Eastchester REVIEW THE
July 21, 2017 | Vol. 5, Number 29 | www.eastchesterreview.com
HUD finally accepts county fair housing analysis By JAMES PERO Staff Writer
Making a difference Charlotte Ference plays the ukulele with a boy in Fandani, the village in South Africa where she taught English for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer. For story, see page 6. Photo courtesy Jack Parker
Wartbug CEO honors village church and school
On Thursday, June 15, David Gentner president and CEO of Wartburg, honored Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School at the fifth annual Jazz in June Gala. Village Lutheran Church was chosen for being a longtime spiritual care provider and partner to the community at Wartburg. The event was held at the Surf Club in New Rochelle and was hosted by John Schaefer, host of WNYC radio show, “Soundcheck.” Stanley Jordan, a Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist and music therapist performed.
Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School have a longstanding partnership with the Wartburg community. In addition to financial and volunteer support, The Chapel School choirs often visit and sing for residents and Village Lutheran Church has a special service opportunity each month in the spring and fall where church members are dismissed to go to the Wartburg and help residents get to church, worship with them and then help them to get back to their residence. The program is aptly called the “Wheelies” program
as they help push the residents’ wheelchairs to help them attend services. In receiving the award on behalf of the church and school, senior pastor Robert Hartwell commented that the mission of the church and school is to “know, live and share the love of Christ and we consider this mission a mission of service to our community.” Hartwell was joined in receiving the award by members of the staff, the church organist and lay leaders of the church and school. “What a beautiful evening,” stated Kim Zwisdak, develop-
ment office project manager for Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School. “It was really touching, hearing about all of the positive impacts that the other honorees have made on the Wartburg community.” Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School are located at 172 White Plains Road in Bronxville, across the street from Concordia College. For more information about Village Lutheran Church and The Chapel School and its programs, call 3373202 or visit thechapelschool. org. (Submitted)
Nearly a decade after a settlement between Westchester County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, a lingering component to the decree over affordable housing was accepted, settling years of objection by the federal government. The county’s Analysis of Impediments, AI, a document detailing barriers to fair housing that have been created by zoning laws in Westchester, was accepted by newest HUD housing monitor, Lynne Patton, this past week after 10 previous denials from the agency. “HUD will put to rest what some of the critics were saying and in fact what HUD was saying all along, which is that Westchester housing and our communities are discriminatory,” said County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican, at a July 18 press conference. Astorino refuted claims that a change in leadership on the federal level—namely the election of President Donald Trump, a Republican, and the installment of Dr. Ben Carson, a Republican, as HUD administrator—had any influence over the acceptance of the administration’s latest submission done by VHB, a consulting firm. “It didn’t matter who was in office at this point. I strongly believe that even if [Barack] Obama was still in office, had it been [Hillary] Clinton, no matter what, with these facts that came out…. There was only one conclusion
that could have been reached,” he said. The acceptance of the county’s latest iteration of its AI comes a little more than two months after the denial of a submission sent to the agency in May and resolves one of the final stipulations mandated in the 2009 settlement that was reached under Astorino predecessor Andy Spano, a Democrat. Earlier this year, the county cleared a major hurdle in confirming the development of 750 units—the number mandated over a seven-year period in the housing settlement—despite backlash stemming from a project dubbed Chappaqua Station in the town of New Castle. Each of the mandated 750 units are currently in varying stages of construction. Though the administration will put its AI in the rearview, the prolonged spat with the federal government over its court-mandate analysis hasn’t come without costs. According to Michael Kaplowitz, chairman of the Board of Legislators and a Yorktown Democrat, those costs now total in the tens of millions. “We have urged the county executive to engage an independent consultant—which has now been done—to help our very talented county staff to complete and submit an AI that I am very happy to say has now been accepted by HUD,” he said. “However, this fight cost us $24 million in [federal] monies that we will never get back.” HUD continued on page 9