Mr. Astorino has proved, over and over again, that his training as a journalist and his work in broadcasting have prepared him well for the job of cutting the legs out from under those who are struggling to attain a stronger economic footing, while smiling and telling us how much he is helping the residents of Westchester. Hopefully, the voters will come out to vote Astorino out, and Noam Bramson in. Otherwise, we are doomed to another 4 years of "Tea Party" draconian actions directed to undermining the safety, opportunities and quality of life for the working class people who are the majority in Westchester. View Comment

Mr. Astorino is not telling the entire story, and he is twisting the facts about the HUD settlement. Meanwhile, he is allowing a pattern of economic segregation in housing to become worse than it was before he took office. View Comment

Mr. Astorino is singularly unqualified for the postion he was elected to, and in just over 3 years in office, he has caused significant damage to the fabric of the lower Hudson Valley region. His primary strength, honed through years of broadcast experience, is public speaking. Hopefully in November, the voters will send him back to the radio and out of county government. View Comment

From what I've observed of councilwoman Deborah Reynolds and her actions since she was elected to serve on the MV City Council, she is living in some alternate or parallel universe. What we --- the voters, taxpayers and residents -- need is common sense leadership. We need practical and pragmatic solutions. We need our council members to spend 100% of their time working for the greater good of our City and its residents. Ms. Reynolds is clearly not doing her job, and she should be (1) censured; and, at the next election (2) voted off the Council. View Comment

Kudos to the Zonta Club for recognizing Roberta's wisdom, commitment and leadership. And thanks to Roberta for your selfless commitment to the the residents of Mount Vernon and nearby communities! View Comment

Not long ago, County Executive Astorion and his staff determined that the WestHELP facility in Greenburgh was surplus -- no longer needed because there was no longer a homeless problem in Westchester County. Despite the heat from a settlement agreement with HUD about fair and affordable housing, CE Astorino stopped Westchester County funding to support the (now forme) WestHELP facility -- which was designed and built to provide affordable transitional housing and high-quality support services to 108 households at capacity -- thus the facility was quickly closed and became vacant. Many of us have stood by and watched helplessly while the WestHELP Greenburgh facility -- built at a cost of about $14 Million of 1990 public dollars -- has become a political pawn and a prime example of why electing officials to manage our public domain is a bad model, pure and simple. A decision was reached in 1990 -- and an agreement was signed by elected officials -- restricting the use of the Greenburgh site on the campus of Westchester Community College -- to provide affordable housing for at least 30 years. Why now is it appropriate to create new affordable housing slots for homeless individuals in Mount Vernon in the same facility as an elementary school when we have 108 vacant affordable housing units in Greenburgh? Does Mount Vernon need more subsidized affordable housing units while Westchester County is doing battle with HUD on a consent decree which obligates the County to develop affordable housing in economically and racially segregated communities to help reduce patterns of racial and ethnic segregation? Am I living in a parallel universe? View Comment

Certain elected officials seem to feel that child care is relegated to be a ‘women’s issue’ and believe that women have little, if any, influence on election outcomes. In fact, equal access to quality child care is way more than a ‘women’s issue’, it is a long-term societal issue. The positive impacts of quality early care and learning on early cognitive development have been well documented. Children from households with 2 parents who are both college graduates probably benefit the least from high-quality child care, because they start out with a ‘competitive advantage’ from their home environment. The children who need the most help — those from single parent households where the mother’s highest level of educational achievement is GED or less — are the most in need of rigorous, reliable and high-quality early childhood education (ECE) programs. The positive impact of universal and equal access to quality ECE is clear: on individuals, on families and on society overall, although the positive program outcomes are more often gleaned from European data because of the political ‘yo-yo-ing’ that exists in the U.S. Westchester County is one of the highest cost areas in America. Why would the residents and businesses in Westchester NOT want to set an example for other U.S. areas in terms of equal access to high-quality early care, if for no other reason than to create a salubrious environment for employers that need a productive workforce? In the final analysis, discrimination against children due to economic circumstances has disparate impact on single mothers. It is wrong no matter how you slice it. View Comment