mountkisconews.com

In the second installment of a new Thursday series (for as long as I can think of people who moved from Mount Kisco to feature), this week’s spotlight is on former resident Charles Duffy.

Charlie Duffy grew up in Mount Kisco. He was one of Frank and Margaret Duffy’s five sons. He began his professional career with Coopers & Lybrand and worked as an accounting and finance officer for several investment firms.

Most recently, Charlie was elected as Supervisor of Lewisboro, one of our northern Westchester neighbors with a population of about 12,000. Charlie was elected in November 2009 with approximately 58% of the vote. As Lewisboro supervisor, he will supervise a budget of $10 million and 50 employees.

Charlie’s election was featured in the New York Post in a November 9, 2009 article by Carl Campanile (see link). In a picture above taken by Robert Kalfus, Charlie is having a horse smell his fingers. That is not part of his official duties.

On Tuesday, February 9, 2009, there will be a special election to elect a member to the New York State Assembly for the 89th District. The race is between Peter Harckham and Robert Castelli. The following is biographical information from their websites.

Peter Harckham was first elected in November 2007 to the Westchester County Board of Legislators, representing all of northeast Westchester. Pete has focused on protecting the fragile drinking water supplies that serve both Westchester and New York City. Pete also introduced and passed legislation that will toughen the penalties for DWI and will reduce the burden to taxpayers for the cost of DWI offenders. Before being elected to the BOL, Pete served as President of A-HOME, a not for profit that builds affordable housing in northern Westchester. Pete has been a communications professional since 1983 when he started his career on Madison Avenue and worked for ten years for major advertising agencies. Today he is President of a strategic partnership of advertising, communications and production professionals.

Robert J. Castelli is a Vietnam veteran who, after a 21 year career in the the New York State Police which included service on the Organized Crime Task Force, went on to receive his graduate degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. As a small businessman, he operates a security consulting business where he provides expert advice and commentary to television and print media on criminal justice and homeland security matters. He is a former Lewisboro Councilman, and was chair of the Public Safety and Emergency Services Committees of County Executive Rob Astorino’s transition team.

In my opinion, Peter Harckham is the better choice for the 89th Assembly Districy for several reasons. First, Peter Harckham has served Mount Kisco well in the Westchester County Legislature. He has always been accessible and has worked for our interests. Second, I am more impressed by Peter Harckham’s record in Westchester than Robert Castelli’s record in Lewisboro. In 2009, Lewisboro had to raise taxes by over 25%. Some of that increase is a result of Lewisboro public officials in the early 2000s, including Robert Castelli, not focusing on long-term fiscal planning but on short-term results to boost their political profile.  Most importantly, I think that Peter Harckham can best represent us in the Assembly. The Assembly is controlled by Democrats. If there is to be meaningful change in Albany, it will have to be pursued by a reform-minded Democrat like Peter Harckham.

In a January 10, 2010 article in The Journal News written by Leah Rae (see link), Port Chester Deputy Mayor Domenick Cicatelli discussed Port Chester’s conversion from parking meters to pay stations for on-street parking and parking lots.

Port Chester also is considering raising its parking rates to $0.75 per hour ($0.25 for twenty minutes). Deputy Mayor Cicatelli was quoted “I don’t care where you go, nobody give 30 minutes for a quarter.” Unfortunately, the Deputy Mayor is wrong. In Mount Kisco, the parking rates are 30 minutes for a quarter and parking on Sunday and after 6:00 p.m. is free. Parking in Mount Kisco is much easier than in Port Chester, White Plains and other Westchester commercial centers.

Of course, being Deputy Mayor is a difficult and dangerous job. Please read the linked article form BBC News describing the 2007 death of the Deputy Mayor of Delhi, India (see link).

There are two restaurants in Mount Kisco that were denied cabaret permits because of their proximity to either a church or a residential neighborhood.  Coincidentally, both of these restaurants were featured in newspapers last week.  One of the restaurants was featured for its service to the community.  The other restaurant was featured for its law suits against the Village of Mount Kisco .

On page 5 of the January 26, 2010 edition of The Examiner, there is an article by Martin Wilbur titled “Bellizzi Owner Makes Girl’s Wish Come True” (Use Link). The article describes how Isi Albanese, owner of Bellizzi on Main Street in Mount Kisco, opened his restaurant and game room on a Sunday morning for a girl with Leukemia who could not go out to restaurants or recreational facilities because of her doctor’s instructions. It is one of the many ways that Bellizzi’s contributes to the community even though he was turned down for a cabaret license. I have linked Bellizzi’s menu and encourage others to patronize Bellizzi’s.

On the other end of the spectrum, another restaurant owner is suing Mount Kisco as described in The Journal News in an article by Sean Gorman titled “Restaurant Owner Won’t Appeal Case Against Mount Kisco” (Use Link). The article describes law suits by Mauricio Arriaga, owner of Mango Cafe, also on Main Street in Mount Kisco. The first suit was dismissed by a federal judge that granted a summary judgment to the Village of Mount Kisco. That case is described in a November 18 post written on MountKiscoNews.com. The article in The Journal News also describes that Mr. Arriaga has a “second case pending in federal court against Mount Kisco, this one charging that the village didn’t approve a full cabaret license for the Mango Cafe because of his comments about Mount Kisco’s stance toward Latinos.”

On Friday night at Grand Prix New York, Mount Kisco Public Library held a fundraiser. While well over 100 attendees listened to live music and enjoyed the catering by Grand Prix New York, the Mount Kisco Public Library through the Moses Taylor Post of the American Legion sold over 450 tickets for a raffle, raising over $40,000.

The following need to be thanked by the community for their contributions to the evening’s success:

•Daniele Churchill and Churchill’s of Mount Kisco: Daniele Churchill, owner of Churchill’s of Mount Kisco donated a blue convertible 2008 BMW 128i to be raffled off for the library. A link for Churchill’s of Mount Kisco is provided in the right margin of this story.

•Mayor Michael Cindrich for conceiving the event and coordinating the different parties. His efforts are more than most mayors in Westchester undertake.

•Jim Diamond of Diamond Properties for donating a 50 inch plasma television and promoting the event. Mount Kisco would be a better place if all property owners were as involved in the community.

•Grand Prix New York for providing the food at cost, promoting the event and donating a dinner and racing for ten as a raffle prize.

•Michael Nappi and his band for providing the entertainment. The band was outstanding.

•American Legion, Moses Taylor, Jr., Post 136 for co-sponsoring the event and doing what they always do best, serve the community.

•Sheila Smith, last but not least, for organizing the event so well that it ran seamlessly. Sheila, an event planner for Square Events, has created a niche as an event planner for fundraising activities.

The only complaint of the evening was that none of the Mount Kisco residents in attendance won the BMW convertible but the winner did purchase a ticket and by doing so, donated to our local library.

Local film maker Michael Castro recently announced that he created a website for his films. The films, from 7 minutes to 70 minutes long, are on a range of subjects.

MPC Studios, as described on the website, is not a big-time money-making studio or even a small-time independent money-making studio. It is, however, the result of a creative local Mount Kisco resident who has fun making films.

The website is http://www.mpc-studios.com/ and is linked on the right side of this screen.

As reported here, if you are looking for a fun evening that can raise money for your village, you should attend the Race for the Library. Tonight at 7:00, the American Legion will sponsor a fundraiser for the Mount Kisco Public Library at Grand Prix New York at 333 North Bedford Road in Mount Kisco. A ticket to the event will cost $50 (or $25 with the purchase of a raffle ticket) and will include open bar, hors d’oeuvres, one free race on the Grand Prix race track and live music. The live music provided by Michael Nappi and his full band. The purchase of a ticket for an evening out for two and a raffle ticket to win a BMW convertible is only $150. Contact Sheila Smith at sheila@squarevents.com or show up at the Grand Prix tonight.

After the creation of Mount Kisco News, a new website, Chappaqua-Mount Kisco Patch started online. Chappaqua-Mount Kisco Patch, an affiliate of Patch, a platform that supports about three dozen local websites, does a fairly comprehensive job of covering Chappaqua and Mount Kisco. Editor Tom Auchterlonie diligently attends Village Board, Planning Board, Zoning Board and Architectural Review Board meetings and summarizes them well.

It is, however, Chappaqua-Mount Kisco Patch! Please! Are we a suburb of Chappaqua? Is there more going on in Chappaqua than Mount Kisco? Even the website address shortchanges Mount Kisco (http://chappaqua.patch.com/). Follow the link and give it a read but remember there is only one MountKiscoNews.com

As the snow came down this morning, my children, especially those with mid-terms at Fox Lane High School, were hoping for a snow day. It reminded me of my December 9 post on the Mount Kisco Library’s snow day policy. According to the policy, the library is closed whenever the Bedford Central School District closes for inclement weather. It was my position that comparing the Bedford Central School District with the Mount Kisco Library is a flawed comparison. For instance, some of the Bedford Central School District buildings need to be open at 7:00 am. The Mount Kisco Public Library does not open until 10:00 am. Further, the decision to close the schools is based on transporting thousands of children on buses at the opening time. Library patrons come to the library by their own means throughout the day.

The then-President of the Mount Kisco Library Board of Trustees, Philip F. Menna, disagreed with my opinion and posted the following comment:

I am sorry that you did not agree with the Board’s policy. However, the Board of Trustees feels that it is a sensible approach. The fact that it was 40 degrees at 10:00 AM that day is really looking at it from hindsight. Suppose the temperature did not climb above freezing. Then, the road conditions would have been dangerous and icy, and if someone was injured on the way to the Library then we would have made a mistake in opening. As was stated in the article, Mt Kisco was not the only Library that closed that day.

Perhaps the criticism, should be directed at the Bedford School District for closing the schools instead of calling a two hour delay. In think that in this case it was the School District that made the wrong call, but I would be the last to fault them. Apparently, they erred on the side of caution, and no one can fault them for that.

I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Menna but I disagree with his comment. First, the comment does not address why the library’s closure should be linked to the BCSD because of the differences that I noted. Mount Kisco Village Hall and all Mount Kisco government services were opened that day. Wouldn’t it be better to close the library on days when the Village Manager closes Village Hall? Mr. Menna’s letter also does not address that Mount Kisco residents need the library more when there is a school closure as parent’s will more likely go to the library for children’s books and movies on a day the school is closed. I hope the current library board will revisit this policy.

At the January 11, 2010 meeting of the Mount Kisco Village Board, Mayor Michael Cindrich appointed and administered the oath of office to Mount Kisco Fire Department’s new fire commissioner, Lanny Hyatt. Lanny has 42 years of experience with the department. Lanny Hyatt was recommended by the Mount Kisco Fire Police to serve on the Board of Fire Commissioners. He was then interviewed by the Mount Kisco Village Board and appointed by the Mayor. The Mayor must review and appoint individuals appointed to the Board of Fire Commissioners.

Also, the Fire Police appointed two new members. Michael Lasner and Victor Naranjo. Thank you to both men for volunteering.

Above (left to right): Mayor Cindrich congratulates outgoing Fire Commissioner Ray Zaccari; Lanny Hyatt takes the oath of office; Micheal Lasner and Victor Naranjo are sworn in as members of the Mount Kisco Fire Police.