White Plains is a wonderful city. A great place to live and work. However, over the past few years, White Plains has had its problems. That includes a fiscal crisis that has been brewing for years. Moody’s had warned the powers that be that our bond rating was in jeopardy because we were too dependent on our sales tax receipts to sustain our expenses. We only needed a small recession to send us over the edge.
So what did we get? We got the worst recession since the Great Depression. Since much so much of the revenue flowing into the city was retail -based, the finances White Plains haven’t slipped over the edge – they’ve been driven off a cliff.
It is against this grim backdrop that we now we have a new mayor. Since the former mayor was part of the problem, many who had been concerned about the city’s fiscal health heaved a sigh of relief. But that relief was short-lived.
Roughly one month after assuming office, our newly elected mayor – the man who is supposed to help lead the city out of its budgetary crisis – finds himself up on charges of spousal abuse. To make matters even better, as of April 8, he faces further charges of witness tampering.
Now, I truly believe that a man is innocent until proven guilty. But these charges are dominating the local news and they certainly must be dominating the life of our mayor. We are now in a fiscal crisis where many harsh fiscal decisions have to made quickly and efficiently. Since the events of April 8, Mayor Bradley is under increasing pressure to resign or at least stand aside until these charges against him are dropped or resolved. I feel that I too must join that chorus. Mr. Bradley, please take the high ground. STEP DOWN until you put your personal house in order. Put the needs of the city you are supposed to be governing first and do the right thing.
The latest word form the White Plains Citizen Net Reporter is that the City Council as a whole has not taken a stand on whether the mayor should resign. But as per the City Charter the current President of the White Plains Common Council, Thomas Roach is prepared to take on the role as interim mayor should the need arise.
Mr. Roach is one of the few sitting council members who had the courage and intellectual might to question many of the policies that got our city into trouble in the first place. Very often he was a voice of reason – though his message didn’t seem to always penetrate. With years sitting on the Common Council behind him, Mr. Roach is highly qualified and competent. He also does not have the burden of several criminal charges hanging over his head to divert him the city’s urgent needs. In short, the city would be in good hands.
© 2010 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
