77°
This story has been corrected. The ruling in the Fortress Bible lawsuit said the town "intentionally violated" constitutional rights.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Greenburgh may seem like a quiet New York suburb, but when it comes to town government, nothing can get done without a fight.
The town has faced a number of issues this year — losing a lawsuit against Fortress Bible Church, scrambling to fill the empty WestHELP property, a call from Republicans for an investigation by the state attorney general and dealing with a lawsuit over the Game On 365 lease — and some residents credit Town Supervisor Paul Feiner for the endless debates.
Bob Bernstein, a local attorney and director of the Edgemont Community Council, is among them.
"It's amazing how politicized Mr. Feiner has made the town," Bernstein said. "I have never in my 30 years of practicing law seen any public official who single-handedly causes as much damage to taxpayers' pocketbooks as much as Supervisor Paul Feiner has."
Bernstein, who has been involved in multiple lawsuits against the town as an attorney and as a party, said the Fortress Bible lawsuit will be a major hit for Greenburgh taxpayers. Because the ruling stated that town authorities "intentionally violated" constitutional rights, insurance won't cover the cost of the damages. Instead, that money will flow from taxpayers.
"We don't know how this Town Board will decide this issue," he said. "Whatever the matter, it's going to be a tremendous burden."
According to Nicholas Ward-Willis, an attorney who represents Fortress Bible, the church plans to seek at least $5 million in damages from the town, which may include payments from Greenburgh's six villages as well as unincorporated Greenburgh.
The Town Board has made finding a tenant to lease the WestHELP property an endless battle, as well, as town and county officials continue to butt heads on the issue. Before WestHELP's lease ended last year, the facility was generating $1.2 million annually for the town.
"Feiner had the opportunity to renew the existing lease four years ago," county Legislator Alfreda Williams, who represents Greenburgh, told The Daily Voice in September about WestHELP's $1.2 million lease. "To eliminate a perfectly good affordable housing stock when we still have a need in the county — it doesn't make too much sense to me."
Town officials are now potentially facing an investigation by the state attorney general, whom Westchester County Republican Chairman Douglas Colety called upon after Greenburgh allowed a campaign group supporting President Barack Obama to use space at Town Hall as a phone bank for solicitations.
Terry Williams, a member of the Greenburgh Central School District Board of Education, said it's Feiner's lack of leadership that has caused him to "open up a whole can of worms he can't seem to solve."
"You can only fight so many battles," Williams said. "He's a smart person, there's no doubt about that. But sometimes, the mark of being a leader is being able to say, 'No, that's not a good idea.' That's his problem — he doesn't know how to say no to people."
Feiner said the town's troubles come with the job of being a government official, adding he doesn't think the lawsuit claiming lease violations with Game On will succeed.
"I don't think there's a government in the country that doesn't have lawsuits," he said. "We get lawsuits every day — every government does. Anybody can sue, but it doesn't mean they'll win."
Comments (17)
Those are just some of the big issues that the government are facing. They must have e discovery services in order to have proper execution of the lawsuit that they are now facing.
“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”
― Albert Einstein
Paul: I'm not a litigator, but I'm guessing that you really should think twice about your offer. By offering privately to explain yourself, you are insinuating that you still do not admit to any wrongdoing, despite the decisions of the federal district court and 2nd circuit. I'm not sure you want to give this impression while the damages award is still pending. Remember, you represent the residents of Greenburgh in this matter. As I wrote, I'm not a litigator, but I'm guessing that you should wait until after the (multimillion dollar) award of damages, and then draft a public letter of explanation and an apology to the taxpayers who will be paying the bill for the board's malfeasance.
".....and then draft a public letter of explanation and an apology to the taxpayers who will be paying the bill for the board's malfeasance."
Don't hold your breath!
Mr. Feiner's plea for residents to call so that he may explain his side of the Fortress Bible fiasco is both desperate and pathetic.
After 26 days of trial, a federal district judge not only found that Mr. Feiner had intentionally violated the constitutional rights of Fortress Bible Church, but the judge also found that Mr. Feiner had lied under oath and destroyed documents (for which the Town was fined an additional $10,000). In a scathing opinion that ripped Mr. Feiner's arguments to shreds, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the lower court's judgment at trial in all respects.
One would think that, at the very least, after all the damage he has caused, and the shame he's brought upon the Town, Mr. Feiner would take this opportunity to apologize for his behavior and ask residents to forgive what he did. But no.
Mr. Feiner's first response was to blame what happened not on his own gross misconduct, but on the federal laws (including the First and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution) which he argued wrongfully interfere with his right to do as he pleases as Town Supervisor.
And now he begs residents to just call him so that he can tell them his side of the story -- as if to suggest that if he couldn't prevail in the federal courts, he could at least prevail in the court of public opinion. Then again, who would anyone believe: the federal judges that heard Mr. Feiner's arguments and unanimously rejected them -- or a politician who was found to have testified falsely under oath?
Residents and political leaders of all parties should understand that these pathetic reactions on the part of Mr. Feiner are neither healthy nor constructive and instead provide the best evidence yet of why Mr. Feiner is no longer suited to hold public office in Greenburgh or anywhere else.
Dear Lesbelges: I would be willing to meet with you to provide you with more insight as to the reasons why we rejected the application of the church and to answer any questions you may have. My phone is 993 1545 or 438 1343. My home is 478 1219 if you would like to take me up on the offer.
PAUL FEINER
Please do tell why you were right about how you handled FB and how 2 courts, 2 judges, 2 rulings were so very, very wrong. Explain to Lesbelges, Esq.The wording used in the findings is so shameful it's hard to believe that you would still try to defend yourself. This alone speaks volumes as to why you should be removed from office. Call me! I'll tell ya, I really, really had the locals in mind I DID IT FOR THE TAXPAYERS! TOO MUCH TRAFFIC! It's disturbing. I'm convinced your brain has short-circuited. It's just CRAZY.
Adding to the lunacy we now find you advocating for Game-On, proposed location 2,500 feet from the Fortress Bible site, and having not one little concern for the locals and traffic issues caused by the thousands of visitors Game On will receive each year. Hmmmmm..... No reason to publish your #'s as we got your number decades ago.
This is what happens when you have one party rule for so many years.
After reading over the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision this morning, I am embarassed and ashamed by the conduct of my town's elected representatives. The most damning quotes are on p. 22, lines 4 -8:
"The Town attempted to extort from the Church a payment in lieu of taxes,
it ignored and then replaced its Planning Commissioner when he advocated on the Church’s behalf, and Town staff intentionally destroyed relevant evidence."
And on p. 25, lines 11-14: "There is no basis to distrust the district court’s finding that the Town’s proffered rational bases were not sincere and that it was instead motivated solely by hostility toward the Church qua church."
And again on p. 34, lines 13-15: "As we have previously discussed, the record contains ample evidence to support the district court’s conclusion that the Town’s actions were wholly disingenuous."
Of course our officials are protected by their immunity from being individually responsible for their outrageous conduct. At a minimum, however, the named defendant/appellants should stand up before the town, admit their error and apologize for their actions that have sullied the town's good name. But they don't need to, of course. I've lived in Greenburgh long enough to know that they will all be re-elected.
Good reporting. I just want to elaborate on one of my quotes. Mr. Feiner does not know how to say no to people with whom he wants to curry favor, like Edwin (Ned) McCormack, Astoino's aide and architect of the Valhalla money fiasco, and the Mayfair-Knollwood Civic Assoc. He had no problem saying no to me and others when we advised him, citing state law, that it was illegal to enter into such an agreement.
Who advised the town to appeal the lower court's decision? Now that the appeal has been decided, the taxpayers of Greenburgh deserve to get a look at the memo from Wilson, Elser or the town's attorney recommending appeal. Also, we should be informed exactly how much are the taxpayers of Greenburgh are paying Wilson, Elser for this appeal. I'm an attorney, and would not advise a cash strapped client (which Greenburgh certainly is) to appeal such a clear and forceful lower court decision, but instead to try to work out a settlement as quickly and cheaply as possible before the damages phase. I certainly hope the record shows that Greenburgh reached out to settle with Fortress Bible and was rejected. Otherwise, this entire appeal seems to border on incompetence. I hope we are not now planning to appeal to the US Supreme Court. Either the board members or attorneys who directed this decisionmaking process should stand up, explain themselves and take responsibility for this fiasco.
Nice to have company but you are taking the rational approach which is to view matters dispassionately and not avoid stating the obvious. However...
This is not about the law, common sense or saving taxpayers money.
And knowing that the judicial progress grinds exceedingly slow.
This is about Feiner having to admit his guilt and going on record that he was wrong.
What you and readers need to understand is that if you recognize that Feiner is incompetent and incoherent, it should come as no surprise when he performs incompetently and speaks/writes incoherently.
And why no one can remove from his mouth whatever bone he is chewing.
Feiner at the helm is why Greenburgh is going to the dogs.
Hal Samis
"We did nothing wrong" Really? Well, the law says otherwise and it's just this attitude that has perpetuated the problems you can't seem to refrain from creating that has cost the taxpayers a whole lot of money and loss of services. Interestingly enough, services we no longer receive don't effect Mr. Feiner as he lives in a gated community and his garbage collection, leaf collection, swim time, tennis time and weeds are fully taken care of without any negative effect to HIS lifestyle. The rest of us pay and then pay more to do without.
There simply isn't a nice way to say it. I apologize to those who may take offense but Feiner remaining in office is intolerable.
He acts like a little child who has learned that by making a lot of noise and stamping his feet, his parents (taxpayers) will give in.
Here we have an article citing examples of his incompetence (backed up by the ruling of Federal Court (twice), backed up by the County Board (thrice) and eventually by State Supreme Court when the GameOn lease is argued) and Feiner's retort is:
"I don't think there's a government in the country that doesn't have lawsuits," he said. "We get lawsuits every day — every government does. Anybody can sue, but it doesn't mean they'll win."
"it doesn't mean they'll win"?
Mr. Feiner is also a member of the NY Bar.
I can't mince words. If he can't understand what the Court decision(s) (losing both the original Decision and the Town's Appeal of it) and the County Board telling him no to Ferncliff three times, then he must be retarded.
And because of such demonstrable incompetence, Greenburgh taxpayers must pay not only the uninsured judgement but also suffer the continuing loss of whatever revenue the 108 housing units could have generated during their first 12 months of vacancy and each additional month that they remain vacant.
Feiner's remaining in office comes at a cost too high for taxpayers to pay.
If he was born with the shame gene; he would have resigned. Especially after the Judge has written that he lied and counseled the destruction of evidence.
While other governments may have been sued; other governments do not have Feiner as the cause.
But they are welcome to him.
Hal Samis
Hal Samis
Mr. Feiner's statements are all false and misleading. In the Fortress Bible ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously rejected Mr. Feiner's supposed "traffic safety constraints" as "not sincere" and "motivated solely by hostility toward the Church." Taxpayers, who will be paying the millions of dollars in damages caused by Mr. Feiner's outrageously inappropriate behavior are advised to read the court's 31-page opinion. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16989909/Second%20Circuit%20decision%20-%20Fortress%20Bible_.pdf
Mr. Feiner's comment concerning WestHELP and Ferncliff is equally misleading. The Ferncliff lease offers the Town only $500,000 a year, and only if New York States reimburses that amount to Ferncliff, a for-profit school, and if the state does not, the Town has no recourse. By contrast, housing experts agree that if each of the 108 efficiency apartments were leased at $800 a month, the Town would receive $1 million a year in rent, with perhaps management costs of about $100,000 a year. Mr. Feiner's hostility to affordable housing at that location has thus cost taxpayers in Greenburgh more than $1 million by his deciding, as a sop to the residents of Mayfair Knollwood, to deliberately keep the WestHELP apartments vacant for more than year.
Ferncliff was never a realistic opportunity for the Town and Mr. Feiner knows it, and has known it now for a long time.
The town rejected the Fortress Bible church application after being advised by our traffic safety consultant that there are significant traffic safety issues re: location of the proposed church. I would be pleased to send copies of the traffic safety consultants comments to those wishing to understand why the Town Board unanimously rejected the application. My e mail is pfeiner@greenburghny.com.
RE: WESTHELP site ---the best use for the property would have been Ferncliff. After the County Executive and Legislature decided to close down WESTHELP the town lost $1.2 million a year. We were hoping to generate the maximum revenue possible to offset budgetary shortfalls from the closing of WESTHELP by our county representatives. Ferncliff offered the town hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue that we will not receive from affordable housing managers.The decision of the county to deny the town the right to lease the property to Ferncliff will probably result in millions of dollars in lost revenue to the town over the period of the time that the town has rights to the property. This is unfortunate Ferncliff is an excellent use for this property - they provide needed services and affordable housing to the developmentally disabled community. Once the legislature rejected the application we immediately proceeded with a new RFP to use the property for affordable housing. We have started to make appointments to show the property to potential affordable housing managers/developers. I anticipate that the Town Board will select an affordable housing manager for the WESTHELP property within a few months.
Re: the GOP complaint about the use of Town Hall for political purposes - the Republican town committee has, in the past, used town buildings for facilities. Other communities provide political parties with the opportunity to meet in their municipal owned buildings. The Obama volunteers were not using town phones during thier phoning- each of the volunteers made calls using their cell phones. We did nothing wrong.
PAUL FEINER
So Paul -- as to your anyone can sue, how do you explain Fortress Bible? Even better, not mentioned the give-aways to the Valhalla School District, that we only got back with the help of Bernstein and some other private lawyer?