Sound Shore

Habitat for Humanity of Westchester is celebrating Martin Luther King’s life with 10 days of intense building and rehabilitating of more than a dozen homes throughout the area.

And on Jan. 17, the organization will host its Faith and Action Luncheon, an appeal to churches, synagogues and other religious organizations to get involved in building homes.

“Our whole message for 2012 is nothing should be substandard in this county,” Executive Director James Killoran said. “It’s a critical time. … I fell we should be better off than we are.”

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

Sundday, Dec. 18
Tappan Zee Bridge: Editorial
We comment on news that a bipartisan coalition of Hudson Valley political leaders have called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to slow down planning for a new Tappan Zee Bridge; the group said any new bridge must include mass transit options. We agree. We write:

How fast should the fast-tracked plan to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge go? Local elected officials, along with environmental and transit advocates, have an answer: not quite as fast as Gov. Andrew Cuomo would like. In a joint statement Thursday, a bipartisan coalition said it was “not enough” to design a bridge with only the possibility of adding transit later, as the current plan shepherded by Cuomo does. Their concerns should be taken seriously — by Albany and Washington both.

While the new Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing project has proceeded at breakneck speed in the last two months, the key ingredient is still missing: money to pay for it. That means policymakers still have ample opportunity to consider what 11 elected representatives said in their statement, and what scores have stated at some 280 public hearings: “… the Tappan Zee Bridge must be replaced, but . . . a bridge without public transportation would gridlock the Hudson Valley’s economy and do nothing to prevent rising traffic congestion and air pollution.” …

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal trims hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in spending, while eliminating county support for scores of popular endeavors, the gamut from festivals to nature programs. He discusses his plans in a LIVE Editorial Spotlight interview 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on LoHud.com.

To watch, go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; submit a question or comment by using the “CoverItLive” blogging feature.

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

Supercommittee failure: Editorial
We comment on the failure of the bipartisan congressional supercommittee charged with sorting out a solution to reduce the federal deficit. The group, which included equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, failed to reach consensus in order to reach a Wednesday deadline. We write:

Well, of course Congress’ “supercommittee” on the budget deficit fell flat on its face; it was never really super, as in able to bridge our philosophical divide on public policy, most notably on taxes and spending. The voters haven’t cracked that nut either, not in a way that allows Washington to accomplish much. Moreover, the not-so-super committee members, the full Congress and the White House continue to suffer a failure of imagination. Somehow, warning of ordinary calamity as the price of failure — that is, the automatic, across-the-board cuts to follow in the absence of thoughtful, bipartisan accord — has produced mere shrugs and yawns, notwithstanding the exhortations of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. …

Westchester County government: Reisman
Phil Reisman takes his Tuesday cue from the Westchester County Board of Legislators’ web site, where Chairman Ken Jenkins, D-Yonkers, praises Raymond L. Perrineau III, a Department of Social Serivces who’s come up with a plan to save the county $5 million.

Good afternoon. Here’s a curated look at the weekend’s opinion conent:

Sunday, Nov. 20
We carried a pair of editorials on budgets proposed by the leaders of county governments in Westchester and Rockland counties. Tough choices loom on both sides of the Hudson as services and programs are slated to be slashed in significant ways in 2012:

Tough choices loom for budgets
Debate over cuts, spending in Rockland

Astorino and HUD: Community View
Bennett L. Gersham, a frequent contributor on legal issues and a professor at Pace University Law School and a former Manhattan prosecutor, weighs in on the impasse between Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development over the 2009 settlement on affordable housing.

Monday, Nov. 21
Flood-insurance reform: Commentary
Eli Lehrer, Joshua Saksand and Shana Udvardy offer a comment on the need to reform flood insurance, an issue that’s sadly near and dear to Lower Hudson Valley residents affected by Tropical Storm Irene.

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.

Good Monday morning.

Here’s a glance at opinion content published over the weekend:

Saturday, Nov. 12
Prescription drugs: Editorial
We comment on the cases of David Laffer and Conrad Murray. Laffer was sentenced last week to four consecutive life sentences after he admitted that he killed four people during the robbery of a Medford pharmacy. Murray was convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges in the death of Michael Jackson. Both cases shine a light on prescription drug abuse.

Sunday, Nov. 13
Crumbling Schools: Editorial
We comment on a Journal News investigation that examined the condition of Lower Hudson Valley School buildings. One in three, reporters Gary Stern and Cathey O’Donnell found, are in need of significant repairs. We write:

… School districts get little help from Albany figuring out what to fix or when. While state law requires school districts to have buildings inspected every five years, and to draw up a plan for addressing unsatisfactory findings, no distinction is made between serious safety issues and inefficient, outdated equipment. The state Education Department only reviews capital plans if building aid is sought.

(more…)

Here’s a glance at today’s opinion content:

Astorino and the election: Editorial
In our Westchester-Putnam edition, we carried an editorial that analyzed the still-unclear results of Tuesday’s election. The Democratic “supermajority” on Westchester County Board of Legislators is in play and we look at the implications for Republican County Executive Rob Astorino.

Rockland’s vote
The day after Tuesday’s election in Rockland, in which voters selected a sheriff, town and village officials and members of the County Legislature, it’s clear that the regional trend toward Republican leadership is waning. Democrats scored key victories.

Election: Reisman
Phil Reisman weighs in on Westchester’s election results, focusing on the county board of legislators races, Mike Spano’s mayoral win in Yonkers and the return of Ernest Davis in Mount Vernon.

Rockland legislature: Baird
Bob Baird examines the results and implications of the Rockland County Legislature elections in today’s column.

Wednesday’s headline in Westchester will doubtless key in on whether the Democrats retained their “super majority” in the Board of Legislators. What else would it be, given the endless attention County Executive Rob Astorino showered on the political math? The voters weren’t nearly as enthused.

Astorino, the first-term Republican, has been the front man in a high-profile campaign to set the bar extremely low for the GOP: they aimed to undo the Democrats’ veto-proof majority of 12-5, a task that obliged them to reclaim just one additional seat. But even that seemed a tall order.

Into Wednesday morning, the Democrats clung to the same 12-5 advantage. More counting could change the score, but prospects for any major upheaval seemed dim.

Therein lies a message for Astorino.

He stuck his neck out so far in these elections that the casual observer might have assumed his name was on the ballot. (The Wall Street Journal was so convinced, it penned an article that speculated on Astorino’s prospect for statewide office.)

Astorino gave Republicans a bogeyman to run against — the “overreaching” federal government and the affordable housing settlement reached two years ago.

He complained to the WSJ that the Democrats have stopped his agenda at every turn. “What we’ve tried to do since I got into office has been stymied every step of the way,” Astorino said.

He took all the credit — there has been plenty of it on Astorino’s watch, much of it the result of unheralded bipartisanship — and dished out all the blame, and the responsibility. “By picking up these seats, it will force them to come to the table and reach compromise on reining in spending and taxes,” Astorino said.

It looks, instead, like the voters don’t see the political math as relevant as the county executive. If their ballot-box decisions are any measure, they expect the Republican county executive and the Democrats to work toward compromise, whatever the political score, and without excuse.

Indeed, the county executive went out of his way to crystallize the choices for voters. The scapegoat was looking pretty good headed into Wednesday morning.