Pagan and Ryan Meet at LWV Debate

Seven-term County Legislator and Democrat Bill Ryan faced off with Republican challenger Iris Pagan at the LWV debate on Wednesday, October 19 at the Scarsdale Library.  Pagan, a newcomer to politics is a teacher who worked her way through college at Pace and ultimately earned her doctorate in education from Columbia Teacher’s College.  In her opening statement she said she was running because high taxes threaten the American dream. Ryan, the former Chairman of the County Board of Legislators and an experienced voice in county and state government asked voters to re-elect him so that he could continue to “find the best answers” to confront declining revenues, high taxes and budgeting in the face of the 2% tax cap.

The format of the debate allows for only short statements and rebuttals and in many instances forced timekeepers to cut off the candidate’s comments before they could be fully developed. The League posed questions about affordable housing, the tax cap, Medicaid and the stagnant economy and here is a recap:

Affordable housing:  In Ryan’s view the $51 million dollar affordable housing settlement, signed in 2009 allowed Westchester to buildhousing and avoid paying estimated damages and penalties of up to half a billion dollars to the U.S government. According to Ryan, Westchester is ahead of schedule on the construction of these units and is doubtful that Scarsdale will play any role in fulfilling the mandate for 750 units.  He reassured the audience that the county had not found any discriminatory local zoning and did not plan to challenge the localities.

Pagan was determined to raise a red flag about housing and repeatedly cited a May, 2011 letter from HUD that added more stipulations

to the settlement agreement including a call for 3-bedroom units, and a proviso that the county challenge local restrictive zoning laws.

Though Ryan pointed out that a July letter from HUD had clarified these issues, Pagan insisted that the “Ryan/Spano” settlement had morphed into an “integration plan,” and called for the audience to “stand up against federal housing” which in her view threatens to bring affordable housing “next to neighborhood schools.”

In response to a question about how the county could meet the 2% tax cap, Pagan said she “would focus on social services and making sure that programs are running efficiently and effectively, adding  “We need to look at the recipients to be sure that funds are going to their targeted use.”

Ryan called the cap a “budgeting nightmare” that does not keep pace with the average rate of growth of expenses or mandated costs.  He said that the cap allows counties to raise $90 million to cover $280 million in mandated expenses.

In her rebuttal, Pagan contended that “Scarsdale schools have a surplus” and suggested that this surplus would allow the district to comply with the cap. She ended by saying,  “that’s called responsible budgeting.” Ryan told the group, ”As long as the state is forcing us to spend money we will have trouble complying with the tax cap.”

 

In a question about stagnant local revenues, the candidates parried back and forth about why White Plains does not have it’s own Industrial Development Agency (IDA). Pagan argued that an IDA would bring more business to the area while Ryan contended that White Plains is covered by the county IDA and that forming an additional IDA would be redundant.

Next the conversation turned to moving Medicaid costs from the county to the state level.  Currently, 40% of the Westchester County tax levy goes toward funding mandated Medicaid payments. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin is one of the sponsors of a bill with bipartisan support that would shift the responsibility for Medicaid to the state over a nine-year period. In total,  $211 million in expenses would be removed from the county budget. The state’s Medicaid Redesign Team would look to generate savings through reform and a new payment model. Pagan argued that the shift would mean lower county taxes but higher state taxes for local residents.

The question and answer period touched on safety concerns, consolidation of services, tax reduction and the housing settlement with little new ground covered.  Ryan’s familiarity with the issues and the numbers resulted in a smooth, logical presentation while Pagan struggled to form complete thoughts and sentences and fell back on canned phrases and rhetoric. However she did have a dedicated group of supporters in the audience; a mix of Scarsdale and White Plains Republicans who cheered and clapped with vigor at Pagan’s efforts to state her views.  Perhaps their enthusiasm will invigorate the November vote.

At one point in the evening, judicial candidate Ed Borelli stopped in to introduce himself to voters. He is running for NYS Supreme

Court Justice for the ninth judicial district. Unfortunately his pitch was also cut short due to time limitations and prevented the audience from learning much about him. He was the only judicial candidate to come by. In the future, perhaps the League should reconsider the format to allow candidates a longer introduction period to explain their platforms. The time restrictions appeared to be frustrating for both the speakers and the audience.

(Pictured at top: Bill Ryan and Iris Pagan)

Photos by Sara Werder