining 194 were justified because employees needed reliable transport in the hilly city.

"I'm being shut out of the process," said Gronowski, who's been on the council since January. "I don't want to be ostracized, but everything centers around the budget vote."

Democratic Majority Leader Sandy Annabi and Republican Minority Leader Liam McLaughlin were with Lesnick, a Democrat, at the council leadership meeting with the mayor last Tuesday. Lesnick, Annabi, and McLaughlin said in interviews that council members insisted to Amicone that Gronowski be included in the Thursday meeting, and the mayor eventually briefed her separately on Thursday afternoon since she could not make the evening session.

The closed-door briefings discussed the $1.6 billion Struever Fidelco Cappelli development that has gotten one council approval but still needs two more.

Amicone confirmed the basic elements of the discussion with council leadership.

"I didn't invite her," Amicone said. Referring to the SFC project, he declared, "She has given every indication she's not going to vote for it anyway. Why waste our time in briefing her?"

Gronowski opposed SFC in the first vote, as did Annabi, but last week said she did not know how she would vote in the future.

Lesnick said he got a close look at the Amicone-Gronowski conflict this summer when he planned for City Assessor Mark Russell and Annabi to appear on his City Hall cable television program. Lesnick said Amicone told him that Russell would not appear on the show concerning the city's outdated property assessment rolls if Gronowski attended.

"He wouldn't send Mark Russell, and since it was a Gronowski initiative on the council, I didn't think it was right to do it without her," said Lesnick, who dropped the planned topic.

Amicone said he did not recall the incident.

"If I said it, I don't remember saying it, but I don't think I said it," Amicone said.

A week ago, Gronowski issued a news release complaining that the mayor had failed to send anyone from city government other than a police captain to a community meeting she held Oct. 15.

Amicone said city department heads attend many community meetings, but Gronowski's was not considered crucial. Gronowski said she did not ask specifically that department heads attend.

"All those requests for service in Joan Gronowski's district - which is my district by the way - are taken care of as quickly as they could possibly be taken care of," Amicone said.

The mayor said he has reached out without success to Gronowski, inviting her to call him about any concerns she has.

Gronowski acknowledged the mayor had extended her that invitation, but said that she had little to discuss with the mayor.

"He stands for almost everything I have been fighting - the cars, the city jobs," Gronowski said.