From The Desk of Mayor Walsh

The following is a weekly column from Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh:

At long last - good news for West Harrison

At long last, the bridge over interstate-287, at the foot of Columbus Avenue, connecting to Westchester Avenue, will be re-opened.

Opening is scheduled for Friday, June 18, but with the "possibility" that it will be Monday, June 21.  Regardless, morning commuters will no longer have that dreadful bottleneck at the intersection of Locust and White Plains Avenues as so many people all try to meet that 9 a.m. deadline.   

The problem had been with the software that will control the new set of traffic lights. I had (again but in stronger language) pointed out to state officials that West Harrison people had been using that overpass, with the same configuration of the intersection, for more than 50 years without an accident there. Finally someone with clout listened, the contractor was told "get it done," and we should have access this weekend. Locust Avenue residents will be very happy to have that all-day heavy traffic go away. 

The Agreements With the Unions for Reductions in Salary

Last Thursday, the Town Board met in a Special Town Board meeting to approve or reject the agreements that Councilman Cannella and our Labor Attorney had worked out with the town's five unions regarding reductions in salary totaling $1 million. That was the goal the board had set last November when the 2010 Budget was adopted.  The meeting was televised, and is being broadcast on Channel 75 immediately following the tape of the regular town board meeting of June 5.  As with all negotiations, it was a lengthy process, with "give and take" on both sides.

The Board's goal was two-fold:  to fill a $1 million "hole" in the 2010 budget, and to get an agreement to change the health plan that covers both employees and retirees, to reduce our health care costs. The union goal was to protect its members.

Regarding the health plan:  Back in 1988, many municipalities, including Harrison, dropped the Empire Plan due to a 67 percent increase in premiums that year, and adopted a self-insurance plan. As a result of that change, a clause was added to the union contracts that the town could not again change the health plan unless it was "equal to or better than" the provisions of that new plan of 1988. For a number of years, town officials have looked for a plan that was "equal to or better than" what now exists. There was never agreement on another plan

Now, however, we have a different set of circumstances: the federal health plan, the drop in the economy, the sharp increases in health costs and the longer lifespan of our retirees, to name just four.  Working with the union leadership, it was agreed that there would be "good faith" negotiations on changes to the health plan. Those negotiations will start almost immediately, so that it will be settled before we begin the final preparation of the 2011 Budget. 

The Board has been criticized for agreeing to salary increases in 2011 and 2012 although no one mentioned that there were no increases in 2010. Criticism without knowledge of all the facts is not useful. Know that the uniformed unions – police and fire – have the right to go to binding arbitration if they cannot reach an agreement with their employers.  That is built into the Taylor Law which forbids public employees to strike. It is binding arbitration – that is, whatever the panel of arbitrators decide – both town and employees must accept.

In recent months, despite the economy, arbitrators have awarded raises of 4 percent for 2007 and 3.5 percent for 2008 to Westchester county police; 3.85 percent for 2010 and 2011 for Tarrytown and in White Plains: 4 percent for 2009 and 3.7 percent for 2010. Knowing what could happen, we did better than that: 0 percent in 2010, 1 percent in 2011, and 3 percent in 2012. Would our negotiators have preferred to do better?  Of course, but we still did better than other municipalities.

Contracts with all five of the town's unions expired at the end of 2009, and the requests to begin negotiations for new contracts started in Fall 2009. Knowing the difficult budget that faced the board, negotiations were postponed.

With the unions now willing to negotiate on the health plan in place, the board and its labor lawyer will immediately begin discussion on those changes. Those discussions must reflect the realities of the current climate, as well as what is available in the private sector. And, the decisions must be made before the first draft of the 2011 Budget is prepared.

For a fuller report on these agreements, please watch the tape of this special town board meeting of June 10, which has been added at the end of the tape of the June 5 meeting.

Channel 75, at noon, 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. 

Reminder

Brush put at the curb by homeowners will be collected the last week of each month, if the brush is tied in three-foot bundles, weighing not more than 50 lbs.

Gardeners must remove any brush or debris that they produce.

Recently, we have seen that homeowners have been hiring workers to clear their land, or to do extensive pruning and landscaping. In some instances, large piles of the resulting brush and debris is being placed at the curb to be collected by the town. The town cannot take away these piles.  It is the homeowner's responsibility to dispose of it. The town can only collect what the homeowners themselves produce.

Thank you for your cooperation.  

Editor's Note: This piece, in its entirety, was contributed by Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh.