Alison Biddle

Another powerful man falls from high office, disgraced by his disgusting actions towards women.

Why did people allow it to go on for so long? 

Is it the hope that it will stop? Not if he had anything to say about it.

Is it fear of losing their jobs? The fear of retaliation?  In this modern technological age, there are a dozen ways to communicate knowledge of scandalous, predatory activity — especially in the highest office in New York State — without it coming back to you or risking your job to reveal it.

As women we need to be our strongest advocates. And when one of us is harassed, we need to have her back.

My 3 year old daughter Georgi is growing into a young woman, and I want a world where men and women have equal opportunities, and equal access to their dreams.

A world where we don’t have to worry about being sexually harassed at work. Where we know we are paid equally based on our talent and work ethic. Where all that matters is our intellect and our hard work.  

This world is within our grasp. Each time we all speak out against these inequalities and report these harassments, we are telling everyone this is NOT okay and we are going to do better.   

We always want to protect our children, but by the time Georgi and other daughters are out of school and into the workforce, they are beyond a parent’s protection.

Let’s stand up for them, together.

And we can begin by removing everyone from the Governor’s office who knew and did nothing.

Kathy Hochul, be the change we need you to be.

“Remember when you were young and anything was possible? The secret is it still is.”  — Enzo Simone

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My husband Marc loves hiking, and has been trying to get me into it for years. I went with him and the kids a few times, but I didn’t love it the way he did.

That was until we hiked Mount Washington last weekend to celebrate the life of wonderful friend, Enzo Simone. 

Enzo’s mission was to fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease one mountain at a time, so he started an Army of Change. We became a part of this army on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington. 

Nervous was an understatement. At 6,288 feet, it’s the highest peak in the Northeast. And it has incredibly erratic weather. Mount Washington still holds the record for highest measured wind speed not associated with a tornado or tropical cyclone.

We packed for hiking the tallest and at times deadliest mountain in the Northeast. Winds were predicted to be up to 60 mph. 

We woke up early Saturday. Fifty or so other friends, old and new joined us as we set out at 8:06 am.

We started walking, a painted rock in hand to leave in memory of our friend who loved this mountain so. His energy and encouragement was with us all day.  

We were blessed to be hiking with our old friend Gerry McGuire, his wonderful family, as well as all of our old and new friends who joined us throughout the hike.

We bonded, laughed, and encouraged each other. An amazing hike. It was tough, especially when we turned the corner and the bouldering began, but we pushed on. We thought of our friend Enzo and how encouraging he would be if he was there. 

The hike inspired me as I hoped it would. It positively impacted my mental health in a way that I want to continue. That sense of accomplishment and a euphoric feeling is still with me. 

Challenges like this ensure that you push yourself to your limits — and beyond.

We are already planning our next hike, this time with our kids. We enjoy camping and now we can add hiking to our family adventures.  

Thank you Enzo for guiding us to this new passion. We are eternally grateful. World Up!

P.S. Check out Enzo’s documentary, 10 mountains 10 years. https://youtu.be/veagq7nhNBQ
Start hiking!

Friends of Alison Biddle will host Cocktails on the Lake on Tuesday evening, August 24th. The event will run from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at 39 Lake Shore Drive, South Salem, NY 10590.

Ticket prices ranges from $50 for Deckhands (individuals) and $75 for Boatswains (couples) with giving levels for Quartermasters, First Mates, Captains, Commodores and Admirals.

Come show your support for Alison’s campaign, and help her bring strong leadership and reform to the Lewisboro Town Council.

You can donate online by clicking here: https://alisonbiddle.com/help-alison-win/

See you on August 24th!

The People of Lewisboro won!

In the face of widespread outrage, the Town Board voted unanimously Monday night to rescind their earlier approval of a secret deal that allowed a Town Board employee to purchase property with lake rights for just $5,000. The properties are worth $82,000.

This came just hours after I, along with Andrea Rendo and Bill Bongiorno, filed over 500 signatures on a petition to create a public referendum to repeal the sale.

We circulated this petition because we believe in transparency. It’s wrong for the Town Board to sell public property to their own employee without a public auction. Especially at fire sale prices.

But our work isn’t over.

We need to make sure that another version of this land deal isn’t on the agenda sometime in the future.

That means having the Town Board: a) commit to full transparency, with a reconstituted, nonpartisan Town Ethics Board; b) a major overhaul of the Town’s financial and accounting practices; and more participation by the public, by placing future land sales on the Board’s public agenda, with public auctions required.

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You can read David McKay Wilson’s excellent coverage of this story in the Journal News article here: https://www.lohud.com/story/money/personal-finance/taxes/david-mckay-wilson/2021/07/27/lewisboro-rescinds-land-sale-insider-face-growing-outcry/5378623001/

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I’m Allison Biddle.

I’m a wife, mom, and entrepreneur who has never run for office before. 

But I’m here today because the current town board tried to sell public land to one of their own employees — in a private deal for far less than a public auction would have garnered. 

Andrea, Bill and I believe we need more transparency and responsibility on the Town Board. The petition we are filing will create a referendum to stop this shady land deal and force an auction.

[We are circulating a petition to force a referendum that will stop the land sale in question. If you have not signed our petition, come by tomorrow, Sunday, July 18, between 10 am and 12 pm, across from Lily’s Deli on Spring Street in South Salem.]

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What would you do? 

The Lewisboro Town Board agreed to sell $82,000 worth of land in Lake Truesdale to one of their own employees for $5,000. 

Should there have been a public auction? Or could the properties be sold together as one lot, to increase the opportunities to  build there? 

Without a proper appraisal or engineering study, we may never know. 

Where are the professional appraisals calculating the value? Or the engineering study proving the land is unbuildable?

Land is worth what people are willing to pay for it, and with lake rights there are those willing to pay more than $5k.

But wait. What if we did not sell the land at all?

What if — instead — we created something good for the environmental and fun for the community?

Those land parcels could support a rain garden, with phosphorous filters, stormwater catchments, and scrubbers to stop the eutrophication of Lake Truesdale, which is the cause of its impairment and the algae blooms.

We could add a small pocket park and playground.

How many in the Lake Truesdale community would prefer this option?

There are more than enough revenue streams to secure the funding and permits. Lewisboro should participate in the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), for which we have been eligible since Lake Truesdale was designated as an inland waterway in 2017.

It’s four years since many of our lakes became eligible, but we have not even begun the LWRP process.

Why?

Why aren’t we doing everything we can to revitalize our lakes? If we had done so, and these parcels were in the LWRP area, it would open up even more funding streams.

It makes you wonder … how many other funding opportunities have been missed in the past few years?

I want to make green infrastructure, sustainable funding streams and smart growth principles a priority — to protect our lakes and enhance the recreational opportunities for all our families.

I hope you will consider voting for me on November 2nd, and give me the opportunity to make a difference for Lewisboro and our future.

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Lewisboro sells land near Lake Truesdale to town employee, public revolt could stop deals

By David McKay Wilson Rockland/Westchester Journal News
July 15, 2021
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Tax Watch columnist David McKay Wilson looks into a land deal involving the town supervisor and his confidential secretary. 

With lake rights at private lakes at a premium in the Hudson Valley, it came as a great surprise to Lewisboro residents that the town wanted to sell two acres near Lake Truesdale to a town employee without giving the public a chance to bid on the land.

The employee, Mary Hafter, serves as the confidential secretary to Supervisor Peter Parsons, according to the town website.

An adjacent one-acre parcel in the hamlet of South Salem was also destined to be sold to an adjacent property owner.

The sales, which took place at the end of a Town Board meeting on June 28, have set off an unprecedented revolt in the quiet town in northeast Westchester, with citizens circulating petitions to put the sales on the ballot in what’s called a permissive referendum.

That means that if the referendum is defeated, the sales will not go through.  
At Lake Truesdale, lake rights give a property owner the ability to join one of the two associations with a beach as well as access to locations to  launch a nonmotorized vessel such as a kayak or canoe.

_{Drone image Lake Truesdale in South Salem on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. John Meore & Peter Carr/USA Today Network}

Petition drive 

Opponents of the sales have until July 22 to collect the about 300 signatures needed to place on the ballot the sale of two acres to  Hafter, and her husband, Andrew, and another adjacent 1.3-acre parcel to Amy and Daniel Raffle.

The Town Board voted 3-1, with one abstention, to sell the parcels on June 28.

“A lot of people feel there should have been public notice that the land was for sale, and then a public auction,” said Bill Bongiorno, a public relations executive and Republican candidate for town supervisor. “Everybody should have had the opportunity for that land.”

Parsons will retire this year after serving five terms.

_{Peter Parsons, the supervisor of the Town of Lewisboro, is pictured at the entrance to the Old Field Preserve in Waccabuc, May 13, 2015. Mark Vergari/The Journal News}

The wooded parcel that includes extensive wetlands that the Hafters want to buy is across Main Street in South Salem from their residence, which is on the market for $750,000. Parsons said the town land could not be built upon, due to the wetlands.

Mary Hafter declined comment, and Daniel Raffle did not return phone messages.

Parsons abstained on June 28 when the land sale to Hafter came for a vote.

Nevertheless, he promoted the sale at that meeting. He said that the sale of the parcels, for $5,000 each, was a good deal for the town, and in line with an appraisal done by town Assessor Lise Robertson.

“The assessed value of these lots is $1,000 for one and $2,000 for the other,” said Parsons. “That’s the market value.”

_{A private beach on Lake Truesdale in South Salem on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. John Meore & Peter Carr/USA Today Network}

Robertson’s valuation 

A Tax Watch analysis of Robertson’s valuation, however, raised questions about her conclusion.

Documents obtained by Tax Watch under the Freedom of Information Law detailed how Robertson reached her conclusion on the value of the vacant parcels, which are on Main Street, by Lily’s Deli. One parcel is adjacent to the Hafters’ home, while the second is by the Raffle’s property.

According to Robertson, the two-acre parcel that the Hafters want to buy was worth just $2,000 – that’s $1,000 an acre. The 1.3-acre parcel that the Raffles want to buy was worth $1,500, or $1,153 an acre.

At $5,000, the Hafters would buy their parcel for $2,500 an acre while the Raffles would pay $3,848 an acre for the small piece.

Robertson reached that conclusion, based on the sale of other vacant parcels in the town that sold for substantially more per acre. One set of parcels – that comprised 0.24 acres – sold in 2018 at a price equal to $20,833 an acre. A second parcel, of 0.44 acres, was sold in 2021 for a price equal to $18,181 an acre. A third, of 0.32 acres, with wetlands, sold for a price equal to $7,812 an acre.

_{Drone image of property on Main Street near Lake Truesdale in South Salem on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. John Meore & Peter Carr/USA Today Network}

The town’s assessment records, which Robertson attests reflects the fair market value of Lewisboro property, cites even higher values. The town’s 2020 assessment roll valued the 1.3-acre parcel, which the Raffles want to buy, for $83,000. That value rose to $84,400 in the 2021 tentative assessment roll.

The two-acre parcel had a fair market value of $81,000 in the 2020 assessment roll. The value rose to $82,300 in the 2021 tentative roll published by Robertson.

“We’ve been told these parcels have lake rights, but it’s still a half-mile walk to the lake,” Robertson said.

The sales have galvanized the Lewisboro Republicans, who are running a full slate in November that’s also on the Conservative and Neighbors United lines. Bongiorno is running for town supervisor, while Alison Biddle and Andrea Rendo are running for Town Board.

Rendo said the town needed to take special care when selling town land to a town employee, especially one who worked for the town supervisor.

“It doesn’t meet the smell test,” said Rendo. “It looks sneaky. The government owes the people more than that.”

_{Andrea Rendo, left, Bill Bongiorno and ALison Biddle voice concerns about the sale of the property near Lake Truesdale in South Salem on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. John Meore/The Journal News}

But Democratic Town Board candidate Mary Shah said Republicans were merely looking for an edge during political season. She declined to state whether she backed the referendum.

“During an election year, people are looking to stir up trouble,” she said.

Some Democrats, however, aren’t happy about the sale. 

“I’m disappointed in the process,” said Nicholas Lung-Bugenski, a New York City public school teacher. “What the Town Board did was allowable under law, but that doesn’t mean it was the right thing to do. The town needs a process that’s open and transparent.” 

^{A private boat launch at Lake Truesdale in South Salem on Tuesday, July 13, 2021. John Meore/The Journal News}

The Democratic candidate for town supervisor is Tony Goncalves, a Town Board member who voted against the sale, said he favored a public auction. Fellow Democrat Jane Crimmins, who voted for the sale and is running for re-election in November, did not return a phone message seeking comment.  
Biddle said that petitioning was going well, with as many as 25 volunteers collecting signatures to put the land sales on the ballot. 

Biddle said she believed that land with lake rights could fetch more in the open market, rather than offering the property to someone who asked to buy it.

“The town has an extra obligation when it has lake rights,” she said. “If the public knew about the sale, the town might get more.” 

Follow Tax Watch columnist David McKay Wilson on Facebook or Twitter @davidmckaywils1. 

There is an excellent video of this story for Journal News subscribers:

https://www.lohud.com/story/money/personal-finance/taxes/david-mckay-wilson/2021/07/15/lewisboro-sells-land-lake-truesdale-supervisor-peter-parsons-employee-petition-referendum/7917121002/

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It’s hard for some people to believe, but in 21st century New York, we clean, safe tap water is still a serious issue for some of our neighbors right here in Lewisboro.

Our Oakridge neighbors have struggled with this problem for a long time.

Let’s do something about it. I’ve created a petition on Change.org that reads as follows: 

The safety of drinking water in sections of Lewisboro continues to be an issue; and we the undersigned want the Town Board to conduct an independent engineering study to give residents the facts and a better understanding of what is required to fix the water issues, along with the cost to do so. 

Not terribly controversial. Just an independent study to get the facts and explain what our town’s options are. 

But for those of us in Lewisboro who struggle with this every day, an independent engineering study could be a step towards safe, clean tap water in their homes. Please sign our petition here:

change.org/SafeWaterOWD 

And if you live in Oakridge, would you do me a favor? Fill out this short survey? 

Oakridge Water Survey 

It will only take you a minute or two, and it will give us the information we need to take this to the next level.

Thank you!

The sale of disused land in Lewisboro to the Supervisor’s confidential secretary under a lesser-known provision of state law has residents up in arms, and the Lewisboro Neighbors United slate is now petitioning to put the matter to a town-wide vote. Supervisor candidate Bill Bongiorno, joined by Board candidates Alison Biddle and Andrea Rendo, now have thirty days to collect signatures and force a permissive referendum.

“This is the latest in a series of questionable ethics by the Lewisboro Town Board,” Bongiorno said. “We continue to call for the reconvening of the Ethics Board in Lewisboro, so potential conflicts of interest can be reviewed.”

The Lewisboro town board voted 3-1 to sell three acres of land with lake rights in Lake Truesdale to the confidential secretary of the town supervisor and another area resident. Municipal land sales are frequently conducted pursuant to provisions of state law requiring a public auction. However, under section 64(2) of the town law, the town may conduct a no-bid sale, subject to permissive referendum.

“Once again, the lack of transparency by the Lewisboro Town Board requires we citizens to go the extra mile,” Biddle said. “I urge local residents to sign the petition.”

Rendo said any transfer of this nature demands that it be carried out in full view of the public. “If it involves a Town employee, then it’s doubly urgent to do so,” she said. “In the future, a proper appraisal and public auction, along with adequate ethical safeguards in place, would ensure that Lewisboro residents have confidence that the transaction is above board.”

The controversial resolutions were passed after being buried at the end the June 28 meeting of the Lewisboro Town Board, which itself was the subject of controversy after Lewisboro became one of the only area towns to decline to utilize a hybrid format for public comment. The Neighbors United Slate says the insider sales, which were not previously advertised, create the appearance of impropriety.

Under state law, if 304 signatures are delivered within 30 days to the town clerk requesting the permissive referendum, the matters will be put on the ballot for approval or rejection by the voters unless the town board rescinds its prior votes.

In a formal opinion, the State Comptroller has previously noted that “although section 64(2) contains no competitive bidding requirement, the town board, when selling unneeded real property, has a fiduciary duty to secure the best price obtainable in its judgment or the most beneficial terms in the public interest. The method of sale chosen is within the board’s discretion but should be the one that the board believes will yield the best price or maximum financial benefits. To fulfill this fiduciary duty, the board should take appropriate measures, which may include obtaining one or more appraisals and utilizing a real estate broker to identify potential buyers.”

Over the years, good governance groups have petitioned state lawmakers to change the public officer’s law, as there is presently no penalty for state and local officials who violate their fiduciary duty. 

The Neighbors United Slate has promised to revise local ethics laws to prevent this type of insider dealing, they say is prevalent among current members of the town board.