Upon further thought and discussion I am thinking that perhaps, since the Schools in our district, do not let the students out for lunch unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian, why not give our Street Crossing Guards the option of working for a reduced salary only mornings and at "release time" or doing Parking Enforcement duty for us for a few hours each day to maintain their full $71.00 per day salary. Probably not all of them would want or be able to take on this duty but it could be a win-win for all concerned. Worthy of further thought, I would think.

Ernie

Here's a thought I've had about saving money regarding our School Crossing Guards. Many, if not all, of our schools do not permit their students to leave the school premises for lunch unless they are escorted by a parent or guardian yet we are paying the Crossing Guards $71.00 per day. Why not not let them just work the morning arrival and afternoon release times. We have 18 "guarded" crossings. If we could save $20 per guard per day, based on a 40 week school year, that would save us $72,000 per year. Something to think about.

Our website has our proposed budget info. plus we have a Meeting coming up on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 to hear Citizen Comments on the proposed budget. The sooner you can share your ideas or suggestions with us, the better chance we have to research the impact it might have and possibly include it in our plans for 2012.

Councilman Ernie

After Election,...lots to do

Now that the election is over we are looking forward to a New Supervisor, Nancy Seligson, in The Town of Mamaroneck as well as a new Councilperson, Abby Katz. In addition, the Town Board will be selecting a new member to fill the vacancy left by Nancy becoming Supervisor.

I am hopeful that we will be able to make some positive improvements in the way The Town Board interacts with our citizens. We have lots of things on our plate at this time and can use all the input we can get.

First up is our BUDGET for 2012. We, along with our Town Administrator, Steve Altieri, Comptroller, Tony Siligati and the various Department heads have put in a considerable effort to keep us under Governor Cuomo's TAX CAP. We are very close but are still considering some Service Reductions, if not for this year, but in the future. We really want to hear from our constituents as to what is acceptable and what is too painful. We have requested that the alternatives we are considering be posted on The Town Website (http://townofmamaroneck.org) so that citizens can give us their input in a timely manner. Our next Town Board Meeting is THURSDAY, Nov.17th. We will be discussing the budget, mostly capital expenditures, in our work session between 6 and 8 pm and then, a brief summary during the televised portion of the meeting following. There is a scheduled Public Hearing on the budget set for WEDNESDAY, December, 7, 2011 at 8:15 pm. Final adoption is scheduled for the following Wednesday, Dec. 14th.

Re-Val is going forward and GAR Associates, our contractor, will be setting up Informational Sessions which should accommodate anyone with questions. Details and schedules should be up on our website in the next few days. Everyone should be getting a letter from GAR explaining the process within the week.

Sorry it's been so long since my last Blog Update. I'll try to be better, or at least more frequent, in my postings. Since The Patch and The Loop are around with up-to-date news and our local newspaper, The Sound and Town does such a good job of reporting, I have been remiss. I am hopeful that with our New Town Board we can do even better in keeping our citizens informed and involved.

Don't be bashful. Communicate! Your ideas and suggestions could possibly help us all. I'll post here most of what you send me. I "wince" however when I get stuff by "Anonymous." I much prefer to speak or correspond directly with someone. You can never tell if "Anonymous" is one person or several.

Ernie