I think Mrs. Killian’s nomination here is potentially a big step backwards. All one has to remember is that she is currently being protected by French loyalists from having to register her vote publically on removing multiple liars from today’s senior city management. And there’s plenty of speculation as to why - http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/06/killianscashcrusade.html Mrs. Killian could help herself a lot by personally calling for that vote on the retaining or terminating of these managers. Otherwise her silence tells us what she represents. Because as Warren Buffett says about companies who believe themselves worthy of his acquisition consideration but somehow never get an invitation -“If the phone doesn't ring, you’ll know it’s me.” View Comment

$16M. Wouldn't Harry Broom be astonished. Harry and his wife owned the home for decades. The indoor lap pool arrived later. View Comment

AND NO ONE HERE CONDONES LYING. “I think we can all admit that his political career is pretty much done. There’s been way too many controversies over the course of his one four year term to survive. But let’s go back to 2009 and his Mayoralty campaign. He campaigned on solidifying the city manager position for the long term future of Rye. His answer to that was Scott Pickup. It has clearly not worked out. Now we can debate the level of that but it clearly has not worked out. But his reluctance to admit that and in defense of Scott Pickup and to continue to defend him over and over again, that’s what’s really caused some issues within the community.” “I think that what you have is a problem. How’s Julie Killian going to run on the Republican ticket to reform the city government when she sitting on the council now and not saying a word about it? Now she can say whatever she wants in Executive Session but Joe Sack, for example, who’s running for Mayor, he’s been very vocal in his feelings and what he’s thinks is going on and with the city manager so how is Julie Killian all of a sudden going to run as a reformer when you haven't been doing it while you’ve have the chance to actually do it?” “I want to know why the DA or the State Controller isn’t investigating Scott Pickup for violating municipal bidding law. So we talk about elections coming up I don’t see anybody coming down the road to do it. And this is where citizen journalism and the press comes into play because WE have to force these changes. I don’t see it and again I don’t know how Peter Jovanovich, Doug French, Richard Filippi, Laura Brett, who’s an attorney, Catherine Parker, can sit there, and Julie Killian, and not do anything about it.” SAY HEY! TO RYE CORRUPTION AND POLITICS, AS LAUS DEO TALKS W/ WVOX' LUNGARIELLO & THE SOUND SHORE REVIEW'S CHRIS FALCONE PART 1 http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/05/laus-deo-talks-rye-politics-and-corruption-w-wvoxs-lungariello-and-rye-sound-shore-review-editor-chr.html View Comment

NEW VIDEO – RYE GOLF – LAUS DEO RADIO In this chapter, two Rye Golf Club members sit down and discuss the latest at the club they love and the people still held unaccountable for stealing, lying and cheating them and the rest of the members out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over half a decade of deceit. But this talk isn't over beers at The Castle, and these members are not afraid to be seen or heard by Rye’s political class asking the kind of “uncivil” questions some still want bottled-up - before things go - you know - higher-up. And for some reason this doesn't look at all like a “side show” to me. What do YOU think? JOURNAL NEWS STAR COLUMNIST, PHIL REISMAN, DIVES INTO RYE GOLF CLUB SCANDAL WITH LAUS DEO http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/05/journal-news-star-columnist-phil-reisman-dives-into-rye-golf-club-scandal-with-laus-deo.html View Comment

Rye Daily Voice, Rye Patch, MyRye and LausDeo10580 readers may recall my Rye City Council “help wanted” ad of a few weeks ago – http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/04/mayor-laughs-as-pickup-connors-wilson-persuade-city-council-to-approve-fraudulent-uniform-bid.html?cid=6a0168e5e944ea970c01901b5a65f0970b#comment-6a0168e5e944ea970c01901b5a65f0970b Based on the feedback to date the “ad” has worked well, in its own way, encouraging a number of people to begin quiet (and some less quiet) moves to explore running for office without seeking the “blessings” of any of our remaining local political class gatekeepers, now disgraced. More I expect will be coming forth shortly as certain stories from local publication are digested and personal decisions to step up get made. But back to the ad, I make a point of discussing the interaction between our political class gatekeepers - many who held those positions will be in attendance Wednesday night - and our current sorry state of corruption, patronage and special privileges they have bequeathed us. Turns out that we in Rye are not alone – and the trends are national. It just makes sense. (Rare Shameless Plug Alert. My commentary here is almost exclusively Rye focused, but every once in a while a national issue has a relevant Rye angle. Our firm has a substantial interest in Rasmussen Reports and its affiliate, Pulse Opinion Research.) “Voters Don’t Like Political Class Bossing Them Around” “There are many ways to describe the enormous gap between the American people and their elected politicians. Most in official Washington tend to think that their elite community is smarter and better than the rest of us. Many hold a condescending view of voters and suggest that the general public is too ignorant to be treated seriously. Only 5 percent of the nation's voters, however, believe that Congress and its staff members represent the nation's best and brightest.” Read the rest here while it’s still outside our pay wall – http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_scott_rasmussen/voters_don_t_like_political_class_bossing_them_around (and Cablevision subscribers please consider tuning in on Channel 10 at 10:30 AM every Sunday for “What America Thinks, “our weekly half-hour national TV show – “Where Public Opinion is the Star.” ) Jeeze that last part was truly shameless… View Comment

Glad this doesn't mention yesterday's Nemo anointment ceremony in Mamaroneck. Thank You Mrs. Myers for your service and thoughtful advocacy. You are decent and classy. We will miss you. View Comment

And here is an “update” on Rye’s Dapolite Affair – a scandal Mr. French personally ordered and directed. NEW - RYE TV HEAD: "BULL*HITTING PEOPLE AT COUNCIL MEETINGS" IS PART OF SCOTT PICKUP'S JOB–IT GOES ON "A LOT" Rye TV Public Access Coordinator, Nicole Levitsky, says that she thinks Scott Pickup's, "bull*hitting people at council meetings" is simply part of the City Manager's job. Ms. Levitsky, who's been employed by the City of Rye for more than 10 years (and receives an annual salary of $77,000 per year) also says the "bull*hitting" of elected officials and residents at council meetings, unfortunately, happens "a lot." New audio recording, transcript and story here – http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/04/city-official-bullshitting-people-at-council-meetings-is-part-of-scott-pickups-jobit-goes-on-a-lot.html View Comment

Rye needs to get out of The Westchester County business. Sell the rest of the county to Connecticut or New Jersey as soon as possible. No sweet succession deal to allow the thieves in White Plains to linger, just auction the rest of the county off and use the proceeds to endow Playland. View Comment

New - Rye Golf Scandal – The Numbers Guy: Mirror, mirror on the wall, which incurious city paymaster topped them all? “SUGAR DADDY.” http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/03/investigators-city-manager-pickup-approved-70-of-74-million-that-went-to-rm-staffing.html View Comment

We've maintained a large stand on our property in Rye for over 40 years. It's Luke a small forest and it provides much needed protection for birds and other wildlife in winter. So much natural cover is now gone here on Milton Point that our pocket forest - and several others like it - are the only thing keeping the now plentiful raptors from decimating everything with wings. View Comment

Door molding, Rye City Hall, entrance facing Village Green. View Comment

Or come to the Rye City Council meeting and hear how they don't respond to questions about this: INSIDE CITY HALL BOMBSHELL. RYE CITY OFFICIAL MOCKS FOIL LAW–CHALLENGES JUDGES TO CHECK HER EMAILS & ANALYZE EVERYTHING http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2013/02/rye-city-official-mocks-foil-lawchallenges-judges-to-go-after-her-emails-and-analyze-everthing.html The Dapolite Tapes. #ryecitycorruption View Comment

CREDIBILITY DRAINAGE I wish Mrs. Goddard success. She seems totally sincere and her issues legitimate. Let me be so bold as to bring up another local sustainability issue here for a moment. I remember a city council meeting not too long ago where the discussion went back and forth over the need for capital resources to maintain a large municipal vacuum truck to clear and clean storm and other drains in Rye so as to prevent local street ponding and flooding. These giant rolling tank-toped vehicles are very very pricy but are supposed to save lots of man-hours and lead to more efficient and thus more top level maintenance of city subsurface infrastructure with the same number of city employees. That’s the theory anyway. But that theory, and the theory that city DPW staff follow routines that bring that cause them to regularly inspect and remedy clogged storm drains, is regrettably apparently just another municipal false promise. (Like reliably clearing snow from sidewalk access to crosswalks for schoolchildren.) Across from the bus stop at the Rye Train Station is a small grass island surrounded by permit holder parking spaces. Signs saying “Park front wheels to curb” are displayed. All of us who favor this grass island locale know about “the drain.” It’s directly opposite the MTA elevator and in line (sort of) with the service department of Rye Ford up the hill in the distance. “The drain” has been blocked for months. So when it rains all the cars parked along the line opposite the bus stop get flooded. This requires permit holders to soak their shoes (or remove them) when they return in the evening to get in their cars after even a moderate rain. This morning I pulled into the spot directly in front of “the drain.” It’s going to rain later today so I took my ice scraper out and dug into it as far as the grating would allow. The soils and debris in it were soft and very easy to remove but I could only go down a few inches. I couldn’t raise the grate with the ice scraper – a steel crowbar would be required – but I could see that this apparently wasn’t a full blown “vacuum truck” project at all but more like a bucket and shovel job. A bucket and shovel job simply undone for months and months and months. Much has been said (over and over) about the need to maintain the MTA parking lots so people don’t break their ankles in the pot holes or crossing the large stretches of broken blacktop. These would require zero major restorations, just simple attention and routine maintenance. You know, no major dollar project, no bond indenture required, just the kind of regular thing Rye taxpayers pay their taxes to have done by the DPW. Now I personally know that more than a few former and current city council members favor parking around this same small grass island. So they know already about “the drain.” Maybe I could ask that one of them would speak up and second my proposal that this very small service be done. Or they could make a phone call. That, after all, would surely be within the bounds of “putting the city’s interests first.” No? View Comment

Not sure which I dislike more, hand guns or having my home mapped as not having one. Today O'Keefe visits our local scribes houses to persuade them to put up signs saying "This home is proudly gun-free." This gets national coverage unlike anything to date, and finally Astro-Boy calls for a map take-down. http://t.co/c5gKCaxx View Comment

UPDATE: Video - Out Today. Activist’s working with James O’Keefe visit Westchester County journalists to ask they proudly put up signs at THEIR HOMES saying “This Home is Proudly Gun Free.” Watch as the answers to the volunteer’s from “Citizens Against Gun Violence” are scored… http://youtu.be/wt1Zy_ASNyA View Comment

12 in 12 – RYE’S POLITICAL CLASS OBSESSION WITH THEMSELVES CONTINUES WITH A VENGEANCE. WHO’S PUTTING TAXPAYER INTERESTS & THE LAW FIRST? 2012 saw Rye’s political class plenty busy holding on to their seats and privileges while swatting feverishly at expanding grass roots efforts to factually sunlight and stop their multiplicity of craven, self interested and frequently wholly unlawful municipal schemes. There was, of course, the traditional high bench denial, stonewalling, hypocrisy and diversion tactics. These were accompanied by a few blatant 1st Amendment violations along with some bedtime fairy tales thrown in for good measure. But local journalists, citizen investigators and commentators remain un-intimidated and stepped up to meet the challenge. This troubles them greatly. Because of course historically its one thing to smugly triumph over the individual youngest and oldest truth tellers among us – employing their customary public document destruction gambits, stacked non public tribunals and bald faced public falsehoods - but it’s another indeed to get caught outright swindling an entire large (and prime of adult life) social-recreational taxpaying population year after year after year after year – solely to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars of the public fisc into a secret network for the few. That I think may have been the 2012 city hall “administrative oversight” bridge-too-far. Time will tell. So without further rumination let’s get at it, the list in no particular order of the top 12 local stories starring Rye's storied political class and their special influence peddling enablers. The lawbreaking, the myth-making - the lot. See them shine. http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/christmas-past-mayor-french-served-building-violations-for-illegal-rental-property-in-rye-fined-1000.html?cid=6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b#comment-6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b View Comment

Regular residents also hope for a "boost" Anna. A boost from confronting, exposing and reforming our special interest dominated corrupt current Rye City government. 12 in 12 – RYE’S POLITICAL CLASS OBSESSION WITH THEMSELVES CONTINUES WITH A VENGEANCE. WHO’S PUTTING TAXPAYER INTERESTS & THE LAW FIRST? See the lineup here - http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/christmas-past-mayor-french-served-building-violations-for-illegal-rental-property-in-rye-fined-1000.html?cid=6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b#comment-6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b View Comment

12 in 12 – RYE’S POLITICAL CLASS OBSESSION WITH THEMSELVES CONTINUES WITH A VENGEANCE. 2012 saw Rye’s political class plenty busy holding on to their seats and privileges while swatting feverishly at expanding grass roots efforts to factually sunlight and stop their multiplicity of craven, self interested and frequently wholly unlawful municipal schemes. There was, of course, the traditional high bench denial, stonewalling, hypocrisy and diversion tactics. These were accompanied by a few blatant 1st Amendment violations along with some bedtime fairy tales thrown in for good measure. But local journalists, citizen investigators and commentators remain un-intimidated and stepped up to meet the challenge. This troubles them greatly. Because of course historically its one thing to smugly triumph over the individual youngest and oldest truth tellers among us – employing their customary public document destruction gambits, stacked non public tribunals and bald faced public falsehoods - but it’s another indeed to get caught outright swindling an entire large (and prime of adult life) social-recreational taxpaying population year after year after year after year – solely to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars of the public fisc into a secret network for the few. That I think may have been the 2012 city hall “administrative oversight” bridge-too-far. Time will tell. So without further rumination let’s get at it, the list in no particular order of the top 12 local stories starring Rye's storied political class and their special influence peddling enablers. The lawbreaking, the myth-making - the lot. See them shine. http://www.lausdeo10580.com/lausdeo10580/2012/12/christmas-past-mayor-french-served-building-violations-for-illegal-rental-property-in-rye-fined-1000.html?cid=6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b#comment-6a0168e5e944ea970c017c352e275e970b View Comment

Rye’s Hen Island “Mosquito Factory” Officially Breeding West Nile Virus. Hen Island – over 33,000 gallons of stagnant fresh water a few hundred yards offshore of Rye and Mamaroneck – millions of mosquito’s bred annually. Watch this new 11 minute documentary and note the reaction of the county health inspectors when they visited back in 2007. Nothing whatsoever has changed - except now when you call George V over there at WCDOH the first thing he says is - "Hen Island is private property you know." http://vimeo.com/47034186 View Comment

I hope these guys make it. So many who've come before them haven't. Anna one hint here as to their PR savvy (or not) is that they didn't move the garbage or recycling containers away from the entrance so your photo here would be better. Not a good sign. View Comment