Video excerpts from the city council work session Thursday, March 4, 2010.

The work session began with a grave report on the city’s financial status, given by Dwight Hadley, CPA, and assisted by Christine Mitchell, CPA, the city’s new comptroller:

Next came a presentation by Dr. Jerome Blue on the status of the Liberty Street School project:

The third presentation was regarding the Community Resource Officers, or CROs. Representing the Newburgh Enlarged City School District were Ralph Pizzo and Mike Pacella. The school district has offered to pay the city for two new police officers in exchange for staffing Newburgh Free Academy and North Junior High School with a CRO each. Also assisting with the discussion were two former CROs, who spoke of the benefits of the positions, and FBI agent Maryann Goldman, who spoke about the seriousness of Newburgh’s gang problems (as reported in the cover story of the Times Herald-Record) and urged the council to fund the positions.

Full video of the entire CROs discussion here:

Finally, from later in the work session, discussion on the Home Improvement Loan Program.

[video deleted]

This program is administered by Demetrius Faulk. Courtney Kain, Acting Director of the Planning Department, explained the program with Demetrius. It was during discussion of this program that (at 6:15 on the video) Councilwoman Marge Bell notes that the records show her as the recipient of a $13,500 loan. Bell says she did receive some funding, but she says she did not receive $13,500.

The loan originator is listed as the Newburgh Community Development Agency (NCDA), which corporation counsel Bernis Nelson recommended dissolving earlier in the work session.

2. Scheduled for Vote (public hearing process completed)
a. (Res. 175) Consolidated Housing and Community Development Strategy and Action Plan for 2009

Part 2 of 11

3. Community and Economic Development:
b. Master Plan

Part 3 of 11

c. (Res. 176) 107 Renwick Street/purchase price adjustment

Part 4 of 11

3. a. Pierces Road – Robert Schroeder and Bruce Stern, Esq.

Part 5 of 11

4. Other:
a. (Res. 177) Appointment of Commissioners of Deeds for January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010.

Part 6 of 11

4. b. School busing issue update

Part 7 of 11

4. c. SUNY Orange Parking update

Part 8 of 11

5. Old Business:
a. Civil Service Commision – vacancy (see letters from Commission Chair Gadbois and Commissioner Diaz)

Part 9 of 11

5. b. YMCA (to be removed)

Part 10 of 11

6. Executive Session:
a. Settlement of Litigation

Part 11 of 11

7. 2009 Budget Discussion

According to its formation papers dated January 9, 1990, the Limited Partnership of Den Cass Associates inlcuded the general partners of The City of Newburgh Local Development Corporation; the “Community Development Group, Inc.” (signed by William Loewenstein, Director); Richard D. McGoey; William J. Hauser, and the limited partner of Sanford Ullman, M.D.

It was not always a happy partnership.

In November of 2003, Dr. Ullman brought suit against his partners, charging that he had

essentially been kept in the dark as to affairs of the partnership,” that the other partners had “failed to distribute the 24% of the net proceeds,” and had “wrongfully distributed to themselves funds which belong to Den Cass Associates,” and that the other partners had continued “to wrongfully withhold from the plaintiff [Dr. Ullman] information which is necessary for the plaintiff to determine the amounts to which he is entitled.”

According to the suit,

for at least since 1999, Den Cass Associates has operated profitably, with a positive net cash flow from the partnership business… on or about January 1, 2003, Den Cass Associates had approximately $450,000 in undistributed liquid cash, which far exceeds the operating cost or necessary capital for the operation of partnership business.

This hefty positive cash flow was being pumped in from the Newburgh School District.

From 1998 the School District leased Broadway School for use as a magnet elementary school with the theme of “Success for All.”

The leasing costs were heavy, as much as $544,650 annually in 2000 or $50,000 a month in 2003:

The district currently leases Broadway School, which it sold to the city in 1985. Board members lobbied hard for the bond issue, saying the district would save money by eliminating $544,650 in annual leasing costs.

It was the leasing costs which drove the Newburgh School District to consider buying back the school, and they put a bond to voters to attempt the school purchase in 2000. It failed by two votes:

The bond issue that would have let the Newburgh School District purchase Broadway School was defeated by two votes.
The final results of a second recount, approved by the school board Tuesday night, was 1,281 votes against the bond and 1,279 in favor.
Superintendent Laval Wilson said yesterday that the board will schedule a work session to discuss the results and decide what to do next.
Besides buying Broadway School back from a partnership that includes the city’s Local Development Corp., the $11.5 million bond issue would have paid for work at seven other schools.

The School District would have been paying $4.5 Million for the school that they had originally sold to the city for $150,000.

The elementary school closed in 2003, amidst concerns over student performances, but the district insisted it was a financial decision:

The district pays about $50,000 a month to lease the building and for amortized payments on building improvements.  The embattled school remains on the New York State School Under Regents Review list for underperforming schools, despite having exceeded the test scores goal set for the students last year. “It’s not a performance issue,” school board President Peter Fogarty said yesterday, adding that it was a financial decision. “We haven’t got the deal that we wanted.”

As for the Unhappy Partner, Dr. Ullman presumably settled with the other partners out of court.