The Scarsdale Inquirer – Hometown newspaper of Scarsdale, New York 10583

November 4, 2011

Editorial

Re-elect Bill Ryan

Bill Ryan, Scarsdale’s longtime representative on the county Board of Legislators, knows what he’s doing. A former assemblyman, he understands the relationship between state and county governments, and how the burdensome state mandates foil local efforts to reduce property taxes. He understands the need to cut costs and improve efficiency, but is mindful of the equally critical need to shore up the social safety net in tough economic times.

Ryan is a frequent presence in Scarsdale, at meetings of the Scarsdale Forum and most recently of the village board, where he explained what the village needed to do to apply for flood mitigation projects in the Sheldrake Basin. He reaches out to his constituents and listens to what they have to say.

His Republican opponent, Dr. Iris Pagan, has run a two-note campaign. One of her themes is that the county should never have agreed to the affordable housing settlement that is forcing it to spend $51 million to build and market affordable housing to minorities in mostly white communities. Ryan responds that the costs of litigation would have been much higher and the county would probably have lost the suit and had to spend the money anyway. And, he says, it’s not such a bad thing to build more affordable housing.

We agree: Pagan is beating a dead horse. One can never know what would have happened if the county had contested the finding and most of us believe that the county should have avoided being targeted by the Anti-Discrimination Center in the first place. County Executive Andy Spano lost his job largely because of that mistake, but it’s time to move on.

Pagan’s other theme is that county government is too large and complex. It’s a popular cause these days, but in order to address the issue, one first must know what the county does and how it operates. We expected Pagan to have developed some talking points on reducing waste and inefficiencies and some critiques of positions Ryan has taken. But she had nothing specific to say, relying instead on platitudes about self-reliance, reduced spending and the American dream. Her only concrete position was to oppose the long-sought transfer of Medicaid funding from the county to the state. She did not explain how keeping this $211 million responsibility local would reduce property taxes, but argued that the county could better control Medicaid spending if it stayed under local control. Ryan, who as president of the New York State Association of Counties has led the fight to transfer Medicaid funding, correctly pointed out that Medicaid is a federal program and the county has no say in how it is administered. We agree with Ryan and our state legislators that Medicaid is far too costly to be funded by property taxes.

Pagan is likewise naïve about the causes and solutions to flooding, arguing that if the county taxes were lower individual municipalities would have more money to spend on flood control. Stormwater management is actually a perfect example of the need for county government, since streams and rivers do not begin or end at municipal boundaries.

Pagan deserves credit for her professional success, having grown up as the child of a mother on welfare. And we applaud her desire to serve. But she needs to study the issues and learn more about how government works before she is ready for the challenges of public office.

LWV provides election info

Voting in Westchester can get very complicated. Each year, as the November elections roll around, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters tries to unravel the labyrinth of the 44 city, town, village or town-village elections that may or may not be taking place, plus the county, state and national elections that occur every two or four years.

In order to promote informed citizen participation, the league provides two resources that give voters comprehensive information about the Nov. 8 election: a Westchester Voters Guide and an interactive website that provides personalized information.

About 100,000 copies of the Westchester Voters Guide have been distributed via direct mail and placed in libraries and other public places. The guide, which contains candidate responses to standard questions and other election information, can also be found at www.lwvwestchester.org.

The website Vote411.org enables voters to enter their address to find their polling place, a customized ballot, nonpartisan information about the candidates for each race in which they’re eligible to vote; candidate statements and any propositions on the ballot. In addition, voters with questions can call the Westchester County League office at 949-0507 or email lwvwestchester@verizon.com.

For more information, call LWV president Marylou Green at 725-4683.

Read more local coverage of your hometown in this week’s issue of The Scarsdale Inquirer. Newsstand copies are available at several locations listed above, or subscribe today for convenient home delivery.

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