Sound Shore

The Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation has launched Choose NY Hudson Valley, an effort to help grow certain business sectors — and jobs — in the region. At 2 p.m. today, HVEDC President and CEO Mike Oates joins the Editorial Board for a discussion on jobs, the economy and the future of the Hudson Valley. To view the LIVE interview, go to LoHud.com/editorialspotlight; to submit a question, engage the CoverItLive feature on your screen.

Reporters Gary Stern and Cathey O’Donnell will lead a discussion on their special report, “Too Big to Fix,” today at noon at LoHud.com.

The analysis, which examined 456 school buildings in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, found that one in three received unsatisfactory ratings through state inspections. The cost of repairs to all 456 buildings could exceed $1 billion over the next five years.

Experts will join the conversation and readers are welcome to submit their questions and comments via our CoverItLive blogging feature.

The Journal News/LoHud.com Editorial Board holds endorsement interviews with candidates in key contests on the Nov. 8 ballot. Voters may watch LIVE online at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; questions can be submitted via our CoverItLive live-blogging feature.

The following endorsement hearings are scheduled:
Oct. 4: 1 p.m. Stony Point supervisor
Oct. 4: 3 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8
Oct. 5: 1 p.m. Putnam County executive
Oct. 5: 3 p.m. New Rochelle mayor
Oct. 11: 1 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 9, 10 and 11
Oct. 11: 3 p.m. Rockland Legislature, Districts 13, 14, 16 and 17
Oct. 12: 1 p.m. Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 1, 2 and 3
Oct. 12: 3 p.m. Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 4, 5, 6 and 7
Oct. 18: 1 p.m. Clarkstown supervisor
Oct. 18: 3 p.m. Orangetown supervisor
Oct. 19: 1 p.m., Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 9, 10, 12 and 13
Oct. 19: 3 p.m., Westchester Board of Legislators, Districts 14, 15 and 17
Oct. 25: 1 p.m. Rockland County Sheriff
Oct. 25: 3 p.m. Ramapo supervisor
Oct. 26: 1 p.m. Yonkers mayor
Oct. 26: 3 p.m. Mount Vernon mayor

Interviews for Westchester and Putnam candidates take place in our White Plains office, 1 Gannett Drive. Interviews for Rockland candidates take place in our West Nyack office, 1 Crosfield Ave. Candidates needing more information can contact Nancy Cutler at ncutler@lohud.com or 845-578-2403.

Voters guide
The 2011 local elections determine who represents you on the county, town and village level. Visit www.lohud.com/candidates to find out who’s running, and where the candidates stand on the issues.

Calling all candidates
The Journal News and LoHud.com wish to hear from candidates vying in local Westchester, Rockland and Putnam elections.

Please send us an email including your full name, home address, daytime phone number and an active email address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the email, be sure to indicate which office you are vying for. The information will be used by our news and opinion staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the email address will be used to send candidates a questionnaire that will form the basis of an online guide for voters.

Good Wednesday morning. Here’s a glance at opinion content published in The Journal News today:

Mandate relief: Commentary
Bruce Levine of Montebello, a Democrat and former chairman of the Rockland County Legislature, comments on recent calls from county leaders who say that any property-tax cap enacted by the state Legislature must be accompanied by mandate relief. Levine writes:

Recent press coverage of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed property tax cap plan has focused on local elected officials’ complaints that capping taxes is not the answer to the financial crisis faced by local governments and taxpayers alike. Local officials repeatedly state that it is unfunded state mandates that are the problem. The anti-mandate movement prevents a real discussion of specific ideas for reform that are sorely needed. …

The Editorial Board is LIVE, hosting Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, in an Editorial Spotlight interview. Hayworth represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, which covers parts of Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Dutchess counties and all of Putnam County.

She was elected in November.

Join us with your questions.

Good Monday morning. Here’s a glance at opinion content published over the weekend in The Journal News:

Saturday, May 14

Mississippi River flooding: Commentary
Bill McKibben, author of more than a dozen books on the environment, argues that the massive flooding along the Mississippi is a sure sign of global warming and climate change.

Sunday, May 15
Leibell and ethics reform: Editorial
We comment on former state Sen. Vincent Leibell’s Friday sentencing on corruption charges; the Putnam County Republican will spend 21 months in prison. We argue in favor of comprehensive and expedient ethics reform in the state Legislature. We write:

… The Legislature, to state the fitfully obvious, begs for comprehensive ethics reform — toothy, onerous and unforgiving legislation commanding, among other things, full disclosure of legislators’ business interests and clients, and fundamentally targeting the pay-to-play ethos that grips Albany, as well as new laws strengthening do-little campaign-finance laws. Anyone who believes otherwise hasn’t been reading the crime blotter.

(more…)

Good Monday morning. Here’s a digest of opinion content published in the weekend editions of The Journal News:

Saturday, May 7
Working moms: Commentary
Elizabeth Gorman, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, and Sarah Mosseri, a sociology doctoral candidate there, offer a commentary on the state of the American working mother.

Sunday, May 8
Mandate relief: Editorial
We comment on assertions made in an Editorial Spotlight interview last week by county executives Astorino, Eldridge and Vanderhoef. The trio argues that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed two-percent cap on property taxes won’t succeed without mandate relief. We write:

The Editorial Board hosted Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and Putnam County Executive Paul Eldridge for an Editorial Spotlight conversation on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed two-percent cap on property taxes and the need for mandate relief.

Eldridge participated remotely via CoverItLive.

Reporter Gerald McKinstry filed this related story.

Here’s a clip from our interview:

To watch the session in its entirety, go to lohud.com/editorialspotlight, press the video button and and select the video from the menu.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef will join the Editorial Board at 1 p.m. to discuss the proposed property tax cap, unfunded mandates and the fiscal challenges faced by counties. Putnam County Executive Paul Eldridge will join the discussion via our CoverItLive blogging feature.

Watch the interviews LIVE at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight, and join the discussion by engaging the “CoverItLive” feature.

To view the sessions later, go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight and click videos; choose the video from the menu.

Robert Bondi, the Putnam County executive, is on a listening tour that ought to be of interest to taxpayers in Westchester and Rockland, who happen to be in the same sinking boat as those in Putnam. Bondi is asking local residents how they would design local government if they had the chance to start from scratch. The issue is relevant because Putnam, with a population around 100,000, has 120 taxing jurisdictions, with dozens of them performing the very same function. As you might expect, that gets to be expensive. Obviously, where duplicative services can be cut or consolidated, savings can be had. Bondi, Putnam County Legislator Vincent Tamagna and Deputy County Executive John Tully visited the Editorial Board of The Journal News and LoHud.com for an Editorial Spotlight interview today. Here’s a highlight reel from their visit:

To see the complete version of Bondi’s Editorial Spotlight interview with the Editorial Board on Wednesday go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight and choose the video from the “on demand” menu.