County Legislator Ken Jenkins, candidate for Westchester County Executive, called the proposed management lease a giveaway
County Executive Rob Astorino’s proposal shows a stunning lack of transparency and a complete disrespect of the elected Legislators asking for this “backroom” proposal to be sent directly to Committee so it can be included in the proposed 2017 County Budget without any kind of public input.
The Astorino administration completed this negotiation without an RFP to include either the existing vendor that runs the airport or others that may have been interested and have the ability to come in with a better proposal.
“This is another gimmick to help balance an unbalanced budget that is the result of years of fiscal management. The residents of the neighborhoods directly impacted by so many factors at the airport deserve an opportunity to be heard and shouldn’t bare the sacrifice of this administration holding critical services like public safety and family health and wellness hostage,” Jenkins stated.
Astorino, in his announcement of the proposal, threatened to cut services like public safety and childcare efforts if this deal were not approved alongside the $1 billion County budget.
Jenkins continued, “There is nothing wrong with proposing an idea, the fact that this one came with a threat that it must be approved to avoid massive cuts is simply unacceptable and only breeds additional skepticism.”
Jenkins has always been an advocate for requiring an RFP to be done on projects that impact the public or involve significant commitments of taxpayer dollars. As the Chairman of the Board, Jenkins was influential in the County’s realization to jettison Sustainable Playland because it would not have held up to the scrutiny that goes along with an RFP.
“There is no reason to blind side people with what really is a good faith attempt and creating better public policy. I appreciate the County Executive’s desire to leverage our existing assets to help our budgets but we have to be consistent in the way we are doing it and I’m confident that in my administration, no neighborhood in Westchester County is going to feel that their needs were sold out for Rob Astorino’s political ambitions,” Jenkins concluded.
