RyeCity REVIEW THE
August 14, 2020 | Vol. 8, Number 34 | www.ryecityreview.com
Con Ed under fire for failed storm response By CHRISTIAN FALCONE Editor-in-Chief
FIELD OF DREAMS Although there has not been an approval for the return of fall high school sports in New York state, it has been announced that kids who partake in remote learning will be eligible to suit up for their respective teams, according to state Education Department guidance. For story, see page 16.
Branda plans 2021 Westchester County executive run By CHRISTIAN FALCONE Editor-in-Chief Dan Branda formalized his candidacy for Westchester County executive this week, getting a jump on a race that is more than a year away. Branda, a Somers resident and former Rob Astorino staffer, will seek the Republican nomination on a familiar party platform of reducing property taxes, but would also form a bipartisan government while investing in county infrastructure and effective constituent services programs, if elected. “I am running for Westchester County Executive because I want to raise my children here,” said
Branda, 40. “However, Westchester is simply unaffordable for too many—including us. The crushing burdens of property taxes and housing costs are proving to be outright… for anyone simply seeking the opportunities that Westchester offers.” And he also has big visions outside the traditional scope of a county executive. A Branda administration would look to create a larger sales tax base to pare down the county’s reliance on property taxes; reduce costs through modern-day efficiencies; build a state public-private partnership and push to halt unfunded mandates handed down from the state.
He’d also plan to invest in major infrastructure projects as a means to rebuilding the economy, and including in his agenda would be an ambitious proposal to bury utility power lines. Westchester is still recovering from Tropical Storm Isaias, which knocked out power to approximately 300,000 Con Edison customers in the New York region. Due to the lingering effects of the coronavirus public health crisis, Branda is bracing for what is expected to be an unorthodox campaign season. Calling it a virtual front-porch campaign, he will look to “aggressively” interact with voters countywide by utilizing several different media outlets.
But that’s not the only obstacle.The Republican will also face nearly insurmountable odds in trying to unseat a popular incumbent in a county that has swung decidedly blue in recent years. Since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, Westchester Democrats have bolstered their registration numbers by more than 35,000 voters to an overall registration advantage of nearly 175,000 voters. Further, County Executive George Latimer, who is expected to seek re-election next year, has never lost an election in 18 contests spanning 33 years. BRANDA continued on page 10
On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo leveled threats against Con Edison, calling the embattled utility company’s response to Topical Storm Isaias “unacceptable.” “There will be storms and the utility companies know that. I’ve spoken to them about this numerous times,” said Cuomo, a Democrat. “The essential service a utility provides is at this point preparing for a storm and recovering from a storm.” Yet as of Wednesday, more than a week after the Aug. 4 storm hit the region, Con Edison was reporting that roughly 350 of its Westchester customers were still without power, according to Alan Drury, a Con Ed spokesman. “The remaining Isaias outages involve extensive damage and complicated restorations for individual customers,” Drury said. The storm, which made its way up the Eastern Seaboard as a category 1 hurricane, tore through the tri-state region with 70-plus mph winds. The damage was severe as trees toppled above ground utility lines throughout Westchester and New York City. In total, 257,000 customers lost power from Isaias, the second highest number of storm-related outages in Con Edison’s history rivaled only by Hurricane Sandy’s 1.1 million outages in 2012. In Westchester, the hardest-hit communities included the cities of Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon and Rye, as well as the towns of Cortlandt and New Castle. Westchester County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat, said Con Edison’s performance
“grossly deficient” and called on the state to ensure that the utility company is properly staffed to handle the next significant storm. “The Governor, the New York State Public Service Commission, elected officials of both parties at every level and the customers themselves all recognize… Con Ed was simply not ready,” Latimer added. “It cannot be acceptable to take a week or more to fully restore power, and in this case, from a storm that was not of the magnitude of Hurricane Irene or Superstorm Sandy.” On Aug. 5, Cuomo, a Democrat, directed the state Department of Public Service to launch an investigation into how Con Edison, Verizon, PSEG Long Island, Central Hudson Gas & Electric, Orange and Rockland Utilities, and New York State Electric & Gas failed in such a big way. “The large volume of outages and the utilities’ failure to communicate with customers in real time proves they did not live up to their legal obligations,” he said. “The worst of this situation was avoidable, and it cannot happen again.” Coincidentally, the state Public Service Commission, PSC, announced a $10.75 million settlement with Con Edison and Orange and Rockland Utilities on Aug. 13, after investigating the companies’ response to two winter storms in March 2018; Con Edison is paying $9.5 million of the total. The PSC called the combined settlement “the largest ever of its kind for failure to adequately execute a utility emergency response plan.” CONTACT: chris@hometwn.com