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The Daily Voice accepts signed and original letters to the editor. To submit your letter email rmichelin@dailyvoice.com.
Letter to the Editor:
Last month the Valhalla Board of Education quietly voted to settle a lawsuit and repay $1.1 million illegally transferred from the Town of Greenburgh under the ill-fated and illegal Westhelp Partnership Grant.
In the era of 2 percent budget caps, this settlement represents nearly 3 percent of the annual school budget, yet it was not mentioned in the district’s August newsletter. So before the illegal Westhelp Partnership fades from memory, here is a taxpayer’s recap.
The so-called Westhelp Partnership gave effective control of $6 million to the Mayfair-Knollwood Civic Association, which was headed by Ned McCormack. As chairman of Greenburgh’s Valhalla Schools Committee, Mr. McCormack had a lot of authority.
There were 85 approved programs, costing an average of $22,000 each, including:
- Trips to the opera
- A moonlight dinner cruise on the Hudson
- Summer trips to the Grand Canyon
- Skating at Rockefeller Center
- Dinners at trendy restaurants
- Oktoberfest at Bear Mountain
- Adult stand-up comedy classes
- Cabaret performances
- Adult piano lessons
- Parenting classes - “Meetings focused on the realities and difficulties of raising a child”
- Money was even illegally transferred to a private foundation
- High School Jazz Band and Chorus took a luxury cruise
- $50,000 annual stipends for a Valhalla school principal
Though there has never been a formal accounting rendered, New York State Comptroller's Office audits "identified significant deficiencies in the internal controls over the accounting for and disbursement of Westhelp Grant monies." Also saying, of "the approximately $1.7 million expended for the Grant, approximately $456,000 was not expended in accordance with the Grant agreement, proposals or applicable laws."
Now the courts have ruled the entire $1.8 million grant was illegal and $1.1 million will be returned.
Who is responsible? Some of the same people that now run county and local government: Paul Feiner, Ned McCormack, County Legislator Mike Smith, who along with every Valhalla school board member ignored law and reason to play philanthropist with taxpayer money meant to house homeless families.
Who will bail them out? The taxpayers of Mount Pleasant and North Castle.
John Fitzgerald
The author is a resident of Valhalla.
Comments (2)
Great letter….. Unbelievable in this era of accountability and oversight this could even occur. It’s amazing this has not created more controversy and seemingly been swept under the rug. Had it not been for this online news site I certainly wouldn’t have heard about it. I was ashamed that the Elmsford School District pays for housing for the Superintendent to live in Hartsdale (not confirmed and could be just a rumor), this tops the cake!
It really is only the press and good, unbiased, investigative reporting that will keep the local community apprised to this situations. Most people are kept to busy with their day to day lives to monitor the different levels of local government and those that are have no way to spread information. If the cookie jar is left unattended long enough the cookies will disappear.
Please keep the good work up!!
I appreciate the opportunity to have an opninion piece in the online Daily Voices. However I will point out that the line
"As chairman of Greenburgh’s Valhalla Schools Committee, Mr. McCormack had a lot of authority" was an editor's rewrite
What I wrote was :
"As chairman of Greenburgh’s Valhalla Schools Committee, Mr. McCormack had more authority than any school board member or district employee, creating positions on Valhalla’s payroll, hiring employees, and purchasing goods and services."
Because that is true. Just for the record