PRESORTED

STANDARD
PERMIT #3036
WHITE PLAINS NY

Vol. IV NO XLXII Thursday, July 29, 2010

Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly

R. Abady: Wood Bat League, Page 25; Watson: The Medicine in Medical Marijuana, Page 6; Abady: Orr Update, Page 4
Heller: Afghanistan - Time to Come Home, Page 7; Limato: Hillary 2012, Page 8; Deskovic: Prosecutorial Miscounduct, Page 9

www.westchesterguardian.com
Page 2 The Westchester Guardian Thursday, JUly 29, 2010

Showdown
In this Issue...
Abady & Seife: Showdown in Mount Vernon................... 2, 3, 16, 17, 21
Editor: Abady-Changing Places in the Orr Case............................. 4, 12
Letters to the Editor......................................................................... 4, 12
OpEds Amos: Ocean Zoning.......................................................... 5, 10
Guynup, Sherer: Swimming Our Dirty Waters.................. 5, 12
Watson: The Medicine in Medical Marijuana........................................ 6
Heller: Afghanistan - Time to Come Home.................................... 7, 13
Upstart Sam Rivers Takes on
Limato: Hillary 2012?....................................................................... 8, 11
Deskovic: Prosecutorial Misconduct and the
By Sam Abady and Andy T.C. Seife
Complex DiSimone Case............................................................. 9, 13
Silberberg: Dori Wood-Black Robe Dreams........................................ 10 J. Gary Pretlow, age sixty, was first relentlessly critical of local politicians
LaSalle: Television Reviw: “V” 2009-Present........................................ 11 elected to the state Assembly in 1993 who betray the public trust.
and has represented the 87th district “Albany is dysfunctional,” Rivers
Westchester Calendar.......................................................................18-19
covering Mount Vernon and parts of said. “We have an Assemblyman in
Westchester Theatre Directory............................................................. 20 Yonkers ever since. In the 2008 election, Mount Vernon who has been there for
Silberberg: There’s Oil in Them Thar Bags.......................................... 21 Pretlow won over twenty times as many eighteen years, and is front and center
Classifieds/Legal Notices...................................................................... 22 votes as Ralph Pearson, the second place of the corruption in Albany. It’s time for
Westchester Blotter............................................................................... 23 candidate. the taxpayers to retire him.”
Spear: Stratospheerius is Out of This World........................................ 24 This time around, however, Pretlow Pretlow is Chairman of the Racing
Westchester Sports: R. Abady: Wood Bat League................................ 25 faces the biggest threat to his comfort- and Wagering Committee, and advo-
able seat in Albany since he went there cated state takeover of the bankrupt Off
Ackerman – Shimmering Stars........................................................26-27
eighteen years ago. He is being chal- Track Betting Corporation to keep it
lenged by thirty year old Mount Vernon afloat. He is also Chairman of the New
political activist, Samuel Rivers, the man York State Association of Black and
behind the popular local blog, “Mount Continued on page 3
Vernon Exposed,” in which Rivers is

Westchester’s Most Influential Weekly

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 The Westchester Guardian
in Mount Vernon
Political Dinosaur, Gary Pretlow
Continued from page 2
Puerto Rican Legislators, and was one
of the principal sponsors of Cynthia’s
Law which made reckless assault on a
child a class D felony.
Pretlow cites legislation he spon-
sored mandating that social workers
obtain specified training before
performing certain tasks as one of his
greatest legislative achievements.
“Prior to legislation I passed, anyone
could consider themselves a social
worker, and I didn’t see that as being
proper,” Pretlow said. “People go to
social workers for various reasons. My
feeling is whoever they go to should
have the necessary educational back-
ground and experience to deal with their
problems.”
Rivers sees Pretlow’s eighteen years
in Albany differently. “He’s done abso-
lutely nothing for Mount Vernon and
Yonkers,” Rivers said.
The challenger is hard at work
researching Pretlow’s financial backers
and voting record. Rivers, a fiscal hawk,
pointed to Pretlow’s record of having
consistently voted for proposed spending
legislation. According to Project Vote
Smart, Pretlow voted against only two
bills since 2006: one which increased the
number of charter schools in New York
State from 200 to 460, and one which
granted residential permits within a one
mile radius of Empire State Plaza where
the state legislature is located.
Notably, Pretlow opposes the No
Child Left Behind Act co-authored
by former Massachusetts Senator,
Ted Kennedy, and passed by Congress
in 2001 during the George W. Bush
administration. The act inaugurated
standards-based education reform, and
compels states to improve individual
student performance and increase testing
of basic skills in reading and math.
New York Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow,
Pretlow is a career politician who has
been in office nearly twenty-seven years.
He was President of the Mount Vernon
City Council from 1984 to 1992, and
has been a Democratic district leader
in Mount Vernon since 1980. In stark
contrast, Rivers is an upstart who has
never held elective office.
Rivers was scathing about Pretlow’s
role in changing the Election Law to
protect career politicians, what Rivers
calls the “Incumbency Protection Act.”
Pretlow voted to increase the number
of votes a political party must garner to
field candidates for office. Any increase
protects mainstream parties which back
incumbents, and makes it harder for
challengers to gain a foothold in future
elections.
Rivers is also critical of what he
characterizes as Pretlow’s “disdain”
for sensible state spending. He called
Pretlow “the main poster child” for
spin-up aid, a legislative trick to close
a current budget gap by taking money
from the following year’s budget.
Rivers also decried Pretlow’s
history of taking money from special
interest groups, especially gamblers
and the gaming industry he backed
at the expense of schools and the
working class.
Thursday, JUly 29, 2010
Mount Vernon Activist Samuel L. Rivers
“Taxpayers have an 8.9% tax
increase. We are one of the only districts
in Westchester County that voted down
the school budget. Yet, he secured
money to bail out Off Track Betting,”
Rivers said. “He’s working for the special
interest groups, but he does not work for
the common man.”
If elected, Rivers vows to change
Albany’s spendthrift habits with
taxpayer money typified by old pols
like Pretlow whom Rivers said “tax and
spend New Yorkers into oblivion.”
Rivers promises to cut taxes, audit
city governments for waste and misman-
agement, require State Supreme Court
justices to run in primaries, and improve
local schools.
“The schools in Mount Vernon are
horrendous,” Rivers said. “We cannot
have a $203 million budget and always
cry ‘we’re broke.’ That’s the first thing we
need to fix. We need to audit that because
that’s the community’s main concern.”
Pretlow responded, “I’ve been
instrumental in securing tens of billions
of dollars for the Yonkers and Mount
Vernon school districts. I’ve worked
with governors from Mario Cuomo to
David Patterson to increase education,
and I’ve been at the forefront of getting
more dollars for the communities.”
Page 3
In 2009, Rivers ran for a seat on the
Mount Vernon Council and lost. Police
claim to have found Rivers unconscious
outside a New Rochelle restaurant
in April of that year. Curiously, they
confiscated his cellular telephone and
gun, but never filed any charges. Some
say this incident caused Rivers to lose
that race.
Rose Marie Jarosz disagrees. She
also ran for Mount Vernon City Council
with Rivers. She said both candidates,
who ran on the Conservative Party
line, were not successful because the
Democratic machine has a stranglehold
on Mount Vernon, and is threatened by
upstart reformers.
“People tend to vote for row A
without any knowledge of qualifica-
tions of the candidates,” she said. She
emphasized this year’s race for the 87th
Assembly seat is different. Rivers “does
not drink from the public trough,” she
said, and is “independent of any party’s
corrupt influence.” She predicts that will
give Rivers the edge to upset Pretlow.
Jarosz told the Guardian about
Rivers, “I believe he is really qualified.
He’s a whistleblower. He gets down and
finds corruption” and “is not afraid
Continued on page 16
Page 16 The Westchester Guardian Thursday, JUly 29, 2010
Political Showdown
Continued from page 3
to go after and confront those who
are corrupt.” On his “Mount Vernon
Exposed” blog, Rivers announces “With
corruption, everyone pays.”
His anti-corruption activism has
gotten Rivers in trouble, but not deterred
him. One official targeted by Rivers is
Terrence Horton, Commissioner of
Mount Vernon’s Department of Public
Works whom Rivers describes as “hope-
lessly corrupt.” Rivers took pictures
at the DPW yard located at 33 Canal
Street to document workers’ abuse of
public vehicles for their private needs.
Horton had Rivers arrested and charged
I refuse to be bribed with party backing...
Sam Rivers
with criminal trespass even though he
was on public property.
Mount Vernon has three sitting
judges, Mark Gross, Helen Blackwood
and Adam Seiden. All refused to preside
over the case which was transferred to
New Rochelle because Rivers previously
filed ethics complaints against them.
He charged Gross with illegally trying
to qualify for a Mount Vernon pension
as a public employee when, in fact, he
represented the Water Department as a
private lawyer; he charged Blackwood
with making an illegal $10,000 contribu-
tion to the Mount Vernon Democratic
Committee to buy the party’s endorse-
ment; and he charged Seiden with
representing clients before the Mount
Vernon Planning Board which Rivers
contends is prohibited because Seiden is
a sitting judge.
Rivers, by his lawyer, notified Mount
Vernon he intends to sue for false arrest,
malicious prosecution and violation of
his civil rights. The trespass case goes to
trial this fall.
Reginald Lafayette is the
Westchester Democratic Chairman
and Democratic Commissioner
on the Board of Elections. Rivers
said Lafayettte promised him the
Democratic Party’s backing in two years
in exchange for Rivers dropping out of
the race this year. According to Rivers,
Lafayette explained it was vital Pretlow
have twenty years in the Assembly
because this will entitle him to a much
fatter retirement pension.
“I turned him down flat,” Rivers
told the Guardian. “I refuse to be bribed
with party backing in two years just so
Pretlow can get more money from the
state after he retires,” he said. “Who
pays him that higher pension? The
taxpayers, that’s who. Pension money
does not grow on trees.”
Democratic Party backing undoubt-
edly would assure Rivers an election
victory in 2012. He was asked why he
refused to wait.
“Albany needs to be reformed now,”
he said. “Citizens living in Mount
Vernon and Yonkers need economic
help now. If they can’t wait, I can’t wait,”
he said.
Pretlow generally votes with
the progressive wing of Assembly
Democrats. For example, he sponsored
legislation to legalize same sex marriage;
prohibit gender identity discrimina-
tion to protect transsexuals; expand
rent control; fund the New York Racing
Association; and believes there should be
no term limits for governors. He favors
decreased spending on law enforcement
as a percentage of the state budget;
supports proposed medical marijuana
legislation; wants to restrict gun owners’
rights; increase the minimum wage; and
opposed the Bush administration’s No
Child Left Behind Act.
Rivers is more conservative than
Pretlow. He opposes same sex marriage;
wants to decrease, not increase, rent
control; would sponsor legislation to
cap property taxes at 2.3%; favors term
limits for all elected officials; wants to
reinstate the Star Tax Rebate program;
will protect gun owners’ rights; and
favors educational milestones estab-
lished by No Child Left Behind.
Continued on page 17
 The Westchester Guardian
in Mount Vernon
Continued from page 16
Rivers is candid about his disap-
pointment with black leadership at
the local and state level, saying they
have lined their own pockets instead of
looking out for their poor constituents,
the people most severely impacted by
the state’s economic miseries.
Pretlow believes voters will choose
him because of his experience. “I will
pit my twenty-six years of public
service against his blog any day of the
year,” he said.
Rivers remains unfazed. He believes
his intellect, political activism, and
Mount Vernon Activist Samuel L. Rivers
professional experience as a real estate
broker have prepared him for the
Assembly.
“Everything boils down to the real
estate value of the house. If real estate is
going well -- which is horrible in Mount
Vernon -- then the rest of the commu-
nity will fall in place,” Rivers said. “If
you can’t sell your house, and there are a
lot of foreclosures, the city will take your
house, meaning we have less money
that will go to the schools, which means
the kids are going to suffer, and they’re
going to end up on the streets and even-
tually end up in jail.”
Mike Sklar is a Mount Vernon
businessman. He noted Rivers is “a
young guy,” but insisted “if we had a
thousand of those guys, we could turn
things around” in Albany. Sklar turned
Thursday, JUly 29, 2010 Page 17
“ I have
to Rivers to help get his property taxes
reduced.
concerns about my future,
“Some within the political machinery
may tell Sam to ‘tone it down’,” he said.
“But Sam’s not afraid to ruffle a few
feathers. He doesn’t give up.”
Sklar is angry at Pretlow because he
did nothing to move local government
to repair broken highway lights on the
Cross County Parkway, causing a safety
a family that keeps me going,
and a health plan that
“
hazard, and voted for a state school
budget Sklar called “unsustainable.”
Sklar confronted Pretlow at a recent
keeps us covered.
convention and told him, “I hope you
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Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow,
Damon Jones is a prominent
black labor leader and president of the
northeastern chapter of a national orga-
nization of black police and corrections
officers. He strongly supports Rivers
against Pretlow.
“He’s very knowledgeable about
education, safety, and issues in the
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Jones cited the role Rivers played in
exposing a local weapons manufacturer
fideliscare.org
Continued on page 21
 The Westchester Guardian
Showdown in Mount Vernon
Continued from page 17
that received million dollar federal
grants. It caused much controversy,
and yet, was not covered by the media.
According to Jones, Rivers pushed it to
the forefront of public consciousness.
Tom Keller is the Mount Vernon
Republican Chairman. He noted the
87th district is heavily Democratic which
works in Pretlow’s favor. “Gary’s had a
free ride for a long time,” he said. Keller
has known Rivers since he was a boy and
played Little League with Keller’s son.
“I’m very impressed by his knowl-
edge,” Keller said of Rivers. “A lot of
what he said I happen to agree with.
He’s shaking things up with the research
he’s doing.”
Keller thinks “the stars must align
right” for Rivers to beat Pretlow.
However, he said unprecedented voter
outrage animating the Tea Party move-
ment may make the difference in
handing Rivers an upset.
“There’s an anti-incumbent senti-
ment going around. If people in Albany
can’t come up with a budget and get it
together, who knows?” he said. “Stranger
things have happened.”
Helena Edwards writes the “Straight
Talk in Mount Vernon” blog which, like
the “Mount Vernon Exposed” blog,
is critical of local leaders. Edwards
strongly supports Rivers.
“He’s a very hard worker,” she
said. “He has the interests of people
at heart and would make a very good
representative.”
Edwards is married to Mount Vernon
City Court Judge, Bill Edwards, now a
candidate for the Westchester Family
Court. Rivers helped collect petition
signatures for Edwards’s judicial race.
To present a balance profile of
the 87th Assembly district race, the
Guardian repeatedly contacted Pretlow’s
supporters to no avail. They either
refused to respond, or promised to
respond and then did not return tele-
phone calls.
Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton
Young would not speak up for Pretlow.
Neither would state Senator Ruth
Hassell-Thompson whose district
covers Mount Vernon. Neither would
Thursday, JUly 29, 2010 Page 21
Green World
There’s Oil in Them Thar Bags By Eric Silberberg
anyone at the Westchester Democratic
A true account. A floor representative at Uline explained
Committee.
A friend and I went shopping recently at the plastic grocery bag, or industry model
Assemblyman Michael Spano, a
the Wall Mart Supercenter in Ulster, New #S3631, sells for about thirty-four dollars
lifelong Republican recently turned York. These Supercenters are incredible
per thousand. That’s approximately three
Democrat, represents the 93d district places: five six-packs of Coke for $5. and a half cents per bag.
in Yonkers. His brother, former state The cashier was a bewildered looking But the oil in them? How much can
senator Nick Spano, is a lobbyist for older gentleman who sported a soft white three and a half cents buy, a few tablespoons
the Yonkers raceway casino in Spano’s beard stained yellow by years of cigarette of oil?
district. He told the Guardian he has smoke. He began the check out, placing “I had this idea once” the Wall Mart
worked closely with Pretlow on an array each item in its own separate plastic bag. cashier continued, “for a science-fiction
of issues, including tax breaks for the
“You know you can put it all in the same movie about a group of treasure hunters in
raceway casino. bag” I offered. the future who are looking for a treasure.
“I find him to be honest, and a “Nah, you should take as many as you And when they find it, it turns out to be a
dependable, hard worker,” Spano said can,” he said. “They’ll be worth something load of Wall Mart plastic bags.” He laughed
about Pretlow. “He’s built a strong someday. The oil in them.” to himself.
resume and he’s done it very quietly. He is not alone in his polyethylene
I pondered this, and decided to find out
He’s not the type to have the glitz and what each bag was worth. obsession. In some places, where folks
throw roses around himself. He’s solid, Uline based in Waukegan, Illinois, is appreciate the actual cost of grocery bags,
reliable, and he gets the job done.” North America’s largest supplier of plastic the bags have been banned and using them
grocery bags. The company employs over criminalized. Bans currently exist in China,
Pretlow is endorsed by the
2,500 people nationwide and sells thousands Bangladesh and California. In our nation’s
Democratic and Working Families
of packaging products. It boasts twice in a capitol, plastic bags carry a five-cent tax.
Parties. “I believe in the principles of
promotional video currently on YouTube A treasure of plastic Wall Mart bags
the Democratic party,” Pretlow said.
that its representatives answer Uline’s can be found today in the Great Pacific
“I believe the government can provide
“phones faster than 911.” In the same video, Garbage Patch -- an island of garbage
solutions and maintain order in society,
the company says “99.3% of Uline’s orders the size of Texas circulating the Northern
provide help for people by whatever their
go out correctly.” Pacific. Unfortunately, the technology to
fortunes aren’t able to help themselves.”
convert them back into oil still eludes us.
Mount Vernon is overwhelmingly
Democratic.
Rivers is a registered Democrat, and
plans to mount a primary challenge to
Pretlow in September. He also got the
nod from the Conservative, Republican,
and Independence Parties. Hence, even
if Rivers loses the September primary,
he will still have the other ballot lines in
the November general election.
Currently, petition workers across
New York State are collecting signa-
tures to organize the new Tea Party. If
it is constituted before the November
election, Rivers is likely to receive that
party’s endorsement, too.
“Wow, we’re here already?!”
Pretlow is confident his many years
of public service have earned him the Dutchess County is a nearby, affordable destination offering
loyalty of Mount Vernon voters who will your family back-to-basics, old-fashioned fun less than two
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Rivers believes voter outrage over high August 24-29.
taxes and entrenched, do-nothing
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